Tuesday Tones

Continuing a look at autumnal music, we have today a symphony by a 19th century composer whose work was highly regarded in his day but who is mostly forgotten now. Swiss composer Joachim Raff lived for 60 years, 1822 to 1882, and he was very prolific and popular during his lifetime. Since then? Not nearly so much. I have heard, well, exactly one piece by Raff, to my knowledge, and it’s the symphony here. It’s a warm, genial work, certainly not hard to listen to. Is there anything about it that’s particularly autumnal? Well…not in my ears, honestly. Raff doesn’t seem to have had the gift of melody, either. I have to be honest that very little of this piece lingers in my ear or mind after hearing it. Is it bad? Absolutely not. But can I hear why Raff did not endure in the standard repertoire? Absolutely yes.

But give this a listen! It’s…nice.

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