Josef Matthias Hauer: Symphonic Works

Josef Matthias Hauer, to judge from his writings and accounts of his social interactions with his contemporaries, was the Rodney Dangerfield of the Viennese serialists; he just couldn't get any respect. Having developed a parallel but markedly individual system of serial tonal organization a little ahead of Arnold Schoenberg's first published efforts in the genre, Hauer wanted recognition as the discoverer of dodecaphonic atonality, an attribute that would forever accrue to Schoenberg despite Hauer's best efforts to the ... Read More

Josef Matthias Hauer, to judge from his writings and accounts of his social interactions with his contemporaries, was the Rodney Dangerfield of the Viennese serialists; he just couldn't get any respect. Having developed a parallel but markedly individual system of serial tonal organization a little ahead of Arnold Schoenberg's first published efforts in the genre, Hauer wanted recognition as the discoverer of dodecaphonic atonality, an attribute that would forever accrue to Schoenberg despite Hauer's best efforts to the contrary. Mid-twentieth century critics regarded Hauer as a crackpot and his work sank into oblivion; it is only since the 1990s that any effort has been made on Hauer's behalf to get some of his music out on record and to permit the public to judge his relative worth. CPO takes a big step in that direction with Josef Matthias Hauer: Violin Concerto, a disc that features the Radio Symphonieochester Wien under conductor Gottfried Rabl in a selection of Hauer's ultra-rare orchestral... Read Less