Malmö SO/Vassily SinaiskyNaxos 8.572119 ***

What do Franz Schmidt, Havergal Brian, Kurt Atterberg, Czeslaw Marek, Maurice Ravel, Thomas Beecham, Carl Nielsen and Alexander Glazunov have in common? Well, they were

all involved in the 1928 International Columbia Graphophone Competition, created to mark the centenary of the death of Schubert. It initially trawled for completions of the UnfinishedSymphony, but later loosened the rules to allow in works in the spirit of Schubert. The lesser figures featured as competitors, the more famous names as judges. Atterberg's Sixth Symphony won the

£2,000 top prize (there was international controversy over the decision) and Franz Schmidt’s Third won the Austrian section. The latter

is a real curiosity, a work of strangely dilatory lyricism, full of nostalgic echoes of the past that somehow never quite come into clear focus. Schmidt’s orchestration of a Chaconne, originally for organ, is more purposeful. See url.ie/57c6