A 'lost' Vaughan Williams song has been discovered, but this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to musical treasures that may still be hidden in archives, libraries, and lofts around the world. The song, titled 'Before the Mirror', was found by Elaine Andrews in a box at Morley College in London. It sets a Swinburne poem inspired by a Whistler painting and dates from shortly after Vaughan Williams married Adeline Fisher in 1897. The music reveals surprising tonal adventure and expressive ambiguity, and the manuscript's corrections offer a fascinating glimpse into the composer's creative process.
However, a single song pales in comparison to the potential riches that remain undiscovered. One of the most significant musical finds of all time was the treasure trove of manuscripts by Florence Price, found in a derelict house in St Anne, Illinois, in 2009. That discovery included her two violin concertos, Fourth Symphony, and dozens of other pieces, highlighting the priorities and prejudices of music historians. While familiar composers like Mozart and Beethoven have their every artefact combed over, composers who have been musicologically marginalised—such as Price—are often presumed lost simply because no one has looked for them.
Some of the deepest holes in musical history involve works by female composers. Francesca Caccini wrote more than 13 stage works in 17th-century Italy, but only one survives today. Her dozen other operas may be 'lost', but have researchers searched for them as diligently as they have for a page by Bruckner? Similarly, at least three complete operas by Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, are missing. Bologne lived an extraordinary life in 18th-century France as a composer, violinist, fencer, and soldier, but his legacy suffered from the prejudices of a culture that erased his contributions. Now that his work is gaining recognition, there must be a renewed focus on recovering these vital 'lost' operas.
Thankfully, there are exceptions. In 2022, vocal parts of Maddalena Casulana's five-voice madrigals were unearthed in St Petersburg by Laurie Stras. But much more work remains to be found by composers like Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Barbara Strozzi, and Maria Theresia von Paradis. There is also lost music whose absence has been known for centuries, such as Bach's St Mark Passion, Monteverdi's Arianna, or Sibelius's Eighth Symphony, likely destroyed by the composer himself.
In other news, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra has announced that Lithuanian conductor Giedrė Šlekytė will become their next music director, starting from the 2027 season. Her appointment makes her the only female conductor currently leading or scheduled to lead any major UK orchestra. Šlekytė has conducted at the Staatsoper in Vienna, Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel at Covent Garden, and a complete Brahms cycle with the Staatskapelle Berlin in Toronto. Her range of repertoire, from Hannah Eisendle to Martinů, promises exciting programming for the RSNO.
This week, Tom has been listening to Meco's 'Moondancer', a late disco symphonic album with cosmically lavish arrangements and epic scale.
