Honegger Symphony no 1

Day 2

Honegger - symphony no 1 (1930)

Serge Baudo

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Honegger is an interesting composer. If you read older histories of music he would often be depicted as the most important member of Les Six, at least in part because he was thought to be more serious than the other more frivolous members of the group. Nowadays we have a quite different view. Poulenc has emerged as by far the most important member of the group and in many ways the others are little more than names.

I have encountered Honegger before. I actually played the 5th symphony with the Norfolk Youth Orchestra in about 1973 and still remember it well.  I also played Pacific 231 some years ago. I also know the 2nd (strings and trumpet) and 3rd symphonies but as far as I recall I have never heard the first symphony.

I enjoyed the first movement which was very muscular and rhythmic. Had I heard it without knowing who composed it I might have thought it was Hindemith or even Stravinsky.  But I think that the work rather tailed off after that. The second movement wandered along quite nicely but without any really memorable ideas and I have already forgotten anything about it.  The third movement was an oddity - almost at times being a light-hearted scherzo which never really decided whether it was serious or not. The quiet ending was unexpected - almost as if Honegger was channelling Appalachian Spring and it did end rather abruptly with a very odd couple of notes on the horn.

So while I might well remind myself of the other symphonies - I'd quite like to play the 5th again - I think that I won't be rushing to hear the 1st symphony again.