Holmès: Andromède

Day 47

Holmès: Andromède

Orchestra national du Capitole de'Toulouse

Leo Hussain 

This was another piece from the superb Compostrice set on the Bru Zane label.  August Holmès was in fact English but she settled in France and added the accent to her name to demonstrate her kinship with her new home. Her name crops up from time to time in the literature but usually as a footnote or as an aside when dealing with a more well-known composer.  This was the first time that I had head any of her music.

Andromède is a symphonic poem based on a poem by the composer which derives from Greek myth. It is an impressive full-blooded piece which shows mastery of the orchestra. Most commentators see Wagner as the principal influence but it reminded me more than anything else of an amalgam of Liszt and Cesar Franck, though at one point it strayed into Night on a Bare Mountain territory. To me it didn’t quite come off. There was too much sequential repetition, which after a while became irritating, and at times I thought that the more lyrical passages veered very close to Salon music. Nothing wrong with Salon music of course- I really enjoy much of it - but it did seem out of place in this context. The big climax was impressive in a way but somehow the big tune didn’t quite stick in the memory as I am sure the composer wanted it to.

So no forgotten masterpiece, but well worth hearing. I don’t believe in special pleading for Women composers but I do believe that we should take every opportunity to explore their output  - something that recording make possible in a way which was unthinkable when I was developing my knowledge of music. There’s plenty more do discover and I will continue to explore the rich vein which Bru Zane and others have opened up.