Rubbra Symphony no 7

 Day 86

Rubbra Symphony no 7 in c op 88

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Richard Hickox

I have a (extremely) tenuous connection with Rubbra in that my Ph.D supervisor John Tyrrell had Rubbra as his Ph.D supervisor. It is a bit like those early 20th century pianists who advertised themselves as pupils of pupils of Chopin! But whereas John was an inspirational teacher and mentor who spent endless amounts of time with me and taught me the importance of exacting standards he told me that Rubbra gave him very little help or support and that John was more or less left to fend for himself. But I suppose, considering that he ended up as an internationally renowned scholar, the experience didn't do him any harm.  

I have a vague memory of hearing a bit of one of Rubbra's choral works at university but otherwise his output is entirely unfamiliar to me so I had no real expectation of what sort of music this symphony would contain. I have to say that I found the symphony compelling - particularly the first movement. It was a serious piece of symphonic logic which was never flashy but which always commanded attention. The spirit of Sibelius certainly could be felt and at times there were flashes of Shostakovich-like intensity. The middle movement was attractive but never superficial, though I did think that perhaps it was a couple of minutes too long.  The finale was particularly interesting. A long passacaglia, very serious and weighty in tone with some really impressive climaxes - then a fugue. I knew that the movement was described as a Passacaglia and Fugue and every time I turned a page in the score I was waiting for the fugue to start, but for ages it didn't - indeed at one point I though that I must have made a mistake and that there wasn't a fugue at all. But eventually it did come: it did seem to me that the proportions were not quite right and that the Passacaglia was too long and overshadowed the fugue - which didn't really have the space to develop.

But that apart I thought that this was a very well constructed symphony showing a serious mind at work and with a real grasp of symphonic logic. There is plenty more Rubbra to go at and I will certainly explore some of the other symphonies. I must get over my slight prejudice against him which I must have absorbed from John.