Sterndale Bennett Symphony in G minor

 Day 151 

Sterndale Bennett Symphony in G minor

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Nicholas Braithwaite

Sterndale Bennett retains a toe hold in musical history as the dedicatee of Schumann's Symphonic Studies, but his own works have all but vanished from the repertory. I do remember trying to play through some of his piano music at university but I don't think that I have ever heard any of his orchestral music before.

This symphony, from 1864, is his only mature work in this form (there are some early symphonies written when he was a student). Perhaps not surprisingly Schumann is the main influence - indeed if you heard this blind you would almost certainly identify it as an unknown work of his. There is are Mendelssohn-lie touches and the trombone writing in the first movement is very reminiscent of that in Schubert 9, which was beginning to become part of the repertory in the 1860s after years of being almost unknown. Oddly the trombones disappear after the introduction to the last movement even thought  the music seems very suitable for their use - - it is almost as if he had forgotten that they were available.

The score is rather uneven. The opening movement is undoubtedly the best of the four and the finale is almost at the same level. The slow movement, heavily featuring the violas, is a bit thick and glutinous at times while the third movement is very odd. It is a menuetto - quite old fashioned for 1864 with a trio just for brass instruments which seems completely out of place with the rest of the piece. As an experiment it was interesting but to me it didn't come off.

There are a number of concert overtures by Sterndale Bennett - I did look at one once when looking to put together interesting repertoire for a concert - perhaps it is time to have another look.