Henze: Symphony no 7

Day 243

Henze: Symphony no 7 

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Simon Rattle

Henze was an important figure in contemporary music when I was at university but since then he seems to have rather faded from view. I certainly heard some of his music as a student but I don't have any strong recollections of it and I don't think that I have heard any of it since.

This symphony dates from 1983-4 and to some extent is a traditional work in the German symphonic tradition, in that it is a substantial piece in four movements - fast, slow, scherzo, fast. Whether Brahms or Beethoven would have recognised that is a different matter. The idiom is clearly mid 20th century in an amalgam of Stravinsky, Messiaen and Schoenberg among others. It is scored for a huge orchestra including Hecklephone, Contrabass clarinet, Contrabass trombone and lots of percussion.

It was certain a tough nut to crack. The first movement in particularly was unyielding in its ferocity and rhythmic drive - I imagine that it would sound amazing in a live performance. The end of the whole piece is also spectacular - everything works up to a huge climax and then suddenly stops, leaving the sounds of the more sustained instruments to die away gradually - it is an memorable effect.

I don't know whether Henze's days are now passed - the politics which infused so much of his music now seem very out of date. But this is certainly strong music which does deserve a hearing. I'm not sure whether I have the willpower to listen to the whole cycle of symphonies but I might try one of the operas.

Hans Gál: Symphony no 1

Day 242

Hans Gál: Symphony no 1

Orchestra of the Swan

Kenneth Woods

I was aware of Hans Gál as a writer on music from my student days - he wrote the BBC music guide on the Schumann symphonies among other publications - but I was unaware that he also composed. Over the last couple of decades I have become aware, mainly through reviews in Gramophone Magazine, that he was a composer as there has been something of a revival of his music. He was one of the many musicians forced out of Germany in the 1930s who found exile in this country. He lived to 97 and by the time of his death - 1987 - was one of the last links to the old German romantic tradition. For example he helped Mandyczewski- a member of the Brahms circle - with the publication of the Brahms complete edition.

This symphony is very much rooted in the Viennese tradition with overtones particularly of Brahms but also of Bruckner and to some extent Mahler. That is except in the scherzo, which has a a much more contemporary feel - it is a sardonic burlesque which has strong hints of Stravinsky and Hindemith, and even a touch of Prokofiev,

Like much of the music of little known composer that I have listened to in this project it is attractive and well worth hearing without perhaps reflecting a distinctive enough personality to keep its place in a very crowded field - there is just so much music out there…..

Eisler: Kleine Sinfonie

Day 241

Hans Eisler: Kleine Sinfonie

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Ivan Volkov

Eisler’s complex person journey is a sober reflection on the impact of world events in the 20th century. He was born into a secular Jewish family and fought for Germany in the first war. But he went into exile when the Nazis came to power and spent a few itinerant years in various European countries before emigrating to the USA. But after the war he fell foul of the Macarthyism and was denounced as the Karl Marx of music and suspected of being a Soviet spy. He was deported and ended up in East Germany, where he wrote the national anthem and was involved in political theatre. 

The Kleine Sinfonie is a comparatively early work (1931) and the composer described working on it as giving him a rest from more serious projects. It used material from some of the stage works he had been writing at the time. It it is a bracing energetic style with overtones of Jazz and popular music - saxophones to the fore. Its quite raucous at times, thought here are some more relaxed melodic passages. I enjoyed it - it was not too taxing on the ear and was short enough not to get boring. It was perhaps a little less agit prop that I was expecting but at this stage Eisler was not yet aware of the massive political currents that would effect his composition outlook in the years to come.

Gottfried Von Einem: Philadelphia Symphony

Day 240

Gottfried Von Einem: Philadelphia symphony

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Franz Welser-Möst

This was a real surprise.  I had heard of the composer and knew that he wrote some fairly intense operas so I was expecting this to be an intense expressionistic work full of angst and complex chromatic harmony. It was nothing of the sort. It was a delightful piece very much, as some on-line commentators have said - in the spirit of Haydn. It is light and witty and very much infused with the spirit of Neo-classical Stravinsky - indeed heard cold you might even think in placed that it was by Poulenc. The first and last movements are energetic and bouncy with lots of off beat rhythms in unexpected places. The middle movement is lyrical without being mawkish.  All in all a work I really enjoyed.

Von Einem stayed in Germany during the war but was a strong support of Jewish musicians and used his influence to help several of them escape the Nazis. He was prominent in German music life after the war and his operas are still part of the repertory there. This symphony dates from around 1960. It was written, as the name suggests for the Philadelphia orchestra but for some reason it was not performed there and was given its premiere in Vienna instead. There are hints that there was some sort of disagreement about the score but so far I can't find any more detail.

I don't know how typical this piece is of the composer's output but it certainly made me curious to hear more.

Werner Egk: Kleine Symphonie

Day 239

Werner Egk: Kleine Symphonie

Frankfurt state orchestra

Nikos Athinaos

Back to 20th century German symphonies. I knew the name Werner Egk but had never heard any of his music. It turns out that Egk was not his real name - it was a pseudonym based on the initial letters of his wife’s name. I don’t know why he used a pseudonym- he didn’t seem to have a reason to disguise his identity. Like all composers of his generation (he was born in 1901) he had to find a way to deal with the Nazis and there are varying reports as to how much he was compromised. He was involved with the official musical establishment during the war and won a music prize associated with the 1936 Olympic Games. But he was exonerated in de-Nazification tribunals and went on to hold dominant musical positions in German after the war.  As with so many of his contemporaries the truth of exactly what his relationship with the Nazis is will probably never be known.

This symphony is a comparatively early work (1926). It is called a Kleine symphony and I was expecting a short lightweight peice but this is anything but. It is a full scale four movement work for large orchestra- including piano and a lot of percussion -which lasts about half an hour. I rather enjoyed it.  Stylistically it is a bit all over the place - it clearly sit in the early 20th century neo classical tradition of Hindemith and Stravinsky rather than the late romantic world of Richard Strauss, but as I listened to it all sorts of other music suggested itself - Sibelius, Walton, even Ives. And the second movement seemed to belong to the world of Shostakovich with its rather sardonic humour and spare orchestration. Shostakovich was writing his first symphony at more or less the same time as Egk, though I doubt that there was any direct influence one way or the other.

Altogether this was an impressive achievement. It had a sense of music logic and the material never outstayed its welcome. The end was particularly notable - a long build up with ostainato figures (Siberian in technique if not in sound) out of what a triumphant E flat major chord gradually emerges to finish the piece is a blaze of optimism.

I think that this is the only symphony that Egk wrote - he seems to have concentrated on opera and incidental music. I’d certainly be interested in hearing more of his work.

Paisiello: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Day 238

Paisiello: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Soloists

Putbus festival opera orchestra and chorus

Wilhelm Keitel

This is another in this series of operas by the 'wrong' composer.  It was certainly an audacious step by the young Rossini to tackle this subject given the fame of Paisiello's opera, particularly as Rossini's libretto followed much the same plot outline. It is almost as if somebody like Mark-Anthony Turnage had started his operatic career by writing another Peter Grimes.

I'm a great Rossini enthusiast - though the Barber is far from my favourite Rossini opera - so it is perhaps unsurprising that I feel that history has got it right in its choice of which Barber should remain in the repertory.  Not that there is anything wrong with Paisiello's version - I enjoyed listening to it a lot. It struck me as being like Mozart without the genius. A completely mastery of the mature classical opera style but little that was anything more than the work of a very accomplished composer who knew how to write for an audience. There were a couple of times when I felt that he did achieve something more. There is a comic trio involving a lot of sneezing, which made me smile, and a soprano aria in Act two which had some attractive harmony and some emotional depth. But what was lacking more than anything is the manic energy that Rossini brought to the same story.  Perhaps that is an unfair comparison - Rossini was writing a generation later and had a wider variety of musical language to draw on - but if Rossini can sometime be cliched he is never bland and much of this opera did seem to be rather bland.

I can imagine that it would be fun to watch in the theatre, and certainly I was glad to hear it today, but give me Rossini any day.

Furtwängler: Symphony no 2

Day 237

Wilhelm Furtwängler: Symphony no 2

Estonian National Symphony Orchestra

Neeme Järvi

Many conductors have thought of themselves primarily as composers - but few of them have managed to established a firm place in the repertory for their music. Mahler is the obvious exception, though if I had been doing this blog 100 years ago I would probably have discounted his music as at most an interesting curiosity.

So in this part of the project, looking at 20th century German symphonies it seems appropriate to consider Furtwängler as a composer. He of course was a pre-eminent conductor - many would say the greatest conductor of the central Austro-German symphonic repertoire, so I was curious to hear what his music sounded like.  This symphony dates from 1944-1945 and it is tempting to see it as a look back at the world of the 19th century masters, as if looking forward was too painful to contemplate. It is very substantial work, in 4 movements lasting over 80 minutes in total.  I didn't hear it straight though but sampled it a movement at a time.

Bruckner is an obvious influence, but one can also feel the presence of Brahms. Traces of Dvořák, and more surprisingly Sibelius, also come through from time to time. Unfortunately for me however this did not make for an attractive or compelling listening experience. In fact to be honest I thought that this was a dreadful piece. Furtwängler had no melodic gift and the music simple droned on and on with, what appeared to me, to have no shape or sense of line. It was also totally overscored. Time and time again the composer couldn't leave well alone but had to add extra bits and pieces in the background which had no real interest in themselves and only served to muddy the texture.  Some of the music had moments of interest but elsewhere it seemed trite and even banal - the ending was just awful.

I am glad in a way to have heard this - but I will never want to listen to it again!

Fortner: Symphony

Day 236

Wolfgang Fortner: Symphony

West German Radio Symphony Orchestra

Günter Wand

Fortner is another of those German composers who were active in the years up to, during, and after the Second World War. Although he was for a time conductor of the orchestra of the Hitler Youth in Heidelberg, he seems to have escaped the taint of Nazism and he became one of the leaders of the German musical revival after the war.

This symphony dates from 1947 and is as far as I can see the only one he wrote. It is a fairly compact 4-movement piece which I have so say I found completely underwhelming. Indeed a few hours after I had listened to it I had completely forgotten almost everything about it. The style is best described as being in the style of Hindemith or perhaps neo classical Stravinsky - it was competent and professional but nothing more than that. I can’t say that I am tempted to listen to any more of his music.

Pfitzner: Symphony in C

Day 235

Pfitzner: Symphony in C

Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Gerard Schwarz

Pfitzner had a complex relationship with the Nazis. He was anti-semitic but at the same time he was protective towards some Jewish musicians. He had been born in 1869 so was quite old during the Nazi years and seems to have become a sad and embittered figure.

I don't really ever having heard any of his music. His opera Palestrina is considered his masterpiece and perhaps one day I will get round to listening to it. This symphony is a late work, dating from 1940.  I found it a curious piece. The first movement is incredibly anachronistic - it looks like Brahms on the page and indeed there is almost nothing in the music itself which would be out of place in Brahms. It was rhythmically very four square and it seems to me to be almost pastiche, although there is nothing that I can see to show that that was the intention.

The slow movement is brief - little more than an intermezzo - with a cor anglais solo which doesn't really stick in the memory. But it is the finale which is the oddest.  It starts in a jolly 6/8 dance style which would not have been out of place in English folk song inspired piece of light music. It continues in that vein for a while and then it is almost as it Pfitzner suddenly realised that he was writing in 1940 and not 1880. The music breaks out into a fugal texture with quite complex textures and cross rhythms. This lasts for a while and then he gets back into the 6/8 mode and writes a really cliched and unconvincing final few pages.

It really is very odd - to be frank I thought that it was awful - one of the worst things I have heard in this project. The first two movements were OK without being anything special but this last movement was just dreadful.

Hartmann: Symphony no 6

Day 234

Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Symphony no 6

RIAS Symphony orchestra

Ferenc Fricsay

Hartmann remained in Bavaria during the war but managed to avoid the taint of being associated with the Nazis and after the war became one of the key figures in the revival of German music. He wrote eight symphonies and this, no 6 from 1951-3 though based in part on material dating from the 1930s, seems to be the best regarded of the eight.  It is in two movements - slow then fast. The first movement begins in what seems to be an offhand way with some bassoon 'twiddles' but gradually evolves into quite a powerful piece which builds to a strong climax. At times I found I it a bit dour, and lacking in rhythmic variety. The second is a scherzo with prominent parts for piano and percussion. Indeed the sound world was very much that of Bartók's music for strings, percussion and celeste. although ultimately it lacked the bite of Bartók's masterpiece. I thought that is was rather long for its material.

So a half welcome for this piece. I didn't feel it was a masterpiece, though I am glad that I listened to it. but ultimately I couldn't see a real distinctive tone of voice here.  I think that it may be a while before I tackle any more of his symphonies.

Schmidt: Symphony no 4

Day 233

Franz Schmidt: Symphony no 4

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Jonathan Berman

After the, frankly not very interesting, series of baroque concerti I am moving on to something more challenging - 20th century Austro-German symphonies - particular those from the first half of the century. This is of course a fascinating period in musical history. Few German or Austrian composers were unaffected by the terrible events of the Nazi era and whatever side they took - and the debates on what precisely some of these individuals actually did never ceases - what happened had a profound effect on them and their music. At the same time you had the development of modernism in 20th century music being pitted against the forces of conservatism.

Franz Schmidt (1874-1939 was one of the leading composers in the earlier part of the century. The Nazis latched on to him as a composer of nationalistic work, particularly his oratorio The Book of the Seven Seals. There is real doubt about his true views on the Nazis and he was known to assist Jewish musicians. On the other hand this symphony is dedicated to Oswald Kabasta, who was undoubtedly a fervent Nazi supporter.

The 4th symphony is a late work - it was written in 1933 and first performed the following year. It is a substantial piece lasting about 45 minutes in four movements played without a break.  I think that I may have heard the very beginning before - it starts with a long solo trumpet melody - but otherwise this was new to me.

I found it compelling listening and understood why it is held is such high regard by many commentators. There is a real sense of symphonic development throughout the piece and some highly expressive lyrical moments. The style is very conservative for a work of the mid 1930s. Bruckner is the obvious influence both in the shape of the thematic material and the gradual way that it unfolds. The harmonic language is slightly more advanced than you find in late Bruckner, but not by much. The world of Strauss and Mahler, so say nothing of Stravinsky or Schöenberg might as well never have existed. 

There was so much to enjoy and savour in this music - it was a real find for me. There are 3 other symphonies and an important opera, Notre Dame, to explore as well as The Book of the Seven Seals. I look forward to making their acquaintance.

Tartini: Two concertos

Day 232

Tartini: Two concertos

Violin concerto in E minor

Chouchane Siranossian

Venice Baroque Orchestra

Andrea Marcon

Flute concerto in G major

Mario Folena

L’Arte del Arco

Giovanni Guglielmo

Another day -  more baroque concertos, this time by Tartini.  All I know of him is the so-called Devil's Trill sonata, which I did hear once, but otherwise I know nothing of his music.

I am afraid to say that this struck me, like most of the music in this part of the project, as little more than musical wallpaper. Quite pleasant and easy on the ear, but without anything much more to commend it. There were a couple of moments of interest harmony in the flute concerto but that was about it: otherwise is just passed the time without really engaging the brain.

So that marks the end of this little exploration of the baroque concerto repertory. If I continued I might hit the jackpot, but I fear it would just be more of the same. So onto something much more challenging tomorrow.

Leoncavallo: La Bohème

Day 231

Leoncavallo La Bohème

Soloists

Chorus and Orchestra of la Fenice Venice

Jan Latham Koenig

This is one of the most well know examples of operas by the 'wrong' composer. Unlike some of the other examples the 'right' and 'wrong' composers were working on their operas at more or less the same time - indeed there was some dispute between them as to who had the rights to the story. 

I saw a performance of Cav and Pag at the ENO (Sadlers Wells Opera as it was then) on a school trip - I can't say I remember much about it and I don't think that I have listened to I Paglicci or anything else by Leoncavallo since then. So I approached this with a very open mind.

My initial reactions were very positive, I thought that the first act was splendid. It had an energy and a lightness of touch which really suited the happy goings on of the young friends eating and drinking at the café momus knowing that they had nothing to pay the bill with.  Indeed I think Leoncavallo matched, perhaps even surpassed, Puccini in his characterisation of the friends. There was a distinct French tinge to some of the music here and I wouldn't have surprised me if I had been told that it was by Massenet.

In Puccini's La Boheme that opening scene can seem a bit of a drag (even though it is quite short) because you know you are waiting for the moment that Rudolfo and Mimi meet and sing their love duet. Nothing else really matters. The problem with Leoncavallo's work is that there is no equivalent emotional moment. In his opera it is Marcello who is the tenor and he is love with Musetta who is a mezzo. That doesn't really work for me and in any case there is nothing remotely like the love duet for them to sing. Rudolfo here is a baritone and doesn't really seem a well rounded character. Mimi is a soprano and has some affecting music  but she is not a dominant character and only really emerges towards the end of the opera. Her death scene - one of the great moment in the Puccini - is actually rather perfunctory and the opera ends rather ineffectively.

So a real curiosity. There are lots of references to other operas in the score - les Huguenots and Tristan among them - and some very attractive music in places. But after that tremendous first act is was a bit of a disappointment: posterity made the right call!

Graun: Two concertos

Day 230

Johann Gottlieb Graun: Two concertos 

Horn Concerto in D Lund16

Barry Tuckwell

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Iona Brown

Viola de Gamba  Concerto in A major

Vittorio Ghielmi

Orchestra Wiener Akadamie

Martin Hasellböck

I was vaguely aware of Graun as an opera composer but I didn’t know that he had written concertos. Again I picked two at random. The horn concerto is a very slight work and interesting only to the extent that is shows off what baroque horn players were capable of. The viola de Gamba concerto is a rather more substantial work - not only in length but also in its musical language. Graun does take the music into unexpected areas from time to time and clearly enjoys exploring the sound and texture of the solo instrument. But as I have said with most of the concerti in this series the music doesn’t really create much an impression on me - it is well crafted and pleasant but it really is a case of in one ear and out of the other. Perhaps I ought to give Graun another go - though if I do it would certainly be to try out one of the operas.

Heinichen: Two concertos

Day 229

Johann David Heinichen: Two concertos

Concerto for Two oboes in E minor

Martin Stadler

Hariett Herrle

Concerto for Flute in D major

Laurence Dean

Fiori Musicali

Thomas Albert

I remember that the advertisers had some fun with the composer’s name when the first recordings of his music were issued - the resemblance to the well known drinks manufacturer was too good to ignore. 

I really enjoyed this music - it seemed to have more personality that the Vivaldi and Telemann that I have listened to so far in this sequence. There was an unpredictability about the music which I found refreshing after the musical wallpaper of the previous two days. Heinichen is not afraid of breaking up the momentum of the music or introducing unexpected elements. Most notable perhaps was the last movement of the flute concerto where there were some surprising rhythmic displacements and some charming pizzicato accompanying figures. This was delightful music.

I don’t know too much about Heinichen but I would certainly be up to listening to some more of his output - I don’t think that he was as prolific as some of his baroque contemporaries so perhaps that makes it less of a daunting prospect.

Telemann: Two concertos

Day 228

Telemann: Two Concertos

Viola Concerto in G TWV 51:G9

Antoine Tamestit

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

Bernhard Force

Concerto for Recorder and Bassoon TWW 52:FIII

Frans Brüggen

Otto Fleischmann

Concentus Music Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Telemann, like Vivaldi, has the reputation of being a composer who churned out music by the yard - indeed it is often thought that he used assistants to fill in the middle parts in the texture. I don’t recall ever having consciously listen to any of his music - though I must have heard some of it before.

I enjoyed these two concertos. The style is more Handelian than I expected: it is elegant and sophisticated with plenty of interesting twists and turns. The choice of instruments and combinations certainly helps - in particular the dark tone of the viola adds to the attraction of the first of the concertos here. Again, though I can’t imagine wanting to spend a huge amount of time with Telemann.

Vivaldi: Two violin concertos

Day 227

Vivaldi: Tw violin concertos

Violin Concerto in C RV181a

Holland Baroque Society

Rachel Podger

Violin Concerto in C RV187

Il Giardino Armonico

Victoria Mullova 

My knowledge of Vivaldi is largely confined to the Gloria (which we sang at school), the Four Seasons and a few of the bassoon concerto. Of course there is a lot more to go at. There is a famous saying that Vivaldi didn't write 400 concertos - he wrote one concerto 400 times. Sometimes this saying is attributed to Stravinsky but I have never seen it properly sources, and in different versions the number is 300 or 200 and sometimes it is only violin concertos that are included.

Whatever the source there is I think some truth in the anecdote.  I selected a couple of  concertos at random to sample. I have to say that I did find them rather like musical wallpaper. Not unpleasant but equally completely unmemorable. I certainly won't be trying to listen to the complete set anytime soon.

Incidentally what struck me in both performances (by different groups) is just how aggressive the performance of music of this era has become. The attack is worthy of Bartók or Stravinsky! Is this really how this music would have sounded at the time?

Ernst: Variations on The Last Rose of Summer

Day 226

Ernst: Variations on ‘The Last Rose of Summer’

Hilary Hahn

I end this short series of solo violin works with a bit of fun. Heinrich Willhelm Ernst was perhaps the leading violin virtuoso of the post-Paganini generation and he left a number of pieces designed to show off his technique, including a solo violin version of Schubert’s Erlkönig, which has to be heard to be believed.  These variations are a favourite encore peice for those few violinist who can master its challenges. There’s everything there including some extraordinary combination of left-hand pizzicato with bowed arpeggios. The pure musical worth is obviously quite minimal but the sheer sense of fun makes it a very attractive piece to listen to. I can’t begin to imagine how anybody could even start to learn to play it.

The next few days will be devoted to baroque concerti. I’ve not featured much baroque music in this project to date so time to make amends.

Bolcom: Suite for solo violin

Day 225

William Bolcom: Suite for solo violin

Philip Picsor

Back to solo violin works.

I don’t think that I have heard any of Balcom’s music but I have certainly read about him and his interest in poplar music, particularly ragtime, and how it can be infused into contemporary music. So I was expecting something quirky in this suite for solo violin. But I must confess that I found this a rather dull piece - I couldn’t discern any popular elements and I didn’t really find much to engage me. Indeed I found some of it, particularly the glassy sounding very high pianissimo notes in the second movement difficult to listen to. 

This piece dates from 1977 and is therefore a fairly early work so perhaps it is not reflective of the composer’s mature engagement with popular music. I probably need to explore some of the piano rags, but that is for another day. This was not a piece for me.

Auber: Manon Lescaut

Day 224

Auber: Manon Lescaut

Soloists

Chorus and Orchestra of the Radio France

Jean-Pierre Marty

This is the second in my series of operas by the ‘wrong’ composer. I’m rather fond of Auber - I discovered him at university when I was fortunate enough to conduct a performance of la Muette di Portici. His Manon Lescaut is a comparatively late work (1856) and bridges the period between the world of Cherubini and of Offenbach. It has the typical mix of styles that one finds in Opéra Comique,with some very light and attractive music sitting alongside some really quite impressively serious moments. The end, in particular, is highly dramatic and would not be out of place in once of the big Meyerbeer operas. In fact this was the first work to be put on at the Opéra Comique theatre which had a tragic ending. At this stage of his career Auber had a complete mastery of the stage and the whole opera has a real pace and sense of dramatic momentum, though punctuated by moments where the drama does stop to give the soprano time to show off. Although the opera fell out of the repertory fairly quickly one number, the laughing song in the first act finale, remained a favourite of coloratura sopranos and many of the most famous names have recorded it. Otherwise taste changed and after Massenet and Puccini had in turn written their Manon operas there was certainly no place in the repertoire for a third Manon opera. But at least we can hear Auber’s version on record and I was delighted to make its acquaintance after previously only having known the laughing song.

Krenek: Sonata for solo violin

Day 223

Krenek: Sonata no 1 for solo violin

Christoph Schickedanz

Krenek’s career is a fascinating example of how the political events of the 20th century shaped the development of so many musicians. He had a massive success with his early opera Jonny Spielt Auf, which was immediately taken up by many German opera houses. Wikipedia says that it received more than 400 performances in its first year. The Jazz and the ‘negro’ elements in the work fell foul of the Nazi regime, who denounced it as degenerate music. Krenek emigrated to the US where he had a long career as a teacher and a musicologist. His music went through many styles, from atonality through to neo-classism and serialism with experiments in electronic and aleatoric music.

I saw Jonny Spielt Auf when it was revived by Opera North some years ago. The Jazz elements were rather fun but I remember much of the rest as being rather turgid. I don’t think that I have heard another another note of Krenek’s music since. This sonata for solo violin dates from 1925 so is quite an early piece. It is full length work in four movements which in total last for more than half an hour. It must take astonishing powers of concentration and technique to play it live in concert.  Stylistically it hovered between Begian/Schoenbergian atonality in the first and third movements with something more akin to Bartok or even Shostakovich in the second, scherzo, movement. All three of these movements showed evidence of a strong musical imagination and they held my attention throughout. The final movement was rather disappointing in comparison. It started off in an almost jaunty neo-classical style and then I thought rather lost its way. That was a pity because otherwise I was impressed by the piece. Again, as I have said before in this short series about solo violin works, the influence of Bach is everywhere. The musical language is of course quite different but the understanding of how to write for the solo violin, such how to contrast chordal passages with more freely-moving melodic material is rooted in the experience of the Bach sonatas and partitas.

Paganini: The 24 Caprices

Day 222

Paganini: The 24 Caprices

Itzak Perlman

Over the years I have heard several of the Paganini caprices, not just the famous no 24, but I have never properly listened to all of them, so this was a good opportunity to fill that gap in my knowledge. I am sure that there were never intended to be listened to in a continuous series so I spread my listening into small groups throughout the day.

Again the issue arises as to how much true musical value there is in these pieces as opposed to the fascination as to what is possible from one player on a single violin. The answer here is I think mixed. Some of these are little more than exercise that one would never want to listen to purely as music, but others have some real musical character. Paganini was certainly well versed in the operatic conventions of his time and one hear that reflected in many of these pieces.

What is fascinating is how many composers took this music as a starting point for further development. Not only the many people who wrote variations on caprice 24, but the keyboard composers who took Paganini’s basic outlines and turned them into sustained and much more developed pieces. Schumann, Liszt and Brahms, to name but three, built on Paganini’s ideas and explored their possibilities in a way which the composer himself could never have done.  I’m not sure that any other set of pieces has been quite such an inspiration to so many major composers. 

Berio: Senquenza VIII

Day 221

Berio: Sequenza VIII for solo violin

Liza Ferschtman 

It is fascinating to consider what has happened to the reputations of the dominant figures of the avant garde in the years when I was a music student. Boulez remains a major figure but Stockhausen, Nono and Berio have rather faded away and I wonder whether they will eventually be seen as minor ‘interesting’ figures by musicians 100 years from now. I did listen to a fair bit of Berio in my student days but it must be years since I heard anything of his. The series of sequenzas for solo instrument occupied him for much of his life and they still are studied by advanced players as a way of extending their techniques.

In this notes for Sequenza VIII Berio mentions the way that the Bach chaconne has an inescapable resonance for anybody writing solo violin music. This Sequenza of course sounds nothing like Bach but one can still feel the kinship over two centuries. There is a seriousness to this music and the way that the opening long note pattern keep reemerging out of the complexity of the texture gives the listener a good anchor point. So this was undoubtedly ‘real’ music which goes beyond mere technical interest.

Françaix: Theme and variations for solo violin

 Day 220

Françaix: Theme and variations for solo violin

Barbora Kolářová

I’ve known Françaix’s delightful concertino for piano since my student days and I have also played some of his piquant wind music so I was expecting from this piece some Gallic charm combined with melodic flair and some spiky harmonies. But I was rather disappointed. It didn’t seem to have any of those qualities - the best description I can give it is bland and workmanlike. I don’t know the background to the work but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were some sort of advanced exercise piece or a work written as a test piece for a  competition .  It wasn’t unpleasant or challenging - just completely unmemorable.

Biber: Rosary Sonata no 16

Day 219

Biber: Rosary Sonata no 16  - Passacaglia in C minor Guardian angel

Rachel Podger

Biber’s Rosary Sonatas are one of the most important works in the early violin repertoire.They use a variety of techniques and are perhaps most famous for their use of Scordatura. The first 15 sonatas have continuo accompaniment but the last one is this extended passacaglia for solo violin. It dates from 1676 but was not published until 1905. There is much speculation on line that Bach was influenced by the piece when he came to write his Chaconne for solo violin as the final moment of his D minor partita, though there is no evidence that Bach actually knew the piece.

One can see why people make the connection because there is an obvious affinity between the two pieces. Both are solemn works in a minor key and use chordal and contrapuntal writing to make the violin sound as it it were a small ensemble. I really enjoyed listening to Biber’s piece - it had a real musical value which took it well beyond just being an exercise in violin technique.  How violinists keep up the intensity of bow pressure required for a piece like this, with virtually no room to breathe, is completely beyond me but Rachel Podger, whose recordings of solo Bach I treasure, is completely in control of every aspect of this peice,

Ysaÿe: Sonata no 1 for solo violin

Day 218

Ysaÿe: Sonata no 1 for solo violin

Hilary Hahn

Ysaÿe’s set of 6 sonatas for solo violin are generally considered to be the most important contributions to the solo violin repertoire since Bach’s sonatas and partitas. Each of them is dedicated to a particular violinist and is meant in some way to reflect that violinists style and musical inspiration. The first of them, which is the one which I chose, is dedicated to Szegeti, The spirit of Bach is everywhere in this 4-movement piece - though Bach would no doubt have been astonished both by the harmonic idiom and the technical demands placed on the soloists. As a wind player who only ever has to play one note at a time (I’ve never got into multiphonics) is is jaw dropping to hear what one player can produce. The composer is quite happy to write chords in four and even six parts and elaborate contrapuntal passages which if you heard the piece cold you would swear were being played by at least two violinists.

So as a feat of compositional technique this was highly inventive music - and the performance by Hilary Hahn was superb: the question remains as to the value of this piece in purely musical terms. Is there enough to engage the attention once you have got past the technical wizardry? I’m not sure. There were moments, particularly in the 3rd movement, where I thought that there was genuine musical invention that worked on its own terms, but I didn’t feel that all the way through. Still Bach’s solo violin music tends to be quite slow to give up its secrets so perhaps this sonata does need a further hearing.

Dietsch: le Vaisseau fantôme

Day 217

Dietsch: le Vaisseau fantôme

Soloists

Les Musicians du Louvre

Mark Minkowski

This is the first in what will be an occasional series of operas by the 'wrong' composer - i.e.  familiar titles but not the composer you expect.  I will fit them in on days when I have enough time to hear the entire opera.

Dietsch was associated with the Opèra in Paris for many years, ultimately becoming its musical director. In that capacity he was the conductor of the disastrous first performance in Paris of Tannhäuser, which led to a riot secondly only to that which took place at the first performance of Le Sacre du Printemps. 

Some years earlier Dietsch had composed a version of the Flying Dutchman. There is some dispute about exactly what happened but it seemed that Wagner had sold the scenario to the Paris Opèra in a desperate attempt to raise some money and I think that he had hoped that he would be commissioned to composer the opera. But the commission was given to Dietsch. The opera was given a handful of performances and then was completely forgotten until it was revived for this recording.

History was not wrong in associating the opera with Wagner. Dietsch's effort is pale in comparison. Much of it can generously be described as hack work by somebody who was clearly familiar with the French operatic repertoire but who had little real imagination of his own. Perhaps that it is a little unfair. There were a few moments when the opera did leap off the page - particularly in the long second act duet between the Senta and Daland characters (they have different names in this version). But elsewhere the inspiration is seriously thin.

So no more than a curiosity - I wonder how many times I will say that in this series?

Tomorrow I start a new theme - works for solo violin. I know the Bach sonatas and partitas but other than that repertoire is a complete blank so it will be fun to see what I can discover.

Gabriel Prokofiev: Concerto for turntables

Day 216

Gabriel Prokofiev: Concerto for turntables

Mr Switch

Ural Philharmonic Orchestra

Alexey Bogorad

This one was not for me!  Gabriel Prokofiev is Serge's grandson. He is classically trained but has an interest in electro-acoustic music and D J techniques. So this piece uses a symphony orchestra in combination with all sorts of weird and wonderful effects using turntables. I found it pretty hard going - the music itself was not unattractive although it didnt' do much more than just burble on in the background. The turntable effects just made me grit my teeth and pray for it all to be over.. ...

Franz Strauss: Horn concerto

Day 215

Franz Strauss: Horn concerto in C minor op 8

Samuel Seidenberg

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra

Sebastian Weigle

Franz Strauss, Richard’s father, was one of the foremost horn players of his time. He played in a number of important Wagner premiers, although he had no sympathy for Wagner’s music - and the composer had no sympathy for him as a person saying of him (according to Wikepedia)  "Strauss is a detestable fellow but when he blows his horn one cannot sulk with him.”

This horn concerto dates from 1865 and shows Franz Strauss conservative frame of reference- much of it could have been written by Schumann or even Mendelssohn. In purely musical terms is it a fairly slight work and at times is rather cliched, but it does give the horn plenty of opportunities to shine - which is I suppose the whole point of the piece. It is perhaps a little more than a mere curiosity, but I doubt that many people would have given it much attention had it not been for the fact that it fits nicely on a CD with Richard Strauss’s two horn concertos.

Soulima Stravinsky: String quartet no 1

Day 214

Soulima Stravinsky: String quartet no 1

Quatuor de Calarmont 

Soulima Stravinsky was the third child of Stravinsky and his first wide. I knew that he was a pianist - he made some recordings with his father and separately of his father’s music but somehow I had only thought that he wrote pedagogical music for children. I got that wrong because he did write some other music including three string quartets.

I really enjoyed this first quartet - it would stand on its own regardless of the family connection. It is in three quite short movements, well constructed with a clear musical argument. I would describe the idiom as like mild Prokofiev with a touch of French overlay. It uses ostinato techniques very effectively and has some attractive textural effects, include some interesting use of harmonics.  All in all a good piece which many more famous composers would have been pleased to have written.

Domenico Puccini: Piano concerto

Day 213

Domenico Puccini: Piano concerto in B flat major

Eugene List

Austrian Tonkünstler Orchestra

Zlatko Topolinski

The Puccini was the 5th generation of composers in his family. Domenico, the composer of today’s piece, was his grandfather. He lived from 1772-1815 so was quite distant in time from the Puccini, who was not born until 1858. Musically they are many generations apart. This piano concerto is a typical work of the late Classical era. It has something of the spirit of Haydn and perhaps also of Mozart. But compared to their achievements this is very much the music of the local kappelmeister. Attractive and competently put together but without anything much to differentiate it from the hundreds of similar works which were being written by minor composers of the time.  There are attractive moments but also plenty of routine passages where the composer seems simply to be going through the motions. Like most of the pieces I have heard in this little exploration over the last few days one wonders if anybody would have gone to the trouble of performing and recording the piece had it not been for the family connections.