Day 280
Bernard Van Dieren: Chinese Symphony
Soloists
BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales
William Boughton
Bernard Van Dieren (1887-1936) was Dutch composer but he spend his adult life in England. Like a number of his contemporaries (some of whom, such as Hollbrooke) have featured in this project, he was an eccentric who sat well outside the musical establishment and who attracted a small band of devoted followers who funded who work.
This Chinese symphony dates from 1914, though it was not performed until 1936, just before the composer’s death. It is a large scale work for large orchestra, 5 soloists and choirs, although the choir has comparatively little to do. It is very much an orchestral piece.
I thought it was awful! It was shapeless and flabby with no sense of rhythmic pulse or direction. The vocal writing is completely unidiomatic and at times very awkward. The general musical style is somewhere between Delius and Schoenberg and is best described as muddy and glutinous.
This is said by his admirers to be one of his finest works. I hate to imagine what the others must be like, but I am certainly not going to waste time finding out.
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