Symphonic Music: January 2009 Archives

Eugen d'Albert
(1864-1932)

Esther Overture, Op. 8 (1888)

Frederic Lamond
(1868-1948)

Symphony in A Major, Op. 3 (1893)
From the Scottish Highlands – Overture, Op. 4
Sword Dance

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins
Hyperion CDA67387 59:51

The connection here is that both composers were born in Glasgow and both were influenced by Brahms. D'Albert, who was German, is known for his opera Tiefland and a couple of piano concertos; Lamond is hardly known at all. Good, solid nineteenth-century music and well-played by the BBC Scottish Symphony, which is used to learning forgotten scores.

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[ Sheet music by d'Albert: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Franz Krommer
(1759-1831)

Symphony #2, Op. 40 (1803)
Symphony #4, Op. 102 (undated)

London Mozart Players/Matthias Bamert
Chandos CHAN9275 57:38

This is one of Chandos' excellent Contemporaries of Mozart series, although the music sounds more like Haydn. Krommer, a Czech who worked in various European countries, seems to have been a very cheerful soul and these two symphonies abound with stylish playing and good humor. Quite a lot of Krommer has been recorded, including some delightful wind pieces and concertos for clarinet for oboe.

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[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Carl Czerny
(1791-1857)

Concerto in C Major for Piano 4-Hands, Op. 153
Symphony #2 in D Major, Op. 781

Liu Xiao Ming, Horst Göbel, piano
Frankfurt am Oder State Orchestra/Nikos Athinäos
Signum SIGX78-00 72:27

The prolific Viennese composer Czerny is best known for his studies, as generations of piano students will attest, but he wrote a great deal of music in different forms including the unusual concerto on this CD, and six symphonies.

The main influences on this music are Beethoven and Schubert with the occasional nod towards Weber. The music is tuneful, readily enjoyable and represents yet another pleasant musical byway. The German label should not be confused with the UK Signum label. Athinäos and his orchestra also recorded the first and fifth symphonies which share another Signum CD.

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  Reissued on Christophorus Entrée CHE0140: Amazon - UK - Germany - France ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus – Musicnotes.com ]

Harold Truscott
(1914-1992)

Suite in G Major (1966)
Elegy for String Orchestra (1944)
Symphony in E Major (1949-50)

National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland/Gary Brain
Marco Polo 8.223674 60:49

Sufficiently obscure not to warrant an entry in Grove, the English composer Truscott spent much of his life as a teacher, had a very wide musical knowledge including of composers not well known even today, and wrote a number of books on music. This CD contains most of the orchestral music he left us.

His style is difficult to compare to anyone else's: you might, for example, hear the odd similarity to Hindemith or Brian, and then the music sounds briefly French. It is variously outgoing, introspective, joyous and a number of others: the brass writing is particularly effective. The superb Elegy has much in common with the Barber Adagio and is equally moving.

The Irish orchestra has recorded quite a lot of obscure music for Marco Polo and are in fine form here. Those who venture into musical byways might recognise Gary Brain as the man behind several CDs of music by Czeslaw Marek.

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[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus – Musicnotes.com ]

Paul Creston
(1906-1985)

Symphony #1, Op. 20 (1940)
Symphony #2, Op. 35 (1944)
Symphony #3 "Three Mysteries", Op. 48 (1950)

National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine/Theodore Kuchar
Naxos 8.559034 72:39

Creston's first three symphonies are characterised by brilliant orchestration, appealing melody and vigorous dance rhythms. They have something of the same mood as some of Peter Mennin's work and I was reminded on more than one occasion of Bernard Herrmann, especially in an eerie two-note phrase in the third symphony which depicts the life of Christ.

Kuchar and his Ukrainian orchestra are in good form here. Naxos has re-released a Seattle version of the fifth symphony from its Delos original, and the fourth is available on Albany.

Read the Classical Net Review.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus – Musicnotes.com ]

Joly Braga Santos
(1924-1988)

Symphonic Variations, Op. 18 (1951)
Symphony #4, Op. 16 (1950)

National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland/Álvaro Cassuto
Marco Polo 8.225233 67:53

The Portuguese composer Braga Santos is one of many whose style changed considerably in mid-career. The first four of his six symphonies are characterised by long-line melodies and frequent dramatic brass writing with a generally upbeat atmosphere. This applies even more so to the variations.

The fourth is the longest symphony; the fifth and sixth are somewhat darker in tone with much greater use of dissonance. Marco Polo has recorded all six, together with some concertos and string music.

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Ildebrando Pizzetti
(1880-1968)

Rondo Veneziano (1929) 23:32
Preludio a un altro giorno (1952) 11:34
La Pisanella (1917) 22:40
Tre Preludii Sinfonici per L'Edipo Re (1903) 17:40

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä
Hyperion CDA67084 (CDH55329) 76:03

In Italy, Pizzetti was known much more for his operas, vocal works and theater pieces than for his symphonic and chamber music. He was a conservative composer, although he was one of the founders of the journal "Dissonanza" in 1914. Pizzetti was not only a composer but a writer and music critic.

Pizzetti's strong lifelong interest in the theater carries over to these instrumental pieces. If you are pleased by orchestral Debussy, Respighi, and tone poems of Richard Strauss, you will enjoy these works. The first piece, Rondo Veneziano, makes use of Italian folk-like material. La Pisanella is set in Venetian-controlled Cyprus, and the modality is characteristic of that location. These works are exciting and they are all brilliantly orchestrated.

Marco Polo issued two volumes of Pizzetti's chamber music that unfortunately have been discontinued. They are worth looking for.

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   Reissued as Hyperion Helios CDH55329: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus – Musicnotes.com ]

Frederic Cowen
(1852-1935)

Symphony #6 "The Idyllic" in E Major (1897)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
(1875-1912)

Symphony in A minor, Op. 8 (1896)

Aarhus Symphony Orchestra/Douglas Bostock
Classico CLASSCD684 71:50

Cowen's studies took him to Leipzig where he was taught by, among others, Reinecke, who also taught Stanford, who taught Coleridge-Taylor. Thus it's not surprising that these two symphonies have strong elements of the German Romantic tradition with Brahms never far away.

Although Coleridge-Taylor enjoyed popularity and his Hiawatha's Wedding Feast was still performed long after his death, neither composer now has any more than a tenuous foothold on posterity. If the music of this period appeals, you will find much to enjoy here.

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[ Sheet music by this Cowen: Sheet Music Plus – Musicnotes.com
  Sheet music by this Coleridge-Taylor: Sheet Music Plus – Musicnotes.com ]