Magnard, Albérich (1865 - 1914)

[Beef Oven!]

Gee whiz, how did you Brits ever get a reputation for understated reserve? Whoever thought that Magnard could inspire such passion?
While I understand the point that Throp and Beefy are making, I am quite sure that jlw's choice of words was completely unintentional. Clearly she has great respect and love for the Composer and has done a great service here in peaking interest amongst others. I searched my shelves and turned up a Plasson recording that has been gathering dust for years and will give it a spin shortly. As for Magnard, single handedly taking on an invading Army of what was considered Europe's most potent Military Machine at the time to defend Home and Country, he sounds like he would have made a terrific companion at a Dinner Party--or a foxhole.

Just for clarification, the point that I was making was that it was probably unintentional, and you've repeated that. Mind you don't get young Rocky Barbirollians on yer back!

[ahinton]

Magnard's "moral fibre" and courage extends back beyond his final dreadful experience; he was from a quite well-to-do family (his father being a successful writer and head honcho at Le Figaro) but determined to pursue his art at whatever cost instead of the comfortable lifestyle that would have been so much more easily available to him - even to the point of publishing much of his music at his own expense.

Whilst it's good that much of his work has now been recorded, the symphonies and chamber music in particular appear very rarely on concert programmes, even in his native France, which is very sad indeed. Along with his near-contemporaries Debussy, Schmitt, Koechlin, Pierné and Roussel (the generation following Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Fauré and d'Indy) he was one of the most important French composers of his day and one who seemed better able than most to digest the powerful influence of Wagner without either crumbling under it or deliberately trying to avoid it.

[Beef Oven!]

Magnard's "moral fibre" and courage extends back beyond his final dreadful experience; he was from a quite well-to-do family (his father being a successful writer and head honcho at Le Figaro) but determined to pursue his art at whatever cost instead of the comfortable lifestyle that would have been so much more easily available to him - even to the point of publishing much of his music at his own expense.

Whilst it's good that much of his work has now been recorded, the symphonies and chamber music in particular appear very rarely on concert programmes, even in his native France, which is very sad indeed. Along with his near-contemporaries Debussy, Schmitt, Koechlin, Pierné and Roussel (the generation following Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Fauré and d'Indy) he was one of the most important French composers of his day and one who seemed better able than most to digest the powerful influence of Wagner without either crumbling under it or deliberately trying to avoid it.

Fascinating, many thanks.

I suppose I have a blind spot on some of the French composers (I hadn't listened to Chausson's symphony until a couple of weeks ago following your prompt).

With Magnard, the symphonies have been good friends for a while and regarding chamber works, I've had this CD for a few years, but nothing else

[Barbirollians]

I am enjoying these Plasson performances . I wonder what Monteux or Munch might have made of these works had they recorded them ?

[ahinton]

I am enjoying these Plasson performances . I wonder what Monteux or Munch might have made of these works had they recorded them ?

Good question - but one might also wonder why Boulez, who has at least performed Roussel 3, seems never to have touched them...

[Paul Campbell]

I too am enjoying what, to me, is new music having gone for Plasson and Ossonce. Incidentally, Francis Pott's notes on the Hyperion website offer some interesting background. Thanks to Barbirollians and Jayne for the introduction to this work.

[jayne lee wilson]

It would be very churlish of me not to come back after the comments above and say - thankyou.

And most untypical of me not to add... after reaching the end of Ossonce's cycle last night, the glorious conclusion to his 3rd and the transformational 4th - look, I'm sorry about this, but - if you are drawn to this music - you really do need all three!
But if you consider that the Hyperion Dryad (beautifully presented as ever) is already good value as 2CDs, or if you download the lossless Flacs it's just £7.99, AND the "booklet note" (more easily read online) is (as Paul C mentions) more of a full-length essay on Magnard, brilliantly and insightfully written by the composer Francis Pott...
...the finale to Ossonce's 4th struck me as the most sheerly beautiful of them all, with a more inviting, more rounded sonic contour than the epic and granitic power of the BIS production. Rolling hills or jagged peaks!

Reservations remain about the Hyperion set - bass clarity isn't always ideal - but the 4th has a slightly fresher, livelier sound and a more present acoustic. Whatever their comparative merits, Ossonce's devoted readings seem "to prove/ our almost-instinct almost true:/ what will survive of us is love".

(1914...2014. Will someone, somewhere, do something about it, I wonder?)

[richardfinegold]

My Plasson disc was unplayable. I think that it was chewed on by my ex-wife's cat or else I dropped it in a gravel pit. So I listened to the 3rd on Spotify (Sanderling) today as I was driving to and from work.
This is the first time that I heard the work, and I have to say that after the chorale introduction, I found my attention wandering and I couldn't get involved in the music. It was kind of like Bruckner without the high drama or the mysterious solemnity. i will try again when I have a chance to relax at home

[Barbirollians]

That moment at the end of the Fourth Symphony does take one's breath away - like after a long climb discovering a stunning view .

[richardfinegold]

That moment at the end of the Fourth Symphony does take one's breath away - like after a long climb discovering a stunning view .

I'm listening to the end of the First right now and I have completely reversed my impression. I especially enjoyed the slow movement.

[EdgeleyRob]

Oh, WHY do I bother....enough from me then. Happy Magnard listening everyone. Hope my comments are of some use and lead to many other listeners learning to love Magnard's music and devoting as much time to it as joyfully as I have done.

How better could you remember him than that.

Thank you Jayne,more than just 'of some use' I'd say.

Like the world and his wife I downloaded the ultra cheap Plasson set.
I've never heard any of this music before and have just listened to Symphonies 1 & 4.
Some marvellous music here for sure and yet I was left feeling a little underwhelmed,perhaps it's just me,or I need to give them more time.

[jayne lee wilson]

I count myself very, very lucky to have come to the Magnard 4th "cold", with nothing but the sketchiest of EMI booklet notes. As I reported on the "What are you listening to" thread, my first encounter was a revelation of Alpine proportions! After that, I was devoted.

But yes, they do need time. It took me FOUR traversals before the 1st movement of No.2 finally clicked; and despite all the advance publicity as the most-noticed one of the set, No.3 I found trickiest of all. It was only hearing it on the Bedside Tivoli, in Ansermet's (more driven & dramatic) live mono taping, that really brought it home.

Perhaps EDF could fund a Magnard Society...

[Dave2002]

My Plasson disc was unplayable. I think that it was chewed on by my ex-wife's cat or else I dropped it in a gravel pit. So I listened to the 3rd on Spotify (Sanderling) today as I was driving to and from work.
This is the first time that I heard the work, and I have to say that after the chorale introduction, I found my attention wandering and I couldn't get involved in the music. It was kind of like Bruckner without the high drama or the mysterious solemnity. i will try again when I have a chance to relax at home

Do you have a form of mobile Spotify in the States now? It is possible in the UK using an offline mode, but I'm wondering if the US providers are now giving a form of mobile music on demand. Maybe we have it here too, for example using 3G or 4G networks, but I haven't kept up.

Re Magnard, like others I am also listening to Plasson's set, but I think it's going to take a while for me to enjoy these. I also have some CDs bought a few years ago, but I never got into them then.

This raises a question also hinted at by others as to how many iterations one goes through when listening to unknown works before either falling ln love with them, or consigning them to Room 101, or perhaps settling for something in between the two extremes. It took me at least 5 possibly 10 runs through of Glazunov symphonies to come to terms with them. My first attempts were on holiday when I downloaded a set of them onto a cheap mp3 player and didn't have much else to listen to for three weeks. I now recommend these, but I know others have given up after one attempt. I shall persevere with Magnard for a while - maybe set a deadline of Christmas.

[richardfinegold]

Do you have a form of mobile Spotify in the States now? It is possible in the UK using an offline mode, but I'm wondering if the US providers are now giving a form of mobile music on demand. Maybe we have it here too, for example using 3G or 4G networks, but I haven't kept up.

Re Magnard, like others I am also listening to Plasson's set, but I think it's going to take a while for me to enjoy these. I also have some CDs bought a few years ago, but I never got into them then.

This raises a question also hinted at by others as to how many iterations one goes through when listening to unknown works before either falling ln love with them, or consigning them to Room 101, or perhaps settling for something in between the two extremes. It took me at least 5 possibly 10 runs through of Glazunov symphonies to come to terms with them. My first attempts were on holiday when I downloaded a set of them onto a cheap mp3 player and didn't have much else to listen to for three weeks. I now recommend these, but I know others have given up after one attempt. I shall persevere with Magnard for a while - maybe set a deadline of Christmas.

I have a Spotify app for my Android Phone, and then my car has a receiver that will accept an input from the headphone jack of the phone. I don't know if it is possible here to listen to Spotify directly via the car's receiver, but I imagine that it should be possible for internet radio in autos, which is starting to become a regular feature on new car purchases here.
Regarding familiarizing oneself with an unknown Composer, one reason that I am persisting with Magnard is my memory of how long it took me to appreciate
Mahler, Bruckner, and Charles Ives. It took a few hearings of each Symphony by those 3 until I began to appreciate each individual work (and some of the early Bruckner Symphonies still don't see much air time in this house). I don't know if Magnard will ultimately claim a place in my affections as those 3 Composers have done, but after 1 listen to each Symphonyon my part there is enough interest to keep listening.

[Dave2002]

I have a Spotify app for my Android Phone, and then my car has a receiver that will accept an input from the headphone jack of the phone. I don't know if it is possible here to listen to Spotify directly via the car's receiver, but I imagine that it should be possible for internet radio in autos, which is starting to become a regular feature on new car purchases here.

Possibly we can do that too, though car manufacturers and suppliers are very backward in the UK. Maybe someone else in the UK will advise. Still hardly any cars have DAB, which, whatever its supposed faults, is intended by the UK government to be the digital radio system fitted in all cars within a few years (and indeed by now!), but has been around for over a decade now. The idea of internet radio getting into cars - revolutionary! I think you also have satellite radio, which we definitely don't have - except perhaps as a very, very minority sport.

Back to Magnard.