Suffolkcoastal's Symphonic Journey

[Suffolkcoastal]

1971

continued from the above posting.....

The 1st Symphony of Aulis Sallinen, is a one movement work of around 16 minutes duration. Predominately slow in tempo, this is a serious and often very intense work, with moments of great tension, power, but also melancholy. The slow tempi impart a certain expansiveness to the work that is distinctly Scandinavian in feel. The language is not excessively demanding, but there is often extreme tension in the harmony which never really finds rest.

Henri Sauguet’s 4th Symphony is a three movement work of around 35 minutes duration. It is at times quite a colourful work, the 1st movement is particular has a much brighter and more transparent sound that had been apparent in his earlier symphonies. The 2nd movement is rather pensive with a sense of anticipation that isn’t fulfilled. The finale juxtaposes its ideas in a rather loose fashion and there are nods toward the first two movements, but ultimately this is rather an unsatisfactory movement, at least to me.

Shostakovich’s 15th Symphony will of course be familiar to most Messageboarders. A rather strange and very individual work, often sparse and with a chamber like clarity of orchestration, and only two really fully orchestrated climaxes. The Rossini and Wagner quotes and the allusions to the composer’s own 4th, 7th and 11th Symphonies pose many questions as to the inspiration. The 1st movement is enigmatically playful, the 2nd like some fragmented funeral elegy with an agitated climax. The scherzo grotesque and unsettling is followed by a long finale that combines both elegiac sentiments, with a certain nonplus wryness, and which concludes in one of the most strangely enigmatic yet curiously satisfying codas in symphonic literature.

The 4th Symphony of Andrei Shtoharenko lasts about 35 minutes and is a pleasant enough and sometimes colourful work. There are folk like elements that have more than a passing nod to the music of Khachaturian. The Symphony comes across as the type of Symphony that was readily acceptable during the Stalin years rather than 1971, and ultimately is rather tame. Still there are some listeners that could well be attracted to the work.

Jiri Valek’s 7th Symphony is a three movement work of around 20 minutes duration. It is a grim and sombre score, reflecting the sombre events of Pompeii and the composer also seems to want to send a warning out to our time. Predominately textural in nature, thematic ideas are rather fleeting and not particularly distinct. The score is often darkly disturbing, though ultimately rather unmemorable.

Finally the 9th Symphony of Egon Wellesz, a three movement work of around 23 minutes duration. The composer was already 86 when he composed it and it is among his final scores. It is a rather uncompromising and heavily grim work. The moderately slow 1st movement is heavy of tread, with a gruff rather austere, no-nonsense sound world. The same is true of the short moderately paced central movement, which offers little relief. The finale is the longest movement and is both grimly defiant and also rather stern and tense. The grim, dark orchestration matches the rather tough harmonic language. Nevertheless, though not an easy work to comes to terms with, it is still a considerable achievement.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1972

Y Adler; Symphony No 2 ‘Play of Timbres’
Barta: Symphony No 3
Braga Santos: Symphony No 6
Hlobil: Symphony No 6
Hoddinott: Symphony No 5
Hovhaness: Symphony No 23 ‘Ani’
Ivanovs: Symphony No 15 ‘Sinfonia Ipsa’
D Jones: Symphony No 7
D Jones: Symphony No 8
Pettersson: Symphony No 10
Rubbra: Symphony No 9 ‘Sinfonia Sacra’
Sallinen: Symphony No 2 ‘Symphonic Dialogue for Solo Percussion Player’
Salmenhaara: Symphony No 4 ‘At the midway point in the journey of life’
Silvestrov: Meditation Symphony for Cello & Chamber Orchestra
R Simpson: Symphony No 4 (revised version)
R Simpson: Symphony No 5
V Thomson: Symphony No 3
Tippett: Symphony No 3

Yefrim Adler (b1937) was a Russian born composer who emigrated to Israel. His 2nd Symphony is quite surprisingly a 20 minute long work in basically a big band jazz manner. It is quite enjoyable and worth listening to out of curiosity.

Linor Barta’s 3rd Symphony is a 20minute long work in four movements. The symphony certainly has some interesting ideas but doesn’t really do them justice. The 1st movement is assertive and almost frenetic, the scherzo continues the mood but contrasts it with a Martinu like trio. The 3rd movement is broad and serious but is too short and doesn’t have time to get going before it’s over. The finale has jazzy syncopations and is occasionally Stravinskyian.

The 6th and final Symphony of Joly Braga Santos and plays continuously for about 25 minutes. It begins slowly and rather ominously and for the most part it is a tense work with some gritty harmony. Surprisingly a chorus enters about 2/3rds of the way through in what for a brief moment sounds a slightly Delian manner only to be subdued by the grim uncompromising tension of earlier, then magically the tone changes and a solo soprano concludes the symphony is a tonal resolution of real beauty almost like a mix of Puccini and Vaughan Williams at their most lyrical, which actually comes off very well.

The 6th Symphony of Emil Hlobil is in three movements and lasts about 15 minutes and is scored for string orchestra. This is a slightly dry rather neo-classical work. The outer movements have a Stravinskyian edge to them at times, whilst the central movement is grave and serious. Nicely written, but ultimately rather unmemorable.

Alun Hoddinott’s 5th Symphony is in two movements and lasts about 25 minutes. The engaging 1st movement mixes passacaglia and ritornello form and is consistently inventive. The 2nd movement is in 6 sections that roughly outline an arch shape. Again this movement is very inventive and orchestrated with Hoddinott’s distinctive attention to detail. Certainly a work well worth exploring.

Alan Hovhaness’s 23rd Symphony is in three movements and lasts about 35 minutes. It is scored for winds and percussion and the title takes its name from the medieval capital of Armenia. The work is very effectively scored for the medium and is in the composers familiar manner of modality with Eastern inflections and some use of aleatoric effects.

The 15th Symphony of Janis Ivanovs lasts about 30 minutes and sounds very programmatic. The symphony begins in Ivanovs distinctive atmospheric manner before becoming increasingly unsettled. The 2nd movements is very tempestuous and energetic. The rest of the work ranges from the grimly static to sudden foreboding outbursts of energy and finally ends in an emotional ‘no mans land’. There is some lack focus at times, but this is a powerfully dramatic work.

The 7th Symphony of Daniel Jones is in 5 movements and lasts around 22 minutes. All of the material is derived from the very opening and the 1st movement is emphatic and even rather blunt in expression. The 2nd movement although marked ‘espressivo’, is actually quite a sombre slightly hesitant movement. The 3rd movement is short, rhythmic and very engaging, this leads to the 4th movement, a set of variations which gradually contract in length, which in turn lead to a firm finale. It is a very well written work and the language is not unapproachable.

Daniel Jones also completed his 8th Symphony the same year and it is again in 5 movements and lasts about 25 minutes. The Symphony is in turns, serious, austere and rhythmically exuberant and is very effectively orchestrated. As usual with the composer the basic material is presented at the outset and the symphony is an impressive and well written score.

After 5 large scale symphonies, Alan Pettersson’s 10th Symphony is much shorter, again in one movement it lasts about 25 minutes. Also in contrast with the 5 previous symphonies this work is predominately more swift moving. As usual with Pettersson, the work is full of tension that becomes near neurotic at times as it spills over with frustrated anger. The Symphony holds the listener’s attention fairly well.

Edmund Rubbra’s 9th Symphony is perhaps more oratorio than Symphony, being scored for soloists, chorus and orchestra and it lasts around 45 minutes. The Symphony sets the story of the first Easter and the Ascension of Christ. The tempi are mainly on the slow side, and some of the music is very moving and quite beautiful and very distinctive of the composer. It makes for a generally moving listening experience even if for me it is not among the composer’s finest works.

Aulis Sallinen’s 2nd Symphony is in one movement and lasts about 16 minutes and could almost be regarded as a concerto for solo percussionist and orchestra. The writing for percussion is generally very imaginative and is developed against generally slowish tempi and sensitive orchestration. There are some powerful moments and also moments of eerie tension. Overall I find it quite a dark work in which a degree of tension and introspection is never fully resolved.

The subtitle of Salmenhaara’s 4th Symphony turned out to be quite prophetic as it was indeed composed at the midway point of his life. The Symphony is in three movements and lasts about 25 minutes. The tempi are mainly on the slower side and there are hints of a Sibelian language here and there. The symphony is harmonically simpler than with its two predecessors, but one feels that the work lacks a certain degree of focus and inevitability.

Silvestrov’s Meditation Symphony for Cello and Chamber Orchestra is a one movement work of about 30 minutes duration. The chamber orchestra makes use of both celeste and harpsichord. The tempi are on the slow side and the score calls for various aleatoric effects as well as using simple triads and basic harmonies. The score though interesting in parts really struggles to maintain the listener’s interest and is overly static at times.

Continued in the posting below.....

[Suffolkcoastal]

1972

continued from the above posting.....

Robert Simpson’s 4th Symphony is in the classical four movements and lasts around 45 minutes. The fascinating 1st movement is in a state of continual development and is followed by a large and powerful scherzo, dynamic and like Beethoven through more contemporary ears, and with a slightly humorous trio that quotes Haydn. The slow 3rd movement is among Simpson’s most lyrically expressive movements, satisfying and very moving and was a replacement for an earlier movement. The finale ends this fine work confidentally and with total conviction.

Like Daniel Jones, Simpson also completed another symphony the same year. His 5th Symphony is structurally very different. Lasting about 40 minutes the Symphony is in five sections, two aggressive outer sections, which flank two rather austere canonic movements, which in turn surround a central short scherzino. The symphony emerges and returns from near inaudibility. Harmonically this is one of Simpson’s more gritty creations, and the power and logic is very impressive throughout, though perhaps this is not the easiest of Simpson’s symphonies to come to terms with.

The 3rd Symphony of Virgil Thomson is a short four movement work of about 16 minutes duration and it is basically and orchestration of his 2nd String Quartet from 40 years earlier. The orchestration was originally intended for a ballet in his opera ‘Byron’. It is a rather slight but tunefully attractive piece.

Finally the 3rd Symphony of Michael Tippett. This is certainly a remarkable work, divided in two parts, the first part itself can be divided in two sections that correspond to a first and slow movement, the 2nd part is in three sections, a kind of scherzo, a slow, fast, slow blues and a final sections. The finale two sections set a text by the composer for solo soprano. The orchestration and general sound world are Tippett at his most refined, the lento section in the first part is of haunting nocturnal beauty and there are many striking passages of total individuality throughout the work. The vocal writing is dramatic and sometimes ecstatic although personally the composer’s text I find occasionally rather odd and unconvincing. Ultimately though this is a powerful and rewarding work quite unlike any other.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1973

Aho: Symphony No 3 ‘Sinfonia Concertante’
Aho: Symphony No 4
Alwyn: Symphony No 5 ‘Hydriotaphia’
Arnold: Symphony No 7
Bortz: Symphony No 3
G Coates: Symphony No 1 ‘Music on Open Strings’
Hlobil: Symphony No 7
Kancheli: Symphony No 3
Khrennikov: Symphony No 3
Mennin: Symphony No 8
Pettersson: Symphony No 11
Penderecki: Symphony No 1
Rosner: Symphony No 5 ‘Missa sine Cantoritus super Salve Regina’
Siegmeister: Symphony No 4
Tubin: Symphony No 10

Kalevi Aho’s 3rd Symphony is scored for solo violin & orchestra and is in four movements lasting about 40 minutes. It is a rather stern and sombre work with much intensity. The 1st movement is dominated by the solo violin with rather sparse orchestration. The 2nd movement is mainly for the orchestra alone and is an aggressive and propulsive movement, that maintains an intense drive through to a shatteringly powerful conclusion. In the last two movements the violin again takes more of a centre stage and in the 4th movement distinct martial undertones are present that create great unease. This hybrid work is certainly of interest, although perhaps a greater degree of contrast between the 1st, 3rd & 4th movement would have been beneficial.

Aho’s 4th Symphony is in three movements and lasts around 45 minutes. This is also a dark and sombre work and quite powerful. Shostakovich’s influence can be felt at times in the sparse writing full of foreboding and even fear in the outer movements. The swift moving central movement builds up real energy before losing momentum and ends in uncertainty. For a composer still only 24 this is a highly mature and rewarding work of haunting power.

The 5th Symphony was William Alwyn’s final symphony, a short one movement work of around 15 minutes duration. It is largely a reflective score of often haunting beauty and natural flow and expression, and not a note too long. The language is approachable and distinctly the composer’s own.

Arnold’s 7th Symphony is a three movement work of a little under 40 minutes duration and is among the most powerful and impressive of all his works. The music is deeply disturbed, and the use of strikes on a cow bell(s) near the end of each movement lends a Mahlerian macabre element. The 1st movement is very disturbed and agitated with an imploring 2nd subject. The slow central movement is exceptionally intense with its mournful trombone solo and astonishing passage of dissonant brass chords over various drum patterns (a musical portrait of claustrophobia). The movement rises to a dissonant dramatic climax. The finale begins with a certain determination, after a while a harp enters ‘off key’ a curious haunting effect before a passage in which members of the orchestra become an Irish folk band, the opening determination returns, the cow bells interrupt and the symphony ends emphatically in F major. One of Arnold’s finest and most disturbing creations and an underestimated masterpiece IMHO.

The Swedish composer Daniel Bortz’s 1st Symphony is a one movement work of around 17 minutes duration. It begins and ends in pure and simple E major. This purity is soon under attack as more dissonant elements seek to dominate, creating a sense of dark despair and even ugliness, before E major finally returns, but an E major seemingly no longer pure. There are some interesting passages and ideas though perhaps the work is not wholly successful.

Gloria Coates’s 1st Symphony is in four movements, is scored for string orchestra and lasts a little over 15 minutes. In the first two movements the open strings are tuned to a Chinese scale, whilst in the 3rd they gradually retune to their normal pitch. The finale makes much use of glissandi which emerge from and return to the open strings. An interesting and novel work, though perhaps not one to listen to too often.

Hlobil’s 7th Symphony lasts about 18 minutes and is a fairly compact score, often acerbic and harmonically tougher than in the earlier symphonies of Hlobil on which I’ve commented. The moods range from hesitant anxiety to more aggravated outbursts and angularity.

Kancheli’s 3rd Symphony plays continuously and lasts about 25 minutes. A solo voice (counter tenor or tenor) sings a lament at the opening, which reoccurs at various points throughout the work and which serves as a point of departure. The predominant mood is one of spiritual meditation but this mood is often subject to sudden loud and dramatic interruptions. There is just enough contrast for the work to come off.

Khrennikov’s 3rd Symphony is a three movement work of around 17 minutes duration. It is a fairly conventional work in standard Soviet manner and is heavily under the spell of Prokofiev in particular. The fiery 1st movement although designated a fugue, is more fugal in texture than a genuine fugue. The central movement is actually quite lyrically appealing though it does sound like it could come from one of the more romantic moments of a Prokofiev ballet. The finale’s outer sections are again indebted to Prokofiev though the more lyrical central section is more akin to Khachaturian.

Peter Mennin’s 8th Symphony is a four movement work of about 27-28 minutes duration. It is a very dark and gloomy work. Though still recognisably by the composer, the Symphony’s sound world is far grittier and harmonically tougher than the earlier Mennin symphonies. There is a greater emphasis on vertical often dense harmonies and less on horizontal counterpoint, although the finale is more recognisably typical of Mennin. Despite its dark and humourless quality this is still a very fine and powerful symphonic statement.

Pettersson’s 11th Symphony is a one movement work of about 25 minutes duration and is in many ways a companion piece to his previous symphony, both being of similar length and generally swifter moving than the previous five symphonies. Like the 10th this work is full of restless energy and great anxiety which occasionally seems ready to resolve itself before being swept away.

Penderecki’s 1st Symphony lasts about 30 minutes. It plays continuously but is divided into four sections, two shorter outer ones called Arche surround tow larger central ones called Dynamis. This is often quite an avant-garde work notable for the variety of effects, particularly from the strings, that Penderecki employs and the work seems to some up Penderecki’s style up to that point in time. The Symphony begins mechanically with percussion patterns and eventually reaches a clustered climax. The 2nd movement uses the note A as a point of departure and return and the 3rd movement is scherzo like. The finale returns to the world of the Symphony’s opening.

Arnold Rosner’s 5th Symphony is a five movement work of about 40 minutes duration and is basically a ‘Mass for Orchestra’, with each movement corresponding to a section of the Roman Catholic Mass. The musical language is modal and simple and sounds very ‘English’. Though pleasant, this is a work of little consequence and other composers have done this sort of thing with much greater individuality and skill.

Ellie Siegmeister’s 4th Symphony lasts about 35 minutes and is a fairly dark and at times impassioned score. A solo cello opens the work and features at various points in the work and helps to create an imploring pleading feeling at times. Harmonically the writing is tougher than in the composer’s early symphonies. The Symphony as a whole ‘hangs together’ very well, and has real inevitability right through to the final forcefully dramatic conclusion.

Finally Tubin’s 10th Symphony, his last completed symphony, a one movement work of about 25 minutes duration. The Symphony has a natural flow and is very impressive. The work has a general feeling of haunting melancholy and is distinctly ‘autumnal’. The naturalness and inevitability show the hand of a highly confident symphonist and Tubin’s style is very distinct. What an exceptionally fine symphonist Tubin is.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1974

A Cooke: Symphony No 4
Horky: Symphony No 4
Ivanovs: Symphony No 16
D Jones: Symphony No 9
Leighton: Symphony No 2 ‘Sinfonia Mistica’
Panufnik: Symphony No 4 ‘Sinfonia Concertante’
Poot: Symphony No 5
Rubbra: Symphony No 10 ‘Sinfonia da Camera’

1975

S Adler: Symphony No 5 ‘We are the echoes’
Harris: Symphony No 13 ‘Bicentennial’
Kancheli: Symphony No 4 ‘To the memory of Michelangelo’
Panufnik: Symphony No 5 ‘Sinfonia di Sfere’
Sallinen: Symphony No 3
W Schuman: Symphony No 10 ‘American Muse’

Arnold Cooke’s 4th Symphony is a four movement work of around 30 minutes duration. It is an articulate and finely crafted work but seems more heavily indebted to his teacher Hindemith than his earlier symphonies. The material lacks the final ounce of memorability and the slow movement is rather arid and less than inspired.

The 4th Symphony of Karel Horky plays continuously and lasts around 22 minutes. Mood wise it alternates between a vaguely pastoral feel and more turbulent, often martial passages, and the music never really settles, maintaining a certain tension throughout. Stylistically the music is not particularly difficult, back rather lacks inidivuality.

Ivanovs 16 Symphony is a four movement work of around 30 minutes duration and like the 15th seems to have an underlying programme. The 1st movement contrasts a lyrical nobility with more restless searching music. The short 2nd movement is restless and nervous and the sustained 3rd movement again has a certain nobility. The finale is perhaps too short and doesn’t quite satisfy. A sequence of four chords seems to provide the motto that holds the work together. The language is somewhat romantic and straightforward.

The 9th Symphony of Daniel Jones is a four movement work lasting a little under 20 minutes. The 1st movement is basically a sonata structure and is solidly argued and affirmative. The shifting time signatures of the slow movement help to create a slightly more ambiguous and unsettled feeling. The scherzo is short and rhythmically highly engaging but is over before it has really begun, which is a pity. The finale is again affirmative but possibly too short.

Kenneth Leighton’s 2nd Symphony is scored for solo soprano, chorus and orchestra and is in six sections and lasts nearly 50 minutes. In it Leighton sets work by Traherne, Donne & Herbert among others, as well as quoting from the hymn ‘The Shining River’. The symphony is a mystical but dark and disturbing score, spiritual with death hovering over it in the texts. There is also an autumnal sadness and some eerily beautiful passages and a naturalness of expression, aided by clear orchestration.

Panufnik’s 4th Symphony is scored for flute, harp and string orchestra and lasts about 20 minutes. It is a pleasant if slight score, refined and often searching with the flute used expressively.

Marcel Poot’s 5th Symphony is a three movement work of about 20 minutes duration. It begins in a rhythmically propulsive manner, somewhat reminiscent of Roussel, which is contrasted with two more lyrical episodes. The 2nd movement has a gently lyrical cantilena which surrounds a more lively central section. The finale has much of the bustling energy of the 1st movement, with a more reticent central section. The language is approachable and the symphony is an attractive work.

Rubbra’s 10th Symphony is a one movement work of around 15 minutes duration. Structually it consists of four sections each of which corresponds to one of the four parts of a sonata structure and this helps to create a strongly unified and natural flow. The Symphony is scored for a small orchestra without trumpets, heavy brass or percussion. A highly attractive and relaxed symphony.

Samuel Adler’s 5th Symphony is scored for soprano & orchestra and the work sets texts that highlight the treatment and suffering of the Jewish race in history. The Symphony is, as one might expect, often embittered , full of anguished outbursts and tension and never really relaxes. The harmonic language though quite tough is not too difficult.

Roy Harris’s 13th and final Symphony was among his last completed works. In five movements, it lasts around 20 minutes. It is scored for chorus and orchestra and is a rather weak work. Harris’s aim was with the US Bicentennial in 1976, to highlight the mistreatment and suffering of Black people in the US’s 200 year history. A noble cause, dear to Harris’s heart, his compositional powers were now failing and sadly he was not up to the task he set himself. The frequent use of choric speak is mannered and detracts from the work.

Kancheli’s 4th Symphony plays continuously and lasts about 25 minutes. Like his 4th the music often has a mystic, meditative quality that is often interrupted by dynamic outbursts. Bells are used to telling effect and the sound world Kancheli creates is very distinctive. The language is straightforward and despite some slightly dull passages, it comes off fairly well.

Panufnik’s 5th Symphony plays continuously and lasts about 30 minutes. This is an impressive work that has a certain inevitability and makes quite an impact. For the first part the mood is predominately sombre with prominent solos for tuba and trombone. Menacing percussion lead to sudden outbursts, which gradually become more assertive. The tension continues to mount and the Symphony concludes as drumming percussion drive the music to a shattering and dynamic conclusion. Panufnik’s style is very distinctive and this is certainly worth considering.

Sallinen’s 3rd Symphony is a 3 movement work of around 22 minutes duration. The 1st movement is urgent and searching and makes a strong impact. The 2nd movement, a Chaconne, becomes steadily more lyrically expressive and anguished. The finale is the longest movement and imparts much of the 1st movement’s urgency to create a strong conclusion. The language is quite approachable and this is also worth hearing.

Finally William Schuman’s 10th Symphony. Though he was to live another 17 years, this was his last Symphony. The 10th is a three movement work of around 30 minutes duration. The opening movement is founded on the composer’s own Prelude for a Great Occasion, composed a year earlier and is fanfare like and introductory. The main weight falls on the 2nd movement which is very impressive. Very slow and sustained (very slow tempi are a prominent feature of Schuman’s later output), the movement is expressive and often very intense and has impressive inevitability. The finale has a touch of humour and plays off long lines against skittish rhythmic ones, before ending in typical affirmative Schuman coda.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1976

Aho: Symphony No 5
Bergsma: Symphony No 2 ‘Voyages’
Carter: A Symphony of Three Orchestras
Maxwell Davies: Symphony No 1
Von Einem: Symphony No 2 ‘Vienna Symphony’
Englund: Symphony No 4 ‘Nostalgic’
Fricker: Symphony No 5 (for Organ & Orchestra)
Gorecki: Symphony No 3 ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’
Hovhaness: Symphony No 29
Ivanovs: Symphony No 17 in C major
Siegmeister: Symphony No 5 ‘Visions of Time’
Silvestrov: Symphony No 4
Tischenko: Symphony No 5
Vainberg/Weinberg: Symphony No 12
R E Ward: Symphony No 5 ‘Canticles of America’

Aho’s 5th Symphony is in one continuous movement and lasts about 30 minutes. The work begins in a strange dreamlike and distorted state, an idea almost like a parody of Chopin’s Funeral March appears and as the Symphony progress the music becomes steadily more distorted and almost reaching a state of a drunken nightmare. There are more chilling and strange passages and the work virtually stops in mid-air a very unusual and interesting though somewhat disconcerting work.

William Bergsma’s 2nd Symphony is scored for soprano, chorus and orchestra and was another US Bicentennial commission. The work is more cantata than symphony and is narrative charting the birth of America. The language is fairly straightforward, but lacks real distinction.

Carter’s A Symphony of Three Orchestras plays continuously and lasts a little over 15 minutes. Structually each of the three orchestras play four continuously movement which overlap with each other in typical inventive Carter style. The effect is very imaginative and beautifully evocative at times despite the difficulty of the language. The writing too is often quite expressive and the flow is handled in a masterly fashion. The Symphony is in my opinion one Carter’s finest creations.

Peter Maxwell Davies 1st Symphony is a four movement, 55 minute long work. It is a dynamic, absorbing and highly individual creation. The outer movements are disturbing and evocative in their textures as well as sometimes quite turbulent, much use is made of slow moving ideas pitted against swifter ones, creating a feeling of two simultaneous tempi. The 2nd movement is a slow one that becomes a scherzo and the 3rd movement is a long slow and darkly grim creation. The Symphony progresses with a natural flow and direction. Much use is made of crotales, celeste and marimba in the orchestration, which does for me border on over use. Still this is a highly impressive score.

Gottfried von Einem’s 2nd Symphony is in four movements and lasts around 35 minutes. It is a pleasant work with a distinctive Viennese feel to it and borders at times on a post Mahlerian/Straussian romantic world with hints of Hindemith. The faster movements have a natural flow and the slow 3rd movement has a rather melancholic feel to it. The ideas are distinctive without being that memorable.

Einer Englund’s 4th Symphony is in four movements and lasts around 23 minutes. The title ‘Nostalgic’ is very apt as a sense of wistful melancholy and nostalgia is present throughout. The score is at times rather sombre but also rather beautiful and moving. Englund’s language has a distinct Scandinavian feel but is quite individual and approachable and this work is certainly worth getting to know.

Fricker’s 5th Symphony is scored for Organ and Orchestra. It is in one movement divided into three sections, with the lively final section basically a recapitulation of the material of the 1st section. The organ is used both as a solo instrument and just as part of the orchestral texture, and this integration is very successfully handled. The Symphony does have a certain austerity of language but is not unapproachable.

Gorecki’s 3rd Symphony became something of a hit in the early 1990’s and brought the composer’s name to the notice of the wider public, without though really creating interest in his other works. The solo soprano sings texts on the theme of a Mother’s loss in the outer movements and a child’s separation from their mother in the central movement. The tempi are slow throughout and the textures and harmonies are simple. The work should by all accounts be rather tedious, however Gorecki manages to create a work that despite everything is incredibly moving, imparting the emotions in the text to the listener and holding their attention.

Hovhaness’s 29th Symphony is scored for solo trombone, wind orchestra and percussion. A four movement work lasting about 25 minutes, it is typical of the composer. The music is often meditative and occasionally dance like and even sentimental. The finale comes off best and has a sense of ancient noble grandeur.

The 17th Symphony of Janis Ivanovs is a four movement symphony of a little over 30 minutes duration. It is a powerful sweeping post romantic symphony. The work holds together very well and is atmospheric and absorbing . Ivanovs’ post romantic language has a distinct individuality and the Symphony holds the listeners attention and avoids skilfully avoids rhetorical gestures. Perhaps the last ounce of memorability is absent, but this is a very approachable work.

Siegmeister’s 5th Symphony is a one movement work of a little under 20 minutes duration. It is a tough and rather uncompromising score in a fairly atonal idiom. The score is predominately tense and even aggressive at times, with a strong sense of unease and foreboding. The Symphony does hold together well and just about maintains the listeners attention, though lacks the individuality of a Sessions or a Carter.

Silvestrov’s 4th Symphony is in one continuous movement and lasts around 25 minutes. The work is scored for strings with brass instruments. The score is a predominately rather reflective and lonely one with a distinct sense of melancholic nostalgia. There are more dramatic passages as well as moments of eerie beauty, but the sense of resignation is never banished. Stylistically this work bridges the gap between the more experimental works Silvestrov composed during the previous 10 – 15 years and the more accessible style he was to adopt during the 1980’s. One perhaps wishes for greater contrast of texture and more imposing ideas, but still many listeners may find this work worthwhile.

Tischenko’s 5th Symphony lasts about 45 minutes and is a rather quirky work. There are distinct allusions to and even parodies of Shostakovich’s 8th Symphony (especially that work’s 3rd and 4th movements), which is rather puzzling. The Symphony opens with a mournful Cor Anglais solo and concludes in a very nonchalant manner. Personally I struggle to be convinced by and make much of this work. The language though sometimes acerbic and occasionally rather awkward, is not unapproachable. I would suggest repeated listening to really get to the bottom of this piece.

Vainberg/Weinberg’s 12th Symphony is a 50 minute long work that plays continuously. The Symphony is a powerful, disturbing and very convincing work. A lot of the tempi are on the slow side, but there is plenty of contrast and interest to hold the listener’s attention. The overall feeling is one of deep unease, and melancholic wistfulness. A haunting beauty hangs over the work, searching for and yearning for something that was. The swifter and more dramatic passages are tellingly used, and the Symphony has a natural inevitability showing the hand of a fine symphonist. The coda hints at the coda of Shostakovich’s 4th Symphony and is hauntingly beautiful. A definite must this work.

Finally the late Robert E Ward’s 5th Symphony. Scored for narrator, soprano & baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra, this four movement work lasts about 45 minutes. It is yet another US Bicentennial commission. The US Bicentennial was not notable for producing works of high quality (Schuman’s 10th Symphony and Bernstein’s Songfest being notable exceptions) and Ward’s Symphony is rather disappointing. There is too much narration which is of little interest for non-Americans and some of the writing is disappointingly conventional and even dull, which unusual for the normally inventive Ward. There are some passages which are lyrically appealing, but this is not among the composer’s best works.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1977

Englund: Symphony No 5 ‘Fennica’
Hanson: Symphony No 7 ‘A Sea Symphony’
Hoddinott: Sinfonia Fidei
Hovhaness: Symphony No 31
Ivanovs: Symphony No 18
Kancheli: Symphony No 5 ‘To the memory of my parents’
Von Koch: Symphony No 5 ‘Lapponica’
Ovchinnikov: Symphony No 2
Panufnik: Symphony No 6 ‘Sinfonia Mistica’
R Simpson: Symphony No 6
R Simpson: Symphony No 7
Skulte: Symphony No 6
Tippett: Symphony No 4
Vainberg/Weinberg: Symphony No 14

The 5th Symphony of Einar Englund is in one continuous movement and lasts a little under 20 minutes. It is an urgent and often dramatic work, with an impressive forward momentum. The music is confident and full of determination and defiance and almost reminiscent of Peter Mennin in places. One only wishes that the work was a bit longer.

Hanson’s 7th and final Symphony is in three movements, lasting around 20minutes, and is scored for chorus and orchestra and like Vaughan Williams symphony of the same name, sets the words of Walt Whitman. Already 80 when he composed it, the Symphony is among Hanson’s final works. It is generally an understated work in Hanson’s familiar romantic idiom, a simple, noble leave taking. Slight, but in its way quite moving.

Hoddinott’s Sinfonia Fidei, is scored for Soprano, Tenor, Chorus & Orchestra and lasts about 20 minutes. It sets three religious texts and there is an air of ecstasy, awe and power in this very distinctive score which is quite impressive. There are some fine passages and Hoddinott’s very individual style adds to the strength of this occasional but fine score.

Hovhaness 31st Symphony is in seven short movements lasting around 23 minutes and is scored for string orchestra. It is a modal and slight work, quite attractive at times but of little consequence.

Janis Ivanovs 18th Symphony is a four movement work of between 30 and 35 minutes duration. It is a fairly romantically inclined work, rather moody and sombre with a restless and nervous 1st movement and a 2nd movement that increases in tension. The slow 3rd movement is a touch on the cool and austere side and the finale is arguably too brief. A straightforward and approachable work that some listeners may respond to.

Kancheli’s 5th Symphony is in one continuous movement lasting a little over 20 minutes. The Symphony begins and ends with a limpid idea on solo harpsichord, which reoccurs throughout the work. Like the previous two symphonies, a lot of the work is subdued and almost meditative, but this is interrupted form time to time by sudden outbursts. Personally I find the work of less interest than its predecessors.

Koch’s 5th Symphony is a three movement work of around 25 minutes durations. It is dedicated to the native Sami people of northern Scandinavia. The Symphony is a somewhat folksy and attractive work, with distinctive ideas, though a little too thickly scored at times. The ideas are also often fairly genial and though slight, many listeners may find this approachable work highly enjoyable.

Ovchinnikov’s 2nd Symphony is scored for string orchestra and is in three movement and of a little over 30 minutes duration. The outer movements are slow, the 1st intense and quite powerful and the 3rd broader and richly expansive. The central movement is more assertive and athletic. The Symphony is well scored for the medium, with strong ideas that have some depth and is certainly well worth seeking out.

Panufnik’s 6th Symphony lasts about 25 minutes and is a highly individual work. Starting evocatively on string harmonics, this is generally a rather sparse, austere and occasionally angular score, with jagged faster sections that have a nagging intensity. The Symphony gradually increases in power to a forceful and urgent conclusion. The work holds together very well, and seems to progress naturally. Panufnik’s individual manner is certainly unlike any other composer of the period and very distinct.

Robert Simpson’s 6th Symphony is in one continuous movement and lasts around 30 minutes. The Symphony is dedicated to the gynaecologist Ian Craft and mirrors in musical form the creation of life from a single fertilised cell, through to birth and finally full maturity. The 1st half grows from this single cell to a powerful climax signifying the moment of birth. The 2nd half is assertive and energetic, full of ‘life force’. It is an impressive score.

Simpson also completed his 7th Symphony the same year. This is also in one movement, but in three sections and also lasts about 30 minutes. It is scored for an orchestra of classical proportions and is also a powerfully argued work. The work is often fairly terse and austere and perhaps lacks the sheer memorability and inevitability of Simpson’s finest symphonies, but this is still a work of note.

Skulte’s 6th Symphony is a three movement work of a little over 30 minutes duration. This is at times an atmospheric work, quite approachable in a slightly romantic manner. The slow movement is almost impressionistic and comes off best. The finale is rather cinematic and is to be quite honest rather banal.

Tippett’s 4th Symphony plays continuously and lasts about 30 minutes and charts life from birth to death. At the time it was a rather controversial work, but can now be seen as a summing up of the highly expressive and very personal manner Tippett had acquired during the 1960’s and early 70’s and looks forward to the works of his final years. The sound world is like no other composer, the orchestration absolutely fascinating and often daringly imaginative. The score seems to progress naturally and the listeners attention is held throughout.

Finally Vainberg/Weinberg’s 14th Symphony. This is a single movement symphony of about 30 minutes duration. The work is typical of the composer in its generally slow temp, ideas of a wistful and melancholic ilk and refined and chamber like scoring. The Symphony does have an urgent and bitterly sarcastic central section that reaches a Shostakovich like climax. The coda is rather ominous and dominated by powerful outbursts from brass and percussion.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1978

Arnold: Symphony No 8
L Berkeley: Symphony No 4
E Blackwood: Symphony No 4
Darnton: Symphony No 4
Hovhaness: Symphony No 39
Josephs: Symphony No 7 ‘Winter’
MaCabe: Symphony No 3 ‘Hommages’
D Matthews: Symphony No 1 (revised version)
Moyzes: Symphony No 10
Moyzes: Symphony No 11
Nosyrev: Symphony No 3
Panufnik: Symphony No 7 ‘Metasinfonia’
Pettersson: Symphony No 15
Sessions: Symphony No 9
Tansman: Sinfonietta No 2

Malcolm Arnold’s 8th Symphony is a three movement work of around 25 minutes duration. It is another unsettling and fascinating score. The 1st movement begins dramatically and tersely in the manner of his previous Symphony. The movement is dominated by a solid diatonic march like theme, but which is always presented against a shifting bitonal background creating great unease. The central slow movement is very introspective with its resigned bassoon solo. The finale begins perkily enough but the underlying tension is never banished, the central episode is a strange sparse canonic one that anticipates the bleak world of his 9th Symphony. The perky idea returns and the Symphony ends determinedly and defiantly.

Lennox Berkeley’s 4th Symphony is a three movement work of between 25 and 30 minutes duration. The 1st movement opens in an anticipatory, almost impressionistic manner before the enterprising and engaging main movement gets going. The central movement has a grave austerity tinged with moments of sad tenderness that contrasts with a more animated central section. The flexible finale has a distinct Gallic touch, slightly understated perhaps, but effective enough.

The 4th Symphony of Easley Blackwood is a 40 minute long work, tough and quite terse at times. Tension and anger literally ooze from the score which contrast with moments of bitter regret. The textures are often quite dense and there is a tendency to orchestrate too thickly at times one feels, which detracts from what is a powerfully dramatic score.

Christian Darnton’s 4th Symphony is a four movement, 20 minute long score. The opening movement has a sense of purpose and drama. The slow movement is rather dry and rather lacks real memorability. The short and perky scherzo almost sounds out of place. The finale is a bit of a mixed bag, sometimes almost cinematic, sometimes slightly humorous, it doesn’t hold together too successfully.

Alan Hovhaness’s 39th Symphony is scored for Guitar and Orchestra. It is a slight meditative score with a distinct oriental feel to it.

Wilfred Josephs 7th Symphony is scored for a small orchestra, a three movement work, it lasts about 25 minutes. The first two movements are sparse, austere and very dry with little of real thematic appeal and frankly rather dull. The 3rd movement is more lively and engaging, but I personally do not find this work among the composer’s best works.

John MaCabe’s 3rd Symphony lasts a little under 25 minutes and is a colourful and absorbing and richly orchestrated score. It takes ideas from a Haydn String Quartet and a Nielsen piano work as the source of much of its material, but you would never guess without knowing this. The rich and colourful harmonic palette is quite engaging and this is an appealing score worth getting to know.

The 1st Symphony of David Matthews started off life as a Sinfonia in 1975 and was reworked as his 1st Symphony. It plays continuously and lasts around 20 minutes. This is at times a more terse score than many of Matthews’ later ones. The colourful and imaginative orchestration and textural variety are a real bonus and really help to maintain the listener’s interest, and the Symphony is certainly worth a listen.

Moyzes 10th Symphony is a four movement work of a little over 30 minutes duration, and is a pleasantly attractive score. The 1st movement seems to have more depth than the other movements and is quite striking and certainly worth investigating on its own. The other three movements don’t quite match this, a pleasant 2nd movement is followed by a rather tentative slow movement, the finale is bright and rather folksy

Moyzes 11th Symphony followed shortly after the 10th. It is a four movement work of a little under 40 minutes duration. It is for the most part a rather dark and sombre score with strong 1st and 2nd movements that have some emotional depth to them. The finale ends the work is a determined, confident frame of mind. The work is well written though without having the most distinctive or memorable ideas, still this is an approachable work that is certainly worth a listen.

The 3rd Symphony of Mikhail Nosyrev is a three movement work of 35 minutes duration. It is an imposing dark and dramatic score, with plenty of bitterness. The 1st movement is a slow-fast-slow construction, it opens on the gloomy sounds of a bass clarinet and introduces a sad limpid folk-like idea, the central section is highly animated and disturbed. The central movement inhabits a sad noctrurnal, near impressionistic world with points of orchestral colour, before a nagging ostinato enters which drives to a crunching and highly dissonant climax. The finale rapidly shifts moods from the playful to the bitterly sarcastic in a slightly Shostakovich like manner. A sombre episode intervenes before the Symphony ends in determined defiance. Nosyrev certainly has a style that despite the occasional nod to Shostakovich, is very much his own.

Panufnik’s 7th Symphony is scored for Organ, Timpani and Strings and plays continuously for around 25 minutes. It is a rather terse, austere and somewhat dry score. The style is recognisably Panufnik’s own but it lacks the engaging ideas and inevitability of the composer at his best, and there is little relief from what are often slightly turgid textures that don’t make for successful repeated listening.

Pettersson’s 15th Symphony is a one movement work of between 30 and 35 minutes duration. It is a distinctive and powerful score, often turbulent and distressed. There are brief moments when the general tension relaxes and the music flows well and naturally. At times this work reminds me of Robert Simpson in its power and drama. This is among the finest of Pettersson’s later scores and is well worth seeking out.

The 9th Symphony of Roger Sessions is a three movement work of around 27 minutes duration. It is among his last works with only his Concerto for Orchestra (a symphony in all but name) to follow among his large scale works. The 9th is in Sessions typical atonal manner, terse and thorny. Unlike his previous three symphonies, this work is broader in conception and gives the music a certain expansiveness which works well, as well as an occasional more lyrically relaxed moment to contrast against the angry outbursts. A powerful and compelling score from a compelling symphonist.

Finally Tansman’s 2nd Sinfonietta, a short four movement work of under 15 minutes duration. The rather sombre 1st movement opens with a 12 note theme . The highly engaging 2nd movement is a scherzo using Polish folk ideas and very attractive it is too, the short lyrical 3rd movement leads to an engaging finale.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1979

Bolcom: Symphony No 3 ‘Symphony for Chamber Orchestra’
A Butterworth: Symphony No 3
Cooke: Symphony No 5
Goehr: Sinfonia
Ivanovs: Symphony No 19
Knussen: Symphony No 3
D Matthews: Symphony No 2
Pettersson: Symphony No 16
Rubbra: Symphony No 11
Sallinen: Symphony No 4
Zwilich: Chamber Symphony

Bolcom’s 3rd Symphony is a four movement work of a little over 30 minutes duration. It is a work of variable quality. The 1st movement is rather unsettling and almost atonal in passages, though it is actually structurally in sonata form, the world of Schoenberg’s 1st Chamber Symphony isn’t far away. The 2nd movement is a rather mad cap scherzo into which is woven a slightly sentimental 1930’s style foxtrot. The 3rd movement is short and cryptic. The finale is generally slow and ends the music in a peaceful D major.

Arthur Butterworth’s 3rd Symphony lasts about 35 minutes and is a rather dark work of deep unease. The work is haunted by the opening idea of Vaughan Williams 5th Symphony and in this context sounds very disturbing. Hints on stormy Sibelian nature music and Moeran drift across a rather stormy and often bleak landscape. The stuff of uneasy dreams is not far away in this work, and Butterworth manages to keep control and to weld a score of some interest.

Arnold Cooke’s 5th Symphony is in the conventional four movements and lasts a little over 30 minutes. The 1st movement is urgent and has a strong forward momentum, this is followed by a somewhat hesitant and resigned slow movement that could perhaps have done with more memorable material. The scherzo has plenty of drive and contrasts with a slower but uninteresting trio. The finale has much of the urgency of the 1st movement and makes a relatively successful conclusion.

The Sinfonia of Alexander Goehr plays continuously and lasts between 20 and 25 minutes. It was one of a number of works from the later 1970’s in which Goehr music leans towards tonality after his earlier serial inspired pieces. There is also an interest in Baroque techniques and combined with a greater interest in modality and harmony create a sound world unique to Goehr. The Sinfonia is work of great interest and clarity of expression which is well worth investigating.

The 19th Symphony of Janis Ivanovs is a four movement work of a little under 40 minutes duration and the composer’s familiar post romantic idiom. The 1st movement is unsettled but broadly expansive and expressive, the 2nd movement is a propulsive scherzo. The 3rd movement is slow and sadly reflective with moments of brooding unease. The finale like the 1st movement is dramatic and expansive and ultimately concludes the Symphony in a mood of quiet trepidation.

Knussen’s 3rd Symphony is a 15 minute long work and Knussen packs a lot into those 15 minutes. There are some occasional nods to Tippett but Knussen is very much his own man, creating a colourful and varied score that holds the listeners attention. There is a degree of tension throughout that is never resolved and if anything one wishes that the composer had explored his material even more fully to create a larger score.

David Matthews 2nd Symphony is a 35 minute long score that plays continuously. It is a powerful and dramatic score, full of strength and painted with broad strokes that keep the music’s momentum. Matthews language is often quite chromatic but not excessively difficult. One has the feeling with this work of journeying over some vast nocturnal landscape and there is certainly much to admire here.

Allan Pettersson’s 16th Symphony was his last completed symphony and plays continuously for around 25 minutes. There is a prominent role for a solo alto saxophone. This results in a highly expressive score that is sometimes more relaxed than usual for Pettersson. Indeed this is one of Pettersson more direct utterances and is quite appealing.

Rubbra’s 11th Symphony is a one movement work of around 15 minutes duration and is dedicated to his wife Colette. It is a highly satisfying and compact score, expressive and expansive within its limited duration. It has a naturalness and inevitability of a fine craftsman and makes a understated but satisfying conclusion to a fine symphonic cycle.

Sallinen’s 4th Symphony is a three movement work of around 25 minutes duration and is a dark and disturbed work. The 1st movement is very restless with a nagging propulsive sense that has a rather ominous sense. The 2nd movement is entitled ‘Dona Nobis Pacem and is deeply pessimistic with its underlying martial feel whose rhythm allows no rest. The finale is rather chilling and full of nervous anticipation as if caught in a strange dream. This is a powerful and compelling work and highly recommended.

Finally Ellen Zwilich’s Chamber Symphony. The work is in a continuous movement and lasts around 15 minutes and is a pensive and expressive score. The melodic lines arch expressively and there is a rather nocturnal feeling to the music. Perhaps the music lacks the last touch of individuality which would make it really stand out.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1980

Maxwell Davies: Symphony No 2
Holmboe: Symphony No 11
Hovhaness: Symphony No 46 ‘To the Green Mountains’
Kancheli: Symphony No 6
Karamanov: Symphony No 23 ‘I am Jesus’
Lopes-Graca: Sinfonietta ‘Homage to Haydn’
Nosyrev: Symphony No 4
Penderecki: Symphony No 2 'Christmas'
Schnittke: Symphony No 2 ‘St Florian’
Valek: Symphony No 14 ‘Triumphal’
Williamson: Symphony No 5 ‘Aquero’

Peter Maxwell Davies 2nd Symphony is a four movement work of around 55 minutes duration. It is a powerful and evocative work rich in colour. The landscape of the Orkneys is never far away in the expanse and breadth of the music as well as its turbulence and images of nature’s raw power. The soundworld really is like no other and the composer is able to keep the listeners attention even through the most complex of textures. The expressive 2nd movement is particularly fine with its haunting trumpet solo.

Holmboe’s 11th Symphony is in three movements and lasts around 20 minutes. This is a tautly constructed work of great fascination with great clarity of orchestration. Each of the three movements is itself tripartite and Holmboe seamlessly welds each movement into a highly satisfactory whole. Stylistically Holmboe’s music is very individual and is among the most distinct voices in 20th century Scandinavian music. This is certainly well worth seeking out.

Hovhaness 46th Symphony is a four movement work of a little under 30 minutes duration. It is a typical modal Hovhaness work, slight and straightforward, but with a certain hypnotic effect, especially in the simple but attractive 3rd movement.

Kancheli’s 6th Symphony plays continuously and lasts about 35 minutes. It is similar to the previous three symphonies in that it has long spiritual and meditative section often with ethnic inflections that are interrupted by dramatic loud and powerful interjections. This time the music has a powerful and crushing climax before dying away in a chilled manner. This work will interest some listeners but others may be less drawn to the work due to some similarities to the previous symphonies.

Karamanov’s 23rd Symphony was the last of a group of six that represented the Biblical Apocalypse and takes the theme of the ‘New Jerusalem’. It is in many ways typical of the new spiritualist manner emerging in the Soviet Union at the time. The music is tonal and straightforward and often romantic in sound, but to be honest is not of high quality and sometimes sounds like 3rd rate film music.

The Portugese composer Fernando Lopes-Graca’s Sinfonietta is a short four movement work of about 15 minutes duration. It is quite attractive and agreeable and scored for a classical orchestra and largely follows classical models, though the 3rd movement is more of a scherzo and quotes from Haydn’s ‘Military’ Symphony . There is a Stravinskyian edge at times to the music.

Mikhail Nosyrev’s 4th Symphony was one of his last works before his relatively early death at 57, The Symphony is in two movements and lasts a little over 35 minutes. It is a strange dark and very disturbing work. It opens with the unusual sonority of four triangles and a web of percussion and strings builds, sounding like a mix of the opening of Shostakovich’s 2nd Symphony and Ives’s Universe Symphony, before a slightly Scriabinesque main theme is announced on trumpet. The movement continues through a variety of episodes from the cryptic, to the menacing to the sarcastic. The 2nd movement is more brutal and at times almost nightmarish and finally ends in a chilling ‘no mans land’. This really is a strange but vital work and should be heard.

Penderecki’s 2nd Symphony is around 35 minutes long and in four movements. It is one of the first works that marked a change from his earlier Avant Garde music to a more traditional formal and harmonic language, with rich almost neo-romantic textures. The subtitle ‘Christmas’ refers to the allusion to ‘Silent Night’ that occurs in the work. The score is quite powerful and is broadly expressive. It may disappoint fans of the more Avant Garde Penderecki, but others may welcome the more tonal and approachable manner.

Alfred Schnittke’s 2nd Symphony is scored for four soloists, chamber choir and large orchestra. It is in 6 movements which follow the outline of the Catholic Mass and lasts an hour. The subtitle refers to the Abbey where Bruckner worked and is buried and is a homage to that master of suitable proportions. The chamber choir and soloists sing the text of the Mass using graduals upon which the orchestra passes comment. The effect is at times deeply spiritual at others hauntingly powerful, though its length for me counts against it and one’s attention can wander. Many though will find this work a very satisfying experience.

Valek’s 14th Symphony is scored for two pianos and orchestra and the pianos have a prominent role along with the percussion. The Symphony is in three movements and lasts about 25 minutes. The first two movements are a bit leaden footed and not particularly noteworthy, though some of the textures are interesting. The more lively finale is of more interest and at times almost recalls John Adams.

Finally Malcolm Williamson’s 5th Symphony. It was composed after Williamson had made a pilgrimage to Lourdes to recover from a major mental health breakdown. It is in five movements and lasts a little under 25 minutes. It is a work strong on atmosphere and lyricism, with a certain meditative and spiritual quality that results in music that is moving and at times quite beautiful. The work is perhaps slightly understated but it is well worth investigating and really is very appealing.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1981

Eshpai: Symphony No 4 ‘Symphony-Ballet’
Hovhaness: Symphony No 49 ‘Christmas’
Ivanovs: Symphony No 20 in E flat major
D Jones: Symphony No 10
Mennin: Symphony No 9
Norgard: Symphony No 4
Panufnik: Symphony No 8 ‘Sinfonia Votiva’
Schnittke: Symphony No 3
Sumera: Symphony No 1
Vainberg/Weinberg: Symphony No 16
H Wood: Symphony

Eshpai’s 4th Symphony is in one continuous movement and lasts around 37 minutes. It is a fairly eclectic score and rather loosely constructed. Typical brash Soviet ideas rub shoulders with hints of Shostakovich and Khachaturian, along with light music and a touch of the avant-garde. GThe score is quite entertaining in its eclecticism, but no masterpiece.

Hovhaness’s 48th Symphony is a four movement work of around 22 minutes duration, and is scored for string orchestra. The work is very simple and modal, but at times quite appealing. The scoring and modality make the work sound rather ‘English’ at times.

Janis Ivanovs 20th Symphony, was his last completed symphony and is a four movement work of around 25 minutes duration. Despite the major key indication, the Symphony is a work full of sadness and tragedy and as the composer indicated, memories. The work is broad and expansive with rich neo-romantic gestures. There is no false romantic posturing in this work however, and the ideas are genuinely felt and at times quite moving.

The 10th Symphony of Daniel Jones is in four movements and lasts about 20 minutes. The outer movements are somewhat stern, rugged but also imposing. The 2nd movement is a very (too short) Scherzo, which is lively and very engaging. The heart of the work is the slow 3rd movement, somewhat sombre, but emotional and which makes a lasting impression. Jones’s sound world is thoughtful but quite approachable.

Peter Mennin’s 9th Symphony was his penultimate completed work, completed only two years before his death at 60 from cancer in 1983. It is in three movements and lasts about 20 minutes. The 1st movement is stern, gritty and tense, with dense burst of energy that emerge from a dark background. The central movement is among Mennin’s most moving creations, with its sad wistful and memorable main idea, full of poignant loneliness. The finale is a movement of furious and tempestuous power that drives forward with aggressive energy, almost like an American ‘Sacrificial Dance’.

The 4th Symphony of Per Norgard is a two movement work of about 27 minutes duration. This was one of a number of works of the period in which Norgard drew inspiration from the schizophrenic Swiss artist Adolf Wolfli. The work inhabits a strange dreamlike world, with a series of fleeting images from the powerfully dramatic to the deeply disturbing. The 2nd movement in particular seems to inhabit the some nightmarish vision of as it wrestles with textures that are distinctly unsettling. The soundworld is very distinct and in its way impressionistic but in a very late 20th century way. A strange work but one worth seeking out.

Panufnik’s 8th Symphony is in two movements and lasts a little over 20 minutes. It was one of a number of works commissioned for the centenary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and is designed as a votive offering to the Polish ‘Black Madonna’. Geometry and the figure 8 are used structurally in the work, though one isn’t really aware of this. The 1st movement is slow and meditative with spare chamber like textures very typical of Panufnik. The 2nd movement is mainly fast in tempo with a sense of urgency and anguish as if pleading in a desperate hurry and makes quite a dramatic impact. Certainly one of Panufnik’s more successful scores in my opinion.

Schnittke’s 3rd Symphony is in four movements and lasts around 50 minutes. This is an interesting and in many ways typical Schnittke score in its eclectic allusions to the music of other composers. Indeed, the initials of various composers are used to generate the material in the work. The 1st movement emerges from silence gradually to a huge climax with tolling bells. The central movements are both in faster tempi and are distinctly unsettling, and not easy to get to really get to grips with on initial hearings. The finale is a broad Adagio which seems to in some ways to resolve the uncertainties of the central movements and finally returns the music to the silence from which it emerged.

The Estonian composer Lepo Sumera’s 1st Symphony is in two movements of equal duration and lasts about 30 minutes in all. It is a distinctive work of some substance. The first movement is predominately meditative and almost hypnotic, with a still landscape that gives the initial impression of serenity but which has darker undertones. The 2nd movement begins with scalic wisps of ideas but gains energy and becomes powerful and almost obsessive. The movement finally returns to the atmosphere of the first movement and ends with a strange mechanical ticking. Certainly a work worth investigating.

Vainberg/Weinberg’s 16th Symphony plays continuously and lasts around 35 minutes. It is another dark and typically serious score from this composer. As is the norm with this composer, the music is predominately slow in tempi and with a liking for chamber like textures. The moods range from powerfully dramatic (the opening briefly reminds one of Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem), to chillingly icy, to melancholic and wistful. A feeling of nostalgia and glancing back at what might have been seems to haunt this work. The Symphony holds together well and despite the occasional nod to Shostakovich, the composer is as usual his own man.

Finally Hugh Wood’s Symphony. This is a four movement work of around 40 minutes duration and is a work of some distinction. The first movement is very unsettled and at times tempestuous, this leads to the second movement ‘Elegia’. This movement is indeed elegiac in character and at times approaches a Mahlerian mode of expression, with both a touch of’ bittersweetness’ in its romantic expressionism as well as a touch of irony. The scherzo is rhythmically alert and it leads without a break into the expansive finale. The movement has an autumnal feel to it and just occasionally reminds one of Tippett. The Symphony looks as if it will end quietly, but instead rises to a romantically broad and grand coda. This is a very fine work and one wishes that Wood would compose a 2nd Symphony.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1982

Creston: Symphony No 6
Gipps: Symphony No 5
Harbison: Symphony No 1 (composed 1981)
G Lloyd: Symphony No 10 ‘November Journeys’
Norholm: Symphony No 7 ‘Ecliptic Instincts’
Poot: Symphony No 7
Silvestrov: Symphony No 5
R Simpson: Symphony No 8
Tubin: Symphony No 11 (incomplete)
Zwilich: Symphony No 1 ‘Three Movements for Orchestra’

Paul Creston’s 6th and final symphony was composed 26 years after its predecessor. It is scored for organ and orchestra and is in one continuous movement, though clearly in three slow-fast-slow sections. The symphony lasts around 20 minutes. Creston maintains his distinct and individual sound world in this work, with continual rhythmic momentum and strong lyrical lines. The organ is used both as a solo and as part of the orchestra and is successfully integrated into the whole. Though fairly slight, this work is, as usual with Creston, highly attractive and enjoyable and very approachable.

The 5th Symphony of Ruth Gipps is in four movements and lasts around 40 minutes. The Symphony is generally a broad and expansive work, with to my ears a distinctly American feel to the harmony and harmonic spacing. This is combined with a slightly quirky and fussy melodic feel that is actually endearing. Hints of Vaughan Williams occasionally surface too. Structually, the Symphony is a touch loose and could have done with more sense of purpose perhaps. This is however and approachable and quite distinct work which many listeners may find appealing.

John Harbison’s 1st Symphony is a four movement work of around 25 minutes duration. It was one of a number of works commissioned for the centenary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It is a varied and quite entertaining score, imaginative and with a choreographic feel to it, at least to me ears. The searching slow 3rd movement is particularly fine and the finale has plenty of rhythmic ingenuity. Stylistically the work is predominately tonal and quite approachable.

George Lloyd’s 10th Symphony is scored for Brass Band and is in four movements. It is a pleasant work well written for the medium. The 1st and 3rd movements are slight but have an element of humour and are quite appealing, and the finale is effective and solid. The best movement is the slow 2nd which is lyrically and melodically appealing.

Ib Norholm’s 7th Symphony is a one movement work of about 25 minutes duration. This is an action packed score with an almost bewildering variety of ideas and textures and a work which maintains a generally fluid momentum throughout its length. The textures are wide ranging, sometimes brutal, sometimes expressive. Perhaps there is almost too much going on and the work does need concentrated and repeated listening. The musical language is very free, but not excessively difficult and certainly has s degree of individuality.

Marcel Poot’s 7th Symphony is a three movement work of around 16 minutes duration. It is a compact and engaging little work. The 1st movement is swift with a moto perpetuo like momentum. The central movement is more refined but with a livelier central episode and the finale is full of wit and very Gallic. The musical language occasionally reminds one of Poulenc and Roussel and quite straightforward. A slight work, but a work simply to be enjoyed.

The 5th Symphony of Valentin Silvestrov is in one continuous movement and lasts about 40 minutes. It is a hypnotic work that maintains a slowish tempo. There is a generally gentle lyricism, that has an ebb and flow like a nocturnal seascape, this emerges from and is pitted against more dissonant elements, but these elements never totally succeed in banishing this lyricism, however the effect after a while is more uneasy. It is a difficult work to sum up, many listeners will be drawn to and appreciate this work, but for some it may be a touch monotonous. It is really up to each listener to decide for themselves.

Robert Simpson’s 8th Symphony is a four movement work of around 45 minutes duration. The 1st & 2nd and 3rd & 4th are played without a break. The 1st movement begins in an almost jocular manner but becomes more menacing, this continues in the distinctly nagging scherzo that follows, and which reaches a powerful climax before sinking into the depths. The 3rd movement begins with a fugue and is rather solemn and austere, this leads into a typical confident and dramatic Simpson finale. Certainly a well written and powerful work.

Eduard Tubin’s 11th Symphony was left unfinished as his death with only the first movement completed, but not fully orchestrated. The orchestration was completed by Kaljo Raid. The movement is typical Tubin in its energy and momentum and in its strong lyrical impulse.

Finally Ellen Zwilich’s 1st Symphony is a three movement work that lasts around 17 minutes. It was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer Prize in music and with it Zwilich became the first female winner of the music prize. The 1st movement begins quietly but increases in expressivity and agitation to climax before returning to a quiet conclusion. The central movement is transparent and somewhat austere in expression and slightly aloof. The 3rd movement is more agitated and rhythmically flexible and makes an effective conclusion. Zwilich’s language is quite approachable and her orchestration very clear and distinctive, stylistically though she lacks a really distinct personality of her own.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1983

Badings: Symphony No 15
Eklund: Symphony No 6
Feld: Symphony No 2
Hoddinott: Symphony No 6
Hovhaness: Symphony No 50 ‘Mount St Helens’
Hovhaness: Symphony No 53 ‘Star Dawn’
Ivanovs: Symphony No 21 in C major (incomplete)
Lutoslawski: Symphony No 3
Mathias: Symphony No 2 ‘Summer Music’
Moyzes: Symphony No 12
Ustvolskaya: Symphony No 3 ‘Jesus, Messiah, save us’

Henk Badings 15th Symphony is scored for woodwind, brass and percussion, is in three movements and lasts about 17 minutes. The 1st movement emerges from the depths in a swirl of sound and the character is generally forceful and strident. The 2nd movement is slow and rather severe, but with an expressive melancholy. The finale is relatively short bright and engaging.

Hans Eklund’s 6th Symphony is a three movement work of about 23 minutes duration. This is a dark and rather gloomy piece. The 1st movement is gritty and forceful, this leads in to a scherzo with distinct martial undertones. A cadenza for solo violin leads into the final movement, which is in a slow march tempo and which is tinged with Mahlerian irony. This is a powerful and quite striking work that is certainly worth investigating.

The 2nd Symphony of the Czech Jindrich Feld (1925-2007), is a four movement work of around 23 minutes duration. It is a strange and rather tense work. The 1st movement is rather gritty and tense and this leads to a march like 2nd movement full of bitter irony and sarcasm and which ends rather wistfully. There then follows are short and rather cryptic slow movement. The finale is the longest movement, it begins in strident, determined manner, with a touch of irony, but dissolves in to a quiet questioning conclusion.

Alun Hoddinott’s 6th Symphony plays continuously and lasts around 20 minutes. The opening is rather pensive and full of anticipation and tension. This leads into a terrific fast paced and superbly orchestrated scherzo like section. A searching, lyrical and impassioned section follows with a brief more lively episode, before the Symphony ends in expansive and luminous mood. A fine work this, superbly orchestrated, Hoddinott’s range and imagination are very impressive.

Alan Hovhaness’s 50th Symphony (Mount St Helens Symphony), is in three movements and lasts around 30 minutes. It became something of a hit upon its 1st recording and CD release in the 1990s. The first movement has a certain noble grandeur and ends in a typical Hovhaness fugue. The central movement ‘Spirit Lake’ has two hypnotic and simple sections for solo woodwind over pizzicato strings, which are framed by threes short distinctly oriental influenced sections. The finale ‘Volcano’ is a symbolic and ritualistic portrayal of Nature’s raw power, using canonic devices and ostinati and concludes with a fugue and hymn to Nature.

Hovhness’s 53rd Symphony is in two movements and lasts under 15 minutes. It is scored for symphonic wind band and percussion. The inspiration was the composer’s love of astronomy and man’s desire to explore space. Both movements are moderately paced, and the work is noble and straightforward.

Janis Ivanov’s 21st Symphony was left unfinished at the composer’s death early in 1983. The three movements lasts around 23 minutes and it is in the composer’s normal neo-romantic manner. The first movement is rather sombre in tone and fairly restless and is typical of the composer. The 2nd movement begins in a rather resigned manner, but has a more animated central section. The finale is rather scrappy and unsatisfactory and would surely have undergone further work and revision had the composer lived.

Lutoslawski’s 3rd Symphony plays continuously and lasts about 30 minutes. The Symphony had a relatively long gestation period of 10 years and is a classic example of Lutoslawski’s art at its peak. The work uses the composers limited aleatoric elements where notes and rhythm are specified but the coordination is not so that various textures and ideas continually overlap. The composer impressively keeps structural control, creating a true symphonic inevitability from the diverse elements. This Symphony is surely among the most important and impressive of the last quarter of the 20th century.

Mathias’s 2nd Symphony is a three movement work that lasts a little under 30 minutes. The Symphony is a highly evocative score and colourfully orchestrated. The 1st movement opens in a hauntingly atmospheric manner, this interrupted by a fanfare like idea, and the movement progresses by alternating these two elements which creates a great deal of tension. The 2nd movement is slow and mystical and hauntingly enchanting too, create a sort of Celtic nocturnal scene. The finale has exuberant energy and is very effective and seems occasionally to hint at the world of Bax.

The 12th and final Symphony of Alexander Moyzes is a three movement work of a little over 30 minutes duration. The 1st movement is atmospheric, amenable and pleasantly orchestrated. The 2nd movement begins innocently but is disturbed by tougher martial elements. The finale is dominated by a fussy continual motion, that is almost Gallic, it is briefly interrupted by the 2nd movement’s martial mood before fussy forward drive returns to conclude the work. Like all Moyzes symphonies, this work is approachable, though it is not among the stronger symphonies of this composer.

Finally Galina Ustvolskaya’s 3rd Symphony. Ustvolskaya’s symphonies are odd work and unique in style. The 3rd is scored for 5 oboes, 5 trumpets, 5 double basses, 3 tubas, trombone, piano, percussion and speaking voice and lasts about 13 minutes. It is a dark score, gritty and sometimes menacing, in turns, brooding, protesting and pleading. Not an easy work to crack this, but certainly a powerful score.

[Suffolkcoastal]

More from the journey through my symphonic collection:

1984

D Bedford: Symphony No 1
A Bush: Symphony No 4 ‘Lascaux’
Maxwell Davies: Symphony No 3
Englund: Symphony No 6 ‘Aphorisms’
Henze: Symphony No 7
D Jones: Symphony No 11 ‘In memoriam G F Tyler’
Kinsella: Symphony No 1 (revised 1984 version)
Leighton: Symphony No 3 ‘Laudes Musicae’
Schnittke: Symphony No 4
Siegmeister: Symphony No 6
Skulte: Symphony No 8
Sumera: Symphony No 2
Thorne: Symphony No 5
Tischenko: The Blockade Chronicle Symphony
Vainberg/Weinberg: Symphony No 17 ‘Memory’
Vainberg/Weinberg: Symphony No 18 ‘War, there is no word more cruel’

The 1st Symphony of David Bedford is in one movement and lasts around 15 minutes. Bedford’s mixed classical and popular music backgrounds come together in what is an approachable score, with mainly tonal harmony and ideas that are some slightly cinematic and other times lean towards the manner of John Adams. The score is slight but some listeners may enjoy its slightly more commercial manner.

Alan Bush’s 4th Symphony is in four movements and lasts between 35 and 40 minutes. The work is inspired by the Lascaux cave paintings. The score is quite approachable and generally light and transparent and often quite lyrical. The language is straightforward and tonal and occasionally sounds slightly American. The lightness of touch often creates a balletic feel and though not of great consequence the score is pleasantly appealing.

Peter Maxwell Davies 3rd Symphony is a four movement score of between 55 and 60 minutes duration. The work is a very striking and powerful statement. A number of mathematical elements are used to generate the ideas and structure, but the listener doesn’t have to be aware of this and can simply sit back and immerse themselves in the vast land/seascape that the composer creates. The 1st movement begins quietly and gradually accumulates speed and texture impressively. The central movement are contrasting scherzos with the 2nd seemingly presenting the ‘other side of the coin’ from the 1st. For me the most impressive movement is the 4th, which redevelops ideas from the 1st movement to create and expansive and hauntingly moving picture in sound, quite unlike any other composer. The orchestral writing is often virtuosic, with very demanding writing for the trumpets in particular.

Englund’s 6th Symphony is a 6 movement work scored for chorus and orchestra. It is a powerful work full of prophecy and foreboding, but also resolution and hope. Englund’s style though recognisably Scandinavian is very much his own. The work makes a strong statement and makes a deep impression on the listener.

Henze’s 7th Symphony is a four movement work lasting between 35 and 40 minutes. In many senses this is formally the most traditional of Henze’s symphonies as well as the most Germanic. The 1st movement is dance like taking the Allemande as its starting point. The 2nd movement could almost be an orchestral Lieder with moods ranging from the gently innocent to the more darker and intense. Both the scherzo and finale take their inspiration from the poet Holderlin. The scherzo is a tormented movement of anxious surging energy that has a near claustrophobic feel. The finale is an orchestral setting of a Holderlin poem and is at times anguished and protesting. Henze’s language though often complex is not excessively difficult and this is certainly for me among his most impressive scores.

Daniel Jones 11th Symphony is a work of around 20 minutes duration. It is at times an impassioned piece, dramatic and with a certain grandeur and openness of expression. There is also a strong lyrical element, more noticeable here than in some of his earlier symphonies. The work is approachable and expertly paced and not a note too long.

The Irish composer John Kinsella’s 1st Symphony is a four movement work of around 50 minutes duration. It is an unashamedly expansive neo-romantic work of a sometimes near cinematic quality. The work is very approachable though a touch loose in construction and lacks a certain focus, especially in the outer movements which tend to ramble. The scherzo come off best, swift, engaging and with plenty of momentum.

Kenneth Leighton’s 3rd Symphony is scored for Tenor & Orchestra and is in three movements lasting between 25 and 30 minutes. The work sets three texts by Sir Thomas Browne, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Shelley as well as a brief one by the composer. The outer movements are slow, the 1st atmospheric and at time hauntingly beautiful, the 3rd an impassioned and luxurious setting of Shelley with rich orchestral textures ending in a warm and peaceful coda of great beauty. The central movement is swift and rhythmic and makes a strong and much needed contrast. This is a lovely work that is well worth hearing.

Schnittke’s 4th Symphony is in one continuous span and lasts around 40 minutes. It is scored for chamber orchestra, tenor, counter-tenor, chorus & piano. The vocal parts are not prominent but add texture at various points in the score. The score is typical Schnittke of the time, meditative and religiously mystical. The piano helps to add distinctive touches along with a harpsichord to the orchestration. Though quite approachable, I personally don’t find that it really grabs my attention and the mind often wanders due to a lack of real contrast.

Siegmeister’s 6th Symphony lasts a little under 30 minutes and is a dark and searching score. There is an unsettling tension which underlies the score, though later on a more poignant but resigned mood takes precedence. The language is very free and sometimes complex, though the composer tries to draw you into his world rather than keeping the listener at arm’s length. Certainly a score of some interest.

Continued in the post below .....

[Suffolkcoastal]

1984

continued from the above post.....

Skulte’s 8th Symphony lasts around 27 minutes. It opens in a mood of gloomy foreboding but develops into a neo-romantic score of a certain cinematic quality. The score is expansive and has pleasing moments and reminds me of Ivanovs at times, however I personally feel that Skulte’s style is more contrived than Ivanovs and Skulte cannot always banish the rhetorical and banal in his work.

Lepo Sumera’s 2nd Symphony is in nominally in three movements, though as the first two are linked and all three share material. The symphony opens on wispy strings and harp and builds to an urgent climax with chiming bells, which then lead into the more reflective central movement. The 3rd movement is swift and much play is made with the triplet figure from the 1st movement. Again an urgent almost foreboding climax is reached before the music dies away. Sumera’s language is tonal and quite approachable.

Francis Thorne’s 5th Symphony lasts around 23 minutes and is pleasant work in the American symphonic tradition. The ideas have a certain attraction even if the style is somewhat anonymous, however the work holds together well and is not without some appeal.

Boris Tischenko’s Blockade Chronicle Symphony plays continuously and lasts about 35 minutes. The music is taken from the score the composer provided for Voronov’s play ‘Such a Long Winter’ which chronicles the siege of Leningrad. This is not a symphony in the true sense but more a series of episodes reflecting the siege. The music, as one might expect, is often cinematic, it is also in turns brutal, tense, chilling and not without irony, especially in the little waltz idea that haunts the work later on.

Vainberg/Weinberg’ 17th Symphony is the first part of a symphonic trilogy with the overriding title ‘The Threshold of War’ and expresses the composer’s memories of the 2nd World War. The symphony is in four movements and lasts between 50 and 55 minutes. As one might expect, this is a dark and predominately pessimistic work. The 1st movement is full of anxiety and foreboding and is expansive but intense. The 2nd movement has a nagging insistent idea which first appears on the piano, but later eerily appears on harpsichord, after which the music slows to a fairly extensive brooding conclusion. The 3rd movement has a strident determination and a slightly more martial feel to it. The finale is often bleak and melancholic, and appears as if it will end rather like Shostakovich’s 4th ( a coda that seemed to have haunted Vainberg), but instead end in a blunt manner. Certainly an impressive and moving score, well worth a listen.

Finally Vainberg/Weinberg’s 18th Symphony, which is the 2nd part of the symphonic trilogy mentioned above. The work is scored for chorus and orchestra and is in movement and lasts between 40 and 45 minutes. Though in one movement the work can be divided into four sections. The 1st section, for orchestra only, is in two halves, begins in the dark world of the previous symphony with strings and distant muted brass, the 2nd half is swift and more brutal. This leads to a setting of Orlov, which is poignant and wistful, there then follows a setting of the folk song ‘Dearest Little Berry, whose innocence is steadily eroded. Finally comes a short concluding setting of Tvardovsky from which the work takes its title, the setting is somewhat unsettling and does resolve the underlying feeling of melancholy. This work is certainly worth hearing and makes quite a moving statement.