Not the Mahler symphonies
Help with an alternative nine and a half!
James Jolly 10:13am GMT 26th April 2010
Were it not for the spectacularly disruptive effects of Eyjafjallajökull last week I’d be on my way to LA (via Japan and New Zealand). There, I’d planned to record a radio show with Jim Svejda, the hugely popular and erudite host of “The Record Shelf” on KUSC (and syndicated on various NPR stations throughout the States). We usually chat about the Award winners each year, but we thought that for Mahler Year we’d offer a slightly subversive alternative to the deluge of Mahler recordings and concerts. “Not the Mahler symphonies” is going to be nine and half symphonies (the half is for the Adagio of No 10) not by Mahler, and not from the “core” repertoire, that would provide an unusual alternative. Since I’ll now be chatting with Jim “down the line” from London, I thought I’d rope in some ideas from visitors to this site. Here are my nine (with runners-up), please feel free to offer alternatives…which Malcolm Arnold symphony, for example, should go in? And Roy Harris?
Symphony No 1 – Kalinnikov
A terrifically red-blooded Russian symphony, with a melody that links the first and last movements that will stay with you for days.
(Honorable mention to Vaughan Williams for one of the most assured symphonic debuts)
Symphony No 2 – Vaughan Williams (A London Symphony)
A symphony I love both as a response from someone who loved the city, but also “pure” music.
(Hm to: Bernstein and Hovhaness)
Symphony No 3 – Berwald (Symphonie singulière)
Berwald’s music sounds quite unlike anyone else’s and seems to occupy a place between the classical and the romantic that is quite unique. I love the rhythmic energy of this delightful symphony.
(Hm to: Szymanowski)
Symphony No 4 – Lou Harrison (Last Symphony)
Ever since Argo recorded this piece I’ve loved this piece for its extraordinary explosion of colour and vitality. The coyote stories that provide the theme for the finale never fail to entrance. This is music that just exudes a love of life.
(Hm to: Rautavaara and Pärt)
Symphony 5 – Simpson
I was torn between Nielsen and Simpson here (something that Simpson would have appreciated as a great champion of the Dane), but Nielsen isn’t that far from the core repertoire. Simpson’s Fifth, written for a large orchestra, is surely one of the great late-20th-century symphonies – it draws a palette of immense subtlety and proves that cogent symphonic thinking was in excellent hands.
(Hm to: Nielsen)
Symphony No 5 1/2 – Don Gillis
Well, I couldn’t resist this – great fun!
Symphony No 6 – Bax
It was Jim Svejda who introduced me to this symphony, reckoning it one of the greatest of the 20th century. And having played it numerous times since, I’m inclined to agree.
(Hm: Martinu)
Symphony No 7 – Prokofiev
One of the loveliest of Prokofiev’s seven – melodically irresistible and full of charm. It’s a mystery that, apart from Valery Gergiev, no one ever plays it!
(Hm: Rautavaara)
Symphony No 8 – Myaskovsky
I wanted to include something by this remarkably productive symphonist. His Eighth is a lovely work, overlaid with a nice sense of mystery (the Svetlanov recording is a bit scruffy but certainly conveys the work’s powerful message).
Symphony 9 – Schuman
William Schuman strikes me as a hugely underrated composer: tonal but not bland, with a winning musical language. The symphony is subtitled The Ardeatine Caves after the site of a truly horrific Nazi mass-murder of 335 Italians, and a feeling of unease, anger and pain infuses the piece. If you like Shostakovich this would be worth exploring…
Over to you!
If you want to check out any of my nine and a half, here are some links:
Kalinnikov from Passionato
Vaughan Williams from Passionato
Berwald from Passionato
Harrison from eMusic
Simpson from Hyperion
Don Gillis from ClassicsOnline
Bax from The Classical Shop
Prokofiev from Passionato
Myaskovsky from ClassicsOnline
Schuman from ClassicsOnline
Comments
OK
Symphony No. 1: Havergal Brian's 'Gothic' - very long, very ambitious. There were a lot more to come, some very much shorter. (For those already suffering from Mahler deprivation, there's Hans Rott's Symphony as an alternative)
Symphony No. 2: Elgar. Arguably his finest achievement, summing up an age, but to students of history also anticipating an uncertain future for Edwardian society. (Like JJ, I'll go for the VW as an alternative)
Symphony No. 3: Martinu. A war symphony with many tragic undertones, but ending in heartfelt hope and thankfulness now that victory was in sight.(Roy Harris a possible substitute)
Symphony No. 4: Brahms. A Greek epic of struggle and repose capped by one of the great variation movements in symphonic literature (Alternative: Schumann).
Symphony No. 5: Arnold. So many choices of a 5th, apart from the obvious one!! A composer's tribute to departed friends, culminating in an epilogue of great depth and sadness.
Symphony No. 6: Sibelius. From the initial harp figures to the very end, an understated work that conveys sense of magic. (Alternatives: VW, Nielsen, Rautavaara, Tchaikovsky. This was the most difficult choice out of the nine for me)
Symphony No. 7: Beethoven. After a series of rather unsettling symhonic suggestions, this helps to rectify the balance. (I resisted the temptation to nominate Pettersson's 7th for that reason). The giants dance playfully in the last movement.
Symphony No. 8: Shostakovitch. A powerful statement and unmistakably uncompromising view of the world in the war years. (Bruckner as an alternative)
Symphony No. 9: Dvorak. Even excluding Mahler and Beethoven - the latter already on the list - a hard choice, with Bruckner close on its heels, but ultimately disqualified as an incomplete work. Dvorak, like so many other Bohemian composers, can cast shadows over the world, but there is always some light as well, so a very suitable choice to end the sequence.
First of all, the day I get "over" Mahler's Symphonies is the day I might throw my stereo equipment and/or iPod out the window. But, in the spirit of fun, I throw in my list of "subversive alternatives." For bonus points, I believe all of but one my picks are 20th century works:
Symphony No. 1: Isn't Copland's "Organ" Symphony his first? Love the jagged power of this piece! If it's not really his first, than how about Walton's packs-a-punch First Symphony, which I've never seen on a program here in NYC. And dear God, why isn't Rachmaninov's First Symphony played more often (bizzarro ending worth the price of admission).
Symphony No. 2: Hanson's unabashedly "Romantic" has been recorded a few times, but once again I don't see it on concert programs. I agree with Micos69 on Elgar 2: one of the greatest symphonies by ANY composer writing in the 20th century (slow movement rivals anything by Mahler for intense expressivity and nobility of feeling).
Symphony No. 3: Roy Harris's rugged Third has had at least one definitive recording (Bernstein/NY Phil), but is it ever programmed?
Symphony No. 4: For the first 25 years that I listened to Shostakovich this incendiary work was NEVER available either as a recording or on a concert program. Now, it's programmed on occasion and has been recorded quite a few times, but that hasn't lessened the impact of a piece that was rightly compared to a "volcanic explosion." (Nielsen's 4th, "Inexstinguishable," is also worth mentioning, another work that's popular on disc but not often programmed).
Symphony No. 5: Depending on how you number them, because he didn't, Hindemith's "Harmonie der Welt" might have been the composer's Fifth. Would pay money just to hear last movement live: as the cosmos fall into alignment it consistently conveys luminous ecstasy. VW's Fifth is another of the genre's great 20th century masterpieces and always brings a lump to my throat.
Symphony 6: Bruckner's Sixth may be flawed, but the opening movement is one of my very favorites, and the adagio is mighty glorious as well.
Symphony No. 7: This one's easy - Rautavaara's "Angel of Light," the aural equivalent of looking at a supercharged and very colorful lava lamp.
Symphony No. 8: I think I mentioned Aho's Eighth symphony in my "Finntastic" blogpost. It's huge and it's thick, but it's also powerful and ultimately moving.
Symphony No. 9: Vaughan Williams wrote his final symphony when he was in his 80s, and for that reason alone it deserves a shot at the Number Nine position. It's also a wonderfully strange and visionary work. To paraphrase Stravinsky, it says a lot without saying anything.
PS: Wish I could have picked one of Philip Glass's symphonies, but his film scores are, for me, at a slightly higher level (particularly "Powaqqatsi," one of my all-time favorite scores). John Adams' "Harmonielehre" would have made the list if Adams had called it a symphony and if it hadn't become "core" repertoire over the past few several years!
PPS: Forgive my typos, but I'm heading out to catch a movie!
Plus, one additional alternative for number 4: Martinu's Fourth, which I heard for the first time when Alan Gilbert conducted the Berlin Philharmonic last spring. Very strong piece and one that should definitely be a regular on concert programs.
James,
I forgot about the 'half' symphony. Maybe one could nominate the Schubert Unfinished - alternative, stretching the definition a little, perhaps - the Bruckner 9
Why isn't the wonderful Symphony in C of Paul Dukas played more often ?There's more to this composer than the familiar Sorceror's Apprentice, but unfortunately not too much,because he was so self critical about his music that he destroyed most of his output.
This is a vigorous and rousing work,full of wonderful melodies. If you haven't heard it, by all means get one of the recordings,such as those of Yan Pascal Tortelier on Chandos or the classic Martinon/EMI version.
The superlative Decca recording with Walter Weller and the LPO has not been reissued on CD yet, which is a pity. This is the version which introduced me to this inexplicably neglected symphony.
You'll wonder where this masterpiece has been all your life when you hear it.
How about unnamed symphonies... Mahler had written 3 complete symphonies before his nr. 1 (Titan). Willem Mengelberg had looked in the autographs and remarked that they were just as good as his mature symphonies. But they never appeared in print and were kept in Dresden. I think you can guess what happened to them...
Rolf
I'm a Sibelian when it comes to the Mahler v. Sibelius view of the symphony. Getting into Mahler is on my musical list of 'things to do', but it is difficult not to resent the amount of space he takes up in concert schedules and record release. I think this is also about a resistance to gigantism ('the symphony must contain the world') - the questionable assumption that for a symphony to be big or profound it has to be long and scored for vast forces.
That said, here are my nominations for less well-known symphonies and some that ought to be played more, and some alternatives.
Madetoja 1 - concise and memorable Finnish work (Moeran in G, Bliss Colour, Kallinikov 1, Prokoviev 1)
Walton 2 (Meuleman 2 - has an exquisite 4.30 min slow mvt)
Bax 3 - great tunes and that astonishing tread-of-angels coda (other good 3s Honegger, Roy Harris, Malipiero, Rautavaara)
Tubin 4 - very beautiful lyric style (Nielsen 4, Martinu 4)
Tie between RVW 5 and Sibelius 5 (Shostakovich 5 also great)
Martinu 6
Rubbra 7 (Tansman 7, Bruckner 7)
Sibelius 8 - 'heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter' ;-)
RVW 9 - profundity in 32 minutes
I'd also mention Stravinsky Symphony in C and Three Movements and Holmboe 11.
An interesting exercise. Spoilt for choice on some numbers, scrambling for candidates on others.
1) Easy. Walton’s first. One of the most inspired works in the catalogue and a desert island disc for me. VW and Rachmaninov get honourable mentions.
2) A thin choice. Composers seem either to have burned themselves out on the first or not hit their stride yet. Sophomore jinx, as they say in American sporting circles. Alwyn’s second for me, a work of unusual structure, poignancy, and avoiding this composers tendency to bombast. Just. HM to VW.
3) My guilty secret. Prokofiev’s third. OK, OK, so it’s scratched together out of Fiery Angel, but it works for me by the way it creates tension between worlds of sensuality, hedonism, meditation, violence and reverence. HM to Roy Harris.
4) Spoilt for choice but Sibelius has to get it. His greatest work and one of the most titanic 20th C. symphonies. Shostakovich very close on his tail.
5) Another close one. Bax’s superbly evocative 5th just edges out VW.
6) Martinu wins going away. A work that staggers me every time I listen to it. Other-worldly. Bax comes in second, just edging out Rubbra.
7) Thin again. Some composers seem to have been running on empty by this point (Bax and Prokofiev – sorry James) or adopting Monty Python’s line, “and now for something completely different”. VW took to movies, Shostakovich returned to work for the government, Sibelius collected what was left of his inspiration into one last, short flame. I give it to Roy Harris for a succinct and energizing work, perhaps more of a “lifetime achievement” award than anything. Runner up Rautavaara, just ahead of Rubbra.
8) Easy. Holmboe, who’s now at his peak. It’s a long step down to second place but I give it to Shostakovich with Rubbra second bridesmaid yet again.
9) I’m going to cheat a bit here, because the composer did. Holmboe called “In Memoriam” a sinfonia rather than a symphony, but it’s no less a symphony than Matinu’s 6th or Sibelius’ seventh, and a magnificent one at that. It’s his real #9, not the one he labeled 9 some years after and which is nowhere near as powerful. Simpson gets second spot, again more of a “lifetime achievement” thing than an individual award.
10) Rubbra’s tiny 10th is a perfect alternative to Mahler’s half a work. Tubin gets runner up, one of the few composers to get past 9 without falling on his face.
No Maxwell Davies. For me, his best symphonies are 5 and 6, and there the competition is fierce. Henze’s 7 almost made it as did a number of American works, Schuman and Creston for instance.