Villa-Lobos 6

I was motivated to move to a symphony from a country I hadn't blogged so far, and realised that I have covered much of Europe (though not, so far, Spain and Sweden for example). So Brazil seemed a good choice. I don't recall every hearing any of Villa-Lobos's symphonies before and this one was not invidual and interesting enough apart from the beautiful slow movement. I think I should return to some of the others. I don't think the symphonies are the most famous of his works and I failed to find a video clip.

 

Vorisek Symphony in D

A convenient radio choice and good to remember there are other symphonies from this period than those of Haydn and Mozart. However, I can't say, apart from the pleasant scherzo, it made a great impression on me. I know I have heard it before, but couldn't recall much about it. Maybe Haydn and Mozart are the most famous for good reasons. 

 

Schnittke 9

Schnittke's last symphony was left uncompleted at his death and there will always be arguments about its authenticity. Unlike Mahler 10, also completed posthumously by other hands, this symphony is not a masterpiece. The first impression is how romantic it is and it certainly lacks the angst and despair of other late Schnittke symphonies. I can't object to its completion as it is worth hearing, but it doesn't feel like the genuine thing to me.

 

Britten "Sinfonia da Requiem"

Britten did not compose his symphonies in any conventional sense and this work is probably is closest to the idea of a "normal symphony." I have no less than three recordings of it (mainly because I wanted the couplings) but I still listened to this on the radio. Written in the memory of his parents  it is a deeply felt and moving work. (And commissioned by the Japanese government not long before the Second World war; probably best for Britten that the Japanese withdrew the commission as they didn't like the Christian references). Along with the Cello Symphony and the suite "A Time There Was", I think it is finest of Britten's purely orchestral works. 

Shostakovich 5

Apparently the most-performed 20th century symphony after Sibelius 2. Which may be also part of the reason I have now heard this symphony live 3 times in 20 months by 3 different orchestras in 3 different cities. And, of the three performances, I enjoyed this one, by the BBC Phil and Vasiliy Sinaisky, the most. Notably I totally followed the sonata of the first movement - and how very turbulent the development is. I also realised how much Shostakovich's writing at this time affected his move to the more intimate medium of the string quartet.
Shostakovich called this symphony: "a Soviet artist's response to just criticism." I would call it a magnificent and ambiguous work. The slow movement and the climax are utterly chilling, rather than any expression of "socialist realism." 

Pärt 1

Listening to the opening of the first movement of Arvo Pärt's first symphony, it is hard to recognise him as the composer of the third symphony or some of his later works. This is definitely a more conventionally "modern" work and pehaps all the better for that. I doubt if Pärt has been a person to compromise in his life, music or religion and I must respect him for that. The movement becomes more obviously influenced by Shostakovich and less noticeably original, but this is music to engage and, for me, to enjoy. The second movement is more clearly atonal, certainly at its opening and represents a tougher, exciting listen.

Haydn 23

Kindly chosen by Radio 3 without me making any conscious decision. It would be very easy to complete this blog just by listening to short Haydn symphonies. Another pleasant, well-crafted work which didn't really leave a great impression on me. Probably it would be largely forgotten if it wasn't for all the great symphonies which Haydn wrote later.

 

Sibelius 5

Back to the mainstream, or at least one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century. And it's difficult to blog other than to say this work is wonderful and impresses me more and more each time I listen to it. Interesting how, as I grow older, I prefer Sibelius so much more to Mahler and what he could do with a symphony.
I heard this work in concert 30 years ago. An odd concert with the second half featuring Lutoslawski conducting his cello concerto (Sian Edwards conducted the Sibelius).
I must hear it live again. 

Copland 2 "Short Symphony"

Again an ipod inspired choice, but I have to say an excellent one. Looking back from 80 years perspective it is difficult to see Copland's music as being that modernist as it was often characterised at the time. I doubt if it was that radically modern even at the time if you compare it to Bartok and the Second Viennese school (or even Vaughan Williams fourth).
The Short Symphony is a good, small piece of music particularly the Stravinskyan opening. Maybe it is more modernist than Copland's ballets of the 1940's but it seems mainly neo-classical and tuneful to me. 

Tüür 3 "Magma"

I decided to explore Tüür's music a little further. While the second symphony seems to me to be quite typical of late Soviet and post- Soviet music, the fourth is more obviously modern. Effectively also a percussion concerto, it is a powerful and often violent work, with less of the more engaging music which also featured in the second. More interesting than enjoyable I think.
Still I like Tüür and I must always have time for any composer whom I have seen live.

Copland 3

Again an ipod choice and a good one as this is one of my favourite symphonies, one of my favourite pieces of music. Some years ago I bought "The Great American Novel" by Philip Roth; one day I might read it. But I believe the central premise of Roth's satire is there has never been a great American novel. Perhaps there has not been a truly great American symphony either, but Copland's third comes closest to it. And I wonder if there will be a recording to surpass Leonard Bernstein's. 
Perhaps the gesture of using the Fanfare for a Common Man to open the last movement is too simplistic, but I find the effective. The rest of the work is also beautiful, tuneful and a satisfying symphonic composition. 

Tüür 2

Erkki-Sven Tüür's second symphony was an almost random choice courtesy of my ipod. I admit I forgot I owned it, but it really is am impressive piece of music. A short, violent first movement resolves itself into calm and beautiful music. The much longer second and concluding movement seems to be constantly striving towards simpler, modal music, based on plainchant.

I listened twice. This really is very good music.

Tchaikovsky 4

I thought it was about time to return to the mainstream of the symphonic repertoire and listened to one of my longtime favourites, Tchaikovsky's fourth. I realise there is much show in this work and it is a little over the top with its "fate" motive and dramatic finale. Still it's fun and some great musicianship there. I used to prefer it to the sixth symphony, but now I think the sixth is better.

 

Szymanowski 3 "Song of the Night"

I have only visited the house of one composer and that is Karol Szymanowski. In 2006 I went to Poland for the first time and spent a couple of days in  Zakopane in the footthills of the Tatras. It's a pleasant little town, but two days largely exhausts its attractions. I was happy to see the Szymanowski museum, but I had not travelled to Zakopane especially to see it. The museum is interesting, but makes no mention of the fact that Szymanowski was gay.


The passionate third symphony is one of the first works by Szymanowski I got to know and I must admit it is a work I like less for knowing more. Perhaps it is too superficially beautiful and has no hidden depths to reveal. I like it, but I can't say it's a masterpiece by any means.  My photograph of the museum.

Schnittke 8

The eighth symphony of Schnittke is still a demanding work, but seems less despairing than the previous two, though only a little less so. One long, slow movement is framed by two pairs of shorter movements, reminding me of Shostakovich's sixth and eighth symphonies, both of which have one very long, slow opening movement, followed by shorter, more concise movements. The character of Schnittke's central slow movement, though, is more Mahlerian; the resignation of that composer's ninth and tenth symphonies. The fourth movement is more a cry of despair and the last movement recalls the first symphony as if in a sense of coming full circle. 

Bowen 1

York Bowen is one of those formerly neglected composers who has been considerably less neglected recently on radio and CD. I enjoyed a CD of his piano music a few years ago and I have listened to some of his orchestral and chamber works since. To tell the truth, I can't really say any of them made a great impression on me. The symphony is impressive for an 18 year old and, in the terms of a student work, it showed how much potential Bowen might have had. I am not sure there was enough spark and daring to fulfil that potential. The symhony has only just been recorded and I doubt if I can find a link. 

 

Holst Symphony in F minor "The Cotswolds"

I was thinking I might not blog Holst at all but a BBC4 documentary about him reminded me that I have a CD of the Cotswolds symphony and it was about time I listened to it again. This first recording, from 1999, was made 100 years after the symphony was written and this really is a badly neglected work. If you consider that no English composer had written a major symphony by that time, it is even more impressive. You can hear elements of Holst's early Wagner worship but this is a beautiful work, especially the slow movement which is an elegy for William Morris, whom Holst knew and admired, as well as sharing socialist principles. Definitely a symphony that deserves many more performances. 

 

Creston 2

I hadn't intended to blog two Creston symphonies straight away, but the CD ran on and I listened to the whole of the second. It is a more interesting and original work than the first symphony, with the opening movement especially showing passion and drama. I don't think my kife would be so much poorer if I had never heard any music by Creston, but it is still entertaining and diverting. 

 

Creston 1

Born Giuseppe Guttoveggio, Paul Creston "Americanized" his name at a time when it was fashionable to do so. I haven't heard much of his music, but it seems well-crafted and tuneful while lacking distinctiveness. The first symphony is short, pleasant and not so memorable though the slow movement strives for something more impassioned and original.

Schnittke 7

At less than 30 minutes, the seventh is the shortest of Schnittke's symphonies and I wonder if this reflects how hard it was for him to write. The central slow movement is gone so quickly I hardly notice it passing. Like some of the music in Nielsen's 6th and Shostakovich's 15th, the closing movement of Schnittke's 7th has an air of laughing in the face of death, nothing left but jokey despair. This is disturbed and disturbing music, not something to relax to at all. I cannot locate it on youtube, so here is an alternative.

 

Gipps 2

At last a woman composer. For some years I only knew of Ruth Gipps thanks to Malcolm Arnold's brilliant "Variations on a Theme of Ruth Gipps." Eventually I acquired a CD of the second symphony. In 11 short sections, this work, from 1945, is fairly obviously British but not simply a bland offshoot of the "pastoral" school. It feels like extended variations which resolve them themselves into a march which is sometimes dramatic, sometimes ghostly. This may be the best symphony I have heard by an English woman (though I can't immediately think of any more I have heard). Apparently there are another four symphonies by Gipps; I won't hold my breath waiting to hear them all. The video is not the symphony. I as happy to find anything at all online by Ruth Gipps

Incidentally after the symphony finished iplayer changed to a work by  Kaija Saariaho. Interesting to hear something again by a woman composer and from a totally different aesthetic to the anti-modernist Gipps. I am glad the world has room for both of them. 

 

Schnittke 6

One thing I have realised from listening and blogging is that Schnittke's symphonies are getting shorter - well numbers one to seven are progressively shorter in length. Is this because Schnittke was finding to harder to engage with symphonic form? Is it because of the illness which affected him for years? His move to the west? Whatever the sixth is a disturbing, but effective piece of music; another stage in the death of the post-soviet symphony.

Schnittke 5 "Concerto Grosso number 4"

Schnittke's fifth symphony begins as an exercise in the neo-baroque with its concerto grosso format moving rhythmically and fairly dissonantly - Bizarro Bach perhaps. The second, slow movement sticks to the concerto grosso format; but the last two movements are more obviously symphonic, more exercises in the despair that Schnittke seems to be feeling at the future of music and, perhaps, life itself. I am still considering how I like Schnittke. 

 

Lilburn 1

As Naxos kindly recorded all three of Douglas Lilburn's symphonies, it gave me an opportunity to listen to them and I have done so several times over a few years. The first seems larger and longer than it actually is, as it packs a lot into its time-span. It seems obvious to point out the influence of Sibelius and make some comment about the landscapes of distant countries. But I don't think it is about landscape, simply that Sibelius was such a powerful influence and Lilburn is part of that English-speaking world which reacted to him. This is a very good symphony. I don't think I will ever hear it live. 

Walton 2

At last I have blogged the complete symphonic output of a composer who wrote more than a single symphony. Well I have managed both of Walton's. I can't say I like the second symphony as much as the first, but then the first is one of my favourite pieces of music. The tauter, shorter second symphony has beautiful themes, but they are more elusive, harder to recall after listening though they are all distinct and instantly memorable. Just as his first symphony will give me constant pleasure, Walton's second will continue to intrigue and delight me. 

Brian 18

While realising I might be able to blog all 27 symphonies of Myaskovsky, I can't do similarly for Havergal Brian as all 32 of his symphonies have not been recorded yet. I first got interested in his music in the 1970's, near the end of his long life. I realise much of my interest was fascination with the story of a self-taught composer from an ordinary background who had composed a large number of, then, unperformed works (and I think many are still unperformed). 
I heard the first recording of any of Brian's symphonies from the Leicestershire School's Symphony Orchestra (how remarkable is that and so pleased to see that the orchestra still exists). Subsequently I was happy to acquire a recording of Brian's massive Gothic Symphony.
For all that I can't say I really like the 18th. I heard it a few weeks ago and, like this hearing, found it churning along with an air of composing for the sake of it. My critical jury is out on Havergal Brian. Maybe I prefer the back story to the music itself. I am looking forward to seeing how I react to the other symphonies.

Rautavaara 1

Having bought a boxed set of all Rautavaara's concertos, today's choice had to be one of his symphonies. The first symphony, written in 1956 and revised later, sounds like music from a few years earlier. A dramatic first movement, a passionate slow-movement and a throw-away scherzo-like finale form a satisfactory, short work. I loved it.

Myaskovsky 10

I have been wondering if I will complete all 366 symphonies in the year and whether the potential 366 will include all 27 of Nikolai Myaskovsky. Well I have to start somewhere and I admit I chose the 10th symphony as it's a concise one-movement work. Powerful and dramatic like many Soviet works, this symphony packs a lot into its short space. It was a good start: I think I may manage all 27.

Mozart 40

In complete contrast to Brahms, Mozart's 40th is sheer perfection for me. Like many classical-era symphonies, I find the first movement the most effective and this surely is the finest opening movement of any 18th century symphony with a tune immortalised in ring-tones everywhere. 

 

Brahms 3

I don't like Brahms, or rather, I don't like most of Brahms. I have tried to listen to the orchestral and chamber music, the songs and even the German Requiem. A couple of years ago I went to a concert performance of the fourth symphony but found it dull. I know many people adore Brahms - including composers I admire like Ades and Ligeti, but somehow his music is not for me. I can respect the artistry and maybe it is the sheer skill of Brahms which is off-putting for me when I can prefer the much clumsier music of, for example, Bruckner.
Still I remember quite liking the third symphony once, so I decided to give it another try. Each movement seemed to start with some nice tunes and you can feel the sheer intellectual power, but still it left me cold. Apologies Mr Brahms, but I am sure you don't need me.

Monn Symphony in G Major

A chance hearing of one of Monn's cello concertos sent me to listen one of the earliest of the classical symphonies. A pleasant, brief three-movement work, it is obviously much simpler than much that was in the written in the high baroque period which preceded it. Haydn and Mozart may have brought the symphony to some sort of perfection, but it is good to remember they were not the first composers of classical symphonies. 

Bizet Symphony in C

With some composers who died young, it is possibe to take consolation in the large body of work which they still managed to produce. It is harder to do that with Bizet who composed only one truly great masterpiece, though there are still some little miracles in his music. I have always had a soft spot for the teenage Symphony in C, with an LP of it amongst the first records which I bought. I assume I like it a lot partly because it looks back so much to classical forms and is lighter and simpler than other romantic symphonies of the same period. Maybe it is just a matter of some really beaiutiful tunes. It is shocking to think that this symphony was only perfomed 80 years after it was written and 60 years after the composer's death at the age of 37.

 

Martinu 1

Having noted a few days ago that I had yet to blog some of my favourite symphonists, I chose Martinu tonight.

Martinu is a late musical love for me. I often thought I should like his music, but I never seemed to get properly into it. 2009 was the 50th anniversary of his death and Radio 3 kindly broadcast several of his works. I listened, I bought some CDs and came to realise how wonderful his music is. He started writing symphonies well into his musical career; I now adore all six of them. The first is sometimes bucolic, sometimes neo-classical, sometimes romantic and always effective in its use of symphonic material while showing a distinctive voice. I still have a lot to hear from this prolific composer.

Schnittke 4

Apparently a set of meditations inspired by the major world religions, Schnittke's fourth symphony is a more relaxed work than the third with some beautiful singing. While not as nihilistic as the third symphony, I feel that the fourth is not as effective as Schnittke's first two symphonies and I am now wondering whether he was a great symphonist or a composer who missed out on true greatness through cynicism, despair and finally resorting to cheap religiosity. I don't deny I get pleasure from his music, but it is always tinged with major doubts. This is the Faust cantata - a work I adore, even when I find it decadent.

 

Wood Symphony

Hugh Wood's symphony was a semi-random choice thanks to iplayer and I have to admit I was glad to listen to it again. In some ways its four movement structure seems quite conventional; in others it is a radical, exciting work showing how modernism can contribute to traditional symphonic form, much as Elliott Carter does in his mature symphonies. After listening to the symphony, I had to listen to Wood's piano concerto. It was interesting to compare how both works use a modernist language but can effectively use traditional tunes (in the concerto's case the Nat King Cole song, Sweet Lorraine). No youtube of the symphony, so here is Wood's string quartet.

Alwyn 2

I have been thinking how I am working through the 366 symphonies. I have not been very consistent and planned, grabbing CDs at random or taking what is on Radio 3. 

I realise I have not yet listened to any works by some of my favourite symphonists (Tchaikovsky, Martinu, Malcolm Arnold and Prokofiev are the major omissions so far) and there are some composers who have written many symphonies - Mayaskovsky for example - who have not featured so far. Bruckner is a slight exception as I listened to 8 of his symphonies before I started this blog and that was the basic inspiration for the 366 in the year.

It seems like I might get through the five Alwyn symphonies fairly quickly. I want to consider again if the fourth is my favourite, but I had forgotten how very good the second symphony is. With its dramatic opening and serene ending and much else besides, it reminds me a lot of Vaughan William's sixth. That is not to call it a simple copy, it's a fine work in its own right and another symphony which is too little performed. 

 

Schubert 9

After listening to two American and two Soviet symphonies, it was good to return to the heartland of the Austro-German tradition. I have an odd relationship with Schubert's music. I don't know it so well, but I enjoy it when I listen properly. I have recently tried to listen to the songs more and am now wondering if Winterreeise is the greatest song-cycle ever written.
I am not ambiguous about the Great C Major symphony though. It's utterly wonderful; the first movement, drawing on Beethoven, offers a master-class on how to write a sonata form. It's a cliche to be sad at the early death of Schubert, but I have to think how he never heard this work and was dead at 31. We need to be thankful for what we do have of his music.

 

Schnittke 3

When I started this blog, I had not planned to progress through the Schnittke symphonies so early in the year, but it seems appropriate now. The third symphony was the first of Schnittke's to be premiered in the west and it is both a tribute to Austro-German symphonies and a commentary on the difficulties of writing a symphony in the late twentieth century.

Far more cynical than the first two symphonies, the third symphony is often a cry of despair at the futility of creative composition. For me it still has enough to say - especially in the calmer last movement - to be worthwhile unlike unlike late and post-Soviet music which degenerated to utter pointlessness. 

Piston 4

I could spend this entire blog going on about composers who are unjustly neglected. I wonder if anyone performs Walter Piston at all though there are several recordings. The fourth symphony is romantic, tuneful and well-crafted building to an emotional climax in the third, slow movement. It's not a great work, but I don't want to listen to great works all the time.

 

Pärt 3

This work, along with the Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, was my first real introduction to the music of Arvo Pärt. I have heard a lot since and seen him at the Huddersfield Contemporary music festival. I like this symphony a lot, particularly its chorale-like brass writing. However, I can't enjoy all of Pärt's music as sometimes it is too static, too empty, the epitome of pointless "holy minimalism." Generally though I find him more interesting than John Tavener.

 

Diamond 1

David Diamond is among the many composers whom I would claim are unjustly neglected. Given that he was one of Nadia Boulanger's American pupils it is hardly surprising that this symphony - from 1941 - is typical of the populist style of fellow pupil like Copland or early Carter. Diamond is not their equal, but who was. In three concise movements this is a pleasant enough work and probably one you'll never hear in the concert hall - unless they are already organising a festival for Diamond's centenary in 2015.

 

Dvořák 4

Since I bought an LP of it back in the 1970's I have had a special fondness for Dvořák’s 4th. Though it is an early work, it shows many of the characteristics of the mature symphonies, particularly in the beautiful slow movement and the lively finale. There are plenty of performances of Dvořák’s last four symphonies. The first five deserve more outings as well. 

Aho 13 "Symphonic Characterisations"

Using material from the composer's opera the Book of Secrets, the 13th is a typical large-scale, dramatic work cast in two movements. The characterisations are several reflections on human character with the symphony having short, contrasting sections within the two movements. Gradually the musical contrasts  become more coherent and powerful till there is a huge climax in the second movement before the music fades away to its end. Another fine symphony by this interesting composer, similar in some ways to his remarkable contrabassoon concerto.

Schubert 2

To my shame, I have to say I only really know Schubert's last two symphonies, but then they are two of the most wonderful pieces ever written. 
The second symphony could be dismissed as a rather conventional work, but considering it is the work of a teenager, it would be unfair to criticise it too much, but better to focus on the fine opening movement and the assured way the young man uses the orchestra throughout.

 

Alwyn 5 "Hydriotaphia"

I admit I chose this symphony as I wanted to listen to a fairly short work, but I had decided that Alwyn should be the next composer on my list. The odd name of the symphony comes from a work by Sir Thomas Browne regarding burial customs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydriotaphia

Unsurprisingly with such an inspiration this concise symphony has elements of both clashing dissonance and relective sadness. The quiet ending could be seen as a farewell to symphonic writing, but I do not know if Alwyn planned this to be his last symphony and he lived another 12 years after it was written. 

I listened to the composer's own recording, but this is another on youtube.

Shostakovich 7 "Leningrad"

It is amazing to think that the score of a symphony written during one of the most horrendous sieges in history should have been smuggled out and then taken abroad to huge acclaim during the Second World War.
The symphony is most famous for the insidious, repeated march of the first movement depicting the Nazi invasion (though it was later claimed by some to be also a portrait of Stalin's destructiveness). 

Subsequently falling out of fashion, it seems to be taken more seriously now. A few years ago Ian MacDonald, in his book the New Shostakovich, argued that it is a finer work than the 8th symphony. I disagree, though it contains some fine music. The performance, conducted by Neeme Järvi was very fine. I am lookin forward to Petrenko's recording.

Carter Symphonia: Sum fluxae pretium spei

Carter's late, magnificent work demonstrates how it is possible to write a symphony in a modernist language while remaining faithful to tradition. Well, possible if you are a genius like Carter. 
Originally written and performed in three separate movements due to his advanced age and not knowing if he would finish it as a complete symphony, it still coheres together well. The slow movement is beautiful and tragic; the last movement a light finale.
Delightful that Elliott is still with us at the age of 102, as I write this and some 15 years after the Sinfonia was completed. 

Aho 15

In 40 years of seriously listening to music and attending concerts, I have never been to the world premiere of a symphony. That is before this week when I went to see and hear the BBC Philharmonic give the first performance of Kalevi Aho's 15th symphony in Manchester.

I have enjoyed Aho's symphonies over the last few years and previously been to a perfomance of the 10th. This new work didn't disappoint. The first movement with its amazing string sound at the opening was dramatic and effective. The second movement was a sleazy dance in 5/8 time with lots of percussion. The slow movement used the percussion more lightly before the last movement built up to a big, driving climax with powerful use of Middle-Eastern and African drums.

I was considering that most (all?) of Aho's previous symphonies seem to end quietly, so it was interesting that he chose a loud, dramatic closing dance this time.

I am feel quite privileged that I am currently one of the few people who have heard 14 of Aho's 15 symphonies (the 6th is still to be recorded and I haven't heard it. I am looking forward to the broadcast this coming Friday and I hope it is not long before BIS issue the recording.

Walton 1

Radio 3 is definitely controlling my choices far too much. But I couldn't resist listening to this performance of one of my favourite symphonies and, arguably, the finest written by an Englishman. (Vaughan Williams may be our greatest symphonist but I really do think it is possible that Walton's First is a stunning masterpiece).
It obviously owes a lot to Sibelius, especially the Finnish composer's Fifth, from the broad landscape and wonderful theme of the opening to the multiple chords with which it ends. 
Interesting that the performance I heard was by a Russian conductor - Semyon Bychkov. I don't think I could live with this performance. It didn't quite bring off the first movement, but the Scherzo (Presto con malizia - I love that description; very fast with malice) and the difficult finale were performed very well.
This was a difficult work for Walton. A relationship ended during its composition and he didn't produce the final movement for the deadline, but for me it is a work I cannot hear too often. My only regret is Walton managed only one other symphony after this.

Haydn 43 "Mercury"

A random choice again made for me by Radio 3 as I was driving. Unlike the "Philosopher" symphony, I couldn't find this symphony so interesting and distinctive. I suppose this is simply a situation where I need to listen more. Still I can't deny it is both well-crafted and an expression of Haydn's joy in life.

Schnittke 2 "St Florian"

Inspired by a visit to the St Florian monastery where Bruckner played the organ and is buried, Schnittke's Second Symphony is another post-modern work but less diverse and radical than his first. That said, it still has contrasting sections of consonant religous singing and dissonant orchestral writing. But here the religous, strongly melodic music gradually takes over and the work moves to a serene ending. It is a masterful and moving piece of music, obviously related to the work of other composers in the communist countries like Part and Gorecki who simplified their style moving from modernism to "holy minimalism".

Kaipainen 2

Perhaps two contemporary symphonies in a day was a little too much, but somehow it felt right for me. I have enjoyed what little I have heard of the music of Jouni Kaipainen since I bought a CD of his Third Symphony and Bassoon Concerto a few years ago. The Third Symphony is very impressive and I was definitely also taken with the Second Symphony. This work is in two movements, the second longer and more tense and dramatic than the first and both progressing from to fast. His First Symphony is in one movement and the Third in three. Apparently the Fourth Symphony was premiered last year. Does it follow the pattern? I cheated with the video: it is the horn concerto

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David Matthews 6

I like the music of both David and Colin Matthews (a concert highlight a couple of years ago was going to see Colin Matthews Alphabicycle Order). David Matthews may be too conservative for many tastes, but I believe he demonstrates that there is plenty of life in the symphony. I love this work especially for its brief, dramatic scherzo and the beautiful variations on the hymn tune Down Ampney in the third and concluding movement. 
I would have liked to post a youtube link, but I can only find the Dave Matthews band. 

Beethoven 7

I heard a little extract from this and I had to put on the CD with Haitink and the RPO. If I remember correctly Wagner called this symphon the apotheosis of the dance. It was a good choice to follow the Haydn. The language may have moved on, but this is another symphony which manages to be both happy and profound. Why is Beethoven often seen as so serious?

Haydn 22 "The Philosopher"

I had heard the Philosopher a couple of times a few months ago and decided to revisit it. I think it is my favourite of Haydn's early symphonies (not that I have heard them all, of course). The slow opening movement is delightful; the main theme wondering around aimlessly in a way that sounds very modern, rather than from a work of the mid 18th century. The livelier, following movements demonstrate how Haydn could be both delightful and profound. A happy work, by an apparently happy man. 

 

Beethoven 3 "Eroica"

I was wondering when I would get round to Beethoven. The BBC again kindly made the choice for me. Is this the greatest symphony ever written. It very probably is. This is a work I can never tire of - the slow movement as profound and moving as any music of any time. I must listen to this again. And again...

 

Schnittke 1

I decided it was time for another big symphony. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Leif Segerstam give a remarkable performance of this utterly remarkable and unique symphony. The mix of classical quotations, jazz improvisation and tuning up combined in Schnittke's post-modernism is a heady complex mix. That it works at all is amazing. That it both manages to comment on Soviet society and be absolutely enthralling makes it one of the most symphonies of the second half of the twentieth century. 

 

Carter 1

I heard Elliott Carter's First symphony at a concert in 1983. It was a 75th birthday concert for him and I knew he was going to be in the audience. I went assuming it might be the only opportunity to see him in the flesh. And I vividly remember him standing and applauding at the end; a small, neat man. As I write this over 27 years later Carter is still alive, but I haven't seen him since. Take these opportunities while you can.
I wasn't familiar with the symphony when I first heard it and I was shocked as the music started. It's an early work with more in common with Copland and Barber than the wonderful modernism of mature Carter. Elliott Carter can write memorable tunes and even be jazzy. Always good to have your preconceptions destroyed. 

 

Mozart 41 "Jupiter"

Thanks to the BBC I am really getting through these symphonies. I don't want to be too far ahead but 366 is going to take me well under a year at this rate. Still perhaps I need to build up a surplus of 15 before I take my holiday in May.
I have little to say about this symphony which was broadcast in a vintage and brilliant performance conducted by Georg Szell. Mozart wouldn't have been aware it was his last symphony, of course, but he produced a miraculous work; one of the greatest symphonies ever written and only a relatively few years after the symphony became "standardised" as a concert work. The fugue at the end remains simply breath-taking.