Kai Czepiczka responded to Donald Satz:
>> Kai Czepiczka is considering buying the CPO disc of George Macfarren's
>> 4th and 7th symphonies and asked whether the disc was worth investigation.
>>
>> I bought the disc in question over a year ago and listened to it a few
>> times. I can't say I was very impressed; the works did not display a
>> wealth of melodic invention... [cut]
>
>Well, a friend told me pretty much the same, so did Mr Pennycuick. So I'll
>stay away from this one.
Obviously, with a limited budget (whatever that budget might be, we all
have a limit) one has to make choices on what to explore first, etc. But
I must admit to having a hard time with such questions. On the one hand,
Don and Richard are correct, this is not a disc of unknown masterpieces by
an undiscovered Beethoven or Mendelssohn clone. On a purely musical level
there are probably better, more interesting symphonies from this period
to experiment with first, such as those from Vorisek, Berwald, Gade,
Spohr, Farrenc, and Kalliwoda. But if you are interested in the overall
development of the symphony, and especially the re-emergence on the
international scene of English composers in the latter half of the 19th
century, then I think this is a very interesting CD. Composers such as
Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Walton, Bax, etc. did not just spring from virgin
soil.
Nicholas Temperley in the New Grove says this about him:
Macfarren must be accounted one of the most prolific composers of
the 19th century. He was the only English composer of his generation
to persevere in writing symphonies, undaunted by their almost
inevitable failure to command public attention.
Not exactly a rousing recommendation for his music, but as you dig
further into this man we find someone who through his dogged determination
and almost unbelievable hard work he played an instrumental part, along
with composers such as Cipriani Potter and William Sterndale Bennett, in
building the foundation upon which the English Musical Renaissance (as
it is sometimes called) was later built. He was a teacher (one of his
students was Parry), was active in the Musical Antiquarian Society where
he edited 19 volumes of Purcell's music, and was a founding member of
both the Society of British Musicians (1832) and the Handel Society (1844).
In assisting with the establishment of the Royal College of Music and
eventually becoming the director of the Royal Academy of Music, he brought
more rigor to musical instruction using Mendelssohn's Leipzig Conservatory
as a model. It has even been argued that the internationalization of
musical style, as well as instruction techniques, in England at the time
was the key to the reestablishment of a nationalist school at the end of
the 19th century.
As a symphonist, where does Macfarren fit in? British composers of
symphonies in the 19th century were (chronological, of course):
Samuel Wesley (1766-1837)
William Crotch (1775-1847)
Cipriani Potter (1792-1871)
Sir George Alexander Macfarren (1813-1887)
Sir William Sterndale Bennett (1816-1875)
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842-1900)
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen (1852-1935)
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918)
Eugene Francis Charles d'Albert (1864-1932)
Sir Edward German (1862-1936)
William Wallace (1860-1940)
With the possible exception of perhaps Parry and Stanford, I doubt most
will have heard much of their music. But there is quite a bit out there.
Here's a list of 19th-century symphonies by these composers I have heard
so far (chronological):
WESLEY Symphony #6 in B Flat Major (1802)
CROTCH Symphony in F Major (1814)
CROTCH Symphony "Unfinished" in E Flat Major (1817)
POTTER Symphony #8 in E Flat Major (1828)
POTTER Symphony #10 in G minor (1832)
MACFARREN Symphony #4 in F minor (1833)
MACFARREN Symphony #7 in C Sharp minor (1840)
BENNETT Symphony in G minor, Op. 43 (1864)
SULLIVAN Symphony "Irish" (1866)
STANFORD Symphony #1 in B Flat Major (1876)
COWEN Symphony #3 "Scandinavian" (1880)
STANFORD Symphony #2 "Elegiac" in D minor (1880)
PARRY Symphony #1 in G Major (1882)
PARRY Symphony #2 "The Cambridge" in F Major (1883)
D'ALBERT Symphony in F Major, Op. 4 (1886)
STANFORD Symphony #3 "Irish" in F minor, Op. 28 (1887)
PARRY Symphony #3 "The English" in C Major (1889)
PARRY Symphony #4 in E minor (1889)
STANFORD Symphony #4 in F Major, Op. 31 (1889)
GERMAN Symphony #2 "Norwich" in A minor (1893)
STANFORD Symphony #5 "L'Allegro ed il Penseroso", Op. 56 (1894)
WALLACE Symphony "Creation" in C Sharp minor (1899)
Checking this list, there is a real dearth of works between 1830 and
1850 (it is interesting to note that Sullivan's "Irish" symphony predates
Stanford's by 21 years, and Harty's by 38 years). There are Potter's
last three symphonies (only nine are extant) and Sterndale Bennett's
first five symphonies (unpublished and unrecorded, to my knowledge).
Seven of Macfarren's nine symphonies are from this period. But this
was an interesting period in the development of the symphony. Beethoven
had effectively changed all the rules with his ninth symphony in 1824.
Mendelssohn wrote four of his five mature symphonies during this time.
Glinka was off establishing the Russian school and composing his Symphony
on Two Russian Themes (1834). Denmark and Sweden were absorbing the
Mendelssohnian influence through composers such as Gade and Berwald.
I find all of this fascinating, and in this context, I find Macfarren's
symphonies a nice addition to my collection - not just to have them - I
sincerely enjoy this music. I'm actually hoping CPO continues to bring
us more Macfarren, such as the late symphonies, or even perhaps a sampling
of his 18 string quartets.
For what it's worth, a couple of years ago I picked up an good book on
this general subject titled "The English Musical Renaissance" by Frank
Howes (1966, Stein & Day). It's long been out of print, but I bought
it at a used book store, and it can probably be found in a few libraries.
Entertaining and informative reading.
All of that doesn't necessarily make Macfarren's music exciting in and of
itself. I can't argue with that. Once again, it just depends on what one
looks for in music.
Dave
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