Arnold: Symphonies No. 1 & No. 2

On this CD:

1. Symphony No. 1, Op. 22
Composed by Malcolm (Sir) Arnold
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Richard Hickox

2. Symphony No. 2, Op. 40
Composed by Malcolm (Sir) Arnold
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Richard Hickox

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Arnold had the ability to draw from many sources for his music, and his music resonates strong echoes of popular music idioms. His symphonies, particularly One and Two, have the daring and playfulness of Berlioz, yet can also display the expansiveness of Sibelius. Arnold is strong on melody and feeling without ever lapsing into any mood so deep that it threatens the forward motion of the work (he uses bright flutes, marches, and all sorts of ochestral hijinks). If there's a fault to be found with Arnold, it's in the occasional sluggish daydream--but then that could be the LSO, known for sleeping at the wheel. Still recommended. --Paul Cook

Amazon.com

This 5-CD set includes all seven symphonies by Arnold Bax (1883-1953), the familiar tone poem Tintagel, and the Rogue's Comedy Overture in its premier recording. It also features Vernon Handley in two interviews--one with Lewis Foreman in the booklet, one with Andrew McGregor on the final disc. However, it's probably advisable to listen to it first, since Handley, one of Bax's most dedicated champions, has many illuminating things to say. Bax called himself "a brazen romantic....my music is the expression of emotional states." The symphonies, written between 1921 and 1939, certainly reflect both inner and outer events: the Irish Uprising, which deeply affected Bax, who loved Ireland and lost many friends to the "troubles," World War I and the looming threat of World War II. Perhaps the most striking and pervasive characteristic of the music is contrast. All the symphonies have three movements divided into many sections with different tempo indications, signaling changing mood and character. Indeed, moods change constantly, often abruptly and violently; dynamics surge and swell, climaxes build with increasingly ferocious power. The orchestration is masterful, creating color, texture, atmosphere and expression; at full throttle, the sound shakes the rafters. The music is predominantly serious, somber, dark, with outbursts of passion, turbulence, bitterness and anger, relieved by unexpectedly rambunctious and martial sections. Every symphony opens on low instruments, setting a dark, ominous mood, but several end with a triumphant flourish, while others fade away with an Epilogue in serenity or resignation. No. 7 is regarded as Bax's compositional farewell, No. 4 as "cheerful and blustery." The form is sometimes cyclical, with opening material returning in another guise, which, for the naked ear, is difficult to discern. Most memorable are the truly beautiful, luxuriously lyrical melodies that abound especially in the slow movements. The playing is first-rate throughout. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Handley's set a cornerstone, but Thomson's still Immortal........2004-01-03

For anyone familiar or not so familiar with the music of Sir Arnold Bax (1883-1953) should start off with the interview disc (the fifth of the five disc set). Vernon Handley's interview, with Andrew McGregor, is without a doubt compelling, not just in terms of Handley's knowledge associated with Bax, but also in terms of the depth that comes with it. Handley appears to be the conductor who grew up knowing as much of Bax as Lewis Foreman, the composer's foremost biographer and advocate. Truthfully, an interview with the late Bryden Thomson should have been done during Chandos' making of the first set, for Thomson would have, as far as I'm concerned, added greater weight to our initial acquaintances and understanding of this great yet elusive composer. But, Handley's interview on the disc nicely supplements his first interview with Foreman, which is printed in the booklet.

The interview's introduction and epilogue are particularly thought provoking. And I find Handley's argument on the flaws of music criticism in accordance to fashion well taken, especially since Bax was the leading Symphonist until the mid-1930s, before Walton & Vaughan Williams entered the scene with their First & Fourth Symphonies respectively. Bax was criticized for being "too loose", too demanding orchestrally, and so forth. Yet Handley reminds us that Bax had an extraordinary sense of form and structure (influence to some extent by Glazunov as Handley aptly points out). Bax may well belong to the nationalist school of British composers, but he was much more than that. Sibelius & perhaps to an extent Rachmaninov were influential in Bax' brooding moods and his sense of color. Yet his journey was as long and searching as his contemporaneous Russian counterpart, Nikolay Myaskovsky, who, like Bax, remains as deep and resourceful as ever.

Well,...onto the performances. Let me say up front that Handley's grip of the symphonies demonstrates his understanding of Bax' language, which as he points out, is essential in projecting and conveying music in its most meaningfulness. Handley's view of the First Symphony (1921-1922) is the most dramatic and urgent on record. And while David Lloyd-Jones' reading captures the anguish and the contemptuousness of the Symphony to perfection, Handley never fails to relish the first movement's sense of rebellion. The Lento solenne movement is mournful, but Lloyd-Jones brings out more of the darkness and the funereal quality to it.

Interpretatively, Bryden Thomson leads the way in the Second and Third Symphonies, the former which is without a doubt Bax' most darkest. Handley painted the dark colorism of the work with convincing results. But his tempi to an extent robs the epic quality of its first movement, with the BBC Philharmonic sounding a tad thinner than Thomson's London Philharmonic (LPO). It's a fierce reading no doubt, but I like how Thomson reminds me of how even Vaughan Williams may have been influenced by this piece when composing his Fourth & Sixth Symphonies. The second movement is beautifully done, even by Myer Fredman (Lyrita LP-nla). Yet Thomson's ability to make the music glow in its own world pays wondrous dividends. Not only that, but the climax and its buildup proved to be a shattering experience. The ability to make Bax' music glow is essential, as in the case of the Third Symphony. There's something enchanting in the first movement's lento moderato section under Thomson. But the ongoing development is sweeter yet fuller in tone in Thomson's London Philharmonic. And I like the magic he brings forth in the climax (announced by the anvil). Handley's reading is special, but he speeds things up a bit too much and robs the music some of its glow. Not so in the Lento second movement which is beautifully rendered. But I savor Thomson's ceremonious way of the final movement leading to its epilogue, which is perfectly idyllic.

I have no qualms in Handley's vivid performances of the Fourth & Fifth Symphonies. As he points out, the Fourth should be better known and its gaiety does not necessarily imply weakness. Well said, since Bax was going onto a different style and self-definition. But regarding the Fifth, Raymond Leppard's recording is perhaps the best on record, not only because he remains tight in his control, but he also allows the music to dispel its sense of wonder in the Poco lento movement. His phrasings are perfect and the LPO provides some wonderful relishments. Thomson is likewise marvelous and the most magical in the slow movement. Handley's grip of the work, a mountain to climb as he describes it, is quite as strong and compelling.

The Sixth Symphony, very much like his Winter Legends, is what Handley describes as pagan music-not hedonistic but secular. It's landscape is as cold and detached, yet wild as Winter Legends, and Handley brought forth those facets to thrilling effects. Though I warm to the Third Symphony more any others, I agree with Handley that Bax' Sixth is among the greatest symphonies of the 20th Century. The ostinato beginning played by the tubas spells out the nature of the work: the mood that's bleak and contemplative. The epilogue I think serves as quite a foretaste of Vaughan Williams Sixth, among the most bleakest passages ever written (as with Myaskovsky's Thirteenth of 1932). I can't find fault with Handley's reading of, as he calls it "a frightening score." He projects the wildness of the first movement ideally while the slow movement is elegant. While the finale is very well done, Thomson brings out that extra sense of loss and inner contemplation in the epilogue. He's the most effective performer in the Seventh, Bax' most relax symphony: Not just because he gives us more of the majestics and the pompousness in the first movement, or the inner beauty and rapt poetry of the second, but the epilogue is simply more poignantly conveyed in its sadness as Bax' was saying goodbye to the adventurous world he knew (he wrote his autobiography "Farewell My Youth" during that time).

In closing, this album is a revelation, for Vernon Handley (who's way overdue for knighthood) gives us plenty of reasons to re-think and reexamine Bax as a major force in British music (and plenty of credits must be given to David Lloyd-Jones under the Naxos series in that regard). The BBC Philharmonic is excellent, especially in Tintagel & the Rogue's Comedy Overture, even though this great orchestra does demonstrate at places a wanting in greater sonority and involvement.

But my heart remains with Thomson. Although his tempi can at times sound laborious, Thomson, to me, knew how to project the inner beauty and wonder behind Bax' music without really over-stretching it. The heart is definitely on his sleeves which, as far as Bax is concerned, is a good thing.

Superb advocacy for superb music.......2003-12-16

Why the English symphonic repertoire is so direly underrepresented on the international (and certainly the Dutch) concert stage remains an enigma to me, all the more baffling when listening to these fabulous symphonies. Bax has it all: lush melodies, endless incident, spectacular orchestration, shimmering mystery, haunting epilogues - anybody who likes Richard Strauss or Respighi cannot but love this music, and I wager that Bax has lots more to offer in the way of emotional substance than either of them. Bless Vernon Handley, the BBC Phil and Chandos for giving us this "Bax Box", which is a veritable treasure trove. Handley knows these works inside and out and is utterly committed to this music (and genuinely peeved at its neglect, as can be heard on the fifth disc containing an involving hour long interview). This is readily communicated in music making of white heat, resulting in some of the most compelling performances I've ever heard of any pieces. The Epilogue of the Third (surely among the finest pages in all of English music) literally brought me to tears!
Chandos's commitment to Bax is such that this is in fact their second cycle, an earlier one having been recorded by Bryden Thomson, who took a quite different view from Handley. Richly and reverberantly recorded, Thomson made the most of the swelling, romantic melodies - after hearing him, the beautiful tune of the Fifth's epilogue sounds just a tad plain in Handley's version; also, in comparison I found the dark tragedy of the Second somewhat lightweight with Handley, and quite overpowering in Thomson's hands. But the latter's structural grip on the music is some way behind that of Handley, so that at times it does indeed blur into the generalized, shapelessly chromatic washes of sound that have given Bax some bad press. No such thing happens in this new set: helped by more energetic speeds as well as a drier, more transparent recording and somewhat thinner string tone, the rhythmic underpinning of the music is continuously present, and the many simultaneous voices never push each other away, but rather reveal their intricate interrelations. This does a great service to Bax, fully revealing his genius as a musical architect and indeed as a top rank composer, every bit as worthy of general recognition as Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Holst or Britten. And not only is Handley's sound more transparent, it also encompasses a thrilling dynamic range, accommodating moments of quiet reticence as easily as the most extroverted outbursts - for a thrilling demonstration of the latter, just listen to the beginning of the Fourth, with the organ, so lamentably lost in the general hubbub on Thomson's recording now a spectacular presence from the very first bar. If I had to single out one symphony, that Fourth is for me the high point of this cycle, if indeed such a thing exists among interpretations that are all of the highest possible quality. For those who do not know Bax, it might be a good place to start sampling - or you might even want to acquire an installment in the excellent Naxos cycle with Lloyd-Jones as a low-risk point of entry. Though that would still be a waste of money, as in the end you simply cannot be without this touchstone set if you care even the slightest bit about English music (and you should!).

Average customer rating:

Serious Malcolm Arnold
Fine performances and spectacular recording quality

Arnold: Symphonies No. 1 & No. 2

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Malcolm Arnold: Symphonies 5 & 6
Malcolm Arnold: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4
Arnold: Little Suite Nos. 1 & 2/Concerto For 28 Players/Variations For Orchestra/A Manx Suite

ASIN: B000000AW2
Release Date: 1995-03-21

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1, Op. 22: I Allegro
Symphony No. 1, Op. 22: II Andantino
Symphony No. 1, Op. 22: III Vivace con fuoco - Alla marcia - Maestoso
Symphony No. 2, Op. 40: I Allegretto
Symphony No. 2, Op. 40: II Vivace
Symphony No. 2, Op. 40: III Lento
Symphony No. 2, Op. 40: IV Allegro con brio - Lento molto e maestoso

Amazon.com

Arnold had the ability to draw from many sources for his music, and his music resonates strong echoes of popular music idioms. His symphonies, particularly One and Two, have the daring and playfulness of Berlioz, yet can also display the expansiveness of Sibelius. Arnold is strong on melody and feeling without ever lapsing into any mood so deep that it threatens the forward motion of the work (he uses bright flutes, marches, and all sorts of ochestral hijinks). If there's a fault to be found with Arnold, it's in the occasional sluggish daydream--but then that could be the LSO, known for sleeping at the wheel. Still recommended. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Serious Malcolm Arnold.......2005-12-15

Malcolm Arnold has had great success with orchestral miniature showpieces, such as his various symphonic dances, and certainly gained wide attention through his film music. His symphonies have, however, eluded the wider public, and Chandos, by releasing his complete symphonies, is rectifying that problem.

His 1st symphony seems an angry one to me, with a few exceptions. A short motif of a major second and a minor third is the basis for the first movement. The quick 16th notes are separated from the plodding quarter notes, giving Arnold lots of chances to weave his theme into different molds. The brass and woodwinds carry the quickness, while the low brass and strings provide the foundation. Arnold uses various techniques for interest, including sliding strings and brass, string harmonics, and a major solo role for the harp. The music is relentless in urgency with concluding brass fanfares. The second movement begins peacefully with a charming melody: an octave leap followed by a simple descending scale, but Arnold doesn't keep the peace. He changes to a minor mode, and hits from the brass and xylophone/marimba interrupt the melody. However, he brings back the lyricism, and ends gently. The final movement, a sort of theme and variations, begins with a brisk chromatically descending melody, and puts it in fugue for utter confusion. He uses various pairings to create diversity and an unusual, but jolly English march, complete with chirping piccolos, comes out of nowhere. It ends in a grand procession (or recession as it were), ala the end of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, puts the melody in augmentation, and gives the ending a forceful conclusion. Gritty music.

Arnold's Second Symphony uses many of the same techniques as the first, but the whole flavor of the work has a much sunnier disposition. The opening theme in the clarinet seems as if it is derived from an English folk tune, and is passed from voice to voice. Again the harp plays a major role in the work, along with more string slidings, giving it an almost jazzy feel. The vivace second movement starts mysteriously with little flourishes, but a quirky, jumpy theme eventually pervades with brass exclamations, along with string and woodwind whirlwinds. The third movement is the most sullen and dabbles in polytonality. Instrumental sections overlap each other, holding lush chords, and when one section breaks before another comes in, you can enjoy the release of the poly-dissonances all the more. The third movement ends in a depressing march with mocking winds. Utter joyousness prevails in the final movement with a march, slightly off-kilter with the 2/4 vs. 6/8 time feelings. But a jazzy flute/piccolo melody lets the listener know you're in for a good time. Strictly a feel-good movement, a frightening "Jaws" theme enters and exits by the end for a jubilant conclusion.

If you are new to Malcolm Arnold, I might suggest you start with his more popular works before the symphonies (Naxos released his complete folk dances, and Chandos released his film music on CD), but these are good works as well, if not a bit more serious. Arnold does allow playfulness, especially in the Second Symphony, however. Richard Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra play these works like they found a new friend; the brass is especially fine for the Londoners. All around excellent playing. If you are on a budget, these symphonies have been released on Naxos at a lower price (separately or the complete symphonies for thirty bucks), but these performances on Chandos are the cream of the crop, and a nice companion to the rest of Arnold's works.

Fine performances and spectacular recording quality.......1999-10-08

I haven't heard all the competitors, but on this showing Hickox and the LSO are well nigh unbeatable in Arnold's unique music, with the ideal blend of rhythmic verve and what I can only describe as nostalgia. In the second symphony, this is a step up from Charles Groves's old Bournemouth performance, very good though that was. The LSO play very well. The recording is a real sonic spectacular, with Chandos's spacious church setting kept under control so that the impact is maximised.

Schoenberg: Chamber Symphonies No. 1 & No. 2; Verklärte Nacht

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WHO'S AFRAID OF SCHOENBERG?
Beginner's Schoenberg

Schoenberg: Chamber Symphonies No. 1 & No. 2; Verklärte Nacht

Manufacturer: Teldec
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

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Chamber Symphony No. 1 for 15 Solo Instruments, Op. 9
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Maurizio Pollini Edition - Schoenberg: The Solo Piano Music, Piano Concerto; Webern: VAriations Op. 27
Berg: Complete String Quartets

ASIN: B00006372K
Release Date: 2002-07-16

Customer Reviews:

WHO'S AFRAID OF SCHOENBERG?.......2003-08-24

Do you normally believe commentators who talk as if Schoenberg comes as naturally to them as Schubert? If the commentator is, say, Sir Simon Rattle then obviously I do but otherwise I suspend judgment or worse. I have built up a small collection of Schoenberg over the last few years, and I have yet to achieve an easy relationship with the piano and violin concertos or the variations for orchestra. But no lover of Schoenberg's own idol Brahms should have much problem with Verklaerte Nacht or the Pelleas et Melisande music, and it is an easy step from there to the chamber symphonies.

I recalled the remark by Rudolf Serkin (in case that reassures you) that Schoenberg had the best musical mind he ever met (the second best being Donald Francis Tovey, in case that also reassures you). The music on this record is music with a strong intellect behind it, something you can say of any of the major classics. It is also -- trust me -- very attractive and listenable music. The first chamber symphony starts with some 'so there!' squawking harmonies. This is obviously not Brahms, but you are not far into the piece before his influence on the sound is becoming apparent. The second of them has a much higher opus-# so I braced myself for anything, but in the event it is similar in idiom to the first. I am now playing the pieces as background and for pleasure. The recorded sound is very good, the impact on the ear is very pleasant, the price is very low. Give it a try.

Beginner's Schoenberg.......2003-06-16

I took a chance on this one - a budget recording of 20th century music does not always turn out well. This CD has some great playing and is a good interpretation of a sometimes misunderstood composer.

I was introduced to Schoenberg in college as the creator of "serial" or "twelve-tone" music; music that is not written in a certain key and sounds random at times, but is in fact very methodical.

The pieces on this CD are from a period when Schoenberg was experimenting with serialism and sometimes sounds "all over the place", but also has some very romantic moments. I discovered these at a National Symphony Orchestra concert where they were performed as part of a pieced-together score for the early silent film "Metropolis". It may not be a good CD for dinner parties or background music, but can be a good one to just sit down and listen to, contemplating the many moods it evokes.

Price- budget (great)
Playing/Sound- very good
Selection- very good

Tracks:

Allegro
Andantino
Vivace Con Fuoco
Allegretto
Vivace
Lento
Allegro Con Brio

Tracks:

Allegro - Vivace
Lento
Allegro Con Brio - Presto
Allegro - Poco Piu Mosso - Tempo Primo
Vivace Ma Non Troppo
Andantino
Con Fuoco - Alla Marcia - Tempo Primo - Maestoso - Allegro Molto

Tracks:

Tempestuoso
Andante Con Moto
Con Fuoco
Risluto
Energico
Lento
Con Fuoco

Tracks:

Allegro Energico
Andante Con Moto
Allegro
Allegro
Andantino
Vivace

Tracks:

Vivace
Allegretto
Giubiloso
Lento
Sir Malcolm Arnold In Conversation With Andrew Penny

Customer Reviews:

Fine interpretations which are well recorded........2004-10-06

Malcolm Arnold wrote a lot of great music for film and concert hall. His entire symphonic output is included in this economical boxed set. While he derived much of his inspiration from Mahler and Shostakovich, he is not quite their equal as a symphonic composer. Brilliant passages alternate with less inspired, and sometimes depressing, passages. The older he got the more pessimistic his music became. At this price, however, you get enough great music to justify adding Arnold to your collection of classical composers.

Glorious Music, Great Performances.......2004-07-23

I am just beginning to explore Malcolm Arnold's nine symphonies and, I must say, I'm already quite overwhelmed by their quality. Sir Malcolm's orchestral sound is reminiscent of another great XXth century British symphonist - Sir William Walton - which is to say that the idiom is tonal with a marvelously spiky coloring at times, and great rhythmic variety. So far, my favorite Arnold symphony is the Third, which is roughly contemporary with his inspired score for the great David Lean film, "The Bridge on the River Kwai." I can't imagine why these symphonies are not much better known or widely played, unless it's because of lingering snobbery about composers who write tonal symphonies and whose heroes are predecessors like Sibelius and Elgar. That sort of opinion is increasingly as passe as the Darmstadt composers & camp followers who sponsored it, but some traces remain, particularly among music academics who came of age in the '50s. I'm just happy that Naxos cares enough about Arnold to have produced such idiomatic performances under a conductor who obviously knows and loves the music. And with an orchestra that plays it quite brilliantly. I should note that the Penguin guide also rates these performances highly, but in some cases prefers alternatives on the Chandos label. I'm a big Chandos fan, so I'm quite sure those are fine recordings, but this Naxos set is unbelievably inexpensive and the (fully digital) sound is first-rate. Note that these performances are also available on individual Naxos CDs, but White Box presentation here is space-saving & quite elegant, with a handsome booklet that contains extensive notes about all the symphonies. Finally, note that these performances were all recorded in the presence of the composer, who is still very much alive, and whose interview by conductor Andrew Penney is included as a fill-up after the performance of the Ninth Symphony. Great stuff here; don't miss this set!

Sir Malcolm Arnold: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

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Sir Malcolm Arnold: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

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Arnold: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4
Arnold: Symphony No. 9
Arnold: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6
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Sir Malcolm Arnold: Dances

ASIN: B000001489
Release Date: 1996-02-20

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1, Op. 22: Allegro
Symphony No. 1, Op. 22: Andantino
Symphony No. 1, Op. 22: Vivace con fuoco
Symphony No. 2, Op. 40: Allegretto
Symphony No. 2, Op. 40: Vivace
Symphony No. 2, Op. 40: Lento
Symphony No. 2, Op. 40: Allegro con brio

Schoenberg: Gurrelieder - The Two Chamber Symphonies / Norman, Troyanos, McCracken; Ozawa, Imbal

Average customer rating:

A fantastic bargain in the Schoenberg catalog
Seiji Ozawa must mean "chief blunderer" in Japanese.
almost ideal
This is an excellent recording
Ozawa isn't truly the man for this masterpiece

Schoenberg: Gurrelieder - The Two Chamber Symphonies / Norman, Troyanos, McCracken; Ozawa, Imbal
Arnold Schoenberg , Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra , Boston Symphony Orchestra , Eliahu Inbal Seiji Ozawa , Jessye Norman , Tatiana Troyanos , Kim Scown , Tanglewood Festival Chorus , James McCracken , David Arnold , and Eliahu Inbal
Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Schoenberg: Gurrelieder; Sir Simon Rattle; Berlin Philharmonic & soloists
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Arnold Schoenberg: Serenade/Five Pieces For Orchestra

ASIN: B00002DDWQ
Release Date: 2000-01-11

Tracks:

Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 96
Gurrelieder: Part One: Orchestral Prelude
Gurrelieder: Part One: Nun daempft die Daemm'rung
Gurrelieder: Part One: O, wenn des mondes Strahlen
Gurrelieder: Part One: Ross! Mein Ross!
Gurrelieder: Part One: Sterne jubeln
Gurrelieder: Part One: So tanzen die Engel vor Gottes Thron nicht
Gurrelieder: Part One: Nun sag ich dir zum ersten Mal
Gurrelieder: Part One: Es ist Mitternachtszeit
Gurrelieder: Part One: Du sendest mir einen Liebesblick
Gurrelieder: Part One: Du wunderliche Tove!
Gurrelieder: Part One: Tauben von Gurre!

Tracks:

Gurrelieder: Part 2: Herrgott, weisst du, was du tatest
Gurrelieder: Part 3: Die wild Jagd: Erwacht, Konig Waldemars Mannen wert!
Gurrelieder: Part 3: Die wild Jagd: Deckel des Sarges klappert
Gurrelieder: Part 3: Die wild Jagd: Gegrusst, o Konig
Gurrelieder: Part 3: Die wild Jagd: Mit Toves Stimme flustert der Wald
Gurrelieder: Part 3: Die wild Jagd: 'Ein seltsamer Vogel ist so'n Aal'
Gurrelieder: Part 3: Die wild Jagd: Du strenger Richter droben
Gurrelieder: Part 3: Die wild Jagd: Der Hahn erhebt den Kopf zur Kraht
Des Sommerwindes wilde Jagd
Herr Gaensefuss, Frau Gaensekraut
Seht die Sonne
Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38: 1. Adagio
Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38: 2. Con Fuoco

Amazon.com

This is the biggest piece of music that ever gets performed with any regularity. Anyone who avoids Schönberg because his name is synonymous with that nasty, atonal stuff need have no fear. This is a ripely romantic score with big tunes and cinematic orchestration. The story is simple. King Waldemar of Gurre is fooling around with Tove. The queen finds out and has her poisoned. The king curses God, and is condemned to ride on a ghostly hunt throughout all eternity, until the arrival of dawn signals an end to the nightly horror. This performance--which happily has been reissued at bargain price--has been the choice since the day it was released, both for interpretation and for recording. Magnificent doesn't begin to describe it. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

A fantastic bargain in the Schoenberg catalog.......2006-03-21

Ozawa has had a checkered career on records (as in life), so his detractors below sound plausible. But the acclaim he won for this Gurre-Lieder from 1979 (in gorgeous, state-of-the-art sound) is well deserved. Ozawa is more exciting and involved than Sinopoli, Boulez, and Chailly, whose excellent versions are trumped here, and the recent Berlin performance on EMI under Rattle seems pale by comparison. This is great musicmaking of the kind Ozawa rarely achieved, and his soloists are commadning, particularly Norman as a Tove of true Isolde stature, her voice as magnificent as we have ever heard it. But James McCracken and Tatiana Troyanos are scarcely far behind. (Indeed, the three of them should have recorded Tristan.) They outsing the competiiton with the sole exception of Ben Heppner on Levine's live recording from Munich (Oehms).

Yet one shouldn't overlook the two companion pieces, the Chamber Sym. #1 and #2, performed with equal vibrancy by Eliahu Imbal and his Frankfurt orchestra in 1974. The first work is given in its lush re-orchestration for full symphony and comes across as a lost Struass tone poem. Anyone phobic about Schoenberg's later idiom will be delighted. Only the Chamber Sym. #2 represents the composer's atonal maturity, and although it is not easy listening, I am grateful to own it as part of this fantastic two-fer, one not to be missed. Why, oh wh, did Ozawa lapse from this inpsired level and pull the BSO down with him?

Seiji Ozawa must mean "chief blunderer" in Japanese........2003-11-27

Norman, McCracken, and Troyanos are all incredible singers. The orchestra and the choir played and sang respectably, but in this work they were in serious need of some direction, and they obviously didn't get enough. With simpler music, a rotten conductor can get away with murder, but with something as large and challenging as Gurrelieder, shabby conducting leads to volume imbalances so large that several melodic lines get drowned out and tempos so brisk that the handful of players that can still be heard end up skipping and slurring many notes.

To prove my point, listen to one of the more complex numbers on this one like "Gegrusst, o Konig" or "Seht die Sonne" and then listen to the same section conducted by a real conductor like Boulez, Chailly, Sinopoli, or Rattle. I guarantee you it will be a night and day difference. Luckily, Ozawa managed to keep it somewhat together while Norman and McCracken were singing, so it's not a total loss.

almost ideal.......2003-07-30

This is one lush, romantic score. Its like 'Tannhauser meets Salome.' Having both Troyanos and Norman in fabulous voice would seal the deal regardless of the rest of the cast. But with James McCracken you have the perfect tenor for this music. The equally underappreciated Jess Thomas made a good recording of this role as well. But McCracken was special. No one sounded like him. And his recording opportunities were shamefully rare.
This music demands a tenor with power and conviction. McCracken had those qualities like no one before or since. The only problem with this recording is that the voices are too far forward. Given more reverb this Gurrelieder would have been perfect.

This is an excellent recording.......2002-06-30

Schoenberg's Gurrelieder is a hard work written for a grand ensemble. But this recording is really excellent. Especially the voice of Jesse Norman, Tatiana Troyanos's marvellous performance on Lied der Waldtaube, three men's choir in the third section and the eight voice choir's performance in the final section is really worth to listen again and again. And also we can't pass by Eliahu Inbal's Chamber Symphonies recording, it is also great.

Ozawa isn't truly the man for this masterpiece.......2001-12-12

There is no question about Arnold Schoenberg's gigantic oratorio "Gurrelieder"'s greatness as being on the very same rarefied plane as any of mankind's other masterpieces in music (e.g., the Beethoven 9th Symphony, the High Mass in b {natural} by JS Bach, the Wagner opera "Tristan und Isolde", or Stravínskiy's ballet "Vjesná Svjashchjénnaja" ("Le Sacre du Printemps"), and most probably no single conductor's reading of this super-score will totally satisfy everybody. Certainly the ingredients for a superb performance are present: a truly great orchestra, worthy choirs for the 3rd part, wonderful soloists. The one thing that is however missing in this recording is a truly involved conductor who can truly bare his heart on his sleeve like a Kegel or a Sinopoli - or a Stokowski. So many, many of the really great moments of passion, tenderness, pain, and outrage (e.g., the interlude prior to the Song of the Wood-Dove) go for nothing in the hands of Seiji Ozawa - they're just brushed aside and not truly developed in terms of the eloquence and lushness this huge piece calls for. Whatever Ozawa's greatness in Berlioz or whoever else, he almost feels mechanical in his approach - which is not what Schoenberg, any more than Mahler, Wagner, Chaykóvskiy, Puccini, or Richard Strauss, would have had in mind. No, thanks to him (and it was his interpretation through which I first came to know this chef-d'oeuvre), I can't really recommend this recording almost at all.

Average customer rating:

Some good and great stuff...But be patient
Bax Symphonies: Thomson/LPO/Ulster Orchestra
The Essence of Sir Arnold Bax

Sir Arnold Bax: The Complete Symphonies

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1 In E Flat: I. Allegro moderato e feroce
Symphony No. 1 In E Flat: II. Lento solenne
Symphony No. 1 In E Flat: III. Allegro maestoso - Allegro vivace ma non troppo prest - Tempo di marcia trionfale
Symphony No. 6: I. Moderato - Allegro con fuoco
Symphony No. 6: II. Lento, molto espressivo
Symphony No. 6: III. Introduction (Lento moderato) - Scherzo And Trio (Allegro vivace - Andante semplice) - Epilogue (Lento)

Tracks:

Symphony No. 5: I. Poco lento - Allegro con fuoco - Moderato - Arnold Bax
Symphony No. 5: II. Poco lento - Arnold Bax
Symphony No. 5: III. Poco moderato - Allegro- Epilogue (Doppio movimento alla breve) - Arnold Bax
Symphony No. 4: I. Allegro moderato - Arnold Bax
Symphony No. 4: II. Lento, moderato - Arnold Bax

Tracks:

Symphony No. 4: III. Allegro - Tempo di marcia trionfale
Symphony No. 2 In E Minor & C: I. Molto moderato - Allegro moderato
Symphony No. 2 In E Minor & C: II. Andante
Symphony No. 2 In E Minor & C: III. Poco largamente - Allegro feroce - Molto largamente

Tracks:

I. Lento moderato
Symphony No. 3: II. Lento
Symphony No. 3: III. Moderato - Epilogue (Poco lento)

Tracks:

Symphony No. 7: I. Allegro
Symphony No. 7: II. Lento - In Legendary Mood (Piu mosso) - Tempo 1
Symphony No. 7: III. Theme And Variations (Allegro - Andante - Vivace - Epilogue 'Sereno')

Customer Reviews:

Some good and great stuff...But be patient.......2003-12-05

I never knew about Bax and suddenly I am listening to his complete symphonies. The symphonies are a great tome of classical music , but you would call it great only after you have listened to all the symphonies, at least a couple of time. The set of symphonies consist of unconventionally large time scales, big bursty orchestration followed by pianissimo passages, sudden solos entering after orgasmic full blooded orchestra all happening in between chunks of large tone poems sections. All this makes for a pretty unwieldy work at first hearing, but when you have listened to it, you feel this is the best way it should sound. There is music which is great sounding at first hearing and then gathers dust, and there is music which is a bit hard to like at first hearing, but once the trouble is taken and the terrain is charted, it doesnt seem incomprenhensible anymore, infact it ends up becomming your most fav music. Baxs synmphonies fall in the 2nd category. The Music at times sounds like Prokofiev, sometimes like Shostokovich and at times like Bax. But its a unique blend. The orchestration sound produced by BAX is fantastic. He puts a very quite instrument solo just after crash boom bang. And the music does not follow formal structure, it meanders, but its fantastic sounding.

Sym5 and 6 will take time ..you need to hear it 2-3 times

Sym 1 and 2 sounds a bit peasantly, but bit more hearing and you like it. Sym 1 and 2 have a faustian character

sym 3 and sym 7 are by far the BEST in the set.

Sym 7,3 and 4 is easily approchable, you will like these three at first hearing. For the rest, give your ears and your cd player some more re-runs of the cds and you will start loving them.

regards, Vikram

Bax Symphonies: Thomson/LPO/Ulster Orchestra.......2000-02-25

This was a most welcome addition to my CD collection and Thomson has done a first rate job of putting together Bax's symphonic output on a five CD boxed set. Thew juxtaposition of the works is somewhat strange, the criterion being the optimal use of the 5 CD's time viz: disc's 2 and 3 split Symphony No 4 (movement 3 is put on disc 3) and the resulting disc 3 is somewhat 'funky' ro my mind with the Symphony No 2 carrying on after the Finale to No 4. I don't want to sound churlish given the quality of the music but I would have like to have seen Chandos give us an additional disc on the set so that all the symphonies would have had their own disc with the exception of disc 1 which would contain Symphonies 1 & 6 al completo, thereby avoiding this artificial splitting. I would have been happy to pay the extra money which would have saved me a lot of messing about with my CD programmer! I generally agree with the comments of the earlier commentator on the music although I would advise any true lover of this music to also listen to the 1960s/70s issue of the Symphonies (minus 3 &4) on the Lyrita label which is not currently available on CD. To listen to the Thomson's recording of Symphonies No 1 and 2 we can pick up the truth of Bax's words when he said that his best symphonies were his early works Nos 1-3. He thought he had burnt himeslf out after the early 1930s. His original programme notes called No 1 'Adventures on the precipice' and of No 2 'In the abyss'. To be sure, the modern Thomson recording is technically brilliant matching his performance as he picks up the pagan power of these works, the brass sforzandi shattering the grim smoky beginning of No 2 and the cold glittering tone colour of the celesta ostinati against the baleful horn's call somehow summoning up the legends of Cuchulainn and the Nordic Sagas. The Lento with its leading violin tells us a sad Celtic story builds to a shimmering climax like the wind off the West Irish coast leads us into the terrifying finale with its uncanny predictive assembly of a thermo-nuclear catastrophe with boiling skies and an Epilogue which asks: What now? The feeling at the end of this magnificent work is that we have been told a Saga of bravery, fortitude, suffering and death. The version of Symphony No 3 is the best yet I have heard, certainly preferable to the Naxos offering which to my mind is sometimes taken too fast. The Symphony No 4 was written when Bax was attempting to write music of a more extrovert nature and the first movement bears this out, although the slow movement despite its lyricism appears somehow artificial and hollow when compared with the more heartfelt and original No 1, for example. The strident finale, with its trumpet and percussion fff is of the genre of his 'Music to a Picaresque Comedy', is truly delightful and Thomson makes the most of this unusual mood in Bax, making the orchestra jump through the loudspeakers! The 5th and 6th symphonies are brilliant, the spectre of Sibelius presenting itself as Bax's music became more terse and economical. However, as non plus ultra, Thomson pulls a gem out of his hat with No 7, this CD is given its own jewel case in the box and it seems appropriate as this is the most played symphony of my set and played such is a veritable jewel. This is manifest in the multitude of layers of orchestration, harmony, beat and counterpoint which are here displayed in showcase fashion. The closing of the first movement with its uncanny sad woodwind lament against discordant muted trombones chords summon up a sense of disquiet and unease as we drift unhappily into the next movement as a storm brews under dark skies. The section of the next movement was marked by Bax 'In Legendary Mood' and is wonderfully dark, mysterious and sensual. The CD collection comes to a soulful and pensive close which portrays Bax's words as his alter ego the poet, Dermot O'Byrne: 'Dark are the paths of my heart...and sea winds blow the winter in'; a must buy for all British Music fiends and a delight for any lover of post Wagnerian romantic emotion.

The Essence of Sir Arnold Bax.......1999-03-28

Sir Arnold Bax (1883-1953) was the leading British composer in the 1930s after his reputation grew immensely due largely to the 1922 premiere of his powerful, agonizing First Symphony. Although his Symphonic Poems such as Tintagel (1908), the Garden of Fand (1916), & November Woods (1918) placed Bax among the recognizable of composers, his symphonies did more to further his reputation.

His first symphony (1921-1922) has it's relations to Myaskovsky's symphonies no. 6 & 16, Glazunov's Eighth symphony, Vaughan Williams' Sixth symphony & Nielsen's Fourth & Fifth symphonies because it is reflective of the tragic past. In Bax's case, he witnessed the Eastern Uprising of 1916 in Ireland (against British forces) which resulted in killing of many of Bax's friends. His father past away two years later. The symphony's first movement is energetic, expressive, yet dark & angered. The second movement is elegiac, powerful & morbid, probably the most moving of all of Bax's compositions. The Finale, with all it's struggles, ends in bright optimism.

The Second symphony (1924-1926) returns to the tragic past of the composer. It employed a greater orchestral force than it's predecessor (with the organ included). Of all works of the composer, this symphony is the most powerful & pessimistic, ending in quiet contemplation.

The turning point in Bax's life is represented in his Third symphony (1928-1929), where some misfortunes were not forgotten, but where there's still life & hope. The first two movements are brighter, beautifully scored, & evocative. The last movement is with some sort of gaiety & festivity before the magically Epilogue appears. The epilogue of the symphony at last had a peaceful ending that is not of a tragic nature.

The Fourth & Fifth symphonies (1930 & 1932 respectively) showed the more brighter side of the composer. The Fourth depicts the sea (like his Seventh & Tintagel) whereas the Fifth (dedicated to Jean Sibelius, who, with Sergei V. Rachmaninoff, admired Bax) depites optimistic energy (The Finale's Epilogue with its triumphant, festive spirits & the breathtaking slow movement with wonderful imagination & highly attractive orchestration).

The Sixth symphony (1934-1935) begins with the theme which repeats itself insistently before the Allegro con fuoco enters. The movement began with coldness, but with passion, and passion predominates the entire first movement before the climax is heard. The movement ends boisterously. The second movement is both lyrical & calm whereas the last movement, as long as the first two movements, begins with an appealing clarinet solo theme, used again later. After the clarinet, the strings enter to repeat the theme already established. The pace quickened to a lively scherzo where themes becomes varied. After the grandious climax, we have now, the Epilogue, as magically as the one in the Third symphony although slightly more disturbed.

The Seventh & last symphony was completed in 1939 as a commisioned work for the New York World Fair of 1939. It was dedicated to "The People of America" & was premiered by Sir Adrian Boult. The first movement begins quietly before liveliness & majesty take over. The movement is festive & passionate, ending quietly as it began, with a timpani roll & the theme played by the clarinet. The slow movement is meditative & appealing whereas the finale begins with triumph. That triumph would soon be replaced by a sober, saddening theme played by first the lower strings & then by brass & woodwinds. Seven variations follows, the first six of them active, boisterous, & perhaps pompous. The calm & serene seventh & last variation is perhaps the saddest of all of Bax's music, saying goodbye to the end of the epic journey the symphonies carried Bax & us as we relate to this great composer.

Bax was autobiographical in his compositions. He, like Carl Nielsen, Myaskovsky, Lyatoshynsky & Josef Suk, was very communicative & personal without regrets or apologies. The composer was imaginative & honest, with impeccable orchestration & craftmanship. Bryden Thomson with The London Philharmonic & Ulster Orcestra did Bax the greatest of justice in bringing his works from the cold & unfortunate obscurity. The performances: passionate, majestic, sympathetic, beautiful. The recording: atmospheric & perfect.

Should we hope for further recordings of Bax with the Scottish National Orchestra under David Lloyd Jones, who so far recorded Bax's First symphony with passion & a sense of urgency & excitement?