Hartmann: Symphonies 1 & 2

On this CD:

1. Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op 17
Composed by Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann
Performed by Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Thomas Dausgaard

2. Symphony No. 2 in E major, Op 48
Composed by Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann
Performed by Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Thomas Dausgaard

Tracks:

1. Sym: Versuch eines Requiems nach Worten von Walt Whitman fur ein Altstimme und Orch: I. Intro - Doris Soffel/SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Fritz Rieger
1. Sym: Versuch eines Requiems nach Worten von Walt Whitman fur ein Altstimme und Orch: II... - Doris Soffel/SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Fritz Rieger
1. Sym: Versuch eines Requiems nach Worten von Walt Whitman fur ein Altstimme und Orch: III... - Doris Soffel/SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Fritz Rieger
1. Sym: Versuch eines Requiems nach Worten von Walt Whitman fur ein Altstimme und Orch: IV... - Doris Soffel/SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Fritz Rieger
1. Sym: Versuch eines Requiems nach Worten von Walt Whitman fur ein Altstimme und Orch: V... - Doris Soffel/SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Fritz Rieger
3. Sym fur grosses orch: I. Largo ma non troppo - Allegro con fuoco (Virtuose Fuge) - SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Ferdinand Leitner
3. Sym fur grosses orch: Adagio (mit bewegtem Ausdruck) - SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Ferdinand Leitner

Tracks:

Adagio (2. Sym) fur grosses Orch
4. Sym fur Streichorchester: I. Lento assai - con passione
4. Sym fur Streichorchester: II. Allegro di molto, risoluto
4. Sym fur Streichorchester: III. Adagio appassionato
Sym concertante (5. Sym) fur Orch: I. Toccata (lebhaft)
Sym concertante (5. Sym) fur Orch: II. Melodie (langsam)
Sym concertante (5. Sym) fur Orch: III. Scherzo (sehr lebhaft)
Sym concertante (5. Sym) fur Orch: IV. Rondo (lustig - sehr lebhaft)

Tracks:

6. Sym fur grosses Orch: I. Adagio - Appassionato (Allegro moderato)
6. Sym fur grosses Orch: II. Toccata variata/Presto - Allegro assai (Fuge 1 - 3)
7. Sym fur grosses Orch: I. Intro und Ricercare - SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Zdenek Macal
7. Sym fur grosses Orch: II. Adagio mesto cantando e tranquillo/Finale: Scherzoso virtuoso... - SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Zdenek Macal

Tracks:

8. Sym fur grosses Orch: I. Cantilene/Lento assai, con passione
8. Sym fur grosses Orch: II. Dithvrambe: Scherzo - Fuga
Gesangs-Szene zu Worten aus 'Sodom und Gomorrha' von Jean Giraudoux - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/SO des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Rafael Kubelik

Customer Reviews:

WOW!.......2004-01-16

This is quite simply one of the most rewarding box sets of classical music I have ever purchased! Karl Amadeus Hartmann has to be one of the most neglected and undervalued composers of the 20th Century. His music is in turn ferocious and beautiful. This is definitely not music for easy listening. Hartmann was writing these symphonies during World War Two and the violence of that time is certainly present in this music. His musical language is sophisticated, yet never elusive. It IS highly emotional music and at the end of the 6th, 7th and 8th symphonies the listener will probably find themselves emotionally drained, such as after a great symphony of Mahler or Shostakovich. Yes, Hartmann uses dissonance and harmonies with no obvious resolution but if you feel comfortable with the dissonance levels of say, Shostakovich then this music will not unduly disturb you. From the opening notes of Symphony no. 1 "Study for a Requiem" we know we're about to embark on a symphonic voyage of great scope and amazement. The alto soloist, Doris Soffel sings the difficult solo part with great aplomb. The playing of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is uniformly fantastic throughout the entire set. Also on CD 1 is the less successful 3rd Symphony. To me, this seems Hartmann's weakest symphony. It's structure is diffuse but it is definitely a necessary step in his development of complex contrapuntal material and large scale orchestral writing. That said, it has its moments of greatness such as the truly wild fugue in the second movement which seems to recall the great violent fugue in the second movement of Nielsen's 5th. On the second disk we are presented with 3 more Hartmann symphonies. The Adagio (Symphony no. 2) is a 15 minute long span of very intense music. It is surely one of the most concise and developed symphonies of the century. From the opening baritone saxophone solo that quotes the plangent theme, the listener is dragged through a rugged emotional journey culminating in a shattering fff climax. This is a truly great piece of music. The 4th symphony is scored only for strings and is in three movements. The opening Lento is about as passionate as string writing gets and the central Allegro is as violent. The concluding Adagio appassionato is of haunting beauty and intensity. This symphony is right up there with the great string symphonies, with Honegger's 2nd. The 5th Symphony (Symphonie concertante) has very wind-heavy orchestration. In fact, the only strings present are 'cellos and basses. It uses re-worked material from an abandoned trumpet concerto and it shows. The two trumpets dominate the soundscape in what is Hartmann's sunniest piece of work. The style is distinctly neo-classical though always with hints of emotional turmoil that Hartmann was experiencing during the 1940's. The 6th-8th symphonies are surely some of the 20th centuries best. They represent Hartmann at the height of his powers nd each leave an indelible emotional mark on the listener. The 6th Symphony begins with an Adagio of great pain and longing, building to a massive climax in Allegro moderato. The 2nd movement is a 'Toccata Variata'. It is a furious and unrelenting movement of great power, including no less than three separate fugues on the one theme. The 7th Symphony is in two movements, like the 6th and opens with a sublime Ricercare. The long 2nd movement contains a passionate adagio, two fugues and a finale, marked Scherzoso virtuoso, and virtuoso it is. The demands on the brass and percussion are phenomenal and as the music works up to a typically searing Hartmann climax you can feel the hairs on your neck tingling. On the 4th disc, is the 8th Symphony. This is a bitter work though probably the greatest thing Hartmann ever wrote. He knew it would be his last essy in the genre and poured all of his hatred for the political climate in which he lived into this symphony. The opening movement, Cantilene is a disturbing and passionate utterance. The opening notes on clarinet and vibraphone played fff give a sense of the scope of this piece. The 2nd movement, Dithyrambe is especially fine. It contains a terrifying fugue and builds up to a truly earth shattering climax, only to drop away again. Just as we think it is going to end in a well of quiet, the brass and very loud percussion send this extraordinary symphony crashing to its close. Also included on this disc is the Gesangs-Szene for Bartione and Orchestra. This is a highly enjoyable vocal work sung to the hilt by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. The performances of all these works are stunning and Rafael Kubelik seems to know these great works intimately. The symphonies of Hartmann deserve the widest possible audience. Snap this one up while you can!

Hartmann: Symphonies Nos. 1 & No. 6; Miserae

Average customer rating:

tremendous works
Vivid, exciting symphonies
self-contained & uninteresting music

Hartmann: Symphonies Nos. 1 & No. 6; Miserae

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Tracks:

I. Introduction: Elend
II. Fruhling
III. Thema
III. Variation 1
III. Variation 2
III. Variation 3
III. Variation 4
IV. Tranen
V. Epilog: Bitte
I. Adagio
II. Toccata Variata
Largo/Allegro Agitato E Vivace

Customer Reviews:

tremendous works.......2006-02-16

I found these works strikingly gripping, enough to convince me that Hartmann is amongst the great composers of the twentieth century. He does this not by lunging into atonality, serialism, and many of the trappings of modernism that baffle the uninitiated, but through a remarkable directness that holds its roots in a rich tradition without being prey to it. It is hardly just to label music this poignant as arid academicism. A quote comes to mind that Hans Werner Henze rarely wrote abstract music, but rather wrote about people. I am not knowledgeable to comment on how this applies to Hartmann, but for me it captures what I believe I sense in Hartmann as much as it does in Henze.

Vivid, exciting symphonies.......2000-02-17

Out of the throng of German artists who played along with or actually supported the Nazi regime (Richard Strauss, Webern, Karajan, Hindemith for a time, and many others) came Karl Amadeus Hartmann, a strikingly original composer who refused to have his music published or performed for many years under the fascists. After the war, Hartmann pulled the works he had written out of the drawer, revised them or reworked them into new works, and published them. The Symphony no. 1, a setting of Walt Whitman poems for alto and orchestra, is a dark and vivid work (although the dark element is certainly predominant). The real reason to recommend this CD, though, is the Symphony no. 6, a rhythmically exciting and explosive piece that Hartmann reworked from an earlier symphonic poem on Zola's novel L'Oeuvre. A prominent feature in this work is the virtuoso percussion work and a recurring English horn theme that is vaguely reminiscent of the famous solo in The Rite of Spring. This symphony belongs on the repertoire of the great 20th century symphonies (such as those of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Henze), and anyone who is not afraid of a little dissonance should check this CD out. It is not easy music, exactly, but neither is it terribly difficult to anyone who appreciates modern music.

self-contained & uninteresting music.......1999-12-14

Well, I don't know what has gone wrong with German music in the 2nd half of the 20th century. Maybe experiencing the nazism&losing the war strained beyond measure the faith in art and humanity of the composers. So , while the Brits (Vaughan Williams, Britten, Simpson) and the Americans (Copland, Piston, Schuman) were producing an imposing amount of really tremendous music, the Germans receded in sterile avant-garde or arid academicism. Hartmann is a good example: the technical mastery is here, and it's deeply felt music, but there are hardly any tunes (I'm sorry, but real music, no matter how craggy &uncompromising, needs tunes) , and in any case Hartmann is too restless to develop them , so the listener can't grasp almost anything. The result is terribly boring. I've also heard the 7th and 8th, which are even worse than these two, but the 2nd is slightly better. As Gramophone wrote, it's ( I would add only) musicians' music. Good performance and first rate sound.

Average customer rating:

J.P.E. Hartmann: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Manufacturer: Marco Polo
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000467C
Release Date: 1996-12-17

Tracks:

Symphony No 1 In G Minor Op. 17: - Introduktion : Moderato- Allegro Assai , Con Passione
Symphony No 1 In G Minor Op. 17: Andante
Symphony No 1 In G Minor Op. 17: Menuetto
Symphony No 1 In G Minor Op. 17: Finale: Allegro Molto Assai
Symphony No 2 In E Major, Op. 48: Symphony No 2 In E Major, Op 48- Prdium: Moderato Sostenuto- Allegro Non Troppo Grazioso
Symphony No 2 In E Major, Op. 48: Andantino
Symphony No 2 In E Major, Op. 48: Intermezzo: Allegro Pastorale, Non Vivace
Symphony No 2 In E Major, Op. 48: Finale: Allegro Vivace

Average customer rating:

a lost mid-20th century symphonic cycle parallel to Shostakovich
A collection of fascinating symphonies
Great works, but the other set is FAR better!
Little known but masterful symphonic music

Hartmann: Symphonies Nos. 1-8

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00002DEHM
Release Date: 2002-11-05

Tracks:

Sym No.1 'Versuch Eines Requiems': I. Intro: Elend: Ich Sitze Und Schaue Aus - Cornelia Kallisch
Sym No.1 'Versuch Eines Requiems': II. Fruhling: Als Jungst Der Flieder Bluhte - Cornelia Kallisch
Sym No.1 'Versuch Eines Requiems': III. Thema Mit Vier Vars
Sym No.1 'Versuch Eines Requiems': IV. Tranen: Tranen, Tranen, Tranen! - Cornelia Kallisch
Sym No.1 'Versuch Eines Requiems': V. Epilog: Bitte: Ich Horte Die Allmutter - Cornelia Kallisch
Sym No.2 - Arno Bornkamp
Sym No.3: I. Largo Ma Non Troppo - Allegro Con Fuoco (Virtuose Fuge)
Sym No.3: II. Adagio (Mit Bewegtem Ausdruck) - Andante - Allegro Moderato - Andante - Adagio

Tracks:

Sym No.4: I. Lento Assai - Con Passione
Sym No.4: II. Allegro Di Molto, Risoluto
Sym No.4: III. Adagio Appassionato
Sym No.5: I. Toccata (Lebhaft)
Sym No.5: II. Melodie
Sym No.5: III. Rondo (Lustig - Sehr Lebhaft)
Sym No.6: I. Adagio
Sym No.6: II. Toccata Variata. Presto - Allegro Assai

Tracks:

Sym No.7: I. Intro Und Ricercare
Sym No.7: II. Adagio Mesto Cantanto E Tranquillo
Sym No.7: Finale. Scherzoso Virtuoso
Sym No.8: I. Cantilene. Lento Assai, Con Passione
Sym No.8: II. Dithyrambe. Scherzo, Lebhaft

Customer Reviews:

a lost mid-20th century symphonic cycle parallel to Shostakovich.......2005-10-23

This year, 2005, is the centenary year of Karl Amadeus Hartmann, and his music is being celebrated widely in Germany and Central Europe. Unfortunately he continues to be largely unknown here in the U.S. Hartmann has a higher profile for his resistance to the Nazis than for his music, but perhaps this will begin to change. I wouldn't place Hartmann on quite the same level as Mahler, Sibelius, Shostakovich or Simpson as a 20th-century symphonist, but these are fine works that deserve a wider audience.

Though he studied during the war years with Webern, Hartmann's music does not sound especially similar to Schoenberg, Webern or Berg. Advanced in its deployment of chromaticism, and generally abstract by comparison to Beethoven, Bruckner or Mahler, it seems to me that Hartmann's music occupies a space that overlaps with Shostakovich in some of its extremes of emotion and dynamics, while overlapping with the English composer Robert Simpson in its internal rigor and forward drive.

The 6th Symphony is Hartmann's best known and most often performed, and while this is an excellent performance, it doesn't touch the great 1955 recording on DG with Ference Fricsay conducting (see my review). The highlights of this 3-disc set for me so far, after perhaps a dozen or so listenings, are the 3rd, 4th and 8th Symphonies. Ingo Metzmacher and the Bamberger Symphoniker are superb, captured in excellent sound.

My only complaint about this EMI disc, which I obtained through Amazon.co.uk, is the booklet. The liner notes, which are supposed to be in German, French and English, are botched and most of the English notes are missing. I had to do a search for information on the compositions, as there was none to be found in the booklet.

A collection of fascinating symphonies.......2003-05-14

Hartmann's 8 symphonies are among the few pieces that make sense out of the expressionist ethos first propagated by Arnold Schoenberg in pieces like "Verklarte Nacht." While this music is intensely chromatic, Hartmann never assails us with unfocused dissonance for the sake of dissonance. And, because he sticks to established forms (like fugues and variations), his music never descends into incoherent mush the way much of Schoenberg's later music does.

Instead, Hartmann provides an intense, frequently tragic ethos based on thematic material that is constantly evolving. Clear themes are more evident in the earlier symphonies, but the remain recognizable figures in the later works. In addition to Schoenberg, there are clear echoes of Hindemith (in the 5th symphony) and Stravinsky (in the single movement 2nd Symphony especially, which sounds like a glyph on the opening to Igor's "Rite of Spring." Overall, this is quite memorable music, though there are places where Hartmann rambles on too long and some stretches where one wishes he's lighten up a little.

As for these performances, I think the reviewer who complained about them being too tepid has a point. Metzmacher clearly reins in his forces in some places where wild abandon is needed. Partially, I think this reflects and orchestra that is taxed to its limits. However, there is a stiffness to Metzmacher's phrasing that lends a bland sameness to movements that have more variety then he finds.

All that said, there is a distinct advantage to the clarity Metzmacher brings to this complex music. I haven't heard the Wergo set, but I'll bet that the "wildly passionate" playing on that set can get wearing at times if there is limited contrast. So, I guess you'll have to decide what type person you are.

Ask yourself: Do I like Haitink or Bernstein (on DG) to conduct my Mahler? If you like Haitink's musicality, go with Metzmacher. If you want Bernstein's wayward passion, then the Wergo set might be your cup of tea. For me, the Metzmacher is fine, though if Kubelik's DG versions of a few of these return, I'll probably invest for times I want to let my hair down and really feel depressed.

Great works, but the other set is FAR better!.......2002-11-01

I must warn you! Metzmacher is a weak, tentative, and cautious conductor, intent on keeping everything in perfect balance with all the rage and pain under control - everything "tasteful." In Hartmann!!! The resulting performances will have you screaming at the speakers in frustration if you are familiar with the much more powerful and wildly passionate renditions in the Wergo set. In comparison to Macal, Leitner, and Kubelik, Metzmacher is pale and tepid. Since these, along with those of Havergal Brian, are among the very greatest of the 20th century symphonies, one might not realize what was missing without having heard the Wergo set. But, believe me, it's worth the extra dollars to find out!

Little known but masterful symphonic music.......2001-10-19

This three CD collection contains the complete symphonic works of a relatively unknown german composer, Karl Amadeus Hartmann performed gloriously by the Bamberg Symphony under the
direction of Ingo Metzmacher. Metzmacher has made a name for himself as a champion of newer music, particularly that of his fellow Europeans. Here he provides us with sparkling performances of a composer that few of us would otherwise ever know. Hartmann was born in 1905 and died in 1963, living in Munich all his life. He withdrew from musical life in Germany during the Third Reich, but became rather well known abroad as a critic of the Nazi regime. His music ranges widely, from Mahlerian romanticism to German expressionism to Stravinsky-esque neo-classicism, and it is well worth getting to know. For example, the first movement of Hartmann's 6th Symphony (composed between 1951-53) is very stirring music indeed! Why Hartmann has failed to become more well known is a mystery--perhaps it is that his works are so stylistically varied that it is impossible to put him into a single category, perhaps that he never taught or attempted to establish a circle in the manner of Schoenberg, perhaps that his works written before and during World War II were extensively revised following the war. At that time, Hartmann removed all political contexts such as titles and dedications from them, undoubtedly wanting to move from a reputation earned as an Anti-Nazi composer to an apolitical reputation as a good or even great composer. He certainly deserved it, but perhaps Hartmann's problem, although he was an excellent composer, was simply that he was not an innovator in an age that increasingly valued concept above craft.

Even though his work is stylistically diverse and in fact writers on his music make much of the influence of the baroque on his pieces, it seems to me that the listener will be more readily aware of the influence of the Romantic Period. Hartmann's music is very expressive and stems from a well developed sense of pitch, coupled with romantic ideas of dynamics, texture and phrasing, and a stunning knowledge of the orchestra, particularly the percussion section. True, the melodies are not often romantic in nature, but the flavor of the music owes everything to the music of Wagner and Mahler--the relationships of consonance to dissonance, the long phrasing, the sense of harmonic rhythm, the orchestral colors.

Hartmann actually took lessons from Webern in 1941-42, but Webern's influence must have been more structural than surface. While occasional arithmetical rows are used to establish rhythms in his Sixth Symphony, the listener is never aware of the process, and certainly Webern's devastatingly thin textures and fragmented melodic elements have no counterpart in Hartmann's music. Instead, what must have attracted Hartmann was Webern's vast contrapuntal knowledge, and indeed Hartmann uses imitative forms such as fugue, canon, crab-canon or mirror-canon extensively.

The 5th symphony shows Hartmann at his least Webernesque--even though it was written only 8 years after his studies with Webern, and is only his second piece after those studies. It is scarcely conceivable that this music came from a student of the Second Viennese School--it bears an uncanny resemblance to Stravinsky. This symphony is Hartmann's unidentified hommage to Stravinsky--listen to the opening of the second movement and notice its extremely close resemblance to the opening melodic figure of the Rite of Spring.

In the space I have it is impossible to fully discuss all eight works--certainly the first Symphony, with its setting of texts by Walt Whitman, is worth an entire review by itself. This piece, originally composed in 1935-36 and later revised, is quite haunting--an absolute contrast to the music I've mentioned. If Gorecki's Symphony #3 is the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, then Hartmann's Symphony #1 is its worthy predecessor--a symphony of Horror-ful songs, filled with the immediate shock of loss before the resignation of acceptance. And the second symphony is worth of note, too, with its unusual plantive baritone saxophone solo. This is a fascinating collection, and I'm grateful to Maestro Metzmacher and EMI for making all of Hartmann's symphonies available to us.

Johann Ernst Hartmann: Complete Symphonies
Average customer rating:
Johann Ernst Hartmann: Complete Symphonies

Manufacturer: Cpo Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000641ZD6
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Album Description

In 1762 the violinist Johann (Ernst) Hartmann made his way from the Duchy of Plön in Holstein to Copenhagen. The talented Hartmann soon established himself as concertmaster at the Danish court. Only four of what were probably his many Symphonies are still extant, since most of his instrumental music was lost in 1794 during a fire at Christiansborg Castle. Nevertheless, these four works render very apparent the great mastery and the exuberant wealth of melodic invention of this German Dane, who with his five sons founded a Danish dynasty of musicians.

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