Classical Editor: Rob Barnett                               Founder Len Mullenger: Len@musicweb-international.com


August DE BOECK (1865-1937)
Symphony in G
Edgar TINEL (1854-1912)
Overture - Polyeucte
Flanders SO/Fabrice Bollon
rec 12-14 May 1995
CYPRÈS CYP1605 [58.55]
Crotchet
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I have been disappointed in the Gramophone's signal failure to explore the further reaches of the repertoire. The compact disc market while at first (1983-85) seeming to positively wallow in the familiar has blessedly confounded that fear. In fact the CD might well have been the spark from heaven that opened up the recording of obscure and sometimes rewarding music in a way that the LP over its thirty plus years reign never achieved. Sadly Gramophone failed the collector-adventurer in its mainstream big company focus. It is only comparatively recently that the magazine, while capitulating to short reviews and mini cover pictures, has made some tentative passes in the direction of inclusion. The market leaders: Fanfare (since the late 1970s) and International Record Review. have pushed out the boundaries and made 'here be dragons' land into the new outer circle. It is the difference between an inclusive approach and an artistically exclusive approach. Fanfare continues to thrive but IRR, while still excellent as to substance, seems to be getting slimmer by the month. I do understand that commercial choices have to be made: it is the balance between advertising revenue/space and 'unremunerative' review pages. However the choice of what goes into the commercially acceptable number of review pages and what is excluded (or not included, if you prefer) is illuminating.

I was stung into this piece of probably futile soap-box rhetoric by checking the Gramophone database (1983-1997) for reviews of de Boeck. Neither the present Cyprès version of the symphony nor the Discover nor the Marco Polo versions have been reviewed yet the Discover has been around since 1994 and the Marco Polo and Cyprès since 1995. Even if the CDs have not been offered for review, which I doubt, I would have expected a magazine of the eminence of Gramophone to have sought them out. In fairness I have not checked Fanfare but I would be surprised if they had not reviewed any of these versions.

De Boeck and Paul Gilson were close contemporaries and friends, separated in age by only one month, yet de Boeck was Gilson's pupil. Gilson's most famous work De Zee is the substantial (35 min) coupling on the Discover disc. Gilson and de Boeck attended concerts together and kept in touch in much the same way as Holst and Vaughan Williams. Gilson introduced de Boeck to the music of the Russian Kouchka and they both attended Wagner operas in Brussels. Gilson was the townie and de Boeck the man of the country. De Boeck's orchestral music dates from two periods: the 1890s and then the 1920s/30s. The symphony is from the former period and is written under the filtered influence of Borodin and the Kouchka. There is only the one symphony and that was held back by the composer for almost 25 years until its premiere in Brussels. Apart from the orchestral works (a smallish collection) de Boeck concentrated on opera and other stage works.

The Symphony has its cross-references in Franck (the Symphony), Elgarian nobilmente (Symphony No. 1), Glazunov (the flourish and swagger of Symphonies 5 and 8) and Tchaikovsky. These 'voices' are in continuous fusion and kindling from the sobriety and tension of the first bars to Kouchka-like woodwind songs and impetuous gestural climaxes. However in comparison with the versions found on Discover and Marco Polo the work's substantial outer movements are very languidly projected. In the case of the opening Andante this takes a full four minutes longer than Rickenbacher and Devreese. The finale Allegro runs a full two minutes longer than its competitors. Because the music is unfamiliar you will be unlikely to notice this but once heard you will understand a preference (in this work) for the Devreese on Marco Polo. Couplings differ of course but the Marco Polo (at full price, like the Cyprès) also packs in the work that for me turned the golden key for de Boeck - the rapturously romantic violin concerto - a happy parallel with Karlowicz's violin concerto.

De Boeck Symphony timings (taken from jewel case inserts)

                   Bollon  Rickenbacher Devreese

I Andante     14.36      10.17           10.11

II Scherzo    5.08        4.40              5.00

III Andante   8.38       7.14              7.49

IV Allegro   10.16      8.08               8.15

Tinel was from a previous generation by only eleven years but his style sounds rather earlier than de Boeck's. Tinel's Polyeucte (based on Corneille's tragedy) is a highly skilled blend of Brahms, predominantly, and some Tchaikovsky from the tone poems. I thought of the Russian composer's Hamlet and The Tempest. The Brahmsian element is desperately serious as befits the tragic inspiration and seems to have been written under the spell of the First Symphony and Tragic Overture. The eager music is redolent of Schumann but Brahms' voice remains dominant. This piece will be well liked by those who appreciate their Glazunov. Polyeucte is no make-weight running to circa 20 minutes.

The choices are not straightforward. Sound quality is, at very least, acceptable for all three discs though the Cyprès is marginally the stronger. If the Symphony is your target then go for either the Discover or the Marco Polo. The Discover has a major coupling in the shape of Gilson's pre-Eastbourne-Debussy De Zee. The Marco Polo has the glorious de Boeck violin concerto. The Tinel - perhaps best thought of as a meaty partner to Brahms Tragic or Schumann's Julius Caesar, is not otherwise available.

In common with all Cyprès products this disc is well presented and is recorded with sensitivity and transparency of texture in a lively generous and warm concert-hall ambience.

Rob Barnett

COMPARATIVE VERSIONS

AUGUST DE BOECK (1865-1937) Symphony in G; Violin Concerto; Dahomeyan Rhapsody

Royal Flanders PO/Frederic Devreese rec July 1994

MARCO POLO 8.223740 [62.59] full price

AUGUST DE BOECK (1865-1937) Symphony in G

PAUL GILSON (1865-1942) De Zee

BRTN PO/Karl-Anton Rickenbacher rec 1987

DISCOVER INTERNATIONAL DICD 920126 bargain price [65.43]

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