This release brings to a conclusion a three disc cycle of Schumann
symphonies and overtures from the Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted
by Thomas Dausgaard. As is now the norm for complete sets, the
original 1841 version of the Symphony No.4 is supplemented
by the inclusion of the 1851 revision, or vice versa, depending
on your reference. Sharp eyed readers will also note that Schumann’s
final complete symphony is in fact the 1850 Symphony No.3,
written not long after the composer had taken up the position
of municipal director of music in Düsseldorf.
The subtitle ‘Rhenish’
was not Schumann’s idea, but contemporary accounts do acknowledge
the Rhineland landscapes and people as a source of inspiration
for the piece. The fresh, open sounding themes and lyrical nature
of much of the music certainly has a feeling of warmth and affection,
and the intimate chamber orchestra setting in this recording
has the tendency to enhance this aspect of the piece. Commentators
have sometimes indicated unease with the lack of immediacy and
expression in Dausgaard’s approach, minimising vibrato and presenting
a rather detached string sound. This is arguably a problem with
this set, but in taking the moods and dramas of the music on
their own terms and allowing the music to speak for itself as
much as possible there are numerous other issues which fall
away as a result. I personally quite like the sense of unencumbered
clarity which Dausgaard achieves, and the clear commitment and
technical excellence of the players throughout this and the
other recordings carries us through where other versions might
indeed give us more overt passion and fire.
The winds and brass
certainly pack a considerable punch, and play a significant
part in the character of the SCO ‘sound’. The fascinating relationship
between ‘baroque’ strings and sharply etched winds is explored
in the Overture to ‘Manfred’, which, as with Tchaikovsky’s
example, takes its inspiration from Byron’s literary hero. The
programmatic content of the piece results in a rich and complex
brew of significance in terms of themes, but as with the symphonies,
Dausgaard’s light-footedness allows the quality aspects of the
music to speak with disarming directness. Clara Schumann admired
this piece as “one of Robert’s most poetic and most gripping”,
and the composer also considered it one of his “strongest children”.
This performance does nothing to dissuade the listener of this
overture’s status as one of Schumann’s most significant.
Hermann und Dorothea
was intended as the opening to a large scale vocal-dramatic
work based on Goethe’s verse epic of the same name. After initial
enthusiasm, the subsequent vacillations between different concepts
for the work meant that its chances of completion in any form
soon dwindled. The overture was however completed swiftly, and
in the same period as the revisions for the Symphony No.4.
The aspects of the French Revolution in which the story is set
chime through in quotations from the Marseillaise, and
Schumann’s interpretation of Goethe’s text seems to indicate
a considerable departure from the original, with plenty of restless
forward momentum seeking to escape the more contemplative original.
In his booklet notes
for this release, Horst A. Scholz comments that “this is not
the place to pursue the sometimes irreconcilable arguments about
which of the two versions [of the Symphony No.4] are
preferable.” Having neatly sidestepped all controversy, he does
however balance the criticism levelled against the original
version with Brahms’s remarks on the revised version as being
‘too bulky and garish’. My own opinion is that the power of
suggestion will point people’s view on such things with all
the reliability of a weather-vane in a hurricane. Having read
Brahms’s sage comments, we all nod in disapproving judgment
of the material added to the later version, at the same time
tutting at Schumann’s earlier “lack of firmness of approach
[or] calm, clear working out of ideas, everything seeming forced
and cluttered – more like a promising sketch than a finished
work”, to paraphrase the famous criticism of that ‘Leipzig critic’.
Refraining from putting the two versions back to back, and leaving
a considerate space of time between airings, I often find it
quite hard to put my finger on the differences between the two.
Looking at the timings of the movements from this cycle we see
about a minute and a half added to the first movement, maybe
30 seconds or so to the Scherzo, but over two minutes
to the finale. The Italian tempo instructions for each movement
are substituted for more weighty German indications, and the
final version does have the greater sense of grandeur. This
is however an aspect of the original for which I don’t find
myself yearning, and if asked for my ‘desert island’ choice
I would take the unencumbered innocence of the original version
every time. The easy way in which negative criticism is levelled
at new music or art of any kind is a problem in any period.
The sensitivity of the artist in responding, first with an extended
hibernation, and subsequently with a considerable amount of
valuable time expended on an old work, is something none of
us need find particularly stimulating as a corner of musical
history.
Either way, Dausgaard
and the SCO’s fleetness and rhythmic bounce make this work into
an attractive prospect in both versions, and you can take your
pick depending on your own mood. There are certainly bigger-boned
recordings available, and if the chamber orchestra scale bothers
you then there are plenty of more ‘Symphonic’ performances on
record. As David Zinman’s recent set on Arte Nova shows however,
the trend is more towards a lighter and more transparent view
of these works, and in this Dausgaard’s results are second to
none. The BIS recording is excellent, and well up to this label’s
usual high standards both in terms of clarity and dynamics.
I always enjoy the added SACD space – which in BIS’s case almost
always suffused with gorgeous acoustic depth and subtle, realistically
enhanced sound-staging.
Dominy Clements
Swedish Chamber
Orchestra/Thomas Dausgaard 
[76:30] 
