Moritz MOSZKOWSKI (1854-1925)
Orchestral Music - Volume Three
Overture in D major (1871-1872) [7:37]
Premičre suite d’orchestre in F major, Op 39 (1885) [42:07]
Prélude et fugue pour orchestre ŕ cordes, Op 85 (1910) [11:00]
Sinfonia Varsovia/Ian Hobson
rec. October-November 2019, and June 2021, The Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio, Polish Radio, Warsaw, Poland
TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC0598 [60:27]
I first came across Moritz Moszkowski’s music in the early 1970s, in a recording of his E major Piano Concerto. The American company Vox was doing then what Hyperion did later, and on a much larger scale: recording ‘forgotten’ piano concertos by such composers as Scharwenka, Hiller and indeed Moszkowski. I rapidly became enchanted by the latter’s concerto. It is remarkable for its melodic fecundity, sparkle and sheer joy of life, despite the scrappy Vox recording with uncertain orchestral ensemble. I hoped to be equally captivated by the works on this disc, and those high hopes have been largely fulfilled.
The mature First Suite for Orchestra is a large-scale work, some 42 minutes. Many composers of the period composed such suites: Tchaikovsky managed four, the young Vaughan Williams two, and Massenet no fewer than nine. By and large, today’s musical tastes do not lend themselves to this form. When did you last attend a performance of any of Tchaikovsky’s suites? I do not think that I ever have, and I only know them from recordings.
Moszkowski’s effort runs to five movements. The first, Allegro molto e brioso, begins with a scherzo-like opening, a bold confident presentation of staccato chords later syncopated before the volume and intensity die down for the introduction of a relaxed second subject, for horns, then woodwinds and finally strings. That subject is then developed, building to a notable climax through sustained momentum. As it proceeds to a recapitulation, the music become more and more energetic as the opening material is recalled.
The second movement Allegretto giojoso is the most enjoyable. It is a relaxed affair with quite memorable material, particularly the lyrical second subject, which on its reappearance is supplemented by chattering flutes with interjections by piccolo and small bells. This charming effect resurfaces before the return of the first subject.
The third movement, the longest at over thirteen minutes, is a series of variations, the only one Moszkowski ever wrote. The theme, introduced as an Andante in ABA form, is subject to eight variations, which range from a Hungarian czárdás to a relaxed Andante tranquillo with a harp accompanying the first violins. In much of the writing the composer is at his melodic best. The pizzicato passages bring Tchaikovsky to mind, and I can see why Toccata Classics wanted to record this music.
I enjoyed the Prelude from Op 85 as much as anything else on the disc. It is an elegiac lament on the death of Moszkowski’s mother in 1910. It shows us another side of the composer, quite striking in its contrast with the other works presented here. I rather wish that he had extended it without feeling the need for a fugue to round it off. The fugue sounds to my ears like an academic exercise, a characteristic it shares with many other fugues, although it concludes in an affirmative and dramatic manner.
Moszkowski wrote the Overture in D major when he was studying at Kullak’s renowned Neue Akademie der Tonkust. (Hyperion recorded Kullak’s piano concerto - review). This overture, which appears to be Moszkowski’s first completed orchestral composition, unsurprisingly shows the influence of Schumann. I did not find it particularly striking, but it no doubt ticks all the boxes required by the Academy: the composer he was invited to join the teaching staff at a mere 17.
Jim Westhead
