Classical Editor: Rob Barnett


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Reviews from other months
HAKON BØRRESEN (1876-1954) Symphony No 2 in A Major The Sea (1904) 35:22 Symphony No 3 in C major (1927) 33:20 Frankfurt RSO/Ole Schmidt CPO 999 353-2 [69:16]

 


Crotchet




A couple of months ago I attempted a review of Børresen's symphonies 2 and 3 on Marco Polo Da Capo (8.224061). At that time I had not heard the above to compare the recording and performance.

Instead of a Danish orchestra conducted by a Welshman we here have a German orchestra conducted by a Dane: the redoubtable Ole Schmidt. Schmidt seems rather underused in the record industry. His Unicorn LPs and then CDs of the Nielsen symphonies broke new ground (in modern times) in the 1970s. His 1980(?) conducting of Havergal Brian's Gothic at the Royal Albert Hall was an indelibly memorable experience (never issued commercially though there is a BBC tape). Some of his own compositions are on Da Capo as are various collections of Danish music. He has recorded Ludolf Nielsen's Second Symphony for CPO and there is a well thought of Borodin collection on budget price Tring. In the late 70s he conducted a sequence of early Niels Viggo Bentzon Symphonies for the BBC.

SYMPHONY NO. 2 THE SEA (1904)

The symphony is written in a style not far away from Mendelssohn, Dvorák and Schumann but with Tchaikovskian moments. This is firmly rooted in the 19th century so you must not despite the evocative movement titles (Surf, Tragedy etc) expect romantic impressionism. As I have said previously this is more in the nature of Rubinstein's Ocean Symphony. This is still invigorating stuff and in a performance much more brisk and lively than the Marco Polo/Da Capo one. The noble yet half submissive big theme is memorable and returns in the finale. The second movement is taken at a smart clip with shades of Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream and a Brucknerian woodland magic. There is a grave slow movement (Tragedy) which is more head-bowed than fist shaking. The last movement returns to the Tchaikovskian and Mendelssohnian atmosphere. An entertaining and attractive symphony but not strikingly original. This performance is to be preferred to the lower voltage Marco Polo one.

Reviewer

Rob Barnett

Ian Lace adds:-

Many composers have been inspired by the sea. The French composers Debussy and Chausson wrote La Mer and Poème de l'amour et de la mer respectively. A number of English composers were inspired too: Elgar (Sea Pictures), Vaughan Williams (A Sea Symphony), Bax (Tintagel) and Bridge (The Sea) to name just a few. Of the Nordic composers , one immediately thinks of Atterberg and his splendid Third "West Coast Pictures" Symphony, and of Alfvén's Fourth Symphony (On the Archipelago's Edge). Børresen's Sea Symphony is very much akin and in the Nordic tradition of these two.

The sea, itself, might be regarded as visual music. Excuse the poetic imagery, but consider the colour represented by the play of light and wind; the harmony and counterpoint of eddies and currents, the ebb and flow of the tides, the contrasting depths, and becalmed as opposed to storm-tossed waves etc. Børresen's strength as a composer lies in his gift for intricate harmonies and filigree counterpoint plus his virile rhythmic writing which is often very intricate - listen for instance how well he evokes the restless sea with its constantly shifting rhythmic patterns (often with several rhythmic metres running side by side) in the first movement of his Sea Symphony, easily the strongest of the four. The Mendelssohnian influence that Rob speaks of is very prevalent in the second movement while the unspecified Tragedy of the third movement has seemingly little to do with the sea although the climactic peroration might be likened, at a pinch, to a storm at sea. (Børresen is unusaul in eschewing a specific storm evocation.) The finale is like the opening movement evocative and thrilling enough but in the final analysis I prefer most of the other sea-inspired works I mentioned

Reviewer

Ian Lace


SYMPHONY NO. 3 (1927)

The first of the four movements is dominated by a jerky upward-clawing theme which sounds distinctly Elgarian. The music is more original and holds the attention more successfully than the second symphony. The language is still not far removed from Dvorák and the other nineteenth century romantics but it is more personal. The ideas are not as consistently interesting as those in the second symphony but are still very much worth hearing.

The notes by Hayo Nörenberg are trilingual (German, English and French - no Danish)

If I had to choose I would select the CPO for symphonies 2 and 3 and the Marco Polo for the much more obviously Tchaikovskian first symphony and violin concerto. Do not expect Sibelian concentration or originality. Borresen was no Nielsen but he did write music that should be heard. If you enjoy Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony, the Bruch symphonies, Raff or Dvorák then seek out this disc. You are unlikely to complain and will likely gain a new friend.

Reviewer

Rob Barnett

Ian Lace adds:-

Børresen's Third Symphony was written some nineteen years after his Sea Symphony. It is more mature, less outgoing, deeper and more hesitant. The long opening movement begins darkly and is an intensely personal statement. The inner movements are quite short: the Adagio is rather Gothic in parts, at other times it is romantically dramatic - I could easily visualise it being used to underscore a 1940s Joan Crawford or Bette Davis film; the Allegretto is something of an elegant valse triste. The final Rondo bursts in helter skelter in puckish mood but more malevolent material is waiting in the wings and the music grows increasingly

Reviewer

Rob Barnett

Ian Lace

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