This collection of CDs is a formidable illustration
of the proselytising power of recordings. I remember when these
performances were first issued back in the mid-1980s. At that
time I had never heard of Eduard Tubin, still less had I heard
any of his music and I guess the same was true of many music lovers
outside Scandinavia. I collected some of the CDs then but I never
invested in all the issues. Now BIS have collected the symphonies
into a boxed set of 5 CDs, which is offered for the price of three
(some of the original "fillers" have been omitted.)
Not only does this reissue offer the prospect of convenience,
it also offers newcomers to Tubin’s music the chance to experience
his symphonic output in chronological order (the original releases
were not in that order).
In the last three decades Neeme Järvi has
done a great deal of pioneering work in the recording studio but
it may well be that in due course his achievement in bringing
Tubin’s symphonies (and many other of his works) to the attention
of a wider public will be seen as one of his most important accomplishments.
He has succeeded in putting Tubin’s music on the map to such an
extent that a rival cycle of the symphonies is now being recorded
by Arvo Volmer and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra for
the Alba label. Furthermore Järvi’s son, Paavo, has recently
recorded the Fifth Symphony with his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
(though I’m not aware that that’s the start of a third cycle.)
These discs reveal that Tubin was a lucid, committed
and very interesting exponent of symphonic form. He favoured a
three-movement structure. Indeed, no less than six of his symphonies
are set out in this way. Only two, numbers 4 and 8, are in the
traditional four movements. Symphony No. 9 is in just two movements
while its successor is cast in just a single movement. (Tubin
began work on an eleventh symphony but left only one movement
complete at the time of his death.)
It will be apparent from the timings at the head
of this review that Tubin was a pretty concise symphonist. The
longest in the canon, Number 4, lasts 35 ½ minutes in Järvi’s
hands. Furthermore, very few individual movements exceed 10 minutes
in duration With the exception of the one-movement 10th
Symphony, the longest movement is 14½ minutes long. Tubin was
a succinct thinker who said what he had to say and then moved
on. He was also a very good orchestrator. The First Symphony is
not, perhaps, as well scored as its successors but thereafter
Tubin displays an increasingly sure touch in his handling of the
orchestra. There is plenty of imaginative writing for strings
and wind and I should think that brass players find his scores
particularly rewarding to play. He writes well for brass, though
listeners should be warned that he is not afraid to deploy the
entire brass section at full throttle in climaxes. The scores
teem with inventive detail.
The thematic material is also consistently interesting.
The listener’s ear is always led on naturally and logically. These
symphonies require concentration on the part of the listener but
they are far from unapproachable. The language is emphatically
tonal. The one thing that I should say, however, is that Tubin’s
mien is essentially serious. Humour does not figure to any great
degree and even a movement marked ‘Festoso’ (the finale of the
Sixth) is not very festive in tone. But I must not give the impression
that these works are bleak or forbidding, for they are not. It
is more a case, I think, that Eduard Tubin respected the symphony
as the apogee of musical thought and not something to be treated
lightly.
Though Tubin is very much his own man some passages
reminded me of the work of other composers. I hesitate to use
the word "influence" since most of the composers of
which I was put in mind were contemporaries and I am unsure to
what extent Tubin would have known their music. I will mention
these comparisons simply as signposts which may give listeners
new to Tubin some idea of what to expect. Over all looms the shadow
of Sibelius. Perhaps this is inevitable given Sibelius’s prominence
in Nordic musical life. Tubin’s debt to Sibelius lies, I think,
in seriousness of purpose, clarity of vision and a readiness to
imagine large musical vistas, albeit over fairly condensed timescales.
Occasionally in the earliest works the music of Bax came to mind
(though I doubt very much that Tubin could have known his music).
This was especially the case in the First Symphony where
to my ears there is a really Baxian feel to the horn solo (CD
1, track 1, 0’48"), followed by the plaintive writing first
for the winds and later for the strings. There were further echoes
of Bax later in the movement (4’08") when we hear a keening
oboe solo over gently pulsing strings. It is, however, a craggy
Sibelian grandeur that, above all, permeates this work.
There are echoes, unconscious, perhaps, of Sibelius
elsewhere in the earlier symphonies. In the first movement of
the Second Symphony Tubin conjures a climax of awesome power (CD2,
track 1 from around 3’10"), which is powerfully reminiscent
of Tapiola. Again, in the opening movement of the Fifth
the pulsing rhythms may suggest an affinity with the first movement
of Sibelius’ Third. However, I was also reminded of Honegger.
(Indeed, there were several occasions when the Swiss master came
to mind, not least in the Eighth symphony which seems to inhabit
something of the same territory as Honegger’s Second and Third
symphonies, masterpieces both.) One last "signpost".
According to the notes several commentators have adduced the influence
of Prokofiev in the Sixth Symphony. I wouldn’t disagree, at least
in terms of the orchestration (not in relation to the melodic
material, however, nor the harmonic language.) But in this work
I thought of another Soviet composer, Shostakovich, and specifically
his Fourth Symphony. Tubin could not possibly have known this
work since Shostakovich suppressed it until 1961. However, in
the biting climax of the opening movement of Tubin’s Sixth, I
detected a similarity with the dark power and ferocity of Shostakovich’s
Fourth.
As I say, these references to other composers
are intended simply as signposts. If you respond positively to
the music of any of the twentieth century masters mentioned above
then I think there’s a good chance you’ll like Tubin.
Space does not permit a detailed commentary on
each symphony. However, several call for individual mention. Number
Two seems to me to mark a significant advance on its predecessor
right from the start when soft, luminous string chords create
a magical aura. The second movement of this work is a funeral
march of increasing potency and tension while the finale is exciting
and, like so much else of Tubin’s output, has a strong rhythmic
pulse. My listening notes conclude with the phrase "hugely
impressive symphony".
The Fourth also seems to me to be quite
splendid. It was the first in which Tubin essayed the four-movement
structure (and by coincidence it was the first of these symphonies
issued by BIS.) The title ‘Lyrica’ is amply justified for sweeping,
engaging string and wind lines catch the listener’s attention
right from the start of the first movement. A lighter touch is
evident as compared with the Third symphony. And when the first
brass-led climax arrives (CD4, track 1, 4’42") it’s all the
more impressive for having been delayed. The extrovert, dynamic
scherzo teems with energy while the andante is ardent and soaring.
The finale is vigorous and almost carefree – it’s the sunniest
music encountered in the Tubin canon so far.
I also much admired the Eighth which no
less an authority than Robert Layton has suggested is Tubin’s
symphonic masterpiece. It’s a stretching piece for the listener
because it is, perhaps, the darkest and most introspective of
all the symphonies. However, it is well worth the concentration
required. There is a bleak power in evidence here, especially
in the first of the four movements. The second is dominated by
a sinuous, even insidious, little woodwind motif and the powerful,
searching finale builds to a wrenching climax before dying away
into stillness. In a set that is distinguished by much fine orchestral
playing it is perhaps significant that this deep symphony receives
an outstanding performance.
Tubin’s Tenth and last completed symphony
is also a fine piece of work, not least in its effortless but
highly skilled compression of the music into a single movement,
yet one which contains the essential ingredients of a four-movement
work. Though not intended as such (he lived another nine years
after its completion and began work on an eleventh), with hindsight
it seems to sum up his symphonism. The thematic material is all
pretty closely related and the structure is tightly organised
– a two-note horn call recurs frequently and acts as something
of a punctuation mark. The last five minutes or so comprise a
noble, elegiac passage of music, led by the strings and rising
to a towering climax before subsiding into a peaceful close. These
few minutes of music seem to me to be an excellent summation of
the work of this fine and resolute symphonist.
Inevitably there are some less inspired parts
of the canon. In comparison with what was to follow the First
Symphony seems a little lacking in subtlety at times though in
its own terms it’s a very assured and auspicious start to a symphonic
career. I have to say that I don’t care much for the finale of
the Third Symphony, which strikes me as a bit blatant and bombastic.
Allowances must be made, however, for this work was penned in
the immediate aftermath of the Soviet occupation of Estonia and
there is a strongly nationalist feel to the whole piece. The notes
relate that the piece was warmly received at its première
in the Estonian capital, Tallinn in 1943 and I’m bound to say
that if I’d been an Estonian music lover present that day I’ll
bet I’d have cheered too.
I’m conscious I have said scarcely anything about
the performances themselves. Frankly, little need be said. The
standard is consistently excellent. Neeme Järvi is completely
inside Tubin’s sound world and seems to have an instinctive, unerring
feel for the idiom. Tubin could scarcely have had a better advocate
for these pioneering recordings. Working with several orchestras,
Järvi inspires them all to give of their considerable best
and blemishes are few, even in the two live recordings (though,
surprisingly, the documentation doesn’t make this clear, the Ninth
Symphony was also recorded before an audience.) I’d single out
for especial praise the playing in the Sixth and Eighth symphonies
(both by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra)
If the playing is consistently excellent the
same is true of the recordings. All are in the best traditions
of the house. In other words, they are very clear and natural
with excellent perspective. There is no unnatural spotlighting
yet an abundance of detail registers.
The one regret I have is that the documentation
is not up to the usual very high BIS standards. There is a very
good biographical note. However, in the interests of space and
economy, I assume, the detailed analytical notes, which accompanied
the original releases, have been reduced to an overview essay
in which each symphony is addressed in a single paragraph, some
of which are very brief. Given that Tubin’s music will be unfamiliar
to many and that this set offers such an opportunity to become
acquainted with it the lack of detailed information about each
piece is to be regretted. However, that is one blemish in an otherwise
excellent set.
It seems to me that Eduard Tubin’s symphonies
constitute a significant contribution to twentieth century symphonic
literature. Though their music is vastly different I’d compare
his achievement to that of Edmund Rubbra for both exhibit a consistent
sense of purpose and of integrity in their respective symphonic
outputs. Sadly, both composers are still undervalued, I think,
but recordings such as these (and Richard Hickox’s equally fine
Rubbra cycle for Chandos) can only help their cause.
This set, offered by BIS as five CDs for the
price of three, represents an outstanding bargain and I recommend
it wholeheartedly.
John Quinn
See also
review by Rob Barnett
If you wish to listen to sound samples of Tubin
you can do so from the following links to our partner site Ludwigvanweb.
BIS-CD-304
Symphonies 2 and 6
BIS-CD-306
Symphony 5 Suite from the ballet Kratt
BIS-CD-227
Symphonies 4 and 9
BIS-CD-297
Symphony 10 Requiem for Fallen Soldiers
*Swedish Radio Symphony
Orchestra