Joachim Raff is best
known for his popular ‘Leonore’ Symphony
No. 5. Alas this work is not nearly
as inspired. Listeners expecting the
scenic grandeur of Richard Strauss’s
Alpine Symphony may well be disappointed
with this symphony, for Raff’s vision
rarely lifts towards the peaks. Each
movement has a description. The first,
Andante, movement is illustrative
of ‘remembered experiences of solitary
hiking’ but, as Matthias Weigandt’s
not altogether lucid notes observe,
these walks never venture above the
tree-line. The opening mood is darkly
portentous and promising but soon the
music lightens in mood with folk-like
material. It is as though we meet Mendelssohn,
Brahms and a lyrical Grieg on this walk
through flower-carpeted meadows and
gently swaying boughs while the hiker
presses on with a resolute tread.
The second movement
(‘In the Inn’) is a somewhat lugubrious
waltz and it is only as the final pages
approach that the music starts to bubble
along as though the inmates are enjoying
themselves. The third movement ‘By the
Lake’ is deep, introspective, the troubled
music wandering into dark, passionate
regions. We are warned not to take the
lake reference too literally. The finale
(‘At the Swingfest’ – a national sport
apparently) has a bracing forward drive
often reminiscent of Beethoven and one
senses not only a joy at being out in
the open air but also nationalistic
pride.
The tune of God
Save the Queen so dear to British
ears, but also known and appreciated
internationally, is the theme of Raff’s
Jubilee Overture composed in
1864 for the Jubilee Celebration of
the 25th year of the reign
of His Majesty and Most Serene Highness,
Prince and Lord Adolf, Duke of Nassau.
It appears that this overture with its
unassuming folk-like treatment as well
as its moments of pomp and pageantry
greatly appealed to His Most Serene
Highness.
An Alpine symphony
that clings to the lower slopes. For
this listener, this CD is an uninspired
experience in every sense.
Ian Lace
Philharmonia Hungarica/Werner Andreas Albert 