Hans Werner HENZE (b.1929)
Symphony No.1 (1947, revised version for chamber orchestra 1963) [17:17]
Symphony No.5 for large orchestra (1962) [20:27]
Symphony No.6 for two chamber orchestras (1969) [37:44]
Symphony No.2 for large orchestra (1948) [20:59]
Symphony No.3 for large orchestra (1949–50) [24:22]
Symphony No.4 for large orchestra (1955) [29:56]
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (1-5); London Symphony Orchestra/composer (6)
rec. 2-22 June 1965, UFA-TonStudio Berlin; (1-5); 20-21 April 1972, Brent
Town Hall, London (6). ADD
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 9194 [75:28 + 73:14] 
This densely packed analogue set has a long lineage. Symphonies
1-5 were first issued in 1967 on DG SLPM139 203-4, later DG
410 9371). The Sixth followed circa 1972 on DG 2530 261.
The six symphonies were reissued together on CD (DG 429854-2) in the 1990s.
The analogue sound could hardly be more vital and Brilliant
have lost nothing of that stunning immediacy in the transfer
process. The even and regular hiss is a presence throughout but
then so is the refined yet fleshy iron-tape originated vibrancy, the discreet creak of a chair and the unflinchingly-sustained
spell cast by such concentrated musicianship.
It’s claimed that Henze's First Symphony is rife with the voices
of Stravinsky, Bartók, Berg and Hartmann. That's as maybe but this gripping work,
seethes with delightful and warm instrumental detail, seeming
to bask in Mediterranean sunshine. Yes there is a Bergian quality
and a mordant aggression to the finale but more often than not
it communicates as a work for voluptuaries. There is even some
lyrical Tippett in the mix.
The Fifth is said to depict the 'conflicts and joys prompted
by the sensuous happiness of 20th-century Rome, its people and
countryside'. Henze had moved to Italy in the early 1950s after
the cultural climate in Germany had cooled towards him. There
is warmth and tenderness here especially in the middle movement
and Henze’s extraordinarily inventive palette is strikingly
deployed. The mind is kept constantly intrigued and engaged
and in the first movement one can certainly make out the voice
of Stravinsky. As a sample do listen to the pitter-patter opening
of the finale of this three movement work. This is not all about
drowsy lotus-eaters. There is urgency and something raspingly
darker and jaggedly serious in the finale which also features
violent brass writing and explosive piano solos. I am not at
all surprised that this work was premiered by Bernstein and
the NYPO. Its kinetic blast is such that one can easily imagine
Bernstein swaying and slashing his way through the finale.
The Sixth Symphony was a later and separate DG project. It’s
the longest work here and is helpfully presented in fifteen
tracked sections arranged in three parts. In linguistic terms
it is the most extreme and dissonantly disrupted of the symphonies
featured here. The canvas is typically active with detail both
loud and whispered. Strange watery sounds mix with wobble-board
ululations, shifting strings, haunted woodwind, banjo and mandolin.
Tr. 13, Song of Freedom (Theodorakis) has a rollingly heroic
episode for the horns. This is a true concerto for orchestra
with solo instrumental voices constantly emerging and demanding
the limelight then being swept away by roaring horror-struck
brass. There are idyllic moments too as in tr. 15 but these
are momentary remissions amid the seething dread. The notes
refer to the symphony as a collage and this is, I think, spot-on. It was
written during Henze’s sojourn in Marxist Cuba and reflects
the composer’s espousal of Marxism and revolutionary change.
In addition to the Theodorakis we are told that a Vietnamese Liberation Front song has also part of the weave. Henze is said to have
described the workt as 'a Lutheran, Protestant symphony' with a 'Pagan
body' whose 'pulse and blood are black'. As a work overall it
didn’t greatly appeal to me but it is good that it is available
for the devoted and the curious.
We can now turn to the second disc. The Second Symphony again
displays the composer’s attention to quiet and warm writing as well as minuscule instrumental detail. Its episodes proceed as a
sequence of mosaic elements. Only in the finale are longer
lines unleashed to writhe amid boiling torment. 'Bright, dance-like
and hectic' is how the composer described the similarly three
movement Third. It’s mien is that of a drifting Mediterranean
nocturne until more dynamic and even vengeful writing takes
centre-stage. The stomp of Conjuring Dance (III) suggests
an admiration for Stravinsky (Sacre); certainly it
dispels any redolence of idyllic drowsiness. It’s a superb piece
of work and the finale is very exciting even if it does end
in a perfunctory way. The half-hour Fourth is in nine movements.
It draws on material from the opera König Hirsch (King
Stag) which is based on a fairy tale by Carlo Gozzi. Again that
warm and romantically laved moonlit atmosphere predominates. The music is by turns confiding, revealing, introspective, irate only occasionally
(tr. 13) and then rowdy melting into exultant and glowing in
the final pages.
I am not sure if there is an Eleventh but these CDs, supplemented
by contributions from EMI Classics (7
and 9), Accord (10)
and Phoenix (8),
mean that the ten symphonies are available on CD.
The concentrated and well-considered liner-note is by Malcolm
Macdonald – always a class act.
The work of a provocatively imaginative romantic as well attuned
to writing in the finest close-up detail as in the great sweeping
tragic paragraphs of the twentieth century.
Rob Barnett
Classics recordings of the symphonies of a provocatively imaginative romantic as well attuned to writing in the finest close-up as in great sweeping tragic paragraphs.