'...my seventh symphony, Sinfonia Romantica, a name which I chose
out of irritation with the antic- romantics..." as Atterberg described it,
was composed in 1941-42 and revised in 1972. At an informal meeting of three
contributors to this site the spontaneous response was "doesn't this sound
like Bax!". Indeed, admirers of the English composer will probably have no
difficulty in relating to the red-blooded romanticism and rich harmonies
and orchestration of this work (and to the other symphonies of Atterberg).
This is the première recording of this symphony.
The Seventh Symphony opens with a rather dour fanfare that would seem to
herald some tragic drama but the mood soon lightens and the tempo quickens
to embrace the sort of heroic music one associates with Errol Flynn
swashbucklers. There is also some opulent and languid romantic material and
a few wry comic figures. The second Semplice Andante movement is
ravishingly beautiful. I am reminded of the remarks of a commentator who
described Bax's Second Symphony as one long love song; that description might
be applied here but the music might also suggest a still and serene, lush
landscape bathed, at the climax, in brilliant sunshine. The third movement,
marked Feroce. Allegro, returns to bombast and, at first, it seems
as though we are in Korngold's Sherwood Forest, but this is a wild melting
pot of a movement, orgiastic with heroic/chivalric film score-like music
plus march and dance-like material including a bucolic clog dance. At certain
points, the music sounds quite Scottish and Irish and very Baxian. Interestingly,
Atterberg's own words dominate the CD notes for this album and he relates
how the basis of this symphony was his opera Fanal and how he wrestled
with a fourth movement which he eventually discarded so that it could become
a separate work in its own right - Op. 58 Vittorioso - yet he leaves
it up to conductors' own discretion whether to use this music as a fourth
movement. (It can also be tacked onto the composer's Three Nocturnes from
Fanal). Maestro Jurowski choses to include only the first three movements.
Atterberg's Eighth Symphony (1944-45) receives its first CD recording on
this album. It is based on Swedish folk motifs but the listener will notice
a very close similarity to English folk material and indeed, the music reminds
one strongly of Ralph Vaughan Williams in the jolly rollicking scherzo. Of
this Symphony, Atterberg commented, 'When you happen to be encumbered with
an uncontrollable urge to compose symphonic music, you cannot help it if
your imagination runs away with you, and takes a melancholy little tune as
the framework for a great symphony...This beautiful melody came alive in
my imagination: sometimes it was sorrowful and rose red; sometimes - in its
major key version - playful; and sometimes it was full of pathos.' - which
nicely sums up the work except to say that the usual Atterberg heroic figures
are also included and the finale is an exciting orchestral tour de force.
Atterberg gives full details, in these fascinating CD booklet notes, about
all the tunes he uses and how he incorporated them into this symphony. Jurowski
propels the music strongly forward and reveals all the beauty of the more
introspective and romantic sections. Strongly recommended.
Reviewer
Ian Lace
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Malmö Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Michail Jurowski
