William Mathias - Symphonies 1 & 2 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

William Alwyn - Symphonies 1 & 4 [COMPACT DISCS] date 11/14/2006

In the Czech generation of composers after Antonín Dvorák, Josef Suk was probably the one who travelled the furthest in terms of style, and certainly, next to Leoš Janácek, the one who retains the highest claim to international standing, wrote the musicologist Ludwig Finscher in the classic encyclopedia InchDie Musik in Geschichte und GegenwartInch. The music of Suk - violinist, composer and one of the most important Bohemian symphonists - is still relatively rarely heard in Western European concert halls, a situation that should definitely change. With this recording of his second symphony, InchAsraelInch, BR-KLASSIK makes a strong case for Suk's impressive and compelling music. In 1891, Josef Suk, having started out as a violinist, became a master student of the world-famous Dvorák. He was regularly invited to the composer's country house, where he fell in love with his teacher's daughter and married her. - The InchAsraelInch symphony was written after Dvorák's death, and the death soon afterwards of Suk's own wife gave the work a new direction - it is dedicated to both of them. The title of Asrael refers to the angel of death from Islamic-Persian mythology he is a mysterious companion of the human soul from this world to the next. - Suk developed his own musical language in which the solo violin is often involved (as here in the gentle central section of the Andante) The violin was indeed his instrument, and until 1933 he played in the InchBohemian String QuartetInch. With the InchAsraelInch symphony he consciously took up the tradition of a Inchfate symphonyInch - associated since Beethoven's Fifth with the key of C minor moving at the end into radiant C major. Ever since it's premiere on February 3, 1907 at the Prague National Theatre, InchAsraelInch has ranked as Suk's most important symphonic work - and as a visionary glimpse into the future.

Best-known for his popular Broadway musicals The Music Man and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Meredith Willson was also a highly skilled composer in a variety of concert genres, including the symphony. Willson's Symphony No. 1 is an expansive tone poem about his beloved San Francisco. Cast in the traditional four-movement scheme, but with tone painting and mood placed over motive development and unifying considerations, the symphony is rich in orchestration and melodic invention. This dynamic evocation of the city's imagery and daily activity is reminiscent at times of Vaughan Williams' A London Symphony, particularly in the juxtapositions of muscular thematic development with calm scenes of nocturnal beauty. In the Symphony No. 2, subtitled InchThe Missions of California,Inch Willson takes a historical turn and creatively summons the figure of Junipero Serra, the peaceful valley surrounding the mission at San Juan Bautista, the swallows of San Juan Capistrano, and the difficult journeys of missionaries along El Camino Real. The symphonic form is almost overloaded with this ambitious program, yet Willson's assured handling of his musical material is convincing, and the piece succeeds equally well as pure music. The Moscow Symphony Orchestra, conducted by William T. Stromberg, presents these engaging works with warmth and Polish, and Naxos' recording is superb.