Symphony No.2 in E minor - Havergal Brian
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
- Moscow Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tony Rowe.
I - Adagio solenne - Allegro assai: 0:01
II - Andante sostenuto e espressivo molto: 12:47
III - Scherzo. Allegro assai: 28:06
IV - Lento maestoso e mesto: 34:06
Brian's Symphony No.2 was composed between 1930-1. It was premiered in May 1973, performed by the Kensington Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leslie Head. The work is based on the tragedy of Goethe "Götz von Berlichingen". It presents the story of a German knight who became a bandit during the sixteenth century. Goethe considered his actions as a German national revolt against the authority exercised by the Emperor and the Church, in the first half of the century.
The first movement begins dramatically. Over a pianissimo of the timpani, the basses of the strings present a three note motif, followed by others that derive from it. The tonality is not clearly defined, using the twelve notes of the chromatic scale. The two main themes are complex, presenting a music that sometimes approaches atonality. The themes are difficult to recognize due to their continuous variation. The first brings vague memories of Elgar's music. After a brief climax, the music goes down and stops. A new theme appears on the strings, reminding Elgar more clearly. But his repetition in counterpoint departs from his style. A strange swirl of the strings, accompanied by woodwind chords, leads us to the development section, which it's short but complex. The recapitulation presents the themes with new orchestrations. The lyrical second theme is presented in a romantic and passionate way. It reaches a powerful climax. When the sound is turned off, the basses present a variation of the initial motive of three notes. The movement ends in the same way as it started.
The second movement is structured as a rondo (A-B-A'-C-A''-Coda). The main theme suffers a continuous metamorphosis, being interrupted by two new ideas. The theme is presented by the oboe, followed by the orchestra in a very original way, presenting an unreal atmosphere. The second theme is chromatic in nature. The funeral march that will appear in the last movement is announced. The first theme reappears but in a totally different way, making several variations. It suffers a new interruption with a new theme that ends abruptly. In the final part the music begins to disintegrate. The English horn plays fragments of the theme in a sad way and the divided strings finish the movement.
The third movement is known as the battle scherzo. It is performed by four groups containing four horns each, with the addition of two pianos and an organ. It begins calmly, with repeated figures in the harps, to which violins and violas are added, interpreting a theme in ostinato. Then enter the two pianos and the three pairs of timpani. The first group of horns announces its repetitive theme. It is answered by the second group. Then enter the third and finally the fourth, with their figures in ostinato. All the instruments come together in antiphonal and canon forms, with new tonalities and different rhythms. This kind of dance increases in tension reaching its climax. Then the music, as if exhausted, is extinguished by saying goodbye with a solo of the horn and a strange chord of the wood.
The last movement has the form of an enormous funeral march, forming a kind of sonata-rondo in Mahler's manner. Starts with a phrase that will be heard several times, separating each section. The first measures of the funeral march derive from the first movement. It is heard for the first time in the clarinet accompanied by the harp and the pizzicato of the strings. A solo of the horn adds a coda forming a sad memory of the scherzo rhythm. The initial theme appears again, which leads us to the funeral march. A second theme, which consists of a quote from Siegfried's funeral march, belonging to Wagner's Götterdämmerung, alternates with the march. It reaches a strong climax.
The funeral march continues in a variation accompanied by ominous bells, to be interpreted solemnly later. The initial theme reappears. After a few notes of the horn, the cellos and double basses present an elegy of English spirit. Its repetition takes us to a new climax. The last crescendo of the orchestra begins in pianissimo, then listening to the Götterdämmerung theme three times until explodes in a great climax. Then the music begins to disintegrate into fragments. The descending notes of the clarinet are heard again, leaving only the basses of the strings, with the funereal rhythm marked by the timpani, finishing the work in the same dark way it has begun.
Painting: "Götz von Berlichingen" (1917) by the German painter Lovis Corinth.
Source: bit.ly/3RjImFz
Unfortunatelly, the score is not freely available.
The tragedy is based on a real character, but presenting it with certain modifications. Götz von Berlichingen (1480-1562) was born in the castle of Jagsthausen, currently in the state of Wurttemberg. The knight was at the service of various lords. He was called iron hand for losing it in one of the battles and being replaced by an iron one that allowed him to wield the sword. He fought against merchants and nobles, which earned him persecution for justice several times and to be imprisoned. He served several tycoons and finally Charles V in his fight against Francis I. Finally he returned to his home where he died.
The plot of Goethe's drama is based on the knight's autobiography. Götz captures Weislingen, a defender of Bamberg's house, but allows him to live in his castle. After several discussions, Weislingen exchanges his allies for Götz and also falls in love with his sister Mary, promising to marry her. But the Bishop of Bamberg came up with a plan to recover his former ally. Gets an appointment between Weislingen and a beautiful widow, Adelaide, to persuade the knight to change his plans.
The trick is perfect and the beautiful woman makes him forget Mary. He breaks up with Götz and marries Adelaide. After violent fights, Götz is captured by his enemy and locked in a dungeon. But over time Adelaide has been unhappy with Weislingen and persuades her page to poison him. Dying, meets Mary, who convinces him to release his brother. Götz is pardoned but with the broken spirit, returns to his castle to die.
Let us now look at the relation of the symphony to Goethe's work. Each movement could be associated with one of the characteristics of the knight Götz von Berlichingen. The first movement tells us of his ambitions, the second of his loves, the third of the battles in which he participates, and finally the last movement is related to his death. The programmatic character of Brian's music can be traced back to his admiration for Berlioz, with its instrumentation based on the famous Berlioz treatise, in addition to Liszt. His best friend and defender of his work, Granville Bantock, wrote many works in Liszt's footsteps.
At this point we come to the eternal problem of evaluating the beauty of a work based on what it wants to express. Many composers, including Brian, tried to show that their works are pieces of pure music, not wanting to write any program explaining what their work represents. It is a job left to the public. They seem to have some difficulty in assimilating that their works are partly descriptive, as if this were a disgrace to their compositional genius.
Think of the greatest composer of symphonies, the great Beethoven, whom everyone admires as the great teacher. His sixth symphony has the necessary elements to be recognized as a descriptive work without prejudice to its musical value in any way. We consider that the absurd is reached in this struggle between programmatic works and what is considered pure music. Every work of art is born as a result of the expression that comes out of the artist's soul and should be considered that way. Its interpretation can be left to the listener's imagination, but always motivated by the facts and experiences found in the inspiration of its author.
The first movement begins with rolls of the timpani that suggest the fighting spirit of the knight, represented next by its theme consisting of a descending tritone, that is, an interval of three tones corresponding to an augmented fourth. This causes a break in tonality, signifying conflict and turbulence in the mind of Knight Götz. The first climax may represent the capture of Weislingen. This movement would be a prelude to the work presenting the ambitious character of the knight.
The second movement is focused on women who exert their influence on the knight. Mary, the sister of Götz and Adelaide, represented in the woodwind solos. His love instability is reflected in the continuous changes of thematic motifs. The last climax would correspond to Adelaide's decision convincing Weislingen to destroy Götz.
The third movement, called the battle scherzo, is clearly related to the battles in which the knight participates. The final part refers to the death of Weislingen poisoned. The last movement, in the form of a great funeral march, has no direct relationship with the work. The knight dies peacefully at home. It is a tribute to the last hero of an era that was ending. The quote of Wagner's theme relates him to Siegfried. Symbolically it would represent the end of the Gothic period.
Dark, thickly textured shapes coalesce in Brian's symphonies. Sprawling, dusty rooms draw you on to try and discover what lies within, but, somehow you never quite find out. Murky features hidden in the cavernous recesses, but something compels you to keep coming back to try and penetrate the turgid gloom.
Rimarchevole e interessantissimo esempio di sinfonismo post Straussiano e Mahleriano.Molto interessanti le note a supporto per l'ascolto.Un ottimo post.
Man! The Scherzo is a masterpiece! Honestly, the only movement of the Symphony that makes sense to me.
The work is very dense in most of his parts and franckly is hard to maintain the attention. However, the scherzo is simply outstanding; brief, condensed and beautiful, I couldn't ask more.
Brain sounds to me like he never used an eraser, never revized or improved anything once it was written down. Very hard to make sense of most of his symphonies to me, who has heard about 12 of them.
@@jackwilmoresongs They are best viewed as a stream of consciouseness exercise I find. Its only when you try and impose external ideas about form that you come unstuck. Its basically a thought process going through various moods. Some bleak, some hopeful.
There is now a far better performance available, on Dutton, under Martyn Brabbins.