Nikolai Myaskovsky - Symphony No. 6

"Myaskovsky is a composer of two centuries in the full sense of the word — of the 19th and 20th centuries. Being an adherent to the ideals of 'the old art' with his interest in the realm of the human soul, Myaskovsky could become a modern artist: his language and style in music are both rather independent and synthetic at the same time. They combine many elements — from expressiveness of the late Scriabin up to linearity and serial in the music of the 1920s.

"Twenty-seven symphonies created in the period from 1908 to 1950 is a grand chronicle, a reflection of the unique artist's experience in the epoch of downfall of the ideals of 'old art' with its thoughts on the fate of the man and the universe. S. Rogovoi used an apt turn of the phrase: 'The habit of composing symphonies is equal to the habit of living.'

"The word is called for help only twice – in the Sixth and the Twenty-Sixth symphonies. Only in the Sixth symphony, that word is pronounced. However, there exist two equal in rights author's versions of the finale — with the chorus and without it. The Sixth symphony in E-flat minor Op. 23 narrates about a tragedy that undermines the foundations of the existence. 'Autobiographical notes on the creative life' (1936) were censored and cannot reflect the real content of the symphony; Myaskovsky failed to resist the developing canon of studying his own creative life and chose the lesser of two evils: he told about himself. 'Autobiographical notes' is a story of the 'reconstructed' modernist. The Sixth symphony is presented here as a chaotic and neurasthenic conception inspired by the scenes of the deserted and cold Petrograd, Myaskovsky's lonely house, memories about the deceased aunt. Emil Verharn's drama 'Dawn' also proclaimed the motif of the revolutionary sacrifice. The symphony is a requiem, a cry from the heart on his father, General Myaskovsky who was shot by a revolutionary soldier before his son's very eyes in 1918.

"Being an independent and large scaled the Sixth symphony is a finale of the huge super cycle that includes the Fourth and Fifth symphonies. The Fourth symphony is some kind of an Allegro of the super cycle: the immediate war memories saturate it because Myaskovsky was a first lieutenant of the field — engineer company during the WWI. The Fifth symphony is a 'quiet' Andante that leads us through the pages of the Petersburg opera classics. The main idea that unites these three symphonies is Dies Irae: the first times of the Fourth symphony make it, then it runs through Andante of the Fifth symphony, finally penetrates the entire Sixth symphony rushing to the finale. There it is compared with the theme of the spiritual verse. These 'finale' qualities of the Sixth symphony defined that extraordinary diversity of the themes that was peculiar for Myaskovsky. For example, there are eight themes in the finale.

"[...] The Sixth symphony became a symphony of 'the survived in Russia'. Its first night on May 4, 1924 was accompanied by the stunning success; many of the listeners could not help but shed tears.

"The Sixth symphony became Myaskovsky's principal message to Man and World." (M. Segelman. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin

1. Symphony No. 6 In E-Flat Minor, Op. 23: I. Poco Largamente Ma Non Allegro. Allegro Feroce
2. Symphony No. 6 In E-Flat Minor, Op. 23: II. Presto Tenebroso
3. Symphony No. 6 In E-Flat Minor, Op. 23: III. Andante Appassionato
4. Symphony No. 6 In E-Flat Minor, Op. 23: IV. Allegro Molto Vivace

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Othmar Schoeck - Summer Night

"The time of absolute music is over, declared Othmar Schoeck in 1927: 'Perhaps it was altogether only a mistake [...] all music [...] is song.' Such pronouncements—which he made at regular intervals throughout his working life—should not surprise us unduly, coming from a composer whose oeuvre includes some three hundred songs for voice and piano, several song cycles with ensemble or orchestra, and eight operas. But in fact, Schoeck only ever uttered such criticism of instrumental music when he was secretly writing some himself. He was so uncertain about his compositional gifts outside the realm of vocal music that he felt a need to lower expectations in advance whenever he was about to write a sonata, a quartet or an orchestral work. But he needn’t have worried. While his instrumental output is relatively small, these works have in fact become among his most popular and most-often recorded.

"The most successful of Schoeck’s orchestral works is 'Sommernacht', Op. 58 ('Summer Night'), a small tone poem for strings. In the spring of 1945, just days after the end of the Second World War, the Bernese Music Society asked Schoeck to write a new work for the local symphony orchestra. He hesitated–not least because he had suffered a debilitating heart attack a year earlier that had seriously undermined his health. Then, one day, his twelve-year-old daughter Gisela came home from school, gushing about a poem by Gottfried Keller her class had just read: 'Sommernacht'. Schoeck knew it well. He had even considered setting it to music a few years earlier, though it had resisted musical treatment at the time. Now, however, he used it as the program for a 'pastoral intermezzo' for string orchestra which he composed with ease.
 
"The poem tells of an ancient custom according to which the young men of a village help harvest the field of a widow or orphans who are unable to do the work themselves. Keller’s visual imagery—the shimmering fireflies, the silvery glittering of the scythes—was transformed by Schoeck into aural experiences. Thus we hear the chirping of crickets, the 'happy cries' of the peasants, the strains of the accordion, and the birdsong of the early morning (in which the 'Forest Murmurs' from Wagner’s Siegfried are never far away). The arrival and departure of the country folk in the fields also provide Schoeck with the opportunity to tell his tale in a three-part form with a neat recapitulation. The musical language of 'Sommernacht' is thoroughly tonal. On the whole, it seems to endeavor to evoke a pristine, untouched, ideal world, far-removed from the horrors that had only just come to an end across the Swiss border. There may be orphans and widows in this work, but here they have happy, grateful peasant friends to stand by them. No one is left to suffer alone; loss finds its compensation; and no one questions his place in the scheme of things. 'Sommernacht' was given its first performance in Bern under Luc Balmer on December 17, 1945. It was performed in Winterthur and Zurich in the following weeks, and has since become Schoeck’s most often-performed instrumental work, both at home and abroad." (Chris Walton. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Chamber Orchestra I Tempi, Gevorg Gharabekyan, Christoph Croisé

1. Suite In A-Flat Major, Op. 59: I. Andante Maestoso
2. Suite In A-Flat Major, Op. 59: II. Pastorale Tranquillo
3. Suite In A-Flat Major, Op. 59: III. Tempo Di Marcia Allegro
4. Suite In A-Flat Major, Op. 59: IV. Poco Adagio
5. Suite In A-Flat Major, Op. 59: V. Presto
6. Cello Concerto, Op. 61: I. Allegro Moderato
7. Cello Concerto, Op. 61: II. Andante Tranquillo – Più Lento – Tempo 1
8. Cello Concerto, Op. 61: III. Presto
9. Cello Concerto, Op. 61: IV. Lento – Molto Allegro
10. Pastoral Intermezzo, Op. 58 'Sommernacht'

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