Two splendid symphonies
by the finest of all Russian symphonists,
Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky who lived
from 1881 to 1950.
I have been collecting
recordings and broadcasts of his symphonies
for many years since I fell in love
with his last symphony, the Symphony
no. 27 in C minor, Opus 87, on an old
Melodiya LP conducted by Alexander Gauk.
Chandos have a better sounding version
of that glorious piece with the Russian
State Symphony Orchestra under Valeri
Polyansky on Chandos CHAN
10025.
My friend Bryden Thomson
gave the British premiere of the Symphony
no 1 in C minor about a decade ago.
The massive Symphony no. 6 in E flat
minor is a towering masterpiece and
is available on Marco Polo 8.223301.
That company has also coupled symphonies
5 and 9 together in performances conducted
by the redoubtable Edward Downes, numbers
7 and 10 are on 8.223113, number 8 on
8.223297 and number 12 on 8.223302.
These performances are by the Slovak
Radio Symphony Orchestra under Robert
Stankovsky. Marco Polo have also recorded
all the piano sonatas played by Endre
Hegedus.
Olympia has recorded
many of the symphonies. We were promised
seventeen discs. The first ten volumes
appeared
and the trail has now come to an
abrupt end.
What makes Myaskovsky
so special? After all, his symphonies
have never really taken off. This is
primarily because people selfishly want
Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich to have
all the attention. Not even Prokofiev's
finest symphonies are that frequently
played and, curiously, it is the best
of his symphonies which are played the
least: the Second Symphony, ‘the symphony
of iron and steel’ as the composer called
it, and the magnificent Symphony no.
6. Myaskovsky's Symphony no 6, is also
in E flat minor.
The Symphony no. 24
in F minor is a tribute to Myaskovsky’s
friend Vladimir Derzhanovsky who had
died in 1942. He began the symphony
in March 1943. Then he learned of the
death of Rachmaninov and so the symphony
was a double lament yet it is a strong
work - not sparse or wallowing but rich
in colour and texture and, as always
with this composer, full of melodic
lines sometimes of very great beauty.
The Symphony was completed in August
1943 and the score handed to that superlative
conductor Eugene Mravinsky who premiered
it at the Moscow Conservatory on 8 December
1943.
It opens with a fanfare
- a reminder of the vigours and virtues
of life itself. The first movement is
in sonata form - a clear and very satisfying
form in which this composer excels.
The movement is headed Allegro deciso
and I would have preferred a more heroic
reading from this performance which
seems to run out of steam. However,
this will not worry anyone unduly. The
slow movement reveals this composer's
masterly use of the orchestra and the
contrasting use of the material yet
the composer very cleverly avoids turning
the movement into episodes; it hangs
together well. The finale, also in sonata
form, recalls material from the first
movement and, again, is beautifully
constructed. The climaxes are shattering
and well-judged: full of colour and
stirring exhilaration. It is only in
the last pages that the composer comes
to terms with the tragedy and the movement
ends ethereally in F major.
It is a lovely, warm
and glowing work.
Myaskovsky was criticised
all his life and was also subject to
the absurd Communist stand. The Soviets’
attitude to music was as ridiculous
as its counterpart criticism of today.
‘Music that has no tune or cannot be
sung or whistled is not music’, people
cry. Music without melody, or coat-hangers
as the professionals call it, is not
music at all. It is opined that the
majority of people in the West adopt
this blinkered view. Barbirolli said
that no music written after 1934 was
any good and some written before 1934
was not very good either. Melody is
not an essential ingredient to music
and yet Myaskovsky's symphonies blossom
with melody and are criticised for being
too old-fashioned!
His craftsmanship and
orchestration is quite superb and his
melodies are often stick-in-the-mind
tunes!
His own health began
to suffer. Being a bachelor and living
with his sister on whom he did not want
to be a burden he hid his sufferings
although he did stay at health resorts
from time to time thus sparing his sister
responsibility.
The Symphony no. 25
in D flat was his first symphony after
the war being sketched in the summer
of 1946 and premiered on 6 March 1947
by the USSR Symphony Orchestra under
Alexander Gauk.
It was received rapturously
and no wonder. It is another very fine
work.
It begins with a slow
movement which is a set of variations
on a Russian theme. In this the composer
is expressing his nationalistic love
... and what a lovely movement it is.
The second movement is marked Moderato
and is cantabile in style while all
the drama occurs in a very impressive
finale with a relentless drive (this
performance could have been more relentless)
in which the main theme of the opening
movement reappears.
When you have heard
these symphonies you know that you have
heard some really fine music, flawless
in content and presentation with as
great an appeal as those by Tchaikovsky
and, in the view of many, much better
written!
I have heard them played
better but for £4.99 one cannot quibble.
It is when you get to know and love
these glorious works that you search
for the perfection they deserve.
David C F Wright
see also review
by Kevin
Sutton and Jonathan
Woolf
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra/Dmitry Yablonsky
