When this CD arrived
from Len it had a note attached to it
reading "this is good fun!"
I agree, though the slow movements of
these two symphonies show that Guarnieri’s
music could wear a serious mien as well.
This is the second
CD from the ever-enterprising BIS devoted
to Guarnieri’s symphonies. My colleague,
Rob Barnett gave a warm welcome to its
predecessor in October 2002. That disc
contained the Second and Third symphonies,
played by the same performers that appear
here. I understand from Rob’s review
that Guarnieri wrote seven symphonies
in all. That information is not contained
in the liner note accompanying this
disc which, while excellent in many
respects, gives a little less general
biographical information than I would
have liked to see, given that this is
a composer who may be new to many listeners,
as he was to me.
Rob Barnett’s first
review suggested that listeners
could expect "the same irrepressible
energy and joie de vivre that
you get from Villa-Lobos, Ives or Grainger".
That assessment seems to me to be spot
on. Both of the symphonies here recorded
follow a three movement design (as do
the Second and Third, I believe) and
in each case the outer movements are
vivacious and, for the most part, full
of gusto. My first few hearings of the
disc inclined me to the view that Guarnieri
is at his best in such music and that
his slow movements are perhaps a little
too lengthy for their material. However,
that’s a view that I’ve revised with
repeated listening, especially as regards
the First Symphony.
The First Symphony,
which is dedicated to Koussevitzky (did
he perform it, I wonder?) was written
in 1943. Much of the work on it was
done during a visit to the USA. Guarnieri
apparently spent much of this visit
in New York but he also conducted the
Boston Symphony Orchestra in his Abertura
Concertante (a work included on
the other BIS CD that I’ve already mentioned.)
It is a tremendously assured symphonic
debut, though we learn from the notes
that by this time the thirty-six year-old
composer already had several major orchestral
scores to his credit. The first movement,
marked Rude, has great rhythmic
drive and frequent changes of metre
contribute to the rhythmic vitality
and variety. Indeed, one senses that
Guarnieri is to some extent delighting
in rhythm for its own sake – I don’t
mean that in a derogatory way. Brass,
wind and percussion are well to the
fore in the orchestral palette. There’s
appropriate snap and bite in the Brazilian
orchestra’s playing.
The slow movement,
marked Profundo, begins with
a serious, introspective melody, which
is first heard on the horn and then
taken up by the bassoon. More wind instruments
and the string choir join in and develop
an atmosphere of tranquil melancholy.
In due course the music evolves into
a kind of cortège, underpinned
by percussion and low brass and wind
instruments. The music grows in intensity
and power and eventually achieves a
short-lived climax before subsiding
back to the mood of the opening. This
time the strings carry the main burden
of the argument in a passage of dignified
beauty, which culminates in a noble
climax before the music dies away.
After this Guarnieri
blows away the cobwebs to some extent
in the finale (Radioso) that
opens with good-natured bustle, again
featuring rhythmic vitality. However,
before long (track 3, 1’46") a
touching lyrical episode is led off
by the cor anglais. Here the music has
something of the feel of Copland (a
good friend of Guarnieri). The lyric
and more buoyant material alternate
in vying for the listener’s attention
before a final, very brief burst of
musical high jinks brings the symphony
to an emphatic conclusion. This is a
very engaging work, which grew on me
through repeated listening.
Its companion, the
Fourth, appeared some twenty years later.
By a neat coincidence it is dedicated
to Koussevitzky’s one-time protégé,
Leonard Bernstein, who had become a
friend of the composer. Originally Guarnieri
planned to enter the work in a competition
for symphonic music to celebrate the
foundation of Brazil’s new capital,
Brasilia (hence the work’s title). However,
when he was appointed to the jury for
that competition he could no longer
enter a work himself so composition
was suspended. Eventually the work appeared
in 1963. In the meantime he had written
a cantata to celebrate the 400th anniversary
of the foundation of Rio de Janeiro
and to some extent the works overlap.
Once again we find
that strong rhythms underpin the first
movement. There is also exuberant writing
for brass and horns. As was the case
with the First Symphony, the slow movement
is much the longest. In fact, at 8’43"
the slow movement of the Fourth occupies
nearly half the symphony’s length. It
begins with a searching melody for the
first violins to which all the other
strings apart from the basses are eventually
added in unison, gradually enriching
the texture and raising the emotional
temperature. The composer himself referred
to a "tragic, crazy feeling in
the central part" of this movement
and the music certainly has a dark,
haunted air. A big grinding climax is
reached at 5’19"
But eventually, after
this troubled episode the strings reassert
the opening theme and mood. This time,
in a kind of inversion, the string sections
gradually fall silent until only the
first violins are left to close the
movement.
We return to extrovert
music in the finale. There is a brief
tranquil episode at 2’08" but after
less than a minute the fireworks resume,
more brilliantly, as the movement and
the symphony whirl to a tumultuous conclusion.
To complete the disc
we hear the Abertura Festiva, a
festive overture commissioned in 1971
by the very orchestra that plays it
here. It is an entertaining jeu d’esprit
which in its brief duration shows off
all the sections of the orchestra. It’s
a most enjoyable piece. Yet again, propulsive
rhythm is at the heart of the piece,
accentuated by colourful writing for
the percussion section.
Throughout the disc
the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
do their compatriot proud with committed,
vital playing under the baton of their
conductor, John Neschling, a pupil of
both Hans Swarowsky and of Bernstein.
He has been at the helm of this orchestra
since 1997 and, it seems, has welded
them into a very proficient and enthusiastic
ensemble. BIS have recorded them in
fine sound, which is detailed and atmospheric.
I have enjoyed making
the acquaintance of this vibrant, colourful
music very much. Though there is a serious
side to Guarnieri’s art the music on
this CD is enjoyable and outgoing. It
should lift the spirits of the listener.
I wholeheartedly recommend
this disc to all collectors with a taste
for the colourful and extrovert in music
and I look forward to more encounters
with the music of Camargo Guarnieri.
John Quinn
Camargo
GUARNIERI (1907-1993)
Symphony
No. 2 Uirapuru (1945) [29.27]
Symphony No. 3 (1952) [32.57] Abertura
Concertante (1942, rev before 1951)
[11.45] 
Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado
de São Paolo/John Neschling rec
Feb 2001, Sala São Paulo, Brazil
BIS BIS-CD-1220 [75.13] [RB]
Likely
to appeal strongly to those who are
already captivated by Villa-Lobos and
by the Latino Copland ... see Full
Review.
