I
must confess to never having heard
a symphony by Egon Wellesz before
this CD arrived on the doorstep. To
some folk this will be a dreadful
and unforgivable admission. But the
simple fact is that I have never made
it there before. It is one of the
joys of listening to music that I
make constant discoveries – good,
bad and indifferent.
Now
my immediate reaction is that I have
been missing something these fifty
years. But my mitigation is two fold
– he is not exactly the most prominent
name at symphony orchestra concerts
and secondly there are only thirteen
or so CDs listed in the Arkiv online
catalogue representing some sixteen
or so works. However we are fortunate
in having seven out of the nine symphonies
available on CPO. Furthermore I am
led to understand that the missing
numbers Two and Nine are ‘on the stocks.’
Perhaps
just a few words about the composer,
for those like myself who do not know
much about him. Basically Egon Wellesz
was an ‘honorary’ British composer,
having fled to this country from his
home Vienna as a result of Nazi persecution. He had
been professor of musicology at Vienna
and he more or less continued this
career in the UK.
One
of his key interests was Byzantine
music and these studies influenced
his own compositions. Just how, would
require a treatise or doctoral dissertation,
but for now we can allude to the use
of the pentatonic (black notes) in
melody construction.
In
his Austrian days he had studied with
Arnold Schoenberg, but also absorbed
a number of influences from Max Reger
and Gustav Mahler. Describing Wellesz’s
style is difficult. I do not like
to say he sounds like ‘x, y or z,’
however the general consensus seems
to be that he successfully managed
to synthesise disparate elements from
the expressionist, classical and archaic
musical vocabularies.
The
CD opens with perhaps the ‘easiest’
of the three symphonies to come to
terms with. This Fourth Symphony
is still very much in the tonal
sound world so it does not challenge
the ears quite as much as some of
Wellesz’s later numbers. In fact the
third movement, the adagio, is one
of the most beautiful pieces of music
in the repertoire. I am glad to have
had the opportunity of getting to
know it and it will long remain a
favourite.
The
Op.70 is subtitled Sinfonia Austriaca
and quite obviously looks back
to the composer’s birthplace. It would
be quite in order to describe this
as ‘romantic.’ To my ears at least
this work owes much more to Mahler
and Reger rather than the Schoenberg
or the ‘secret’ harmonies of Byzantine
monks. Rob Barnett suggests Franz
Schmidt’s Second Symphony as a useful
signpost, but that is little help
to me as I do not know that work.
The
Sixth Symphony is unlike the
tonal and possibly romantic music
presented in the Fourth. Wellesz’s
musical language has had a sea-change
in the meantime. It would be fair
to say that the first four symphonies
owed much to Mahler, Bruckner and
perhaps even Schubert. However the
Fifth began to explore the use of
the twelve note row in conjunction
with a still tonal language. The Sixth
Symphony makes use of “freely applied
atonality, melodic construction preferring
broad intervals, increasingly thin
texture, and, in connection with it,
increasing economy of instrumentation.”
The Sixth has three movements – an
animated scherzo framed by two slow
outer movements. This work is definitely
taut. However, strange as it may seem,
some of the passages made me think
of Vaughan Williams’ Fourth and Sixth
Symphonies as reference points. Perhaps
it is Wellesz’s use of unison string
cantilenas that suggests this?
I
listened to the Seventh Symphony
straight through twice. Now this
was strange, as after reading the
programme notes, I felt sure that
this would be the work that I least
enjoyed. However I was wrong. It is
probably the symphony that moved me
most!
Back
in the late nineteen-sixties when
the symphony was composed it would
perhaps be seen as being quite ‘modern.’
However, thirty eight years have flown
by and now it is revealed as actually
quite a ‘lyrical’ work. The excellent
notes by Hannes Heher describe the
compositional process in some detail.
However it is best to say that the
work owes something to Webern. But
Wellesz is not slavishly beholden
to anyone. I suppose that the music
of Humphrey Searle kept springing
to mind as I listened. Once again
Rob Barnett is helpful by sagely alluding
to some of the late works of Frank
Bridge.
The symphony carries a subtitle of
‘Contra Torrentem’ – against
the stream.
The
presentation of the CD is superb.
The quality of the sound is absolutely
beyond reproach. The superb artwork
on the cover is by Egon Schiele (Melanie,
the sister of the Künstlers) and adds
to the sophisticated feel of this
disc. And of course the programme
notes come up to CPO’s usual high
standard: a veritable essay on the
symphonies. It includes a short article
by Gottfried Rabl on the trials and
tribulations of preparing the scores
for performance. Apparently Wellesz
did not have an eye for detail on
the written page!
All
in all this is superb CD. I believe
that it is a good introduction to
the symphonies of Egon Wellesz. The
order in which the works are presented
allows the listener to be drawn into
the composer’s sound-world without
too great a sense of musical dislocation.
Each
of these works is vital; all three
symphonies are an integral and essential
contribution to the symphonic literature
of the twentieth century. I find it
incredible that they are represented
by only one recording each. Such,
unfortunately are the ways of the
classical music world.
I
will be looking forward to hearing
the other six symphonies at the earliest
possible opportunity.
John
France
Radio Symphonieorchester Wien/Gottfried Rabl
