In all Karłowicz has only fourteen opus numbers to his credit.
The summit of these is the last six numbers, all of them symphonic
poems. The two discs here comprise a re-release, actually the
second re-release, of the first complete recording of the six,
originally on LP. They thus have historical importance, especially
as Salwaroski has been the strongest advocate at home and abroad
for this composer. See the Editor’s review
of the previous re-release of this set. Even more importantly,
these recordings comprise finely thought-out and executed performances,
although obviously, sonic quality has come a long way since the
LP days.
Karłowicz
started out under the influence of the Russians: Tchaikovsky,
Rachmaninoff, Scriabin. This is evident in Recurring Waves.
But he already shows great emotional depth, as well as developmental
ability and a unique sense of orchestration that frequently
relies upon the woodwind. As the work progresses, the influence
of Strauss becomes more prominent. Eternal Songs actually
consists of three pieces which make a conjoined whole. The first,
Everlasting Longing, shows quite an advance over Recurring
Waves, being more individual in both sound and harmony,
the latter a feature that will become progressively more important
with each symphonic poem. Everlasting Longing also shows
a greater emotional maturity in its Mahlerian protest against
Fate. The Song of Love and Death continues this mood
but also has an almost operatic quality to its main theme and
development. As always, the use of the woodwinds is most impressive.
The Song of Eternal Being deals with an element that
would come up again in the composer’s works - the sense of eternity
that defies all earthly problems. Karłowicz himself found
this most purely in his mountain-climbing expeditions, although
it was on the last of these that he was killed in an avalanche.
The music here lives up to the concept and one truly feels while
listening to it that one is climbing towards eternity.
The
words Lithuanian Rhapsody would seem to imply yet another
pot-pourri of folk tunes from some part of the world or other.
This work is indeed based on several folk melodies from Lithuania
and also White Russia - as it was then known. But the themes
in this piece are much more integrated than is usual in such
creations and even come to have a programmatic content similar
to that of The Song of Eternal Being. The composer’s
voice is totally free of the influence of other composers now
and the last part of the work is one of his most impressive
creations. With Stanisław and Anna Oświecim
the composer returns to the formal symphonic poem in a work
that tells of the tragic love of a brother and sister. The themes
in this work are perhaps the most beautiful in any of the six
symphonic poems and the composer’s facility at orchestration
rivals that of Korngold or Schreker. The passionate first half
again demonstrates his ability to manipulate thematic material,
while the sinister second half with its funeral march grows
progressively more grim, leading to a devastating coda.
Though
half the length of the other works, A Sad Tale packs
at least as much emotional impact as any of the others. It portrays
the mindset of a suicide, with two themes, one representing
life and the other death - the latter wins. It is an expressionistic
rather than romantic work and eschews formal development for
continuous organic variation of its two themes. In spite of
this it is totally cohesive and brilliantly organized. An
Episode during a Masquerade was left incomplete at
the composer’s death in 1909. It was completed and orchestrated
by his friend and proponent Grzegorz Fitelberg. Again, two themes
are organically developed in a three-part structure, the first
brilliantly describing the ball, then a sad mid-section and
an even more brilliant reprise of the ball material. The emotional
depth of the middle section and the harmonic resourcefulness
of the entire piece inevitably lead one to the question of where
could Karłowicz have gone creatively if he had continued
to live.
Salwarowski
has excellent control of his orchestra and is especially notable
both for his phrasing and maintenance of tension throughout the
duration of a piece, important given the emotional content of
these works. He also has a genuine feel for the “Karłowicz
sound” and demonstrates a lot of conviction in his overall conceptions
of the works. The orchestra can sometimes be a little scrappy,
but they do their best to match their conductor’s enthusiasm and
overall acquit themselves quite well. There is also the fact,
to quote the Editor, that “Salwarowski
has become to Karłowicz what Beecham became to Delius, Boult
to Vaughan Williams, Handley to Bax”. Sonically, LPs from the
early 1980s cannot compare with more recent recordings although
these recordings have been digitally fixed as much as possible.
This brings up the question of competition from other recordings,
specifically the two discs of these works by Antoni Wit (with
different orchestras) on Naxos (8.570452
and 8.570295)
and the three discs (with two different conductors) on Chandos
(9986,
10171,
10298) of the complete Karłowicz orchestral music. Thus we
have excellent unity of conception versus sound quality and economy
versus sound quality and completeness of output respectively.
Each set obviously brings with it strong attributes. My personal
recommendation, though perhaps a costly one, would be to buy these
Salwarowski recordings and augment them with the second volume
of the Chandos set, which contains the three additional Karłowicz
orchestral works.
William Kreindler
