Claudio SANTORO (1919-1989)
Symphony No. 5 (1955) [33:16]
Symphony No. 7 “Brasília” (1959/1960) [37:36]
Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra/Neil Thomson
rec. 1-6 October 2018, Centro Cultural Oscar Niemeyer, Goiânia, Brazil
NAXOS 8.574402 [70:58]
Claudio Santoro, an important figure on the Brazilian musical scene, was quite prolific. He had fourteen symphonies to his credit and many other orchestral and chamber works. This release is the first instalment of a planned recording of all his symphonies, as Naxos has done with Villa-Lobos’s complete symphonies on a six-disc set. Santoro’s music, however, remains little known beyond Brazil, even if his symphonies No. 4 and 9 appeared on BIS in 2006 (review).
Santoro went through several stylistic phases, partly as a result of his political inclinations that led him onto a nationalist path sometimes akin to something tinged with socialist realism and folk-like touches. Unsurprisingly, one may spot echoes of Shostakovich, Roy Harris and Aaron Copland. The first movement of the Fifth Symphony begins with a tightly woven counterpoint in the strings that brings memories of Shostakovich. It unfolds seamlessly from the broad introduction into an energetic Allegro moderato full of contrasts and ebbing in mighty waves. The next movement is a colourful, lively Scherzo in dance form, calling for exotic percussion and characterised by repeated notes. Its light-hearted mood is then offset by the following Lento, a theme and variations on Canto de Xangô, part of the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé religious rites. The material inspired such composers as Villa-Lobos and Francisco Mignone, the latter in his enjoyable ballet Maracatu de Chico Rei (review). The final movement begins with a Moderato introduction largely based on a low, syncopated theme in the winds. The theme is then varied until the final energetic section which explores some material derived from the first movement and eventually leads into a brilliant coda.
This review quotes from Gustavo de Sá’s excellent notes. On Santoro’s Symphony No. 7 “Brasília”, they say that it rounds off his nationalist decade. It was composed in London for a contest sponsored by Brazil’s Ministry of Education and Culture to commemorate the completion of the construction of the country’s new capital Brasília, officially inaugurated in April 1960. The Symphony, a fairly substantial and ambitious piece of music, apparently meant much to the composer, for whom the new capital would prove quite important. He was to become director of the music faculty at the University of Brasília.
Similarly to the Fifth Symphony, the Seventh is laid out in four movements, though with the Scherzo placed third, and the outer movements are likewise the weightiest, again offset by a beautiful Adagio (quasi recitativo) and another lively Vivo (scherzo). The music in the first movement is based on a four-note motif heard in the strings in the opening bar of the introduction (Andante). The Allegro section opens with the same four notes but forcefully enunciated by the horns. Much of the music is, characteristically enough, based on vigorous ostinato gestures. It relents into calmer episodes, once more based on the four-note motif heard now in lyrical passages for clarinet and strings. The energy of the main Allegro resumes and leads into a blazing conclusion. The Adagio, by comparison contemplative, is mainly played by the strings with oboe and clarinet solos. The contemplative mood is at times interrupted by violent outbursts, particularly at the very end of the movement brought to a rather abrupt close by several dramatic fortissimo blows from the orchestra.
The Scherzo is fairly similar to that in the Fifth Symphony but somewhat more developed. A four-note motif provides the thematic material but the mood is again dance-like. The concluding Allegro molto, again based on a four-note motif, is highly developed and somewhat more complex than the preceding movements. Gustavo de Sá says in the notes that the music of the fourth movement represents a definite break with the previous movements, and indeed with all of Santoro’s output of the previous decade. Rapid bursts in the strings, wide interval leaps in the melodic material and a violent alternation of timbres, dynamics and isolated blocks of sound are now much in evidence; this may point towards a future stylistic evolution. The music may at times appear a bit sprawling and lacking the clear-cut thematic material of the Fifth Symphony, but the Seventh Symphony is a substantial and fairly imposing statement.
Neil Thomson conducts strongly committed readings of these fine works, and Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra play with confidence. The recording is very fine and the notes are exemplary. This first instalment of the Naxos cycle of Santoro’s symphonies augurs well indeed.
Hubert Culot
