Customer Reviews

Egon Wellesz: Symphonies 1-9 (Complete)

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are interested in an incremental progression from Mahler to modern music, Wellesz would probably come one step after Mahler, two steps before Berg. He writes as though he often understood the craftsman's issues better than his more famous peers, though he was admittedly of a somewhat lower rank of genius than they were. He was more of a textbook contrapuntist than any other Schoenberg student (like Anton Webern he was a musicologist who also took lessons with the Master); this is evident from the first movement of the First Symphony, where an angular melody is taken up quite well as a stretto subject, yet every note is quite audible, and the countersubjects support, rather than confuse, the texture. Perhaps his most praiseworthy skill is that of finding just the right contrast between one idea and another; sometimes the nature of new ideas is quite prescient; he can tell you something through the selection of ideas alone. If you like some early Hindemith you might like Wellesz's take on the element of Neo-Classicism that is within the Schoenberg dodecaphonic project; some of the same clarity in phrasing is there; the style is more economic but with a certain amount of the same rhythmic vigor. Wellesz also likes the surprise sudden-tonic ending that typifies Hindemith, and he seems never to have eschewed octave doublings, so there is never the textural edge of the basic 20th Century sound. There is always something of the Fin-de-siecle Vienna mood in this music, no matter how late it was written.

When Wellesz occasionally writes using the twelve-tone system he is not orthodox and it does not constitute a radical departure from his textural and orchestrational norm. He has less than his teacher's tendency to resort to repeated note patterns once he writes using the twelve-tone system; ironically, under some circumstances he is perhaps momentarily more inventive, though less inspired, than Schoenberg. For better or worse, he has greater periodic phrase clarity than others of the New Vienna circle; this is usually welcome, but occasionally there is an over-reliance on formulas; I got tired of the use of the snare drum to articulate mid-level structure. There is an expressive gesture across the symphonies that moves from warmth and vigor to a bleak reserve; the last few symphonies tend toward a structure with a slow finale. He writes well for the instruments, and some of his woodwind and solo counterpoint is truly fine.

This survey of Wellesz's symphonies is superbly performed from scores lovingly recreated by Gottfried Rabl, who describes the generally incomplete if not deplorable state of the Wellesz scores. This is not evident from the excellent performances given by the Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien under Rabl's direction.

This should be a welcome addition to any collection of early modern orchestral music, and something that every student of the New Vienna School should hear. I recommend it.

I love Shostakovich and tended to think that he and he only inherited the symphony after World War II. This turns out to be false as Wellesz, while older, was just starting his symphony cycle after World War II. These are distinct essays for orchestra. They never overwhelm, but they do provoke new thought. Therefore they are very worthy of consideration by both the novice and the professional composer (of which the other reviewer appears to be). I simply am a listener and love to explore new pathways in music. The five stars are for Wellesz as a composer and for the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Gottfried Rabl. Both the composer and the people who play him are of the highest quality.

What does Wellesz sound like? Some of the time he sounds like what Bruckner might of sounded like in the 20th century. Maybe not quite as inflated with a bit of atonalism from Berg maybe. He sounds more pessismistic than optimistic as most composers of the 20th century do. His symphonies don't always end with a bang and sometimes end with a whimper instead. Each one of his symphonies do sound original and I am just beginning to learn them. Not only do they sound original, but they sound different from each other which is the mark of great composer too. Hopefully in the 21st century that we now live in he will get more recognition although I wouldn't wait at any concert hall to bring his music anytime soon. That statement probably has more to do with the politics of 20th century music in concert halls these days than anything else.

In conclusion I recommend both Wellesz and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Rabl in this box set. Welcome a new voice in the post World War II symphonic world!