Customer Reviews

Robert Simpson: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These are my personal favorites in the Simpson symphonic oeuvre. And if you are just getting acquainted with this British composer, this is a great place to begin. Here in these two symphonies Simpson tips his hat off to Beethoven.

The opening of the Second Symphony is breathtaking. The slow movement has a gentle meditative quality, probing remote areas of the mind. The finale has the grittiness and energy of Beethoven's Seventh.

The Fourth Symphony contains some of the most remarkable and the most communicative of Simpson's Beethoven paraphrases. The archetype here is the scherzo of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with a Haydn quotation thrown in for good measure in the Trio section. Simpson remains close to the structure of the original, but creates a completely new experience.

What words can describe this music? Transparent. Rhythmic. Energizing. Polytonal. Vernon Handley and his band do a masterful job in bringing forth the luscious details in these two incredible works.

There is little I can say without repeating the other reviews posted here. This was my first exposure to Simpson and it got me hooked, so, by my own experience, I'd recommend it as a good introduction. The 2nd might be the easiest for a newcomer to digest, and the 4th is simply extraordinary. I'll repeat another reviewer by stating that the scherzo is an exhilarting high-wire act that must be heard to be believed. I can definately see some people being turned off by this music. Simpson is not concerned with producing lovely melodies by the dozen, and if you're the type of person who grows impatient with Bruckner or finds Nielsen too harsh (specifcally, I'm thinking of his 4th & 5th), you might want to look elswhere. Which is not say there isn't great beauty here, just don't expect it sound like Faure. For those with a more robust consitution seeking a truly adverturous musical experience, Simpson is the way to go.

In my humble opinion, I believe Robert Simpson to one of the handful of composers I would throw in the category labeled "greatest of all time." His music is the only I know of that can be raucously jolly and viscerally intense at the same time.

I truly believe that autumn is the best time to listen to his symphonies. Wait for as blustery day. Wait until the wind is really kicking up the leaves--until it is starting to be twilight. Then put this disc in and turn it up.

Symphony No 2 is one of Simpson's more unruly steeds. It thunders off in directions that one cannot begin to anticipate, all the time retaining its stately beauty. Did I mention this is not music for the faint of heart?

The more I listen to his cycle of Simpson's symphonies, the more I like and respect Vernon Handley as a conductor. I can imagine how easy it would be to lose hold of one of these pieces as a conductor. Handley never fails to reign in his forces perfectly. The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra does an outstanding job of confronting these pieces.

Symphony No 4 takes a little more time to build up its steam then No 2 does. It is more atmospheric in some ways. To me, it is mildly reminiscent of a cat toying with a mouse before the kill. In the end, when No 4 swoops down, its effect is crushing and exhilarating.

I recommend this disc. Get it. You will not be disappointed.

There was a time when I judged the greatness of a musical composition by its emotional impact on me. Then, the power to elicit tears and strong pathos--that familiar ache of longing in my chest--reigned as the supreme basis of my attachment to a piece of music. Yet, over the years I came to see that even the emotionalism of Mahler had its limits, otherwise the ending of his eighth symphony would not have come across as a forced attempt at recapturing the glory of the Resurrection Symphony. While the Elegy from Strauss's Ein Alpine Sinfonie never fails to reduce me to a quivering mass of liquid grief, I have also come to see that most of the compositions I can come back to again and again over the years with renewed enjoyment (those works with staying power) are the ones that possess greater subtlety of expression, that wealth of ambiguous emotion that may not grab us as powerfully as a new infatuation at first, but which continue to keep us faithful over the years like a true love. A good example for me is Prokofiev's 5th, versus Shostakovich's 5th. In the immediate year or two after discovering these two great symphonies, the emotionalism of Shostakovich's symphony caused me to rate it higher than the Prokofiev. But more than a decade later there is no doubt in my mind, start to finish, that Prokofiev's is the stronger work. (What does this have to do with Simpson? Don't worry, I'm getting to that!) Prokofiev's realism keeps us perpetually on the verge of emotions we can't rightly name. The ending of the slow movement takes us rapidly through a series of moods that create an enormous tension, feelings that are both ambiguous and anticipatory, setting us up perfectly for the finale. The preceding scherzo is as wicked and gleeful as a witch's ride, at once diabolical and irresistible. In the Shostakovich 5, we feel tremendous grief, we feel pathos, we feel rage and we feel irony, but we don't feel a lot in between these strong emotions. After one has exhausted this intensity, it becomes more difficult with repeated listenings to enter the world of these heavy emotions.

Robert Simpson has described his own music as humane but anti-emotional. After listening to this recording of his 2nd and 4th symphonies, I am convinced that Simpson is one of those composers whose music has the kind of emotional ambiguity and subtle depth to hold a listener's ear, not only in the immediate, but for years to come. There are moments of strange beauty that just leap out at your on a first listening, like at 4:45-5:00 of the Allegro Grazioso of the 2nd Symphony, or the wildly unpredictable excitement generated at the end of the 4th symphony's scherzo. And there are also moments, stretches even, of new harmonic textures, orchestral sonorities and contrapuntal movements where my interest is only pricked at first, yet which compel me to listen more closely. Always there are interesting transformations and a tremendous driving energy that is thilling and impossible to resist. Vladimir Nabokov once said that the greatest emotion was that pleasurable shiver down the spine; if that is true, then Robert Simpson surely is an artist who arouses the highest of emotions in his listeners.

Robert Simpson claims a number of influences - or they are attributed to him by a number of commentators -, in particular Beethoven (the forward motion and explosive energy), Bruckner (the orchestral mass) and Nielsen: not surprisingly, Simpson wrote books on these three composers. Surely Beethoven - and precisely, the scherzo of the 9th - is much in evidence in the Scherzo of the 4th Symphony (and, hence, Bruckner, since all HIS scherzos are arguably modelled after Beethoven's). But the influence I hear most, in these two Symphonies as well as in others, is Nielsen: in the alternation of slow-moving, contemplative passages, sometimes of pastoral or bucolic nature (but often with an undertone of menace), sometimes in an enigmatic state of stasis, slowly rising and accumulating kinetic and dynamic energy until they reach violent, explosive discharges of tremendous power; in the clashes of tonality (like many of his works, the second symphony is propelled by a conflict of tonalities); in the use of timpani and snare drum to add excitement; in the fugatos of the 2nd Symphony's first movement; and quite simply in a number of melodic turns. Indeed, Simpson himself (quoted in the liner notes) agreed that, in the first movement of his 4th, he may have been subconsciously recalling the sound world of the first movement of Nielsen's 6th, "Sinfonia Semplice". The second Symphony is from 1956, and the 4th from 1972, when Simpson was 52. At over 45 minutes, the 4th was Simpson's longest to date. It is also, in Simpson's very peculiar way (and in conformity with its Nielsenian inspiration), a merry work - which doesn't preclude the massive explosions, and a coda to the finale that is irresistible in its huge power.

In the absence of any competition (and score), it is hard to tell how effectively Vernon Handley realizes Simpson's scores. Chances are, it is much the same as in other instalments from Hyperion's invaluable complete cycle, when comparisons were available - namely, the First (other recording is premiere by Boult, Fricker, Orr, Simpson: Symphonies) and Third (Horenstein, Robert Simpson: Symphony No. 3 (1962) / Clarinet Quintet (1968) - Jascha Horenstein / London Symphony Orchestra / Bernard Walton / Aeolian String Quartet): that is, powerful, but a bit sluggish, lacking in kinetic dynamism (see my reviews of Robert Simpson: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 8 and Robert Simpson: Symphony No. 3; Symphony No. 5). But even as it is, the two symphonies are hugely impressive.

Simpson isn't even remotely "modern" or "avant-garde" in the sense that was accepted when he wrote these symphonies. He places himself in the wake of a tradition that goes through Beethoven and Nielsen - and, (though, obviously, some listeners don't hear them), he does write melodies and themes (the trio section of the huge scherzo of the 4th Symphony even quotes, and assaults massively, Haydn's Symphony No. 76): but these are grim and dogged, not so much meant to be "pretty" or "sung" as to provide the basis of a vast and potent symphonic architecture of conflict. Still, they would have been an embarrassment for the avant-garde. So Simpson is definitely a traditionalist, which, depending on your viewpoint, may be anathema or incentive. But to me, his symphonies are works of such power and magnitude that (as with Britten) the notions of "avant-garde" or "tradition" do not matter anymore.

Like Sir Malcolm Arnold, Robert Simpson (1921-1997) was a modern British symphonist. Simpson's music sounds more deliberate and focused than Arnold's, but never dull or academic. This is music that you can really sink your teeth into, wonderful symphonic music that deserves much wider hearing. Symphony No. 2, which clocks in at a bit less that half an hour, is energetic without being overbearing, while No. 4, a larger work both in terms of length (more than 45 minutes) and orchestral scope, covers a wide range of emotional and musical expression with confidence and power, and is truly a modern symphonic masterwork. It suddenly strikes me how many powerfully expressive fourth symphonies there have been in the 20th century: Sibelius, Vaughan Williams, Shostakovitch, Arnold, Nielsen; masterpieces all, and Simpson's 4th is worthy to stand proudly among them.

In my humble opinion, I believe Robert Simpson to one of the handful of composers I would throw in the category labeled "greatest of all time." His music is the only I know of that can be raucously jolly and viscerally intense at the same time.

I truly believe that autumn is the best time to listen to his symphonies. Wait for as blustery day. Wait until the wind is really kicking up the leaves--until it is starting to be twilight. Then put this disc in and turn it up.

Symphony No 2 is one of Simpson's more unruly steeds. It thunders off in directions that one cannot begin to anticipate, all the time retaining its stately beauty. Did I mention this is not music for the faint of heart?

The more I listen to his cycle of Simpson's symphonies, the more I like and respect Vernon Handley as a conductor. I can imagine how easy it would be to lose hold of one of these pieces as a conductor. Handley never fails to reign in his forces perfectly. The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra does an outstanding job of confronting these pieces.

Symphony No 4 takes a little more time to build up its steam then No 2 does. It is more atmospheric in some ways. To me, it is mildly reminiscent of a cat toying with a mouse before the kill. In the end, when No 4 swoops down, its effect is crushing and exhilarating.

I recommend this disc. Get it. You will not be disappointed.

Los británicos durante el siglo XX han sido una de las naciones que mejores sinfonistas han producido sino los mejores, solo piense en: Vaughan Williams, Tippet, Elgar y por supuesto Robert Simpson. Mi amor a la música de Simpson fue algo a primera vista, la primera obra que escuche de este genio fue la Tercera Sinfonía y me fascinó. Las dos Sinfonías que trae este disco son sencillamente EXTRAORDINARIAS, en especial la Cuarta, es una música llena de energía positiva. Animase a entrar al mundo de Robert Simpson, le aseguro que no se arrepentirá.

300% RECOMENDADO

Hyperion's coverage of the music of Robert Simpson is nothing if not admirable. But for newcomers to Simpson's music I would probably recommend starting with the fifth or ninth symphonies; he second and fourth offered here are certainly impressive, but the level of invention and inspiration does not consistently come across as being on par with the works mentioned. Stylistically, the connection between Simpson's music and Carl Nielsen's is often noted (vast, open musical canvasses), but the symphonies of Hindemith, Alwyn and perhaps even Bruckner should be mentioned as well. Drive and momentum and organic growth are the most important factors, it seems - all of Simpson's symphonies have to grow effortlessly towards a final culmination where all threads are pulled together. Thus none of his works come across as meandering, yet there is always a lot of activity going on. The music is tonal, though not exactly melodic in the traditional sense (and Simpson did apparently admire Schoenberg, something I think is audible - the music is often based on thematic cells, and there are often quirky formal puzzles in the music that it is easy to overlook on first listening).

The second symphony dates from the mid-fifties. It starts out sounding very much like Nielsen in character (if not content); the material is strong and Simpson takes his time to develop it thoroughly and analytically - perhaps too much so - towards the two central climaxes of the first movement, from which the music eventually fades out. The chorale-like slow movement is rather hollow - it is interesting to note that the music is actually palindromic, but that, I think, also tells you something about what it is like as a listening experience. The finale is surprisingly conventional, swaggering and brilliant to be sure, but not particularly memorable. So despite an impressive first movement this is overall one of the weaker Simpson symphonies I have heard.

The fourth symphony (1970-72) is more impressive. It has a certain visionary quality that Simpson easily sustains throughout. Again the shadow of Nielsen looms large, but mostly to the benefit of the music. The first movement is based on a brief theme, ingeniously developed (usually rather sparingly scored) though there is little trace of any culmination. The scherzo is remarkable however - based on the scherzo from Beethoven's ninth, this is a piercingly sharp, bitingly sarcastic, even ominous movement moving towards a fervent conclusion. The slow movement is determined, and despite its apparently calm songfulness it carries a lot of momentum. The finale is variegated and brilliant, deviously constructed and culminating in joyful ecstasy.

While neither symphony is a masterpiece, or among Simpson's strongest, this is overall a rewarding release. Everything is simply magnificently performed - despite their many impressive recordings, the Bournemouth Symphony has rarely sounded as convincingly brilliant as this, and Vernon Handley comes across as something of an ideal Simpson interpreter (although I have heard few others try their hand in this music). The sound is splendid as well, and this is - to repeat myself - overall a very recommendable release.

I agree with the previous reviewer (author of "Competent but dull"). This music really irks me with its refusal to blossom into anything resembling a memorable train of thought. Just when you think Simpson might write a melody...nope, it wasn't meant to be. It's all fragmented motifs, like a romantic symphony that's been dismantled. At least Schoenberg and Ives have personality. Mind you, Simpson isn't avant-garde, merely uninspired. But this disc deserves three stars for the fine performances.