Customer Reviews

Schuman: Symphonies Nos. 3, 5 ("Symphony for Strings") & 8

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The three Schuman symphonies recorded here are notable for two facts. One, they are given spectacular performances by Bernstein and the Philharmonic (and I know because Schuman told me that these were first rate, and authentic). Second is that they represent the composer at the opposite ends of his career in his best form at these ends. The 3rd and 5th symphonies, written in the early 1940s, are robust, thoroughly American works but in their own, uniquely 'Schumanesque' manner. Don't look for Copland's cowboys, Hanson's Maypoles or Piston's motor music here. These are extrovert, brassy, muscular works. The 8th symphony, while also brassy, and muscular, is of a totally different stuff- dark, hard edged, extremely tense and gruff. The hidden joke is the last movement, an enormous reworking of the last movement of his 4th string quartet! The transformation from agressive chamber music into staggering orchestral music is overwhelming. This was one of the great masterworks to come out of the long series of works commissioned for the opening of Lincoln Center in 1962. It is absolutely required listening for any musically literate person.

William Schuman is unquestionably one of the most important symphonists to have come out of America, and if you are looking for a single disc introduction to his music, look no further. The recordings are some 30-40 years old, but they sound remarkably well on this excellent transfer, and Bernstein knew just how these works should go better than virtually any other conductor. The 3rd Symphony is the best-known of the Schuman symphonies and makes a stunning impact here. The Symphony for Strings likewise receives the definitive recording here (despite some strong competition from Gerard Schwarz on Delos), and the 1970 sound is still very good. But it's the recording of the 8th Symphony which is the finest-sounding on this CD. Bernstein premiered it as part of the opening season of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1962, and this recording followed soon after. The work is in Schuman's later, more astringent and dissonant manner, but it is also a fascinating example of Schuman's propensity for putting old wine in new bottles: the last two if its three movements are reworkings (actually, "recompositions" would be the more accurate word here) of the last two movements of his 4th String Quartet of 1950, and it says much for Schuman's orchestral mastery that at no point is one aware of the music's chamber origins. Quite aside from that, however tough some listeners may find this work next to the 3rd Symphony, there's no mistaking the searing eloquence of the central, threnodic slow movement. And as for the finale, fasten your seatbelts, for the New Yorkers treat us to one of their most extraordinary displays of jaw-dropping virtuosity. A very, very important CD indeed, no question about it!

The Schuman third came from an era in American music when it was still possible to write works that caught the American spirit in all its brooding, magnificence. This is a work that sings in heroic terms. Bernstein gave a glowing, but steely performance that is not likely to bettered. Not music for light listening, this. But enriching in a way that is so profound and moving. To love this symphony is to expand one's musical horizons in the most satisying way. No praise could be too high for music making of this calibre. We were most fortunate to have had Leonard Bernstein as long as we did. This disc will help you understand why.

Having read that Schuman was an "intellectual" composer who could write a fugue, I was reluctant to buy this disc, expecting Schuman's style to be the synopsis of some stodgy, neo-Brahmsian cliche. I was a bit taken aback, then, the first time I heard the rambunctious but exhilarating Third Symphony, which is much more of a show piece than I expected. For one thing, it employs a really souped-up brass section to produce some of the most hair-raisingly massive promontories of sound. It perhaps even runs the risk of being showy at the expense of organic depth. But it's a totally distinctive and essential work for your CD collection--but don't wear it out!

The three-movement Symphony for Strings (the Fifth Symphony) is, if anything, more cultured and restrained and is no less compelling. It has been called a masterpiece and deservedly so. The sophistication of the writing is impressive enough but more important, it is a genuinely inspired and joyous work.

I must admit I wasn't that crazy about the Eighth Symphony at first. It seemed to me to recall the bad old days when "random music" and dissonance were in vogue (though not among audiences). On the other hand, in this era of pop-influenced, sugar-coated minimalism, it's actually possible to be a bit nostalgic for those days! I have concluded after several listenings that the Eighth is a rewarding piece that grows on the listener. Don't give up on it!

Bernstein was at his peak in the 1960's and his full-throated, no-holds-barred approach suits the music perfectly, capturing Schuman's passion as well as his intellect. Finally, the sound is fully worthy of the music and performances. In the big Third and Eighth symphonies, it is remarkably atmospheric but sharply etched too. The recording of the Fifth is more confined acoustically but still eminently satisfactory.

William Schuman was one of the most interesting composers that came out from the creative outburst in arts of the 30's in the US. Maybe he's not for everybody, because the overall feeling of muscularity and brassiness of his music can be not to the taste of the average Romantic (or neo-Romantic listener)but I believe that nobody expressed in music better than him the aggressive, bustling and sometimes jungle-like life of the metropolitan America, and I feel his music sounds even more powerful today. He was a really original voice , too, something which is well displayed on this cd. The 3rd (his masterpiece) shows off Schuman's ability to rework ancient musical forms (Toccatas, Fugues, Chorales) into something really personal and modern. This work also shows Schuman's incredibly imaginative and original writing technique for strings and brass. The strings are especially on display in the 5th, a compact, dense work, that grows on you time after time. Schuman was also, for decades, a powerful figure in the American cultural establishment, and I actually feel a sort of "institutional" feeling , a slip of creativity, in his later works, which sometimes fall into self-imitation. (compare the 3rd with Slatkin's recording of the 10th and you'll hear the difference). Anyway the 8th is still a very interesting work, imbued with a sort of steely , cold rage. Among late works, I like better the 7th (the only recording available, by Maazel is also a very good one) and I'm really sorry that there's not a modern recording of the 6th, which according to M.Steinberg's splendid book "The Symphony"is even better. Of course the performances are ideal : Bernstein knew perfectly what this music is all about and the NYPO were at the height of their powers. For that concerns the 3rd, though, I believe that the balance of concentration and virtuosity of his later digital account for Dg remain unsurpassable. Overall, a very rewarding disc for the open-minded listener and I don't think the sound is that bad: the CBS/Columbia sound of the 60's was notoriously coarse, but here Sony'SBM really worked marvelously.

William Schuman (1910-1992), along with Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, defined music in America in the 20th century. When Copland presented Schuman with the MacDowell Colony Medal in 1971, he said, "In Schuman's pieces you have the feeling that only an American could have written them...You hear it in his orchestration, which is full of snap and brilliance. You hear it in the kind of optimism which is at the basis of his works." Schuman's distinct, American style set him apart from his colleagues with his unique and wonderful blend of soaring melodies, excruciating rhythmic demands, intense drama, humor and grace. This disc is a fitting tribute to how Mr. Schuman's style progressed and is a showcase of why he is so essential to American music. Who can be better to lead three of Schuman's great masterworks than Leonard Bernstein, whom Schuman met in 1938 and remained dear friends until Lenny's death in 1990. Schuman's "Symphony No. 3" (1941) is widely considered to be one of the greatest symphonies ever written by an American. It is a garguantuan, two-movement wonder of a work. It is a symphony packed with brilliant uses of fugue, masterful thematic development and rhythmic verve. The opening of the last movement "Chorale and Toccata," yearning and pleading and mournful, is swept away with a conclusion that is one of the most exciting in the entire repertory. The "Symphony for Strings" (1943) is one of Schuman's most performed works and is one of the most challenging for string orchestra. The outer fast movements, with all of its Schumanesque drive and fervor, are contrasted by one of his best slow movements. The final work on the disc, the "Symphony No. 8" (1962), is probably avoided by some who do not appreciate emotionally dissonant music. But there is no denying the fact that this music is indeed leading the listener to a daring sonic adventure, that the sense of purpose in the melodies and rhythms exist here more than ever. All elements of Schuman's music mold together with his Eighth Symphony in a most startling, mind-blowing fashion. The Presto finale is beyond description and is a testament to Schuman's gift of rhythmic dynamism. Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic give the performances of a lifetime here, wonderfully capturing what makes William Schuman's music special. You MUST begin your Schuman collection with this disc.

Though Bernstein's DG recording of Schuman's Third Symphony is good, it does not show nearly the enthusiam for the music that is present in this recording. It still sounds pretty good, despite its age. The recordings of the 5th and 8th symphonies are also good, though neither of these is quite as compelling as the 3rd. Fans should know that a new recording is now available of the Schuman 6th Symphony on the Koch label. Now when will BMG ever re-release Ormandy's recording of the Schuman 9th?

I've always loved these recordings of Schuman's symphonies. I would rather not speak for them as they each have their own unique personality, not quite like progressing from Beethoven's 7th to his 8th. The third is gorgeous, the 5th I might describe as piquant and the 8th as solemn, deeply serious. The eighth has rich and gorgeous dissonances you don't usually hear in Schuman's music, mostly in the bass and the more reverberant percussion instruments like xylophone and gongs but it also has profoundly beautiful melodies. Schuman was a superb orchestrator even when writing only for strings. Listen to the music and you'll see what I mean. 3 of his very best performed by his most ardent champions.

I guess I'm in the minority on this CD. I owned it once and didn't particularly care for it. After finding Schuman's wonderful violin concerto by Paul Zukofsky, I returned to this CD to see if I was missing something, insofar as so many people bought this and wrote rhapsodic reviews of it.

I have to admit, my return -- unlike Beethoven's return at the end of his Piano Sonata No. 26 -- was not wonderful. I found this CD to be the same as the first time I tested it. The Schuman Third Sympohny is very substantial and shares much in common with his Violin Concerto, which this recording confirms is his best composition.

As in his Violin Concerto -- which is available today in a tepid but reliable performance on the Naxos label -- the Third Symphony is written in two well-developed movements in classic sonata form. The development section of each movement is highly articulate and all the dramatic flair from the violin concerto is rekindled in the Symphony No. 3.

The other two symphonies, however, are forgettable. Neither has a single memorable theme nor are either exquisitely composed. I turned to David Ewen's guide for music published in 1954 -- when this composer was in his heyday. Ewen listed only the Third Symphony among Schuman's masterpieces.

I don't quibble with others that say Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic wrung every ounce of emotion and interest out of these three works. I would only say that, for me, two-thirds of this CD is not worth owning. The Third Symphony is on a par with Creston's Second Symphony but the others are for academics interested in Bernstein or this composer.

William Schuman's brilliant, bold, extrovert third symphony is an important landmark in the history of American symphonic music. It opens with a passacaglia, long-breathed and vast, which turns into a muscular, big-boned and colorful fugue. The second part of the symphony consists of a noble chorale building up to a dazzlingly scored, rhythmically vital, vibrant Toccata. This is thoroughly colorful, thematically rich, powerful music, never losing momentum or interest. No-one has imbued this work with the vitality, élan and swagger that Bernstein brings to it, and this is really a magnificent performance; the drawback is of course that Bernstein later recorded a performance with the same virtues for DG (indeed, the later performance is perhaps even more concentrated), and in superior sound. Anyone taken with this work (and why wouldn't you be?) would probably like to hear this performance as well, though it is in some sense an also-ran.

Not so with the fifth. Schuman's fifth is scored for string orchestra and though it does, admittedly, lose some of the potential for blistering orchestral brilliance it displays most of Schuman's most notable qualities, such as memorable thematic material and formal clarity. The wonderfully lyrical slow movement is particularly rewarding, and the tempestuous, slightly jazzy and rugged finale is a major statement in its own right.

The eighth symphony is a blazing display of power, harmonically strident but still formally and thematically clear. It may not quite reach the level of the third symphony, but in particular the finale is impressive - unrelenting, wailingly intense and smoldering, this is a movement of pure power, screeching along to a magnificently explosive conclusion. Throughout Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic nail these works completely. The speeds are quick; at times bordering on the rushed though the effect is uniformly thrilling and the individual contributions marvelous. The sound is overall very good, although the third symphony suffers a little as already indicated. Nevertheless this remains a pretty much essential release for any fans of twentieth century music.