Customer Reviews

Symphonies 1-5 / Pacific 231 / Rugby

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

 

 

Here's one composer that has fallen into a relative obliivion. Among "Les Six" , a group of provocative young composers thriving in the ebullient Paris of the 1920's, Honegger (1892 -1955 ) was the one who achieved the widest fame and actually entered the international concert circuit. Among the others Milhaud also seemed to make the breakthrough, but his self-consciously "shocking" music soon outstayed its welcome while Durey, Tailleferre and Auric never produced anything substantial. Poulenc, instead, was regarded as a guilty pleasure, a charming but superficial composer whose allegedly shaky technique precluded him the big symphonic form. Big symphonic form that was exactly Honegger's forteè. After Honegger's death, though things began to change and now it's the once-ridiculed Poulenc that enjoys a far wider notoriety, thanks to the warmth of his music and its genuine intimate quality. Since the 70's (when Karajan's legendary account of the 2nd sym was recorded), Honegger's music slipped away from critical esteem, concert-halls and recording business. Suffice it to say that Dutoit's set is the only major digital cycle, and it was recorded in the mid 80's! Clearly, the post-war reaction again "conservative" music was a major reason for this but, also, I think Honegger's contradictions worked against him: he declared that he wanted to compose austere, highly serious music but, at the same time, he produced a huge number of works in almost any known form ( symphonies, oratorios, chamber music, movie scores) , with unavoidable unevenness of inspiration. At his best, though, Honegger is a highly rewarding composer. His music reflects a wide range of moods, being capable of lyricism and youthful exuberance, wild anger and desolation. Also, his evolution provides a rewarding variety of style, from the aggressive motorism of the 1920's to the austere Neo-Classicism of the later works. His orchestration is also very individual , featuring a peculiarly astringent, strongly contrasted sound, with original choices in instrumentation, like the frequent use of the saxophone. Luckily this set is not just an obligatory chioce but it's also highly recommendable. Not only is Dutoit at home with this repertoire, he also makes the Bavarians play this music as if it was their standard concert-fare. The peculiarly brilliant, silvery tone of this splendid ensemble sounds actually more attuned to the music than the sheen

provided by the Berliners for Karajan, that sometimes buried in gloss the details (e.g. the trumpet in the 2nd, that can be heard here thanks to a better textural control and absolutely first-class recording). I'll try a brief description of the works. Sym 1: it's the less known, but it's one of my Honegger favorites. It's an eminently abstract work, whose orchestral virtuosity and exuberance sound very appropriate to Kussevitzky's Boston SO, for which it was composed. It also has a ravishing, intimate middle movement. Sym 2 and 3 are very much "war" symphonies, even if a way very different from, say, Shostakovich 7th. Rather than the struggle for the final victory, they express endless anguish and pain (1941's second), but also the rage for the loss of so many lives and the search for solace (1946's third). It's no concidence that these two feature some of Honegger's most angry, dissonant music. Sym 4 was composed for Paul Sacher's Basle orchestra (hence the subtitle) and it's indeed delighful, almost Haydnian in its luminous textures and smiling irony. With Sym 5 we return to severity and broad symphonic canvases. This one is also a splendid work, with a prevailing note of pessimism , both personal ( Honegger just had a stroke) and general ( he didn' like the direction music was taking, maybe he foresaw his own fate). The subtitle ( "of the three D's ") refers to the fact that the work's three movements end with that note. In my opinion it's the work that features more prominently a peculiarly Honeggerian "dark transparency" in the sound. (I know it sounds weird but I swear it makes sense once you hear the music! ) The first two Mouvements Symphoniques are Honegger's most famous works. Suffice it to say that neither the shatteringly inexorable progression of "Pacific 231" nor the endlessly seductive rondo-like gestures of "Rugby" deserve to be downgraded as "descriptive" music, as they often are. My quibbles: the ridicolously scanty notes provided and the fact that they could not include two essential pieces, the striking Mouvement Symphonique n.3 that Honegger composed for Furtwangler and the caressingly beautiful "Pastorale d'eté" To hear those as splendidly performed by this same team you should buy the other Honegger release in this series (Ultima 3984-24244-2). That also contains Le Roi David by Dutoit and several orchestral pieces conducted by Marius Constant. That's a less essential release, but those two pieces alone would be worthy the expense. I strongly recommend this one to everybody interested in 20th century music.

This is a convenient set of the very moving and expressive Honegger symphonies. The performances are good, but by no means perfect. Dutoit, I would normally not associate with conducting Honegger as he seems to prefer lighter and less violent music. However he handles the the works fairly well. The Symphony 1 is the composers harshest and most rythmically complex symphony. The orchestra does a fine job with these gawky rythms, but still seems somewhat restrained. The second and third symphonies are also given adequate performances though like the first the manic wildness of them is not fully released. By far the most passionate and intense recording of the second and third is Herbert von Karajan's version on the DG label. Probably the best performance on these discs is that of the Symphony 4. This is the most suited for Dutoit for it is the gentlest of the 5 symphonies. The orchestra does a beautiful job and the work absolutely sparkles with orchestral color. The fifth symphony is also given a solid performance. Included as a bonus is two of the Symphonic Movements: Pacific 2.3.1., and Rugby. Overall this a good buy for anyone wanting to get acquainted with symphonies of one of the twentieth centuries most underated composers: Arthur Honegger.

This is the only complete set of Honegger's symphonies. We are extremely lucky, then, that the performances on this album are so good. At the risk of repeating other reviewers I must say that I find it not only unjust, but inexplicable as to why Honneger is not more popular. His symphonies are varied, original and, with the possible exception of the fifth, of the utmost quality. From the youthful, often dissonant vigor of the first we move to tranquillity and absolute despair in the second, scored only for strings until the tension is relieved at the end by a solo trumpet. The third, like the second, was penned by an artist deeply affected by WWII. The fourth is a work of a completely different cut, with its delicate, almost chamber-like scoring and lighthearted material. The fifth is, in my opinion, his weakest, although it is by no means bad music. Rugby is a dynamic portrayal of movement in music, as is the overwhelming Pacific 231, a piece which paints a musical picture of a great steam locomotive. The sense of momentum Honegger creates in Pacific 231 amazes me every time I listen to it, if you close your eyes you can almost feel yourself hurtling across the countryside at hundreds of miles an hour. If you want a complete set of Honegger's symphonies this is the only option, and thankfully it's a very good one.

I bought these performances individually when they came out in the mid 1980s. They are probably the best played, most idiomatic performances of the Honegger symphonies conducted by the most noted conductor of French music today. Dutoit and the Bavarians bring out both the grit and the heartbreak in these deeply felt symphonies. If I have reservations about this compilation it is because they have eliminated some of the extra pieces that were in the original Erato releases, like the Pastorale and Mouvement Symphonique no. 3. However, with the major labels apparently scaling down their classical activity, I'm not going to quibble. You should probably get this one quickly before it goes out of print.

The Charles Dutoit/Bavarian recordings of the complete Honegger symphonies, recorded in the 1980s are once again available on a convenient double CD package. If there is one thing that's missing, it's probably Pastorale d'ete. Nevertheless, these are the best modern recordings of Honegger's symphonic output.

Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) had a great career in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, but only his first symphony is from that period (1930). It is an energetic 3-movement work of about 22 minutes, the least traditional of his five symphonies. A good start, but not among his finest. The rest of Honegger's symphonies were written during or shortly after WWII, the decisive shaping influence on his life and music after the German occupation.

I consider the Third Symphony (1945-6) to be his masterpiece. It is full of anger, violence, tenderness and hope, and at about 30 minutes is Honegger's longest symphony. The Fifth (1950) is the other symphony of the cycle that I find to be powerfully compelling. It has dark passages, but is not as bleak as you might think reading about what Honegger brought to it. Not only was he in poor health, having suffered a major heart attack in 1947, but he was convinced that civilization was at an end because of the barbarism of the war and the new threat of nuclear weapons. In any event, the 3rd and 5th symphonies are both very strong works and well worth hearing.

The Second (1941-2) and Fourth (1946) Symphonies make a symmetrical pair. The Second is somber and full of tragedy, reflecting the onset of the war, while the Fourth is sunny and light, reflecting the war's end and Honegger's restful time in Basel. Many consider the Second to be one of Honegger's finest symphonies along with the Third. This set also includes two short works from the 1920s which Honegger called "mouvement symphoniques." They are the famous "Pacific 231" (1924) and "Rugby" (1928), inspired by railroad locomotives and the sport, both of which Honegger loved.

It would be quite appropriate to give this 2-disc set 5 stars given how much music it contains for the price (it has been reissed and it is the new version you should locate.) I am giving it 4 stars to indicate that the symphonies are not all equally good.

Finally a few comparisons. Honegger is clearly more influenced by Modernism than the leading French symphonic composer of the earlier generation, Roussel. Honegger's writing is denser and harder to grasp than Roussel's, with the exception of Roussel's Second Symphony, his longest and most complex. These symphonies are roughly similar to Shostakovich in that they incorporate only some elements of Modernism, but Honegger lacks the force and memorable passages of Shostakovich's finest symphonies, but Honegger's Third can definitely take a place alongside Shostakovich's Eighth as one of the most powerful anti-war symphonies of the 20th century.

Karl Amadeus Hartmann is the other mid-century symphonist that Honegger can logically be grouped with, it seems to me. Honegger stayed in Paris and composed throughout the war, and Hartmann stayed in Munich throughout the war and composed, though his works were performed only outside Germany. Hartmann was of the Left, and Honegger, though part of the Resistance, does not seem to have been that political. But musically, given that Honegger's symphonies reflect the German classical tradition more than most French composers, and given that both men were reacting to the barbarism of their time in their music, the Honegger cycle and the Hartmann cycle have much more in common than either has with most everything else.

In short, this set of Honegger's symphonies is well worth hearing.

Excellent performances of brilliant symponies by an unjustly neglected great 20th C composer.

Lots of dissonance and energy in all these works.
Sym 1 alone is a very powerful work.

Strongly recommended.