CHOPIN, RACHMANINOV: SONATAS F

It is as a composer of songs and piano pieces that Erkki Melartin (1875–1937) is chiefly remembered. Primarily a miniaturist, he was none the less drawn to the symphony, which he considered crucial in his output, completing six in all at much the same time as Sibelius's seven. The two recorded here exhibit the essential strengths and weaknesses of Melartin's large-scale music: big, portentous outer movements with striking ideas not always at ease within symphonic form, framing delightful, lyrical intermezzos. These central movements contain the best of this composer—there is no denying the exhilarating quality of the Fifth's final quadruple fugue, nor the grandeur of No. 6's peroration.

Strauss and Mahler stand behind No. 5 (1915) at over 30 minutes long an unusually large Sinfonia brevis, which is arguably the finest of all Melartin's symphonies. The Sixth (1925) was composed under the heady influence of Expressionism. Its oppressive atmosphere and dark hues make it seem a precursor of Allan Pettersson. Leonid Grin's firm direction allows the poetry of Melartin's invention the right amount of space to bloom, while the avoidance of over-emphasis in the heavyweight No. 6 is spot on (although the scherzo should have more bounce). Erkki Salmenhaara provides the excellent and fulsome notes to both discs. Devotees of Nielsen, Stenhammar and early Sibelius will find much to attract them. Recommended.

-- Gramophone [12/1994]

Selections recorded in May, 1989 and March & June, 1990.

"The Nielsen is idiomatically played—poetic, cultured and slightly reserved, just as the composer visualized it. The accompaniment, too, is far more carefully shaped than we sometimes hear... [I]n terms of clarity, precision and poise the performances, like the recordings, are hard to fault." -- Gramophone [11/1993]

20TH CENTURY GUITAR WORKS TIM

Sibelius, J.: Vocal Music

SCHUBERT: PIANO SONATA IN A, W

"Though he was born on the Swedish island of Gotland, Englund settled in Helsinki, where he studied and later, after a spell of study in Tanglewood with Copland, taught. On returning home after his service on the front in 1945, he burned all his wartime manuscripts and sketches, and wrote this symphony, his first orchestral piece—and a remarkably accomplished piece it is! It became known in his native country as the War Symphony, though the composer characterized it as an expression of ''a euphoric joy at having—by a sheer miracle—come through four years of hell during the Second World War alive''. The musical language has more in common with Shostakovich than any other modern composer, but it is far from derivative. The idiom is accessible and there are memorable melodic ideas. The Second Symphony is something of a discovery—the very opening bars in their evocation of nature are almost prophetic of the Tippett of The Midsummer Marriage, and the second movement with its overtones of Shostakovich and its Sibelian undercurrents is really quite powerful. It is only in the finale that he resorts to the (to my ears) rather conventional stock-in-trade Prokofiev-Shostakovich finale (there is a sequential passage that could even come out of Arnold—try track 7, 1'24'' - 1'58'' and you will see what I mean). But while I would not stake the greatest claims for either symphony, neither is as concentrated or densely argued as, say, a Tubin or Rawsthorne symphony, Englund is a real composer who knows a thing or two about musical movement and development and has a well-stocked imagination. The Estonian Symphony Orchestra under Peeter Lilje give a good account of themselves and the recording made in the Philharmonia Hall in Tallinn is very good indeed."

-- Robert Layton, Gramophone [8/1992]

ENGLUND, HEININEN: VIOLIN SONA

SCHUBERT, F.: Duo Sonata in A major / Violin Sonatas (Sonati

SIBELIUS: COMPLETE WORKS FOR V

Sibelius, J.: Cantatas / Finlandia (Complete)

SEVILLA TIMO KORHONEN

Bach: Sonatas for Solo Violin

Swedish composer Melcher Melchers (1882–1961) has been largely forgotten by music history. Melchers studied composition in Paris and his circle of friends included, among others, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Guillaume Apollinaire, Erik Satie, and members of Les Six. Among the Nordic composers he had the biggest impact on the French music life but his aesthetics in music were quite conservative: d’Indy, Chausson and César Franck were his greatest influences. This album by the Gävle Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jaime Martín includes Melchers’ magnum opus, his finely crafted Symphony in D minor, Op. 19 together with world première recordings of two symphonic poems.

REVIEW:

Melcher Melchers' music can be described as traditional with a French accent. Initially he gravitated towards German Late Romanticism, but the French influence exerted a decisive pull, and he became influenced by César Franck, Debussy, Ravel, Satie and Les Six. His compositions include a symphony, symphonic poems, a violin concerto, two piano concertos string quartet, sonatas for violin and cello and twenty songs.

The disc opens with two strikingly contrasting symphonic poems, each receiving their world premiere recordings. The first was inspired by a painting by Peter Paul Rubens titled La Kermesse (1635–1638). It depicts an exuberant festival in the Flemish countryside. Melchers captures the atmosphere to perfection in this lighthearted, ebullient score. There are children playing, people dancing and food and wine flowing in abundance. The rhythmic abandon and colorful orchestration vividly convey the joie de vivre of the scene.

Élégie couldn’t be more different. Written a year before La Kermesse in 1919 it’s dedicated to the memory of the composer’s mother who had recently died. It didn’t, however, receive a premiere until 1924, when it was performed under the baton of Georg Schnéevoigt. Melchers employs dark, sombre sonorites to convey the solemn nature of the subject matter. A static quality pervades the music.

The three-movement Symphony in D minor is Melchers most important composition. Scored for a large orchestra, the work was written in 1925. The composer entered it for a competition a year later organized by the Stockholm Concert Society for the inauguration of a new concert hall in the city. It took second place to Kurt Atterberg’s vocal work Sången. From its first performance it elicited a positive response from the critics. The opening movement is the most extensive of the three. It brims over with drama and powerful climaxes. The contrasting lyrical moments convey an enchanted world of bucolic idyll. A beautiful slow movement overflows with melancholy and wistful regret. The finale recalls the festive mood of La Kermesse, joyous, optimistic and uplifting.

The Gävle Symphony Orchestra under Jaime Martín offer spirited and persuasive performances of these attractive works. They’ve been captured in the best possible sound.

-- MusicWeb International (Stephen Greenbank)