Yesterday my copy of the Lachner 5 arrived, and I have listened to this more than one hour lasting symphony twice. Released by Marco Polo (1993), a label which acts like the successor of the VOX/Turnabout from the 1970s in their tradition of releasing unsung work.
Of course this symphony, written in 1835, is a fine piece of music. But almost anything written between 1820-1900 sounds fine to me, although there are big differences, also between our unsung composers.
Although pleasant to hear, this symphony is in fact too long-winded for me. Themes or successive notes are repeated quite often, but in another gamut, particularly in the 3rd movement (Do-Re-Mi > Re-Mi-Fa > Mi-Fa-So, and so on. I hope you understand what I mean, because, as I’ve said before, I’m not a musician). The 2nd movement
weaves its way gently forward with music of considerable leisurely charm, as Keith Anderson puts it in his booklet notes, and I fully agree on that.
I think this is an example of music which needs “to sink in”, as Alan strikingly puts it in his interesting reply #1 (topic: Justified or Unjustified Unsung). And this symphony certainly deserves to be heard more times in order to fully appreciate it. I wonder how Lachner’s 6th sounds, which is according to Schumann twice as good.
Remarkable is the price some sellers ask for this CD. I have bought it at Amazon.fr for EUR 7.99 but I also found it offered for EUR 94.41, Amazon.co.uk offers the disc for £70.01 and in the US for $69.99. Most peculiar.
Time to order Lachner’s 8 while listening to his 5 for the 3rd time!
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If you like listening to singing-birds, you might know the difference between the song of the (European) Blackbird and of the (European) Song Thrush. What a coincidence. While listening again to Lachner’s 5th I also heard a Song Thrush singing in my garden. Then I thought there is a certain resemblance.
Lachner’s 5th is like the Song Thrush: this thrush repeats every tune a few times before continuing his song… Schubert’s 9th is like the Blackbird.
