Augusta Holmès Roland Furieux

[matesic]

Thank you Mark for brightening my mood this morning! Can it possibly be that Richard Strauss heard the piece in his teens and stole the allegro feroce theme for Death and Transfiguration?

[Alan Howe]

Sounds to be in the Liszt-Wagner camp, i.e. very much proto-Strauss. It was apparently around the time of its composition that she went to study with César Franck.

[matesic]

No doubt it's me but in places I found the melodrama a touch on the comical side! Jane Glover's less ferocious recording of the allegro feroce makes a better case for the music I think.

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, I agree with you on that point. The Allegro feroce in this reading is so remorselessly feroce that it borders on the unmusical. Still, an interesting piece as a whole, I thought, and the score has now been published I see.

[Alan Howe]

You can also hear the work here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu5kAVGoU78

[Ilja]

Yes, I agree with you on that point. The Allegro feroce in this reading is so remorselessly feroce that it borders on the unmusical. Still, an interesting piece as a whole, I thought, and the score has now been published I see.

In my mind's eye I keep being cast back to those early black-and-white films where despairing damsels get thrown onto railway tracks by bearded villains in bowler hats. It has that sort of hectic quality to it.

[Mark Thomas]

That's spot on, Ilja. The scene painting is very literal throughout the whole work. By the way, I think you'll find that the villains had top hats, bowler hats were way too middle class!

[matesic]

I tried speeding the second movement up by 25%. The improvement is astonishing, still well within the limits of "andante tranquillo" (it could even take another 5-10%). Now we hear a flowing melody with a gently undulating accompaniment rather than a dirge.

[Mark Thomas]

Interesting. So, with the 2nd movement too slow and the third too fast, perhaps maestra Peleggi didn't do so well?

[Hector]

Thank you for this. The Andante reminds me of Berlioz, and the whole brings to mind Liszt very strongly, I half expected Mazeppa to come galloping through. Quite happy with the tempos.

[matesic]

Give this a listen and see what you think:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/1333sv281r97igq/Holm%25C3%25A8s%253B_Roland_Furieux_Symphony_02.mp3/file

Audacity allows you to change the tempo without changing the pitch (+38% in this case). Of course the timbre of the instruments changes somewhat and sound quality is bound to suffer on account of having to convert to .wav and then .mp3 format a second time.

[Hector]

I can hear how that might be preferred, but I do think the Andante is better slower as a contrast to the hectic outer movements, I find love scenes flow better when languid. The quick tempo of the finale and the theatrical dynamic range does tend to the absurd but then when you are 'furious' you think you're presenting as magnificent when in fact most observers find you to be at least a touch absurd - which is what I presume Holmes is aiming for.   

[matesic]

Fair enough. It was the six repetitions of the opening 2-bar phrase that particularly tried my patience.