Grimm Symphony/Suite in Kanonform (cpo)

[eschiss1]

Hrm!
Schulz-Dornburg is a name that's been turning up lately a few times- interesting... Thanks.

(He seems to have been the dedicatee of Frommel's - remember?- first symphony, for example - out of our current orbit, but we have discussed it before - and of one work which I noticed on IMSLP that isn't in our orbit (Vorfrühling, by Wellesz) but which explains why his name rang a bell... And he premiered Karl Weigl's 2nd symphony...)

[Alan Howe]

The whole Symphony is now available on YouTube:
(i) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu3ca3G6Exk
(ii) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKWTmiJgo90
(iii) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFpRYxHcGr0
(iv) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FxypdBnR4A

[Alan Howe]

Just wondering whether members have had time to absorb this fine Symphony? I can certainly hear why Chris Fifield thought it was a significant work...

[eschiss1]

I've only heard it once so far, unfortunately (the upload we had here, I forget if it's the same as the cpo recording - ah right, seems to be from the timings at Prestoclassical and as observed subdivisions on the mp3, almost the same that is) - I intend to return to it, anyway, soon. I'm convinced of its quality, if not necessarily of its prescience, so to speak, but I am convinceable!

[terry martyn]

I expected to have heard it,and commented by now, but I ordered it from Presto and they have just promised me that it will be ready to be sent by July 25th.

[Alan Howe]

Oh, dear. I apologise - I ordered my copy from jpc in Germany. I didn't realise what the UK release date would be.

[terry martyn]

And that's what I would have done normally,so I am kicking myself for straying from the straight and narrow.

[eschiss1]

Ah, I forgot it's been available from jpc since April...

[John Boyer]

Mine is still in transit from JPC.

[Ilja]

Y'all can still listen to it on Youtube, and the proceeds of that will flow to cpo as well, of course.

Anyhow, I must confess myself rather impressed by this work – yet another confirmation (as if we needed it) of the finalist ridiculousness of the "Dahlhaus Gap".* It is a weighty work in the good sense, with some real depth and an impressive diversity of moods, going from Brahmsian lyricism to a more stringent tone that is somewhat reminiscent of Bruch. That may be its greatest weakness where it comes to public perception, but it's hardly Grimm's fault: almost every passage reminded me of a different (usually later) work. It may have well worked against the symphony being appreciated on its own merits, however.

Still a hugely entertaining work, however. I thought that in practice it consists of three parts: a brooding, quite diverse first movement, a rather non-funereal Trauermarsch second movement, and a final section consisting of two almost continually forward-driving fast movements. I took my time listening to it yesterday evening and it didn't feel like an almost 45-minute symphony at all. If I were to voice a niggle, it might be that its emotional center is perhaps too much concentrated within that first half-hour (and particularly the first movement), making the rest feel not as substantial as it could have been.

* I'm feeling a bit bad for poor Carl if this what he'll be remembered by, because even he doesn't seem to have been entirely convinced by his own thesis.

[Alan Howe]

poor Carl

He's been comprehensively overtaken by events, i.e. the rediscovery of a number of fine symphonies written post-Schumann 4 and, most importantly, Chris Fifield's landmark book. Musicology marches ever onward!

[Ilja]

Glad that it does, even if the direction (e.g., extreme HIPness) sometimes seems self-defeating.

[Alan Howe]

Agreed, although I was really meaning the discovery, established in recent decades, that Dahlhaus' gap wasn't as barren as he had claimed.

[Mark Thomas]

in practice it consists of three parts: a brooding, quite diverse first movement, a rather non-funereal Trauermarsch second movement, and a final section consisting of two almost continually forward-driving fast movements.

Ilja makes a good point. In this performance (the only one we have, after all) Golo Berg starts off the 4th movement at virtually the same breakneck pace as the third finishes so, despite the few seconds break between them, the ear almost carries over from one to the other seamlessly and one does have the impression of a balanced three movement work: 16:29, 11:09 and 14:33, enhanced by the Finale returning to the Scherzo's pace at the close. Maybe this was Grimm's intention, whilst still keeping within the four movement tradition. It really doesn't matter, it's a powerful and satisfying listen all the same, but I wonder whether a longer break between the final pair of movements, such as one might easily get in the concert hall, would destroy the impression and expose the imbalance of the four movements? 

[John Boyer]

Luckily it arrived in the post this morning. On a single hearing the symphony strikes me as a competent, somewhat forward looking work for its period, graced by effective inner movements but let down by a finale that doesn't stand up to the material that preceded it.  In short, it's not bad, but it's nothing that I would recommend.

The Suite in Canon Form made a more favorable impression, having a great deal of period (albeit pastiche) charm.