Felix Draeseke's other Symphonies

[Ilja]

Something of a confession: I do prefer symphonies 1 & 2 to 3 & 4, and more generally early Draeseke to late Draeseke. It seems to me that his earlier works were imbued with a contagious energy that often went missing later in his career. I can see why people would consider No. 3 the objectively better work, but I honestly don't enjoy it quite as much as its predecessors. Although I also think the work would benefit more than most from a really top-notch recording; the ones that we have are okay, but certainly not stellar.

[Alan Howe]

I blame dear old Alan Krueck for my enthusiasm. I just wish there were more recordings...

[Mark Thomas]

There was a time, a decade or so ago, when Draeseke's reputation seemed to be on the ascendent, but interest seems to have faded again. I think Alan's analysis is correct, that it's largely down to his music being a "tough nut to crack". I must confess to finding it so, there aren't many of his works which give immediate pleasure in the way that a more accessible composer's do; I'd cite Raff as a not-so-random comparison. Of course, Draeseke's music at least has the reputation of having an intellectual depth which Raff's lacks, and therein lies it's value, but with the music of so many unsung composers being given an airing in the last few years, not to mention the exposure now available to women and black composers, perhaps it's not surprising that one whose work requires time and thought to appreciate fully has failed to keep the attention of recording labels and buyers. 

[GoranTch]

Something of a confession: I do prefer symphonies 1 & 2 to 3 & 4, and more generally early Draeseke to late Draeseke. It seems to me that his earlier works were imbued with a contagious energy that often went missing later in his career. I can see why people would consider No. 3 the objectively better work, but I honestly don't enjoy it quite as much as its predecessors. Although I also think the work would benefit more than most from a really top-notch recording; the ones that we have are okay, but certainly not stellar.

Well, this aligns very much with my perception of the symphonies over the years as well, but it is a the same time a strange thing: even though I (heretically) perceive Nos.1 and 2 to be more "rounded" masterpieces then the Tragica, that Scherzo in the 3rd is to me just one of the most mesmerizing Scherzi in all of symphonic music.

Just one among so many rich details in that movement - the way in which that descending flute line is taken over by the celli, as they set in "too early" and overtake it with a kind of brazenly charming mischief... what an incredible compositional moment.     

[GoranTch]

I think Alan's analysis is correct, that it's largely down to his music being a "tough nut to crack". I must confess to finding it so, there aren't many of his works which give immediate pleasure in the way that a more accessible composer's do

Unfortunately, I tend to agree with this. Draeseke sometimes strikes me like a Bruckner who only wrote his 1st, 2nd, 5th and 8th symphonies... (in the sense of having written just the least overtly "beautiful" and accessible works).

One work of his that I know well and I would argue would be among the exceptions is the wonderful Serenade for orchestra.

[John Boyer]

Of Draeseke's symphonies I only know the first and the third, and had these been my introduction to the composer I would have never listened to him again. It was enough for me to avoid risking the second and fourth. 

Luckily, my introduction was the quintet for piano, horn, and strings, a winning composition from first note to last that encouraged me to track down more.  His clarinet sonata and cello sonata are also equally engaging works that I would cheerfully recommend to anyone. As for the rest, however, I can work up little enthusiasm.

Why is Draeseke, then, a tough nut to crack in most instances yet so immediately appealing in others?  Or do others find an equal level of difficulty (or engagement) in all his work?

[Alan Howe]

I had an extended email correspondence with Alan Krueck in the last few years of his life and also had the privilege of meeting up with him in London on one occasion. I think his knowledge rubbed off on me. Otherwise, I just enjoyed working on understanding his music; the joy for me is that his compositions are simply unlike anyone else's: he was a fully-fledged New German sympathiser who wrote in the classical forms, unlike Wagner, Liszt, etc. Nobody else of his generation achieved that feat.

[FBerwald]

Alan, how would you rate his Piano concerto. It didn't make much of an impression on me the first time. Should I revisit the piece?

[terry martyn]

I was introduced to Draeseke when I stumbled across that ancient 50's LP of his Third.  I'm not sure that was the most favourable introduction to his music.

But the Serenade is a joy,and I am rather fond of his Piano Concerto,particularly the ebullient finale.

[Alan Howe]

Should I revisit the piece?

Definitely - the slow movement's sublime. But avoid the version on MDG with its clattery piano; instead go for Becker on Hyperion:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7978558--the-romantic-piano-concerto-47-jadassohn-draeseke

[John Boyer]

[...H]ow would you rate his Piano concerto. It didn't make much of an impression on me the first time. Should I revisit the piece?

Funny you should ask, because I have been listening to the Piano Concerto quite a bit over the past few weeks.  It's hard to believe that an intellectual composer like Draeseke could write a work so monumentally vulgar (at least in its outer movements) as this. 

From the opening movement, which seems to consist mostly of the piano trying to cram in more scales than the time allotted to play them -- and not much else -- to the finale, which opens with a dead-ringer for the theme from "Mr. Ed" and follows this with a tune straight out of a Victorian music hall, it's a work that wears its bad taste on its sleeve to the same degree that Tchaikovsky wears his heart. 

...And yet...

And yet, we end up with a work SO bad that it's good.  It's the sort of thing that Rubinstein would have written if he had a better command of form and orchestration. Draeseke's Piano Concerto is the very definition of a guilty pleasure, to be experienced in public with embarrassment and in private with mirth.

And in the middle of it all is a slow movement so sublime, as Alan aptly described it, as to seem to be the product of a different composer.  It is, perhaps, Draeseke's most beautiful creation.  When it is over, you'll want to queue it up for an immediate encore because you just don't want to spoil the mood left by the gentle ending.


Yes, by all means revisit the piece, but I would recommend the Tanski/Hanson on MD+G over the Becker/Sanderling on Hyperion.  In terms of sound, the Becker/Sanderling has it all over the Tanski/Hanson. It is clearer and less tubby. We hear more orchestral detail, and Becker's modern Steinway is a better instrument than Tanski's 1925 Blüthner, which sounds improbably fortepiano-ish for a concert grand dating from my grandfather's 29th year. 

But this is an example where the recording with the weaker sound is noticeably the better performance. I don't mean technically, because even here I think Becker/Sanderling play with greater virtuosity, but Tanski and Hanson consistently do a better job of bringing out the best in the music itself. Compare, for example, the final variation of the slow movement: Becker and Sanderling are pretty enough, but Tanski and Hanson play it so delicately -- words like "ethereal" and "gossamer" come to mind -- as to make you sit up in your chair to listen.

Sublime indeed.

[Mark Thomas]

It's so long since I listened to the Piano Concerto that I have no memory of it, so John's characterisation of it is both intriguing and confounding. I had Draeseke down as a serious, intellectual composer of serious, sometimes even daunting music. So, the slow movement aside, how did he come to compose such a trashy piece? I shall have to listen (to the MDG recording) first thing tomorrow...

[Alan Howe]

For the PC, there's always Triendl on Telos, included in his set of the composer's piano music (which I think may now be deleted, sadly). I just find the piano on MDG trying to listen to.
And yes, the first and third movements are among the most extrovert music Draeseke wrote. Very OTT!

[Alan Howe]

Oh, and by the way: Dr Krueck, enthusiast though he was for Draeseke's music, knew that the PC was less than the composer's best. I called it 'garrulous' and I think he would have agreed, although I don't have chapter and verse. I think it has to be enjoyed for what it is: a Lisztian pianistic potboiler with a sublime slow movement.

[eschiss1]

I keep hoping for more recordings specifically of the 2nd and 3rd quartets and the cello sonata and intend to promote them as I can ...