Continue the journey…
Further works to explore a!er Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony
Suk’s Asrael Symphony casts a searching psychological spotlight
It’s often been said that Franz Liszt was the inventor of the tone poem. From the Cradle to the
Grave is possibly the best of the 13 he composed. Like the Manfred Symphony, it is decked out in sombre colours and describes a troubled psychological journey. Originally intended as a piano work, this dark and brooding piece comes beautifully into focus in its full orchestral garb (BBC Scottish Orchestra/ilan Volkov
Hyperion CDA67856).
Josef Suk’s equally troubled but more autobiographical Asrael Symphony faces up to the Angel of Death, which dealt Suk a crippling double blow. Originally intended as a tribute to the life of Dvoˇrák, Suk’s father-in-law, the Asrael Symphony also became an ‘in memoriam’ for Suk’s wife who died a year later. Mahlerian in scale and over an hour long, the work casts a searching psychological spotlight. It is serious music about deeply personal matters, dealing with grief in a moving and dignified fashion, something Tchaikovsky would have understood (Czech Philharmonic/charles Mackerras Supraphon SU40432).
Mily Balakirev’s Gothic tone poem Tamara is probably Balakirev’s finest
orchestral work. Unsuspecting travellers are lured to the castle of the she-devil Tamara, who seduces and murders them, throwing their bodies into the river below. After the success of the Dante-inspired Francesca da Rimini, Tchaikovsky’s mentor knew what he was doing when he offered him the scenario for the Manfred Symphony (USSR State Academy Symphony/ Evgeny Svetlanov Alto ALC 1331). Sergei Prokofiev’s
Symphony No. 5 is a work of great contrasts, and it’s easy to go along with the composer’s claim that the work aimed ‘to glorify man as free and happy’ and portray ‘his mighty strength, his noble spirit’. All very Tchaikovskian – and the music, especially in the bitter-sweet Adagio, often appears to be a mirror onto the human spirit. But the composer’s words should be taken with a pinch of salt. World War II was in its last throes and such patriotic-sounding sentiments may well have pleased the Soviet propaganda machine. In effect, what Prokofiev had done was ‘merely’ compose a great classical symphony, which stands entirely on its own as pure music (Bergen Philharmonic/ Andrew Litton BIS BIS2124).