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Further works to explore after Mendelssohn’s ‘Scottish’ Symphony
Though Mendelssohn’s ‘Italian’ Symphony is catalogued as his Fourth, the premiere of it actually predated the ‘Scottish’ Third by nine years. What the numbered order does reflect, however, is that Mendelssohn took his tour of Italy soon after his Scottish jaunt. Both works show the composer in picturepostcard mode – though he never said so himself, inspirations for the Fourth probably included a religious procession he saw in Naples, while the lively finale is based on the Saltarello dance. (Cbso/gardner Chandos CHSA5132)
Schumann’s Third Symphony, the ‘Rhenish’, offers us a similar breath of fresh air. This life-affirming work from 1850 reflects Schumann’s happy stay in the Rhineland area, and the goodnatured rippling second movement was originally subtitled ‘Morning by the Rhine’. A brief moment of contrast is provided by the solemn processional feel of the fourth movement, occasioned by a visit to Cologne Cathedral. (Swedish Co/thomas Dausgaard BIS BISSACD1619)
Next, let’s have some Spohr. Though the German explained how he was inspired to write his Seventh Symphony by a holiday to the Swiss mountains, it is in his Ninth (1850) that he really let his imagination run free in depicting the world around him. Subtitled ‘The Seasons’, the symphony begins in the chill of winter and ends, as the harvest is gathered in autumn, with a joyful fourth-movement celebration, complete with quotes from the Rheinweinlied drinking song. (Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana/howard Shelley Hyperion CDA67939) Like Mendelssohn, Bruch was smitten by all things Scottish, famously incorporating a number of folk songs into his Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra. But try also his Symphony No. 1, whose buoyant finale in particular surely owed more than a little to Mendelssohnian precedent. (Lso/richard Hickox Chandos CHAN 9784).
Finally, for a very different take on Scottish themes, there’s Bantock’s atmospheric Hebridean Symphony from 1913. Cast in one long movement, much of the work conjures up haunting images of misty shores and mountains. Highland pipe tunes and Hebridean folk songs are also part of the mix as the work reaches its rowdy conclusion. (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/vernon Handley Hyperion CDA66450)
Spohr’s Ninth comes complete with quotes from a Rhineland drinking song