Many years ago when I was in high school I was quite fortunate to have the opportunity to take a few music-related classes. The only advanced-placement class I ever took was AP Music History which consisted of mostly listening to various composers through the ages (as well as basic theory and analysis). One of the pieces we listened to was the Danse Macabre by Saint-Saëns. I can’t remember if the concept of the Symphonic Poem was presented in this class (most likely), but I certainly do remember being exposed to other examples of the genre and enjoying those more than the Saint-Saëns piece. Yet, it did stick in my mind.
Flash forward many years into the future and one of the first Living Stereo sacd purchases I made was this disc which included a nice version of Saint-Saëns’s 3rd Symphony.
The first time I played it was when I had my subwoofer-engaged system fired up in full 3-track “surround” mode. The bass frequencies generated by the organ part in this symphony were so intense it shook the house, yet in a warm and enveloping way. I understood immediately why this symphony rated so highly in the Standard Rep. And sure enough, as I started pulling LPs out of the thrift stores there were many versions of Saint-Saëns’ 3rd Symphony available. Yet, I kept wondering – “what about his other symphonies?” Well, there were only the main two that preceded the 3rd to speak of. Both of which I just listened to last night from this great box set from Vox:
I don’t know how many volumes were prepared of just the music of Saint-Saëns, but included in this 3LP set are those three symphonies and some symphonic poems. He did, however, create quite a lot of orchestral, chamber and solo keyboard music in his long lifetime of over 80 years on the planet. See this comprehensive list here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Camille_Saint-Sa%C3%ABns
What I like especially about the Vox Box is the inclusion of a nice booklet of liner notes. Until I read those notes I can’t say I knew anything of consequence about the composer. What I found particularly interesting was the fact that he was not merely a composer, but a well-rounded scholar in many areas of inquiry – languages, mathematics and sciences as well as the arts. Yet in his time, Camille Saint-Saëns was known primarily as the premier pianist of his era and region. In fact, he was known to be France’s main challenger to Liszt in terms of prodigious keyboard talent. Yet, the two men were friends – Liszt being older and serving as inspiration to Saint-Saëns as well. It is no surprise to discover that Saint-Saëns’ famous 3rd Symphony carries a dedication to Liszt. Yet, Liszt himself never composed a symphony himself (that I know of).
I have to admit I must be a symphony obsessive. It is usually the first type of work I want to hear by any given composer. At this point in my journey I am still quite enamored by the concept of the extended orchestral work and symphonies are, to me, the ultimate expression of such a concept. Yet, there are some composers who never really bothered much with symphonic form - Stravinsky, Ravel, Debussy to name a few. So it is particularly odd that Saint-Saëns would write only three symphonies with the last being considered one of his major works which he decided to let stand as the last. And he had at least another 20 years of living and composing left in him (he would live into his 80s). So, I was a little disappointed to learn this news. Yet there is a lot more music of his to discover down the line. In the meantime I did listen to the first two symphonies from the Vox Box and they were quite enjoyable and distinct, if perhaps a bit brief (each was contained on one side of an LP record). I listened to the other pieces included as well – quite enjoyable. In fact, as it relates to my last post here – I noticed the Vox Box was recorded as a quadraphonic set – in this case as a QS matrix record. I haven’t played it through the new decoder box yet, but I am looking forward to the experience.
Reading the liner notes for the Saint-Saëns box put me in touch with some thoughts I hadn’t really followed up on in a long time – particularly regarding Liszt. A good bit of inspiration for me to get digging into this style of music was partly inspired by a fun article I read years ago about a mad, crazy pianist who was re-discovered in the latter part of the 20th Century and made a brief and improbable comeback due to his unique interpretations of Liszt piano works – especially the late pieces. Here is a link to a blurb I wrote about this guy on my other blog (which has links to the original article):
http://catchagroove-kaiser.blogspot.com/2011/01/if-you-live-long-enough-your-weirdness.html
Anyway, after reading that story I decided I needed to hear as much Liszt as I could stand – especially the oddball late-period stuff. I was excited to discover music that was clearly ahead of its time. Among various sources for this material I’d tracked down, this record by Hungarian pianist Erno Szegedi is chock-full of late period Liszt piano pieces – in other words, “the Good Stuff”.
Liszt, like many composers and artists who live long lives, had several “periods” – the latter stuff was the most avant-garde by a long stretch. Not many people who know of Liszt have ever bothered to check out that period of his art. Most are aware of his showy piano pieces like Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. While some solo piano music can be interesting in moderate doses, it doesn’t always thrill me as much as I wish it could, honestly. Since piano was Liszt’s main deal in life and since I’m not always prone to stacking up the platters for a few hours worth of solo piano music its no surprise my exposure to his music has been sporadic over the last few years. One record that I have enjoyed spinning more frequently has been this fully-orchestrated version of Six Hungarian Rhapsodies by the composer and conducted by Hermann Scherchen for Westminster.
Just as Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition takes on a new dimension through Ravel’s orchestration, so too do Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies. It really is quite fascinating how a piece for solo piano (or some other instrument) can be orchestrated in this way. If done correctly, such a transformation can enhance rather than overpower the original musical intent of the composer. Perhaps there are purists who might disagree, but as I get older I find I am less and less interested in so-called “purists”. I think it is a highly suspect concept and quite distinct from “traditionalists”. Tradition I understand – purity, eh……not so much.
As it happens I've been doing more listening than writing lately. I think what I ought to do for the next segment is a retrospective of the year's best albums. There's all sorts of records I've been listening to that aren't connected to a theme and / or larger story. And in keeping with the overall aim of passing on info about what I consider to be fun LPs to listen to - I'll be preparing that list with visuals for next time. Until then - Happy Listening!!
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