Jean
Martinon - Orchestre national l' O.R.T.
There are certain
years in musical history where one can get a sense of the truly
international character of the enterprise of making great music
succeed. In the year 1855, Steinway & Sons was established in
New York City, Johannes Brahms had written and published all three of
his piano sonatas and was getting ready to take up with the
Schumanns. Schumann himself was at the height of his powers. And
in and around Paris, the young Camile Saint-Saëns, who certainly
will figure in many pages of this blog, came upon the scene.
He
was in every way a remarkable prodigy. He was gifted with a great
general intellect and a good long life, in fact one of the longest in
professional music. He is often passed over because the quality and
depth of his art are rarely appreciated.
That
which was in every way French at the middle of the 19th
century was featured in this work. Though much of it derives as said
from Schumann and Mendelssohn, other ideas come from Beethoven, but
the spaces inside the music, the depth, the scenic quality of the
orchestral sound, all choirs neatly displayed and cleverly flanked
against each other, all that is the uniqueness of Saint-Saëns.
The
work is scored in four movements:
1
- Adagio,allegro
2
- Marche,scherzo : Allegretto scherzando
3
- Adagio
4
- Finale : Allegro maestoso
Senses of immense spacial
distances and vastness suggesting natural phenomena in light and air,
especially in the third movement, though certainly derivative of
Beethoven (his 9th symphony 3rd movement) are
unique to Saint-Saëns.
We owe a tremendous thanks that this
performance is up here. Now we need more people around the world to
champion it. The last movement is very “national” and military.
We will witness many pieces that fall into this category as we survey
the music of Western civilization through the 19th into
the 20th centuries.
This
symphony closes with a climactic grand fugue. This symphony deserves
a good solid revival!
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