Zweers Symphony No.3

[Alan Howe]

For those of us who didn't acquire it in its Olympia incarnation, Sterling has just brought out Hans Vonk's late-70s recording of Zweers' massive 3rd Symphony. Excerpts here...

http://www.sterlingcd.com/catalogue/cds1088_new.html

[oldman]

Also available as an MP3 download (with all of the other Zweers symphonies) via iTunes for $9.95 US

[Ilja]

A fine work, especially in the middle movements. Bo and I disagree whether it is let down by its finale or not (he thinks it's not, I'm not so sure), but both the work and the recording are worth a listen despite the latter's age. A full-bodied, grand symphony which always makes me think of a scaled-up Richard Strauss F minor.

[eschiss1]

Wit's recording of no. 2 is enjoyable and grows on a person - I look forward to hearing this. (Perhaps it and the recording of his sym. no. 1 in D were broadcast over Concertzender.nl at some point recently...)
Eric

[Pengelli]

I am very tempted to buy No3.

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Act on those temptations, Pengelli! You won't regret doing so. No. 3 is a fine work. I have the original Olympia disc (where it is accompanied by a not very interesting Flute Concerto by Theodoor Verhey of 12 minutes duration) which I assume sounds identical to the new Sterling. Maybe not absolute audiophile standard but then certainly a full-blooded, more than acceptable, recording. More important, the performance is wonderfully fluent. And, even more important, you'll hear a substantial symphony with a remarkably inventive and ingenious structure. Maybe the last movement (which Zweers apparently wrote later) whilst not a damp squib, is a bit of a let-down after the preceding utterly majestic third movement. But that's no real criticism, for not everyone can be Bruckner!

Peter

[Marcus]

It will be interesting to see if the Sterling version of Zweer's Symphony no3 is identical to the Olympia disc. The Finale on the Olympia version has a number of cuts, and I wonder if that has detracted from it.?
Like everyone else, I enjoy all of Zweer's symphonies, although they are all a little uneven. The 1st movement of the 3rd Symphony evokes the sounds of spring, and the other movements are of equal quality, however, as has been stated by others, the finale is a let down. After 45 minutes of first class music, the finale does not fulfil the promise of the first three, calling to mind the 4th Symphony in D minor,  of J.von Herbeck (1831-77), with an unforgettable first movement theme, but Herbeck's inspiration seems to decrease as the symphony proceeds, in spite of the organ reinforcement, it doesn't quite work for me. Another symphony where the development of the composer's ideas is not well reflected in the finale, is the Symphony in A minor by Coleridge-Taylor, (1875-1912), but for a composer of such talent & promise, I am happy to overlook that.
For flute lovers, the Verhey Flute Concerto no2 in A minor, is a slight improvement on the 1st. (NM Classics #NM 92069). Also on that disc is the Concertino by J.W.Wilms (1772-1847) & A Nocturne/Andante by J.M.Coenen (1825-99)

Marcus.

[eschiss1]

It will be interesting to see if the Sterling version of Zweer's Symphony no3 is identical to the Olympia disc. The Finale on the Olympia version has a number of cuts, and I wonder if that has detracted from it.?
Like everyone else, I enjoy all of Zweer's symphonies, although they are all a little uneven. The 1st movement of the 3rd Symphony evokes the sounds of spring, and the other movements are of equal quality, however, as has been stated by others, the finale is a let down. After 45 minutes of first class music, the finale does not fulfil the promise of the first three, calling to mind the 4th Symphony in D minor,  of J.von Herbeck (1831-77), with an unforgettable first movement theme, but Herbeck's inspiration seems to decrease as the symphony proceeds, in spite of the organ reinforcement, it doesn't quite work for me. Another symphony where the development of the composer's ideas is not well reflected in the finale, is the Symphony in A minor by Coleridge-Taylor, (1875-1912), but for a composer of such talent & promise, I am happy to overlook that.
For flute lovers, the Verhey Flute Concerto no2 in A minor, is a slight improvement on the 1st. (NM Classics #NM 92069). Also on that disc is the Concertino by J.W.Wilms (1772-1847) & A Nocturne/Andante by J.M.Coenen (1825-99)

Marcus.

I think I've heard the Wilms concertino when Concertzender broadcast a multi-week series with quite a few of that composer's works. He hasn't been much discussed on this forum but his works seem to me very enjoyable and even memorable...
Eric

[Marcus]

Hello Eric,
The Wilms Flute Concertino was the reason I bought this disc about 10 years ago. I must admit I hadn't played it for some time, but that is no reflection on the quality of the music. As you would expect, if you know his symphonies, the Wilms Flute Concertino is well written, with flashes of Mozart & Beethoven, in an early romantic style, in three movements, and although Wilms calls it a concertino, at 18'47", it is 6 minutes longer than Verhey's1st and 30 seconds shorter that the Verhey 2nd, but in my opinion, more substantial than both of those works.
Marcus

[Ilja]

It will be interesting to see if the Sterling version of Zweer's Symphony no3 is identical to the Olympia disc. The Finale on the Olympia version has a number of cuts, and I wonder if that has detracted from it.?

I can answer this one very much in the affirmative. The fourth movement was always considered the weakest of the four, which was reason enough to make a few sizeable cuts in order to fit it on LP in 1978. There is a more recent recording by the Gelders Orkest (not released, alas) which doesn't have the cuts, and the movement holds much better together with all the music.

In this case, Sterling simply purchased the rights to the Olympia recording. It's identical, note-for-note, as are the liner notes. As far as I now it wasn't remastered either. But then, it didn't need to be.

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Many thanks, Ilja, for that clarification. Exactly what I wanted to know. Good news, having got the Olympia I don't have to buy the Sterling. Bad news, the only recorded versions of the symphony are of truncated performances. Damn - from what you say the work stands on its legs better if it is performed uncut. (By 'cuts' are we talking the odd slice or two, or substantial sections?)

Peter

[mbhaub]

Last night I gave the Zweer's 3rd a spin and was duly impressed with most of it. It is large, big-boned, imaginative. Reminded my of Brucker a lot in the first movement introduction. The 2nd movement sounded like it wanted to take off like a Glazunov Scherzo but just didn't have the wings. Heavy orchestration.
I hadn't read all of the comments on this thread before listening, but now that I have some of my suspicions are confirmed. There were some really odd changes in the finale that now I realize were likely the results of cuts. But I didn't think the finale was all that bad -- I guess it depends on what you were expecting. A grand, glorious, triumphant finale it is not. But there are other ways to end a long symphony besides using cymbals and drums.
For a while I thought my disk was defective, as there are numerous, brief dropouts in the first movement that gave away the recording's analog tape origins. I'm a headphone listener and it's annoying. But add this disk to my list of recordings that "they should have waited until the traffic passes". You can clearly hear the exhaust noise of a pretty good sized truck passing near the recording venue in the opening. It probably wasn't at all audible in the LP incarnation (if there was one), but on cd it's obvious. But I'm glad to have heard the symphony, it was a wonderful hour of listening. Now, on to the Herzogenberg Odysseus.

[Ilja]

Kudos to your listening skills, Martin! The symphony was recorded in a church in central The Hague, which lies next to one of its busier roads.

[Peter1953]

Off-topic. I've just returned from my Chopin pilgrimage to Poland. I must say that, if you are sensitive for this (I am), a very special feeling comes over you when you are sitting in the chamber of Chopin's birth in the house at Żelazowa Wola whilst listening to a live concert of Chopin's work (by Edward Wolanin, anybody ever heard of this Polish pianist?). By the way, the Nazi's plundered the house and destroyed all things. In Warsaw there is a lovely Chopin museum, and in the streets in Warsaw's centre you can listen to Chopin's music at any time, just by pressing on a button on metal couches (they are all over the place) and music comes out of a loudspeaker in that couch. Poland is really very proud of its main composer.

When I came home I found my ordered Zweers 3. Yesterday evening I listened for the first time to this more than one hour lasting symphony. I was overwhelmed and amazed that a Dutch composer wrote a masterpiece like this (shame on me). A very strong, well-crafted massive symphony, full of lovely melodies and surprising changes of moods. If you listen concentrated to this work (don't listen to it as background music) you realize that this is one of those powerful symphonies (like Noskowski, Cliffe) which grabs your attention for every second. The first three movements are the most captivating, the fourth is in a different mood and less interesting, but not bad at all. Is the style Wagnerian? I don't think so, maybe it's more a mixture of Wagner, Bruckner, Strauss, but not sombre, although it has its emotional moments. Is this symphony, called To my country, a typical Dutch work, a work with Dutch folk music influences? I cannot recognize that.

Although recorded in August 1977, the quality is fine and we can only be grateful to Sterling that now all three Zweers's symphonies are available.

For members who are still in doubt whether to order this CD or not, don't hesitate. You won't be disappointed.