Siegmund von Hausegger (1872-1948)

[albion]

Finally getting to grips with my recent haul from CPO, I've been mesmerised by the large-scale Natursymphonie by Hausegger -



This seems to me to be quite extraordinarily good music in the opulent Straussian style (with a chorus thrown in for good measure - always good for guaranteeing an audience of friends and family  ). I think Mark mentioned that CPO had more recordings of Hausegger in the pipeline - please could you give us some more details? 

[Mark Thomas]

More of an assumption than details. I have recordings of radio broadcasts in recent years from German radio stations of the same forces performing von Hausegger's symphonic poems Wieland der Schmied (comparatively brief at only 19 minutes long) and Barbarossa (47 minutes and in three movements), so I have assumed that events at cpo will move at their usual glacial pace and that eventually we'll see them released commercially. I have no inside knowledge. Personally, I prefer both these earlier works to the Natursinfonie; they are nearer to their obvious Straussian models and seem less self-indulgent and over-worked than the later work, good though it is.

[albion]

Thanks for this Mark - CPO seem to be extraordinarily dilatory about releasing their material, but when they do it is almost invariably well worth the wait.

Have you heard the Botstein/ ASO Wieland der Schmied download and would you recommend it? 

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, I have a copy of that too. Personally I find it a little rushed. Botstein shaves about a minute off Fritsch's timing and I'm not sure that the music benefits as the myriad details in the score tend to get obscured and it all comes across as more episodic and no more exciting. Of course, it may just be me being used to one interpretation and not taking to another, equally valid but substantially different one. Added to which, the radio recording is sonically better than the Botstein live recording. Either way, if I want Wieland I always go for Fritsch.

[albion]

Many thanks for this appraisal, Mark.

In lieu of the tantalising CPO recording, I think I'll have to give the Botstein performance a try - this is a composer I definitely get along with!

[TerraEpon]

There was some discussion of this on this thread:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,332.0.html

[albion]

Here is a link to some very interesting and useful information about Hausegger - http://vonhausegger.com/files/Pan%20German%20Symphonist.pdf. It certainly makes me want to hear more of his music! 

[M. Henriksen]

That looks like some very interesting reading. Thanks for the link, I've been struggling a bit to find a some decent information about Hausegger.


Morten

[albion]

Having now also heard Barbarossa and Wieland der Schmied I can heartily endorse Mark's glowing opinion about these works. There is nothing 'second-hand' about this composer at all - roll on the CPO disc! 

[FBerwald]

It's a bit late in this discussion, but is there a catalog of  Hausegger's works? Extant / lost, etc?

[Mark Thomas]

I've never found anything better than Don O'Connor's monograph mentioned above. It concentrates on the major orchestral works, but in the biographical introduction he does mention Hausegger's juvenilia and other compositions in passing. It's well worth reading.