Fritz Brun CDs on GUILD

[adriano]

Thanks, Yaskovsky

It's not as "very favourable" as that: the author says that I - and all the soloists (!) - did not bring out enough "colour" in our interpretations. And that we could have been more "flexible". Which I both strongly disapprove.
Aart van der Wal apparently expects music from an extravert and "big orchestra" composer like Strauss or Respighi - an does no realize that Brun's concerns were all other than that. And that his orchestra formation is mostly Brahms-sized! In his Symphonies, the only percussion instruments are timpani; and there is no triangle, no harp, no celesta etc.
This review is unfair - although the author writes a lot of useful info about Brun and his time (from where elase he could get it than from my 164-page booklet?) - but this is not the real purpose of a CD review.
He also says that, compared to the historical bonus CD included, I have a better control of the orchestra than Brun (who is conducting there). Brun worked many times with the Swiss Radio Orchestra; and he was active from 1909 until 1941 with his regular Berne Symphony, with whom he gave over 250 concerts.
As a reviewer, I would never dare to affirm such things on music unknown to me before having consulted the scores - and, realizing that those Brun scores are hardly available - I would therefore not issue such a global judgement of a 10-CD box! Like many other reviewers he may perhaps just listened to bits and pieces...
Will come back later with more criticism. I only refer to the last paragraphs of this review, which have been translated into German so far. A full translation is being made.
It's frustrating to be confronted with such superficial critcism - considering that I was seriously involved in this project from 2003 until 2015 - and that I am still working daily on this composer.
My Fritz Brun video documentary (now at its end state) will have a duration of over 2 1/2 hours. It will not be for public viewing, but a kind of "biography with pictures and audio" for personal - or didactical use. It will not be released commercially - otherwise I would have to pay a fortune of music and pictures copyright fees.
At my age of 75 I can certainly look back to an interesting CD conducting career, but it was all other than a finacially rewarding one. The only satisfaction one can get, are some positive reviews and personal reactions from friends and admirer. But nobody takes into consideration struggles and disappointments experienced with CD company bosses.
And now it looks as nobody wants me anymore, since I am unable to raise more sponsorships. Luckily, I still can enjoy listening to music and studying scores - the only thing keeping me alive in this world, which is getting crazier day by day.

[M. Yaskovsky]

I'm sorry for using 'favourable'; my native Dutch is far better than my English or German; my Russian is basic. By using 'favourable' I thought of the Dutch word 'gunstig'. A positive word because the reviewer encourages potential customers to have a look at this release. OpusKlassiek is, in my opnion, the only serious website in Dutch about classical music in general. They comment on releases far and wide, sure not middle-of-the-road, f.i. the Winbeck cd-set just released. They happen to be Bruckner-crazy and I'm happy they made a case for Brun too.

[adriano]

Thanks, Yaskovsky :-)
Of course "gunstig" is still a miracle today for a maverick conductor with no concert-hall appearances like I am - doing such strange repertoire. The author could have been more cruel - and with cruel judgements I had to deal a lot in the past. The problem is that, with unknown repertoire, a reviewer often finds the music or the interpretation not good enough because he simply has no idea, or, more simply, it's not of his taste.

[Alan Howe]

Forget the review, Adriano. It's not worthy of your attention. Be assured that your Brun project is fully worthy of the music it is promoting.

[adriano]

Thanks very much, Alan :-)
In the meantime I could learn from a friend that the originally designated reviewer of OpusKlassiek had refused to write, since he apparently couldn't do anything with Brun's music. Aart van der Wal was more than happy to take the Brun box out from his hands.
Now I am all in suspense of whatever may be coming from over the Ocean - after remembering some earlier sentences by David Hurwitz & Co...

[Alan Howe]

I think we have to be aware that Brun's music requires careful listening - it doesn't immediately reveal its secrets. Any reviewer who rushes into print or has a tight deadline to meet will almost certainly miss the essence of the music. Brun takes time to appreciate...

[Maury]

Because of my great and long time (30 years) respect for Adriano I have listened to Brun's symphonies from time to time over the past year. I am not really sure apart from the early Sym 1 they are Romantic exactly.  The next 2 are borderline IMO particularly Sym 3. I rarely feel music composed after 1925 is echt Romantic though.  My thoughts are these works are more likely to appeal to listeners who enjoy say Schumann's Cello Concerto or Debussy's Jeux. I find the content of each section (not movement) of Brun's symphonies to be pleasing enough but conventional. What is distinctive is the novel (some may think odd) sequence into which these conventional passages are arranged. I've listened the most to Symphony 6 and find it quite interesting in that regard. The rest,, apart from Sym 1,  I will have to listen to more.

[eschiss1]

I've returned to the Brilliant Classics reissue of the set recently with much enjoyment. (Some oddities in the labeling; symphony no.4 is definitely in major- maybe E major, I'd have to check - but absolutely not E or any other minor. Some similar things I think elsewhere?)

[Maury]

Symphony 4 is listed as E Major on the YT video of the Adriano set.

Yes there is something interesting about this music although I am not yet settled on its overall merit. On reflection it is apparent that composers after WW1 who did not want to go severe atonal/serial faced a difficult decision as to what musical method and rhetoric to employ. Basically composers born between 1860 and 1885 grew up in a late Romantic musical environment. Apart from Satie, they all started in that style and then reacted against it in various ways. But almost all of them returned to tonal Romanticism (or at least Romantic gestures), at times later in their career, seemingly unable to escape it unlike the later avant garde. But sticking to an unchanging Wagnerian or Brahmsian model essentially assured a composer's isolation after 1925. So the only 2 Brun symphonies I hear as unequivocally Romantic are the first 2 done by 1911. After that other elements become noticeable even though his music remained in tonal keys.

[eschiss1]

Link to...

Screenshot from Amazon suggesting that someone thinks it's in E minor, anyway (including, btw, the program notes I downloaded when I bought the mp3s, iirc.)

[Maury]

Link to...

Screenshot from Amazon suggesting that someone thinks it's in E minor, anyway (including, btw, the program notes I downloaded when I bought the mp3s, iirc.)

I think we would need to see the score. Admittedly late Romanticism was rather lax about moving between major and minor parallel keys so this might prove to be an academic question; but  Amazon is the least trustworthy site for classical music. I wouldn't pay any attention to the info they put up.  They had Michael Jackson listed as the composer of Cosi fan tutte awhile back. This is from Musicweb

Fritz BRUN (1878-1959)
Symphony No. 4 in E major (1925) [57:01]
Rhapsody for Orchestra (1957) [10:08]
Moscow Symphony Orchestra/Adriano
rec. Moscow, 2008/13
Volume 6 - Brun Orchestral Series
GUILD GMCD7411 [67:09]

[eschiss1]

I will say I find no reason to describe it as a minor-mode symphony, however, and it actually is fairly within the ambit(?) of late Romanticism, I think, but I'll give it another reason (maybe I'm missing some Debussy'an parallel harmonies, etc.)...

[eschiss1]

Worldcat, though also not unimpeachable (most libraries also make the common mistakes of listing Grechaninov 2 as being in A major, and Bax 1 & 7 as being in E-flat major and A-flat major respectively; those three works are in minor mode or neither, but they're certainly not in major) does give Brun 4 as "E-dur" in its score entries after all.

[Maury]

Thanks for your additional research eschiss. I guess we can say E major and not be called foolish.

As for the style that Brun uses, I think it is instructive to listen to the symphonies sequentially. For example in comparing the Sym 1 and Sym 2 it is clear that the Sym 1 has a direct ancestry from Beethoven to Schumann to Brahms of his Sym 1 and 2. The Brun Sym 1 Finale while fairly extrovert has typical Romantic urgency and drama. The way the brass are used is also typically Romantic. Even the soft low passage about 3 minutes in, there is nothing lax about it. There is still a noticeable tension to the passage before the main music resumes.

The Brun Sym 2 Finale has a similar extrovert quality but the material is more akin to dance and ballet. The brass are used only to accentuate the basic melodic and rhythm material rather than provide a typical Romantic climax. The material flows along much more lyrically and there is no overt urgency about it. I think this is where much of Brun's later symphonic progression stemmed from and why I have trouble viewing the later symphonies as standard Romanticism. At best we might trace a line from early Schubert to Mendelssohn to the Brahms of Sym 3. The 8 year younger Schoeck went along a somewhat similar path.

What we very much lack is a detailed academic study of the 20th C tonal symphony from 1915 - 1960. If it isn't neoclassical or obvious Romantic drama we are not quite sure what to call it.

[eschiss1]

That would make a big book. Those books I can discover limit the subject in one way or another, sometimes by too much admittedly.