Emilie Mayer - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2

[britishcomposer]

Dear members,

The NDR Radiophilharmonie conducted by Leo McFall has recorded the first two symphonies by Emilie Mayer.
The announcer said that the CD will be released by cpo at the end of the year.
If you do not want to wait, you can access the stream for a couple of weeks here:
https://www.ndr.de/ndrkultur/epg/Der-weibliche-Beethoven,sendung927880.html

[Alan Howe]

Very good news - thanks. Shame the programme's called 'The Female Beethoven' (a) because she's not an epigone of him, nor his contemporary and (b) because she's not a female anyone - she's a composer in her own right, and a fine one at that.

[Mark Thomas]

I'll very much look forward to hearing them.

The announcer said that the CD will be released by cpo at the end of the year.

Ah, but knowing cpo, which year I wonder?

[Alan Howe]

Year? That's a flexible term...

[Mark Thomas]

In the meantime, recordings of both symphonies from the broadcast are available in our Downloads board here. When the cpo CD is released they'll be removed, of course.

[Richard Moss]

Mark,

Tks v much for the prompt upload (I'd tried to get the symphonies extracted from Alan's link but both me and my technology were unfortunately not up to the task).

Her previously available symphony (No. 4, IIRC?) and her piano concerto have both provided a delightful listening so I'm hoping these continue the pleasure.

Given the comment in the NDR blurb about her being the first full-time professional composer, one wonders how she achieved that in a male-dominated Victorian-era Germany!  Some woman-  in both character as well as ability! (and as Alan quite rightly says, gender should be irrelevant - talent is all.

Cheers

Richard

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks Richard. The First Symphony is a confident work, well-balanced and lively, built on a set of strong and memorable themes. It's an impressive symphonic debut which reminded me both of Schumann's symphonies and the later ones of Ries, without being derivative of either. The Symphony No.2 is an even more individual work it seems to me, with a dramatic opening movement substantially longer than any of the other three and particularly colourful orchestration for the time (late 1840s). Elsewhere, Mayer seems able to relax more in this work, which is thematically just as memorable as No.1. Each symphony is around 30 minutes long and, needless to say, is never in any danger of outstaying its welcome. All in all, these enjoyable pieces serve to underline the depth of Mayer's talent, and they get the enthusiastic and convincing performances they deserve.

[Alan Howe]

Spot-on, Mark. There's some fine music here. Thanks for uploading it and its companion for us.

[Alan Howe]

So, might Farrenc and Mayer perhaps be the two finest female symphonists of the nineteenth century?

[Alan Howe]

I initially found No.1 more convincing than No.2: it seems to have a more concentrated feel to it, whereas No.2 is more relaxed, especially in that ambitious opening movement. However, that may simply mean that I need a couple more listens to 'get' what Mayer is doing in No.2. Both are fine works, not far off the quality of her later symphonies. It is sincerely to be hoped that one day we may have a complete cycle.

According to Wikipedia these are Mayer's symphonies:

Symphony No. 1 in C Minor (premièred before 4 March 1847)
Symphony No. 2 in E Minor (premièred before 4 March 1847)
Symphony No. 3 in C Major "Military" (premièred 21 April 1850)
Symphony No. 4 in B Minor (premièred 16 March 1851)
Symphony No. 5 in D Major (premièred 1 May 1852) - presumed lost
Symphony No. 6 in E Major (premièred 25 April 1853)
Symphony No. 7 in F Minor (1855-56 ; premièred in April 1862) - mislabelled on the Dreyer Gaido CD as "No. 5"
Symphony No. 8 in F Major (1856-57 ; premièred in March 1862) - presumed lost

Do we know if this listing is correct?

[Double-A]

A few years ago I tried to typeset No. 1.  I got the impression that the composer checked all the boxes needed for a sonata form and that the music was sort of predictable (on Mayer's level).  So I gave up on it.  I had before typeset the quartet in e-minor and there Mayer bent the form to her vision.  Coming from there it seemed to me that in this first attempt at a symphony she did the opposite.  These are just impressions, not analytically supported observations; I might well have been wrong about the symphony.

Another speculation:  Maybe no. 1 is more immediately convincing because it is in c-minor, a key that seems to come with a "bonus", at least since Beethoven.

[semloh]

Thanks to Mark for making these recordings available to us. 
I'm looking forward to hearing them. Emilie Mayer was certainly a remarkable person and fine composer.

......well, Listening to these has been a pleasure, and I think Mark's comments hit the spot. The 2nd symphony is confident and flows so naturally, especially the 3rd movement - a real delight.

[Sharkkb8]

The announcer said that the CD will be released by cpo at the end of the year.

Ah, but knowing cpo, which year I wonder?

Didn't happen "by the end of the year", but here we are.  Don't see it at Presto or Amazon quite yet.

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/emilie-mayer-symphonien-nr-1-2/hnum/8992791

[Alan Howe]

It's not actually available yet - even from jpc. However, you can set up an email alert to let you know when it can be ordered.

[hyperdanny]

unless I am not searching properly, it is not reappearing on jpc...along with the removal of the Eberl 4 from the Sony cd, this is my current biggest musical matter of dismay.