Klughardt from cpo

[Alan Howe]

jpc have announced the December release of Klughardt's 3rd Symphony and Violin Concerto. Details here:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/August-Klughardt-Symphonie-Nr-3-D-Dur-op-37/hnum/2096647

[Mark Thomas]

Whoopdedoo! Can't speak for the quality of the Symphony (although I'm sure that it'll be as fine as most of Klughardt's work), but the Violin Concerto is a glorious piece and should be a must-buy.

[eschiss1]

has anyone recorded his 4th symphony, whose first 6 pages in score are at Wikipedia-de (click to view larger of course)?
Eric

[Alan Howe]

Nope. None has ever been released to my knowledge.

[FBerwald]

I have his Auf der wanderschaft - Suite for Orchester  and Cello Concerto (Sterling). If its anything like it  !!!???.....I can hardly wait!!!!

[Alan Howe]

The VC is a big piece (over 40 mins.) and of course, we haven't had any of the symphonies on CD yet, so I think we're in for a treat exceeding that afforded by the Sterling CD.

[Alan Howe]

Excerpts are now available here:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/August-Klughardt-Symphonie-Nr-3-D-Dur-op-37/hnum/2096647
(VC - tracks 1-4; Sym3 - tracks 5-8)

[Mark Thomas]

The CD is shipping now. JPC emailed to say that mine is on it's way.

[Mark Thomas]

This really is  a must-buy! The Violin Concerto, as has already been posted, is a major piece lasting 40 minutes. It is wonderfully lyrical and the first movement in particular has an understated grandeur which is most impressive. The piece is worth the price of the CD alone, but the Third Symphony proves to be another great and satisfying discovery. Just a couple of minutes shorter than the Concerto, it is a sunny, open-hearted work which is guaranteed to lift the spirits. The long opening movement breathes the same air as that of the Concerto with a stubbornly memorable, sinuously pliable first subject which you won't get out of your head.  The slow movement isn't one of those bitter-sweet sad Raffian affairs but has a deliciously lyrically pastoral air without any hint of the bucolic. The two final movements are very upbeat, the third aptly described in the booklet as  being "like a ballad telling ... of knights and heroes ... tournaments and courtly quests." The finale is all merrymaking and jollity and reminds me very much of Klughardt's Auf der Wanderschaft Suite. It is a slight let down after the other three movements, but not disastrously so, and overall I've been delighted to make this work's acquaintance. I do hope that cpo will being us the full cycle.

[Alan Howe]

Mark is absolutely right: this is an absolute must-buy. You have the Violin Concerto which is on a symphonic scale and the 3rd Symphony which might be said to be serenade-like in character. The VC is potentially a repertoire-piece, being a large-scale, serious piece along the lines of the VCs by Beethoven, Brahms and Bruch (3). The symphony doesn't display the same level of ambition, but surely belongs in the foothills of the symphonic alps, as it were. Definitely worth an occasional hearing. The Dessau orchestra, by the way, sounds like another of those superb regional German bands of which there are so many. All in all, a triumph for cpo (again!)

[petershott@btinternet.com]

I'm awaiting the arrival of that cpo disc with keen pleasure. And if those who have heard it are emitting an excited whoopdedoo, then I add my own for the earlier MDG disc of the String Quintet Op 62 and Piano Quintet Op 43 (which, true, has been mentioned before - but it needs to be heralded as a disc of two utterly lovely works).

Fingers crossed, Klughardt is beginning to emerge from his unsung status and will be seen as a first rate composer in the second rank of German composers in the last half of the 19th century. How good it is when a composer such as he becomes 'revealed' and we have a chance to listen to the works, rather than just read about them and add them to a wish-list.

Here is hoping that someone gives us the 2 (?) string quartets, the String Sextet, the Piano Trio, and the remaining five symphonies (though I note the 6th seems to be a reworking of the String Sextet?). There is also what looks like a major and formidable Cello Concerto. And - but I really push my luck - there are 4 or so operas. Gosh, given that Klughardt himself conducted the Ring, I wonder what they are like?

Peter

[eschiss1]

Does the Waldleben symphony of 1871 which he withdrew still exist somewhere?  Symphony no. 5 op.71 (of the 5 acknowledged and numbered symphonies) is indeed an "adaptation" of the string sextet opus 58 of 7 years before, so far as I know.  Some of the chamber music including both of the two string quartets are in PDF score online, I believe - http://imslp.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No.1,_Op.42_%28Klughardt,_August%29 (published 1883, F major) ; http://imslp.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No.2,_Op.61_%28Klughardt,_August%29 (D major, ca.1890) . (cello concerto here - A minor, pub.1892 - in full score for inspection - _has_ it been recorded? yes, on Sterling.)

[Alan Howe]

...Klughardt is beginning to emerge from his unsung status and will be seen as a first rate composer in the second rank of German composers in the last half of the 19th century.

Spot-on, Peter. I understand that Sterling should be bringing out his 1st Symphony, Lenore coupled with Gernsheim's late (and superb) symphonic poem Zu einem Drama, so there's more to come...

[DennisS]

This morning I listened again to this new cd and am very pleased that I purchased it. I think that Mark and Alan have already described the music extremely well, so I will merely say that I agree with their comments and indeed, I too think that this CD is a must buy. Like Mark and Alan, I think the VC is the standout work on the cd, although the symphony is a close second. Just a couple of comments on the symphony though. Much of the symphony is written in a light, airy, yet graceful and delicate manner and the music is all the more enjoyable for those reasons. The themes are both memorable and varied - delightful to listen to. I can though see why Mark talks of the symphony being let down just a little by the finale. In comparision with the three preceeding movements, the finale does seem a little lightweight, but only marginally so. That said, the symphony as a whole is quite charming and I know I will return to it often.

cheers
Dennis

[Alan Howe]

The VC is certainly an outstanding piece - grand, lyrical and memorable. It should clearly be in the standard repertoire. Toskey rates it as easier to play than, say, the Brahms, so it shouldn't prove a tall order technically...