I can't believe it's Raff!

[Alan Howe]

I was listening to BBC Radio 3 in the car this afternoon and came across an extraordinary orchestral work which I didn't recognise - even though it turned out I have the self-same recording at home! The work concerned was Raff's Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's Macbeth. It is an extraordinary piece, kaleidoscopic in its variety of moods and containing some very daring writing for its date (1879). If ever there were a reason for purchasing the Chandos CD containing Neeme Järvi's superlative performance of the 2nd Symphony, this is it - as it features all four of these concise masterworks.

Question: Are Raff's Four Shakespeare Preludes his most original works?

[Mark Thomas]

My shorthand reply is that they probably are, forecasting many of the techniques later used in film music. A large number of short melodic motifs - each of them a leitmotif for a character or mood, are stitched together in a rapidly changing and colourfully orchestrated landscape describing the plot of each of the four plays. Structurally the works are very complex. IMHO the two most successful are the darkest: Macbeth and Othello, which is the shortest of the four. Sturm (The Tempest), suffers only because it is by some way the longest and so comes across as more episodic and lacking the fierce intensity of Macbeth and Othello, even though its material is just as strong. What lets down Romeo & Julie is an uncharacteristic fault for Raff: it's melodic poverty. Maybe conditioned by Tchaikovsky's magnificent symphonic poem, one expects a great "love tune" to emerge, but it never appears, and the motifs employed by Raff is this work just aren't as memorable as those in the other Preludes.

[adriano]

Raff's "Macbeth" is indeed a great piece. The TUDOR CD of 2004 should not be forgotten, since it contains Raff's four Shakespeare Overtures!
I think with this late period four Overtures Raff produced much more interesting and less conventional and original music than in many of his Symphonies. The music is also more tempered and violent...
PS: Not only from listening to "Macbeth" one can discover from where George Templeton Strong occasionally took his inspiration... :-)

[sdtom]

This sounds like it is right up my alley as I am trying to re-accumulate the Shakespeare recordings.

[Alan Howe]

Tom: if you purchase this CD...
https://www.amazon.com/Raff-Symphony-No-Shakespeare-Preludes/dp/B00B7H3606/ref=sr_1_18?dchild=1&keywords=raff+symphony+2&qid=1604855905&sr=8-18
...you get Symphony No.2, plus all four Shakespeare Preludes in superlative performances.

[sdtom]

Good advice

[sdtom]

I ordered it today and also got an MP3 included in the price. Enjoying his 2nd Symphony now.

[Alan Howe]

Symphony No.2 is a stunning piece. Memorable, athletic, gloriously alive.

[sdtom]

I can't believe how great this is. It is better than the tone poems of Shakespeare. I assume this is a top drawer recording too. It sure sounds like it

[Alan Howe]

It should be in the standard repertoire.

If you don't know them, now try Symphonies 3 (d'Avalos or Stadlmair), 4 (Stadlmair) and 5 (Järvi). And then you'll want all the others too...

[sdtom]

Will check them all out on your advice.

[eschiss1]

Makes me wonder if there's a major orchestral (or chamber, or...) work out there that in quality and sound wins the "I can't believe it's not Raff" competition. Probably.

[ewk]

Thank you for pointing me to these works!
I just listened to the 4 overtures and interestingly, I come to the opposite conclusion than you, Mark -- I enjoyed Romeo and Juliet most, followed by the Storm. It might be the fault of listening just once, but I experienced the lack of real melody rather in Othello and Macbeth. Of course, Romeo and the Storm both are not of equal appeal as Tchaikovsky's eponymous tone poems, as they lack the gorgeous love themes. However, I think the love atmosphere is quite apparent in the beginning of Raff's Romeo and Juliet.
In the end it all boils down to personal taste  of course...
Best wishes! Ewk

[Mark Thomas]

In the end it all boils down to personal taste  of course

Absolutely, and I make no claims to my take being worth more than anyone else's.

[Alan Howe]

Raff's Romeo and Juliet (Järvi) was broadcast this morning on BBC R3 - and I didn't recognise it! I was flabbergasted by its dynamism and originality. I simply must get to know these pieces better!