Maliszewski: Symphonies

[eschiss1]

I think some of it may be from earlier and even maybe performed earlier but to very restricted audiences (university?) - I'm not sure, would have to check. OTOH the influences on Mya's earlier music, eg Scriabin and Tchaikovsky, were probably more often performed.

[Alan Howe]

The major 'leap' in Maliszewski's sylistic development is between Symphonies 2 and 3 - as I said, between 1905 and 1907 - so the issue is how he turns from a Glazunov soundalike into someone more radical...

[eschiss1]

Does it sound anything at all like his teacher Rimsky's works of those last few years (of Rimsky's life), ooc?... ... or alternately, like Szymanowski's works of the period, which maybe Maliszewski might have heard (including the unpublished but performed, iirc, first symphony, and the concert overture)?

[Alan Howe]

No.3 is way beyond Rimsky in terms of chromaticism. Szymanowski would be nearer - or even Strauss.

[Alan Howe]

No.4 is an odd mix of styles. I don't think the juxtaposition of faux naïvety and sophisticated dissonance really works, although it's so well done in this performance that I was persuaded to stick with it. And its ending is of the 'let's throw in the kitchen sink' variety, which is genuinely exciting.

To sum up: Nos. 1 and 2 are fun pieces along traditional lines; No.3 is a big step forward and merits further investigation; but No.4 doesn't really add anything of great interest. 

[terry martyn]

As someone who was really taken by surprise by Paul Juon´s early pre-Berlin Symphony, I had hopes of enjoying Maliszewski´s First,and,maybe,his Second. This expensive box set contains a lot of music that I am sure I won´t like, and I dislike paying for so much I won´t want. I don´t adapt well to most of Debussy and Delius,the vast majority of Richard Strauss,and  all of Medtner and Reger, so I think my tastes are more conservative than a lot of my peers. Glazunov (at least until his well ran dry) I am fond of,but if I ask the question: would someone I respect such as Reinecke have stomached any of Maliszewski, I think I know the answer.

[eschiss1]

This is one of those times I'm glad I'm paying for a monthly streaming subscription as of late last year, since the Maliszewski , unlike some things, is available there...

[der79sebas]

By the way, does anybody know anything about Maliszewski's Fifth Symphony? It is mentioned in the wikipedia article on Maliszewski but seems nonexistent elsewhere.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Quite. Unfinished, I suspect.

[Alan Howe]

For someone who enjoys Glazunov and no further, as it were, the first two symphonies here will go down a treat. It just depends on whether it's thought worthwhile to acquire a lot of other music.

[Holger]

I have also thought about the Fifth Symphony – some sources mention "five symphonies" but I have never came across anything concrete.

One possibility is actually that by mistake (more or less), Maliszewski's contribution to the 1928 Schubert symphony competition might have been counted as "Symphony No. 5". Indeed, he wrote two movements for this (well-known, of course) competition, a Scherzo partially based on Schubert's sketches and a finale, i.e. he was one the composers who really tried a (sort of) completion of the Unfinished. They were finally labeled 'Scherzo and Overture in Honour of Schubert' and they are also included in this disc set (in particular the finale is an oddity which I find mildly amusing). It does not sound completely unreasonable to me that this is the work which is meant when some sources mention a Fifth Symphony but of course this is just a guess.

[Mark Thomas]

For me, as a lover of Glazunov's music, the first two symphonies were enjoyable if undemanding listens, and the Third showed Maliszewski gaining his own voice and showing more individuality while still pretty much within the same overall aesthetic, but if the Fourth shows his individuality in full bloom then I'm afraid that I didn't find it much to my liking, as I found it overblown, cloyingly chromatic and melodically undistinguished. Most of the shorter works in the set seem rather unmemorable too, I'm sorry to say. I did buy the box, but should really have sampled it more thoroughly on Spotify before I did so.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I think the 3rd Symphony and the Piano Concerto are Maliszewski's best orchestral works - and Dutton has given us those on one disk, so I am not tempted to buy this set.

[Alan Howe]

I'm pleased I bought the set, mainly because the performances and recording are so fine - in fact, they're a pleasure in themselves.

[britishcomposer]

I know the radio broadcast of Symphony no. 1 for several years. Now I listened to Symphony no. 2 via spotify and wondered about the scherzo: I have heard this before! After comparing the scores it became obvious that spotify - and probably other streaming services as well - have swapped the scherzo mouvements of no. 1 and no. 2.
I noticed the same error when trying the samples at presto. So be warned if you stream or buy the digital release!