Tournemire: La Legende de Tristan

[eschiss1]

I'm not familiar enough with Tournemire's music to say more than this: whatever the quality of his music, I regret harping on Hovhaness' music (I'd say Feldman's or Reich's, except my opinion of their works has increased sharply so of course I no longer do) if only because warning someone once seems time well spent, saying so four times seems time wasted... to me, anyway.

[Revilod]

With respect to you all, do you not know the sixth symphony? It is an astounding masterpiece. Its style  may put it outside our remit but it must be heard. The final pages are quite overwhelming. Only the conclusion of Scriabin's "Poem of Ecstasy" or the "Symphony of a Thousand" come close.

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, I have listened to Tournemire's Sixth, although admittedly not recently, and I do think it no more memorable than the others. That said, it's only my opinion, which has no more or less authority than anyone else's here. Respectful debate is a healthy thing and I'm always happy to read a differing opinion. I'll listen to it again in the next few days.

[Alan Howe]

I come back to Tournemire from time to time, but the result is always the same - utter boredom. However, as Mark implies, each to his/her own...

[Alan Howe]

For those who want to try the 6th Symphony, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTRQXty4oE

The ending is pretty tremendous, I concede, but what comes before is a struggle for me. However, there's enough here for me to try again....perhaps.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I have heard the 6th symphony and, while it has its moments, I am afraid I remain underwhelmed. I will say, however, that I have only heard the performance posted on You Tube in which, to my ears, the choir seems very recessed and the dynamics sometimes not tellingly observed. I suspect a better recording would make a big difference. I cannot really comment on the performance because it is the only one I have heard.

[Alan Howe]

Although described as 'Mahlerian', No.6 is nothing of the sort, except in scale. The idiom is highly chromatic, reminding me often of Ravel (Daphnis) and looking forward to Messiaen.

[Revilod]

Yes. It's nothing like Mahler stylistically. I'm totally convinced by it and wrote an extremely enthusiastic review for Amazon.co.uk a few years ago. The choir may sound recessed but that is appropriate for this work.

[eschiss1]

There actually already are two commercial recordings of the 6th, as with most of his symphonies - on Auvidis and Marco Polo/Naxos.

[mikehopf]

Can anyone who recorded this opera please post it so we all get a chance to exercise our own judgements as to the merits or otherwise of this work.

[Revilod]

There's only one recording of the sixth. Bartholomee's on Auvidis. That was made in 1995 and represented its first performance. It seems as though two cycles of symphonies were planned ( the other one on Marco Polo ) but neither was completed. By chance, however, all the symphonies were recorded at least once.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Your enthusiasm has prompted me to listen to it again. I shall do so this week. Mahlerian it definitely is not - I totally agree with Alan's allusions to Ravel.

[Alan Howe]

I have similar feelings, by the way, about late Vierne.

[Mark Thomas]

I gave the Auvidis recording of Tournemire's Sixth a spin this afternoon, and was left with mixed feelings. To be fair, I does have it moments but they weren't the moments I was prepared to be impressed by, those when Tournemire turns up the volume with choir, orchestra and organ all "giving it some wellie". To be sure, the finale is impressive in a "wall of sound" sort of way, but there are several other passages earlier in the work which almost reach the same climatic pitch, and to my ears this was just another, slightly longer, slightly louder one. No, it was was gentler passages which caught my attention, particularly the tenor solos in each act, when the music calms down for a few minutes. Otherwise I'm sorry to say that my recollection of the work was accurate: a lot of episodic busyness not helped by Tournemire's inability to pen a memorable melody. I had hoped to feel less negative about the work, but I really did find it a bore. 

[M. Yaskovsky]

Let's be happy that German opera houses are willing to breathe new life into 'forgotten' operas. In Germany people still have money for culture! Where in my home country can I find a professional opera house in a city of 140,000 inhabitants? Tilburg, Groningen, Almere, Breda, Eindhoven?, forget it! The review in the German magazine Opernwelt is much more positive about this opera performance https://www.der-theaterverlag.de/opernwelt/aktuelles-heft/