Austrian Composers

[Holger]

Jim, just check here:
http://www.violinconcerto.de/database.html?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=2573&sobi2Id=14534

[minacciosa]

Any chance of posting movement information on the Weigl VC?

Allegro
Largo
Allegro molto

[minacciosa]

There are more Karl Weigl files now available in the downloads section.

[Greg K]

Amidst all the current buzz over Karl Weigl, could anyone having a close familiarity with the Cycle Symphoniker of Marcel Rubin (available now in its entirety for listening here) offer some insight as to its merits and distinction, and comparative characterization/evaluation of the individual works?  Weighty and engrossing if frequently uncomfortable for me, I find this output a formidable discovery in my adventures through UC downloads land, - though my own impressions still lack much clarity.  But having played through each of the Symphonies at least once (and a few many times) I will highlight the slow movements as most especially striking, and choose Nos. 4&10 (the "Dies Irae" & "Hommage to Chartres" Symphonies) as my early favorites (with a nod to the announcer on No.10, whose tone, and inflections, and timing are just perfect, and almost a part of the work for me now).  These two seem to have a more processional and ritual feel to them than the rest, and relatively more slow music (which might be what draw me).  It may seldom be obvious, and I can't quite put my finger on it, but here and throughout all the Symphonies there's a definite Brucknerian legacy to be discerned IMO.  Do others agree?
     

[eschiss1]

... !!
Er, I mean- Allegro - Largo - Allegro molto for the Weigl violin concerto. Ah. Never mind, missed a whole page of responses. Got my answer from the Fleischer collection library catalog entry (@ catalog.freelibrary.org ) - sometimes a good place to check. (They have a 171 page manuscript score and parts and list the instrumentation as well as the movement breakdown.)
Still slowly going through the Rubin but not actually -familiar- with them yet. Hoping to be, and to learn more about his music and the background, scores and analyses of the individual works, as with others for which such time spent will be also worth it.

[minacciosa]

I will examine the Rubin. I'm curious, as he is completely unknown to me.

[Alan Howe]

There is, of course, a commercial download available of Rubin's 4th Symphony with the ASO under Botstein...

http://www.amazon.com/Rubin-Symphony-No-Dies-Irae/dp/B003U9ZLX4/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342084601&sr=301-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=rubin+botstein&x=10&y=19

Programme notes are also available:

Symphony No. 4, "Dies irae" (1943-45/1972)

By Hartmut Krones
Early on, the Viennese composer Marcel Rubin (1905-1995) became a citizen of the world both based on his education and his years spent in emigration. Following brief studies with Franz Schmidt, from 1925 to 1931 he became a private student of Darius Milhaud in Paris, where he had some success. In 1938, he set out on a restless journey. First, he emigrated to Paris, later to Marseille, and finally to Mexico City, where he became a rehearsal coach at the opera and accompanied or directed his own works. In 1947, he returned to Austria and became a music critic, but he focused primarily on his work, which includes among others the opera Kleider machen Leute (Clothes Make the Man), four oratorios, ten symphonies, concerti, other orchestral pieces, chamber music and song cycles.

Rubin's style was highly influenced by Milhaud and other masters of the group Les Six, who vehemently railed against the German (specifically Wagner's) so-called sauerkraut-pathos and instead nurtured its fantasy and wit by replacing complex harmonies with melody and rhythm. He also exhibited a superior grasp of form by making even the most artful structures clearly visible, as well as a penchant for humanitarian or social and political themes, which created an "engaged" type of music.

In Mexico, during the years of 1943-45, Rubin's Fourth Symphony was created, reflecting his experiences during World War II: the first two movements tell of its horror, while two others (a pastoral segment and a jubilant fugue) initially hint toward the dream for peace, accounting for the original title, "War and Peace." When Rubin later realized that the longed-for peace did not coincide with the proposed ideals, he destroyed the two positive movements and created a new, subdued pastoral piece with a deeply pensive ending. He chose the "Dies irae" as his new title, comparing the gruesome war with the horrors of judgment day and using the ancient choral sequence as basis of his second and third movements.

The theme of the first movement, a funeral march in the form of a freestyle Rondo, is based on the four stanzas of Bertolt Brecht's deeply moving ballad Kinderkreuzzug 1939 (Children's Crusade 1939), which recounts the story of lost, roaming children who slowly starve to death in winter. A solo viola intones a melancholy theme, which climaxes in a wide orchestral cantilena, until excursions into the major realm represent the dream of a "land where there is peace." After a return of the main theme, a Vivo is heard as central children's episode, before angry orchestral thunderclaps finally destroy all hope. The movement is rounded out with a pianissimo reprise of the distorted main melody.

The "Dies irae" second movement recalls the horrors of war in sonata form. Fanfares sound, followed by the increasingly faster moving main theme reminiscent of the "Dies irae," which eventually becomes rhythmically truncated. Only the secondary theme played by the solo violin allows brief glimpses of a peaceful scenario, but is interrupted by dissonance. The development is fashioned as a double fugue based on the "Dies irae" and a new theme, while a variation of the first movement's main theme appears before the reprise, where the original ancient "Dies irae" hymn is featured as climax.

The muted pastoral ending is a Passacaglia based on the "Dies irae," until the variations give way to a flute passage – a melody from Rubin's Marienliedern, symbolizing the possibility of change through religious meditation. Again, the piece ends with a question, leaving open the possibility of a bright outlook.
http://www.americansymphony.org/concert_notes/symphony-no-4-dies-irae-1943-45-1972

[Alan Howe]

As one might expect from his background, Rubin's music sounds quite un-Germanic: Milhaud and Honegger would, I think, be nearer the mark.

Grove, I now discover, says this:

Rubin's musical language shows the influence of 'Les Six'. In his works tonality and harmony are explored to their limits, and melody retains its importance despite a strong rhythmic emphasis; orchestration is given equal attention to these traditional pillars of musical composition. Other characteristic features include textures made up of multiple voices and clear formal structures. In his later works, Rubin's musical discourse was increasingly placed in the service of humanitarian and spiritual ideas; as a consequence, his musical language gained intensity and scope.

[shamokin88]

Having contributed several of the Rubin symphonies under discussion you would think I would have something useful to write about him. But at the same time several of those uploaded by others were quite new to me, and I haven't reached anything like a point of taking him all in beyond understanding that he is not an especially "typical" Austrian symphonist. He is less predictable, less likely to reveal the same musical personality from one symphony to the next, very different from, say, Weigl, who is gradually being revealed in UC. Would biologists call him a "sport" if their standards were fixed by Schmidt, Wellesz or Weigl? A stimulating discovery, someone who seemed to have sidestepped what Roger Sessions called "the long line."

[Latvian]

Amidst all the current buzz over Karl Weigl, could anyone having a close familiarity with the Cycle Symphoniker of Marcel Rubin (available now in its entirety for listening here) offer some insight as to its merits and distinction, and comparative characterization/evaluation of the individual works?  Weighty and engrossing if frequently uncomfortable for me, I find this output a formidable discovery in my adventures through UC downloads land, - though my own impressions still lack much clarity....  It may seldom be obvious, and I can't quite put my finger on it, but here and throughout all the Symphonies there's a definite Brucknerian legacy to be discerned IMO.  Do others agree?

While I can't claim sufficient knowledge of Rubin's symphonies yet to say anything about them with much authority, I will state that I consider them one of my major discoveries in this forum. I'm only now nearing the end of my first traversal through all ten symphonies and each one brings revelations and enjoyment as I listen to them in my car on my way to and from work each day this week.

Certainly, the strongest influence I've detected so far is Les Six, most specifically Milhaud and Honegger, with some Poulenc. The very beginning of the cycle struck me as heavily indebted to Milhaud, though already with an individuality that sets Rubin apart from being a mere slave to Milhaud's style. Honegger comes to mind mostly in the slow movements, and more so as the cycle progresses, where Milhaud's influence seems to wane (especially after #3).

I can't say I hear Bruckner anywhere,  but then it's an influence that hadn't occurred to me, and may become more apparent in subsequent hearings.

However, the most striking observation I've made so far is the similarity of vast stretches of Symphonies 7 & 8 to a composer who I've never heard mentioned in the same breath as Rubin, and who I would be amazed if Rubin had even heard a note of -- Havergal Brian. Certainly, Rubin's formal structures are more traditional and less capricious than Brian's, but the orchestration and harmonies of these two symphonies often reminded me very strongly of some of Brian's symphonies (Nos. 8 to 12, in particular). Probably a case of two different composers, pursuing independent directions and stylistic development, some of whose stylistic characterstics briefly crossed paths unbeknownst to either.

In any event, a remarkable composer, who I look forward to getting to know much better, and whose works I will now seek out enthusiastically!

[mjkFendrich]

Dear minacciosa,

thanks a lot for the great Weigl treasures you have posted!!

When ordering the recently released CD with Weigl's cello sonata from the soloist Othmar Müller - who also
is the cellist of the Artis quartet - he told me that it seems to be unlikely that they will continue with further
recordings of Weigl's string quartets (in addition to numbers 1, 3 & 5 they have recorded). So it's really a
great surprise to have the missing ones now in this forum!

I am a little bit dissapointed about the news concerning the forthcoming concerto recordings, since the
soloists F.Krumpöck & D.Frühwirth may be not the ideal interpreters of these works.

Do you know, whether there is a way to get Philippe Graffin's Japan performance of Weigl's violin concerto?

[minacciosa]

I don't know about a Japan performance, but I put his performance in Taiwan in the downloads section today.

That's bad but not unexpected news about Artis' Weigl cycle. They were ideal for the project; Weigl's music demands no less than musicians of that caliber.

[eschiss1]

I forget if anyone already posted this (they also may be on the recording, but I like them to be printed also ), but the movement headings of Weigl's symphony no.1 in E, op.5 are

1. Leicht bewegt --
2. Sehr lebhaft --
3. Langsam --
4. Lebhaft.

The Weigl piano trio has these movements (from here, from the notes to a commercial recording on Albany with different performers. Though that's not perfect evidence of course- found another example of that today...)
Allegro moderato - Andante - Allegro molto.

[britishcomposer]

Thank you all for the many Weigl uploads! I was unaware that so much had been recorded/performed. 

Elroel, you wrote you would include sleevenote and songtexts in your file. However, I found only the songs as one wave-file and a text-file, containing your thoughts about Weigl.
It would be nice if you could upload the notes and texts in a separate file! 

[eschiss1]

While not described as thoroughly in their online catalog (movement descriptions etc.) one other library that has a whole lot of Weigl manuscripts is the New York Public Library and its associate the American Music Center. Someone wanting to study or perform works by Weigl who can't find a work in MS or score at the Fleisher Collection in Philadelphia may have more luck in NY City now... (if it's in the AMC, appointment recommended in advance, I think - sorry- but still, an excellent resource, I gather.)