Klughardt Symphony 5 from cpo

[Mark Thomas]

I may be wrong but, IIRC Eric, it was when he was living in Weimar and so very much immersed in the whole Liszt/Wagner tradition there.  Once he'd left it's hold on him went.

[eschiss1]

Makes sense. Ah, he left Weimar in 1873...

[FBerwald]

Actually isn't his symphony No. 1 the Forest Symphony "Waldleben"? Does this still exist. I didn't know there were 2 Violin concertos. Is this another typo or...

[eschiss1]

Repeating someone's claim as to that first concerto- hrm. Probably wrong, I expect. Thanks for the correction as to sym. 1.

I really have to sit myself down soon, and my limited but not zero memory of German, and a translator , with Gerlach's brief and interesting book as downloaded, and read about Klughardt's life and works...

[LateRomantic75]

Brahms may prove to be a late influence on Klughardt, I don't know, but Wagner's was an influence which he'd already grown out of and discarded by the time he wrote his Third Symphony and Violin Concerto. In contrast to those works, Klughardt's earlier Wagner period is exemplified by the Symphonic Poem / Symphony No.2 Lenore (sound bites from the Sterling recording here).

Oh yes, I forgot about the Lenore Symphony, which I enjoyed a bit more than Symphony no. 3 and the VC. It's a similar situation with von Herzogenberg, whose lush, Wagnerian Odysseus Symphony came from early in his career. Soon after, he (to my mild disappointment) fell under the influence of Brahms and composed in his general style for the rest of his life.

[Alan Howe]

I find the compositional trajectories of Herzogenberg and Klughardt fascinating. My view, FWIW, is that neither composer's early works are all that convincing. It is as if they were trying too hard. Clearly the natural metier of their maturity was music of a more traditional stamp - for this reason I find their later works far more fluent and satisfying. You have to turn to a composer such as Draeseke to discover what a composer who started off as something of a radical achieved by way of an innovative synthesis of Wagnerian/Lisztian ideas with the symphonic tradition. To my mind this is what raises Draeseke far above such composers as Herzogenberg and Klughardt, interesting as they both are and glad as I am to be able to sample their music. 

[Peter1953]

Alan, is it worth buying the Klughardt? I still cannot find audio samples, and today is the last day I can order the disc at a reduced price from jpc without paying for postage.

[Alan Howe]

If you mean Klughardt 3/VC, then yes, it's definitely worth buying. In fact, I'd snap up anything by him.

[Alan Howe]

Here's an appreciative take on the 3rd Symphony from Robert Markow in Fanfare magazine:

<<The Third Symphony, too, will bring much joy to listeners in search of traditional, four-movement Romantic symphonies, this one composed in 1879. Its key of D Major (like the Violin Concerto) almost guarantees that it is going to be an affirmative, joyful work, and that it certainly is. Its opening may bring to mind the opening of the finale of Brahms's Second Symphony. The historian Hermann Kretzschmar described the third movement as being "like a merry ballad telling of olden times, of the mighty deeds of knights and heroes, of tournaments and courtly quests, of escapades and adventures." If this begins to sound like Bruckner's Fourth, you're not far off, at least in spirit.>>

Klughardt 3 has a delightfully unbuttoned, outdoor quality to it. Sometimes I'm put in mind of, say, Dvorak, but Klughardt's music is definitely Germanic in flavour. It also has a certain feeling of pageantry and bygone days to it - almost Meistersingerish at times, especially in the second half of the work. To my mind it doesn't really sound like Brahms or Bruckner or Wagner overall, which I suppose is quite a compliment...

[LateRomantic75]

Alan, your Dvorak comparison has inspired me to revisit this work! I prefer Dvorak to Brahms most days and I love the open-air feel of his music.

[eschiss1]

which late festouverture are we talking about? Comparing its themes to this, they seem to be the same to me. And that manuscript is dated 1877. It may have been -published- in 1898... (and probably revised before publication, I don't doubt, to be fair... The full title is Fest-Ouverture zur Feier des 100 jährigen Bestehens des Herzoglichen Hoftheaters zu Dessau, and I would think the occasion may have been in 1898, but the music seems to date from earlier. Or something. I am I admit confused )

Oh! 1877 is in fact dated from the dedication information etc.. It was then published in a revised form (now that I finally translate the page- foolish Eric to not do so sooner) as op.78 in 1898. "slow introduction part identical, faster Mainpart first cuts, later largely newly composed". (Largely newly composed though- so more of a revision than usual, so 1877/1898. So I am in fact mostly wrong here, I apologize...)

[Ilja]

As for the Klughardt 3rd Symphony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEzNOo2JgHA

[Alan Howe]

By all means listen to it on YouTube - but then remember to buy or download the CD!

[Alan Howe]

Some glorious-sounding excerpts are now available at jpc:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/August-Klughardt-Symphonie-Nr-5-c-moll-op-71/hnum/4929552

[FBerwald]

Reaffirms my faith in the importance of the key of C minor! The scherzo seems very interesting. I look forward to hearing this as the original, String Sextet, Op. 58 seems to be lost according to CPO! All in all a very promising release. Just hope that they might do the Waldleben symphony [assuming the manuscript exists.] It would be another interesting parallel with our beloved Raff's own 3rd Symphony other than the Lenore case.