Woyrsch, Felix: Symphonies no. 4 & 5 etc

[BerlinExpat]

Advance notice from the Felix Woyrsch Society homepage:

Woyrsch, Felix: Symphonies no. 4 & 5. Gartenszene aus ,,Szenen zu Goethes Faust" / Felix Woyrsch. – Georgsmarienhütte : cpo, 2016. – 1 Compact Disc + Notes.
Interpreteers: Radio-Philharmonie <Hannover> : Dorsch, Thomas [conductor];
In preparation

[Alan Howe]

Thanks for this advance notice.

[eschiss1]

Nos.4 Op.71 and 5 Op.75 are, according to a 2011 Wayback Machine copy of http://www.p-w-g.de/WerkvW.html, in F and D respectively (and like much of his music, still in manuscript.)

Someone once promised to upload the (ms or typeset) score-or-parts of his 6th symphony (Op.77 in C major, Sinfonia sacra) to IMSLP (or at least created a page for it, which traditionally amounts to such a promise), but didn't follow through (so the page is now deleted. My interest being whetted anyway even on such miniscule information, I still look forward to hearing these things at least once )

[Aramiarz]

Well! Woyrsch was one Excellent And interesting self-taught composer

[britishcomposer]

NDR Kultur will be broadcasting Symphony No. 5 this afternoon:

https://www.ndr.de/ndrkultur/programm/index.html

See: 18:30 Uhr - Musica

[eschiss1]

Looking forward to this CD and other instalments. I realize that the 3rd received negative notice in this forum but (back in the day when I was able to hear it via NML ) I quite liked it myself, in part for the very qualities for which it was being criticized- I'm ornery that way. Maybe that's why I look forward to this CD. How was no.5?

[hyperdanny]

if it get a recording, it is going to be an interesting adventure..the Woyrsch 1st was a revelation ( I play it quite often, I think it's stupendous) and then..only disappointments: the 2nd sounded to me very bland and piecemeal and the 3rd..I just don't even "get" it as a piece......we'll see..

[britishcomposer]

I am sorry, but I couldn't get warm with it. His orchestration is brilliant as ever but the material is not strong enough to keep interest. The most extraordinary thing about No. 5 is its brevity. At about 22 minutes you cannot blame it for outstaying its welcome.

I wonder how I would describe its provenance. Liszt was perhaps the greatest influence but a strong classicistic element esp. in the first movement shows that he was trying to come to terms with a new aesthetic climate.

Well, this is all pure speculation on my part. A MIDI rendition is available:
http://www.p-w-g.de/tonaufnahmen.html

[Ilja]

Has anyone recorded this and if so, would they be willing to share? NDR apparently does not allow streaming past broadcasts.


Sorry to be the contrarian here, but I have sofar loved all of Woyrsch's works that I have heard: from the monumental Brahmsian First Symphony to his later works, which for me possess a quirkiness and move to more compact expression quite untypical for his generation. The fifth I've known only from the MIDI rendering, but I've found it one of the few pieces I can actually enjoy somewhat to in that form.

[M. Yaskovsky]

Available on CD from October, 15 - 2018 at jpc.de https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/felix-woyrsch-symphonien-nr-4-5/hnum/6096010

[Ilja]

Thanks! My order is in.

[Alan Howe]

I'll be ordering this too!

[hyperdanny]

I'll wait until I get more of an idea from you guys..sorry but the 3rd made me adopt a very cautious stance toward Woyrsch..

[eschiss1]

in the meanwhile, the 4th symphony has recently (2016) been published, the 5th is I think still in ms., they are Opp.71 and 75 and are in F and D major (I think), and they date from 1931 and 1937 (according to IMSLP...)

As I said, I rather liked symphony no.3 and (before Naxos tweaked NMLSLP ) was looking forward to hearing it again (maybe on YouTube, will check there. Or something. Or buy it, of course).

(2nd symphony: 1912-3. 3rd symphony: 1921. I posit that it is an acceptable point of view that a composer may sound different after 8 years...)

[Ilja]

Eric, the 2nd and 3rd Symphony are both on Spotify if you want to take a listen - and the 4th and 5th will be in due course.
There is also a Sixth Symphony, the "Sinfonia Sacra" in C major from 1939. It's untypically compact (around 20 minutes; I have the feeling that "sacral" things tend to be fairly long-winded), and cast in three movements: Sanktus, Via Crucis, and Gloria. Those links refer to a a MIDI rendering on YouTube.