Godard Symphonie Gotique & Symphony 2

[eschiss1]

So Chandos, Hyperion, Naxos and cpo are or may now doing this (publishing their booklets online as well as with their CDs), if I'm not mistaken? (Maybe some other labels...) A good trend, I know I approve .

[Aramiarz]

Very interesting these discoveries! Anyone to know where are the Scores of the Symphony Legendaire And Tasso?

[Alan Howe]

The booklet notes reveal that the Gotique is really a suite. It's the Symphony Op.57 from 1879 that really interests me.

[Aramiarz]

The Gotique symphony was dedicated to Saint-Saëns

[ncouton]

Yes, the "Symphonie Gothique" is more a suite than a symphony, but the 3rd movement is especially beautiful and moving.

[Gareth Vaughan]

 

Anyone to know where are the Scores of the Symphony Legendaire and Tasso?

Try the Bibliotheque Nationale de France first of all.
Yep. A quick search on WorldCat shows a Full Score of Symphonie Legendaire in the BNF.
World Cat also gives the location of the MS Full Score of Le Tasse as Harvard University.

[Aramiarz]

Dear Gareth, thank you!

[Alan Howe]

Yes, the "Symphonie Gothique" is more a suite than a symphony, but the 3rd movement is especially beautiful and moving.

Thanks, M. Couton. I'll look forward to hearing that work as well.

[Ilja]

Can anyone tell me if this recording is available for download somewhere? I've been looking, but no online store I know seems to carry it.


Cpo's policy in this regard is inconsistent: much of their catalogue can be purchased as MP3/FLAC, but other things can't be (such as the Gouvy symphonies). Weird, but perhaps a consequence of their arrangements with orchestras/broadcasting companies.

[JeremyMHolmes]

Ilya,
I have found either eclassical.com or prestoclassical.co.uk to be the best source of downloads for CPO releases, but the downside is that you often have to wait at least a month (if not 2 or 3) after release of the CD in Germany before the newest releases find their way onto their websites.

[Ilja]

Yes, I've noticed that. Another thing is that pricing is inconsistent, too. For example, if I want to purchase the Damrosch Symphony on Toccata, buying it at Presto will set me back 9,25 euros; the iTunes Music Store wants 7,99, eMusic 2,94 (plus subscription charges), and finally Toccata's own site has it for 7 euros. But it's not as though these price differences are consistent.


As for Godard, there's nothing for it but to buy the CD, transfer it to my computer and give the disc to someone, I guess.

[Alan Howe]

Well, along with the Radecke CD this morning came this magnificent set of recordings. Of greatest interest to me is the Symphony in B flat which is a most impressive piece - and very much of its time (1879), incorporating as it does distinctly Lisztian/Wagnerian elements within the classical four-movement format. It's incredible that this fascinating and thoroughly convincing symphony has lain forgotten for so long. Why anyone would bother with the earlier Saint-Saëns symphonies when this magnificent piece is available is anyone's guess...

[Alan Howe]

...although the best music music on the CD is probably the archaic-sounding Grave middle movement of the Symphonie Gothique - restrained, dignified and moving.

[Mark Thomas]

After repeated hearings of the three works on this CD I'm afraid that I'm left with a feeling of indifference. Oh, there are a couple of movements which stand out: the previously mentioned Grave middle movement of the Symphonie Gothique and the vigorous opening Allegretto of the Symphony Op.57, but they're very much the exception. Not that there is anything unpleasing or inept in Godard's material or his handling of it, there's just nothing really noteworthy or exceptional either. His melodic material is blandly appealing, his orchestration is suavely smooth, his harmonic language is safely mainstream for the 1870s and 80s.  The booklet records a French critic describing Godard as "the genial composer of so much pleasant music for piano and orchestra" and that pleasant is spot on. Of the three works, the Symphony starts very well, but the middle movements lack depth and it closes with a tail-chasing finale. The Symphonie Gothique is no symphony at all of course, but a "Suite in the Olden Style". The third movement is good no doubt, but otherwise this sort of thing has been done better by others. The Trois Pièces doesn't pretend to be other than a trio of unrelated genre pieces. Again, they are attractive without being memorable, bringing to mind similar movements from Massenet's Suites, which far outclass them in atmosphere, vitality and memorability. Sorry to be so negative, but I was expecting more.

[Alan Howe]

I was really only expecting something from the 2nd Symphony. My reactions to it are a good deal more positive, although I agree that its best movement is the first which is really rather magnificent, in my view. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the work, so Mark and I are (for once) at odds over this one! All part of life's rich tapestry...