Bendix Symphony No. 2 "Summer Sounds from Southern Russia"

[Ilja]

Jens Cornelius is also the writer of the notes to the recent cpo recording of Bendix's Symphonies 1 & 3.

[Maury]

Yes that's what I got from his bio. He writes CD booklets for several specialty labels. I found the booklet notes OK but not great for the  Bendix Symphonies. Frustratingly he says that the Sym 2 was inspired by contemporary Russian composers he met n Germany but then doesn't mention any. For myself the music doesn't sound particularly Russian.

[Alan Howe]

I believe there may be more to the Liszt connection than meets the eye. Something has to explain why one senses him 'thinking outside the box' in his symphonies.

[Wheesht]

In reply to Maury, I would argue that, without having read the biography by Jens Cornelius, it is moot to speculate whether or not this is a 'normal academic music biography' - nor should the apparent lack of an academic affiliation automatically be held against the author. A biography as a (more or less detailed) description of someone's life does not necessarily, in the case at issue here, have to include a detailed analysis of the works of that person.
It may well be that the number of sources available or restrictions on the part of the publishers resulted in the biography being a mere 137 pages long.
And yes, I am aware that some members of this forum would argue that it is the music alone that counts and that biographical aspects are of secondary importance at best. 

[Maury]

Mr Howe,

Bendix knew Liszt since the Sym 1 was approved by Liszt but this is not that surprising given its programmatic nature and the use of certain Lisztian techniques. But the Sym 1 is the most normative of his symphonies. It is only starting with the  Sym 2 in 1888 that I hear something quite novel that Ilja also seconded with the Louis Glass Sym 1, both students of Gade. Then we can throw Robert Hermann into the mix who apparently knew Grieg fairly well. Hermann's Sym 1 came out in 1895 one year after Glass. So something was going on in Scandinavia around 1890 that ended up producing these stylistically similar symphonies quite different from the standard symphonic fare of the time.

[Maury]

Wheesht,
 I understand that a composer bio doesn't need to have lots of music examples. The issue is that what we are talking about here is musical style. Reading the liner notes of Cornelius to the Dacapo Bendix CD he certainly recognizes stylistic shifts but doesn't go into much detail about it or its possible genesis. That's what I'm interested in though.

[eschiss1]

Note the OCLC listing I gave for the Jens Cornelius book when I mentioned it, which I'd hoped would be helpful... 1445899469. No idea, not having seen the book, whether it's better than his liner notes, though at 137 pages it's certainly longer and Worldcat mentions unspecified illustrations. Apparently his book can be purchased online in print format for only $17.49 which compared to a lot of (I imagine) similar books is inexpensive.

[eschiss1]

Also, here's an article (in Danish- a translator thing is useful) based on Cornelius' book from soon after it came out. Doesn't answer your question but summarizes some of its content.. Pov.international, Poul Arnedal, July 30 2021, "Victor Bendix: The Forgotten Composer and His Erotic Escapades"

[terry martyn]

Mange tak,Eric!

[Maury]

Also, here's an article (in Danish- a translator thing is useful) based on Cornelius' book from soon after it came out. Doesn't answer your question but summarizes some of its content.. Pov.international, Poul Arnedal, July 30 2021, "Victor Bendix: The Forgotten Composer and His Erotic Escapades"

Yes in perusing his website I noted the several reviews of the Bendix book and saw this from POV a music streaming site. Their review title does suggest that the author was not doing much music analysis above liner notes in the book.  I have no doubt he did a competent job of doing a Bendix biography. He noted that he went through letters, newspaper accounts and the like. The photos are probably all that survived and reproduced adequately. I am sure there are no music examples. I do agree that the price is low and after the holidays I will try to get a copy but have low expectations at this point.

[Maury]

I took a listen to the rest of Louis Glass' symphonies per Ilja. My initial thoughts follow. (I may change my mind about Sym 4 and 5 with more listening.)

Sym 1 is in the style of the Bendix Sym 2
Sym 2 and 3 are normative high Romantic symphonies pre-Tristan
Sym 4 is tough to classify but it seems to be more in the category of what I faute de mieux call Poetic Romanticism although tending more in the direction of early Brun (Sym 2 and 3)
Sym 5 seems more like poetic Romanticism in the manner of Robert Hermann or later Bendix
Sym 6 is back to high Romanticism

In summary Glass Sym 1 is definitely in the Bendix Sym 2 style while Sym 4 and Sym 5 seem to be moving to a bit later Bendix style in his Sym 3 and 4 as well as Hermann and Brun. The rest are normative Romantic symphonies.

[eschiss1]

does one of them have a piano or chorus?

[Maury]

Symphony 2 has a male chorus and organ. That does tilt it to typical high Romantic style.   

[Maury]

Ilja said:  The problem with the Todorov recording (the whole set is rather more miss than hit, I'm afraid) of Glass' 4th Symphony is that it's played much too slowly.

I agree completely. I am just listening through them, concentrating on the sequential structure and basic material.

It was a bit of a trial listening again to the Glass Sym 4 which was stretched out to an hour by Todorov. However, I am convinced that it does fall into the Bendix style although significantly expanded. I think it is instructive to listen to the  Sym 4 Finale and compare it to a typical Romantic symphony Finale. This is the one movement where Glass actually fakes a typical romantic movement with its rhetoric. The Finale starts out with a forte brass outburst, not ominous just boisterous. This goes on for 90 seconds when the brass suddenly pause. Then they sputter out a few more notes mezzo forte then stop again, Then the violins begin with a variant of the brass melody and go on in melodic fashion for several minutes until the brass come back with another boisterous section which also sputters out. Then the strings start up again with the melody in genial fashion until they start picking up the pace. Suddenly there is a bit of repetitive content and the music builds slightly and then the movement ends quickly on a few cadential chords performed without much vigor as if the Finale was an opening movement.

The Bendix style is Romantic but in a way that constantly subverts typical Romantic rhetorical gestures that appear for example in Glass' own Sym 2.