CLASSICAL LOST AND FOUND (CLOFO)

FORGOTTEN MUSIC BY GREAT COMPOSERS AND GREAT MUSIC BY FORGOTTEN COMPOSERS
31 AUGUST 2018

The albums below are "Classical Releases Of Current Key Significance," or "CROCKS", if you will. To purchase an album, simply click on one of the Web site retail outlets given in the "AVAILABILITY" table under the write-up.

Diethelm: Syms 1, 3, 4 "Homage…", 5 "Mandala", Sym Ste "Saturnalia", Sym Prologue; Held/RScotNa O [Guild]
RECOMMENDED (3 CDs)

Around three years ago, Guild issued a superb album of music by Swiss composers, which featured a profound choral symphony by Carl Rütti (b. 1949; see 30 September 2015), and some captivating short works for string orchestra by his older colleague Caspar Diethelm (1926-1997). This left many listeners wanting to hear more of Caspar's symphonic fare, which hasn't been available until this recent, three-CD Guild release. It's a significant sampling of same that well makes up for the wait!

By way of background, he first studied music in his hometown of Lucerne, Switzerland, and would also take private lessons from Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) as well as Paul Hindemith (1895-1963). In that regard, the latter's practical, Gebrauchsmusik ("utility music") style seems to have rubbed off on him.

Diethelm would pursue an extremely successful career as a conductor and teacher. He'd also write around 350 works, almost a third of which are for orchestra. Six of the latter are featured on this album, namely four of his eight symphonies as well as an extensive suite and short, standalone prologue.

We should also note he was a perfectionist and strove to make his music readily accessible. Consequently, he revised each of these at least once, and it’s the final versions that are included here. They’re the only recordings of them currently available on disc.

The composer's daughter Esther has given us detailed analyses of all six (see the album booklet). However, Daddy wrote intricately structured, thematically fickle music that's constantly on the move and hard to describe in words. Hopefully, the timings given below will help nail down her comments.

The program begins with his Symphonic Suite "Saturnalia" of 1982, which he revised in 1994. An informally structured set of seven dancelike movements, this takes its inspiration from the ancient Roman festival referenced in the title. The first "Allegro moderato - in modo rustico" ("Moderately fast - in a rustic way") [D1, T-1, 00:00] comes off as advertised with themes that according to the album notes, "hint at basic motifs found in Swiss folk music".

After that the pace quickens in an "Allegro vivace" ("Lively and spirited") [D-1, T-2], which begins with a hypnotic, railroad-like rhythm (HR) [00:00] that will infect the entire movement. HR is quickly overlaid with two ideas that are respectively fractious [00:04] and serpentine [00:29].

Then there's a pastoral, songlike third subject (PS) [01:10], which we're told is based on an "alpine fifth", presumably referring to what's more familiarly known as a perfect fifth. Be that as it may, all three themes are adeptly jostled about, and towards the end, PS reappears [04:41]. This engenders a lovely, closing episode, where it's easy to imagine the view from some Alpine mountain top overlooking a beautiful valley.

The composer refers to the following "Lento" ("Slow") [D-1, T-3] as a complex funeral march in keeping with a Greek tragedy. Accordingly, it opens with a relentless plodding beat [00:00], over which the English horn intones a forlorn keening melody (FK) [00:09] that gives way to a modal, chorale-like countersubject (MC) in the brass [00:48].

FK and MC are explored leading to a haunting episode [03:13], followed by lugubrious strings introducing more funereal passages [04:03]. These are riddled with memories of FK as well as MC, and there are a couple of intense, grief-stricken outbursts. The latter are succeeded by final appearances of MC [07:02] and FK [07:34] as the music vanishes into oblivion.

The mood becomes whimsical in the next "Allegro, quasi scherzo" ("Fast, like a scherzo") [D-1, T-4]. This starts off with a kooky, bitonal (aka polytonal) ländler (KB) [00:00], which is the recurring idea for this rondoesque offering. KB is followed by a pounding segment [01:13] and subsequent, scurrying variant of itself [01:38], having a frivolous afterthought [01:59]. Then a gliding version of KB surfaces [02:24] that's upstaged by a heroic number [03:15]. But not to be outdone, a carefree KB [03:41] appears, turns increasingly agitated, and the movement ends in a sudden forte chord.

The fifth one is a lighthearted "Allegro con spirito ("Fast, with spirit") [D-1, T-5] that falls into four arches, the first two of which are respectively busy [00:00] and pastoral [01:09]. Next there's a buffoonish third [02:33] with chortling winds [beginning at 02:43] as well as reminders of past ideas. Then a recap-like fourth arch [03:40] recalls the first and ends the movement exultantly.

Joy turns to grief in the macabre, penultimate "La maschera di morte" ("The Mask of Death") [D-1, T-6]. Marked "Largo con espressione" ("Slow, with expression") it opens with ominous, tam-tam-reinforced timpani strokes (TT) [00:00] and some gloomy, double bass pizzicato. Subsequently, the brass intones a lugubrious chorale (LC) [00:20], which is the subject of a morose meditation, that’s offset by a searching, sanguine episode [03:04]. Then the latter vanishes with the return of LC [03:37] and more dour passages. These have subdued reminders of TT [05:04] and close the movement in deathly silence.

The concluding seventh one marked "Finale: Allegro molto vivace" ("Finale: Lively and very vivacious") [D-1, T-7] gets off to a spirited start with a rhythmically driven angular idea (RA) for the strings [00:02]. They’re soon joined by the rest of the orchestra with the oboe introducing an RA-related, wistful countersubject (RW) [01:06]. Then RA and RW play a developmental, rondo-like game of tag [beginning at 01:38]. It’s succeeded by an RA-RW derived coda [05:39], which brings the suite and this first CD to a joyous, triumphant ending.

Moving on to the second disc, we get Diethelm's four-movement, Fifth Symphony, subtitled "Mandala", which was completed in 1980-1 and extensively revised four years later (1985). Despite the Hindu-Buddhist symbol referenced in the title, the composer tells us this is absolute music with no underlying story.

He goes on to add his intention was to create a work, which like its moniker would be an aid to meditation. On that note, Diethelm was apparently captivated by the eternal circle of the cosmos and life pictured in a mandala. He'd even go on to revisit the concept in his Consolatio fur Streichorchester (Consolation for String Orchestra, 1996; see 30 September 2015).

The first "Allegro moderato" ("Moderately fast") [D-2, T-1] is in sonata form and begins with a searching, fractious thematic nexus (SF) [00:01] that may bring to mind the opening of the third movement in Paul Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony (1934). SF is followed by a related, chorale-like subject (SC) [01:36], which leads to a dynamic development [02:23] of both, where bellicose passages surround palliative ones [04:19-05:01]. Subsequently, there's a sighing SF-introduced, recap [06:20] with SC [08:27] that’s the basis for an epilogue-like coda [09:29], which ends the movement tranquilly.

A "Vivace" ("Vivacious') scherzo is next [D-2, T-2], where fitful SC-tinged outer sections [00:00 & 07:12] bracket two yearning ones [04:08 & 06:03]. It's succeeded by a "Larghetto" ("Rather slow") [D-2, T-3], which starts with an ambling, melancholic melody (AM) [00:00] that gives way to more hopeful passages [03:14]. But the latter become increasingly despondent [beginning at 04:28] with a couple of anguished outbursts.

Then AM returns in the strings [06:48], and the music builds to another grief-stricken climax. This fades into more optimistic thoughts [08:58] followed by an AM-based, closing coda [10:53], where the music ebbs away with subdued timpani strokes.

The Symphony's spirited "Finale: Allegro energico" ("Finale: Fast and energetic") [D-2, T-4] is a theme and variations cast in sonata form. Moreover, it’s in eight, conjoined sections, reflecting the importance of that number in a mandala (see above).

Sequentially, they consist of the theme, six variations and a concluding epilogue, all of which make for a rigorous, intellectually challenging, convoluted movement. That said, there’s not enough space to get into a detailed analysis here (see the album notes), and arguably, all this structural complexity diminishes the music’s emotional impact.

The initial statement [00:00] is made up of the theme and first two variations, while the following pair constitute the development [06:38]. Then numbers five and six form the recapitulation [09:58], after which there’s that final epilogue [11:59]. Here ideas from the previous three movements resurface, bringing the Symphony to a sublime, pastoral ending.

A Symphonic Prologue for Orchestra [D-2, T-5], which began life in 1974, but was reworked in 1985 and 1993, fills out this disc. It commences with a glib, giddy notion (GG) [00:00] and GG-related songful tune (GS) [00:39]. These are prosaically tossed about with some ostentatious percussion, and then there's a GG-GS-related respite [02:44], cut short [04:08] by a reworking of the opening measures. This leads to a GG-fueled coda [06:59] that brings the work to a joyous conclusion.

Turning to the third CD, we get Diethelm's First, Third and Fourth Symphonies, each of which is in four movements. These span a thirty-year period in his creative years, with the First having been written in 1962-4, but later revised between 1978 and 1983.

It's opening "Allegro energico" ("Fast and energetic") [D-3, T-1] starts with a jittery, chromatic theme (JC) [00:01] that's tweaked and followed by a related, dancelike number (JD) [00:56]. This leads to a JC-launched, dodecaphonic-tinged development [03:04], which attests to Diethelm's past studies of twelve-tone technique. Then the return of JC [06:22] and JD [06:41] initiate a recap coda that ends the movement indifferently.

A placid "Adagio" ("Slow") [D-3, T-2] is next. Along the lines of a theme and variations, it begins with a nebulous, peripatetic main subject [00:00], which engenders five episodes of varying disposition. The first four are sequentially yearning [01:33], martial [02:50], retiring [04:02] and diffident [05:58]. Then a funereal, weeping fifth [07:21] brings the music to a wistful conclusion.

But the mood brightens with a catchy, "Vivace" ("Spirited"), dance movement that's a surrogate scherzo [D-3, T-3]. It has outer, sections [00:00 & 04:24] based on a twirling, German-Swiss "Zwiefacher"-like, folk ditty. These surround a perturbed trio section [03:31-04:23], and end things like they started.

The "Finale: Allegro con slancio" ("Finale: Fast with enthusiasm") [D-3, T-4] is a sonata-rondo, which begins with a volatile, twitchy tune (VT) [00:00] that will recur in different guises throughout the movement. These range from rhapsodic [00:25 & 01:11] to queasy [01:54], stalking [02:39 & 03:12], nimble [03:57], nervous [04:21] and hymnlike [06:03]. The latter bridges into reverent passages [06:55] that end this Symphony full circle with a definitive, forte, VT pronouncement [08:13].

Franz Joseph Haydn (FJH, 1732-1809) figures heavily in the two symphonies filling out this CD, as they're both modelled after his London ones (Nos. 93-104) of two centuries earlier (1791-5). In essence, Casper tells us he was trying to write modern day, large-scale orchestral works, which retained the underlying structural simplicity found in music of the Classical period.

His Third Symphony of 1969-70 appears in its revised, 1995 version and begins with a dreamy "Sostenuto ("Sustained") introduction [D-3, T-5, 00:00]. This sonata form movement then turns "Allegro vivace" ("Lively and spirited") with three saucy tunes that are ländleresque (SL) [00:57], waltzlike (SW) [01:55] and skittish (SS) [02:32]. They are deftly developed [03:10], and then SW launches into a zippy recapitulation [04:25] with a jolly coda [05:15] that ends the movement gleefully.

A keening "Adagio cantabile" ("Flowing and songlike") [D-3, T-6] is next. It's fabricated from an opening, lugubrious, meandering dirge (LM) [00:00], which at one point takes on the aspect of a funeral march [02:57]. Curiously enough, there's a tick-tock-like, underlying rhythm that makes one wonder if the composer might have had "Papa" Haydn's" Clock Symphony (No. 101, 1793-4) in mind.

Then the work reverses course with an "Allegro con spirito" ("Fast, with spirit") scherzo [D-3, T-7]. This has delightful outer sections, both of which are based on two childlike ideas that are playful [00:00] and mischievous [00:07]. They surround a curt quirky episode [01:23-02:13], and end this movement, setting the tone for the last.

It takes the form of an effervescent rondo [D-3, T-8], and gets off to a bustling start with two recurring subjects. These are a bubbly, hiccupping motif (BH) [00:00] and an urbane, undulating melody [00:33]. They engender some nine developmental iterations that are searching [01:16 & 01:33], flirtatious [02:17], combative [02:48], valiant [03:26], anxious [04:03], resolute [04:41] and tranquil [05:13 & 05:29]. A subsequent, BH-triggered coda [05:55] closes the symphony smilingly.

Filling out this disc, there’s Diethelm's Fourth Symphony, where he acknowledged his debt to FJH by subtitling it "Hommage à Joseph Haydn". It first saw the light of day in 1971, but like the other works here, underwent later reworking, this time in 1986 as well as 1993.

Like its immediate predecessor, this begins with a sonata form movement [D-3, T-9]. Marked "Allegro assai" ("Very fast"), the opening statement has two related themes, the first being of binary persuasion (BT) with sunny [00:01] and overcast [00:14] components. BT is succeeded by a delicate dancelike, second (DD) [01:00], which is tweaked.

After that, BT and DD are repeated [01:50], giving way to an engaging development [02:33]. Then there’s an exciting recap [04:29] and a chime-introduced, BT-derived epilogue-coda [05:28] that ends the movement piously.

Next, it's scherzo time again with a "Molto allegro e con fuoco" ("Very fast and with fire") [D-3, T-10, 00:00]. This starts with a tangle of energetic riffs, having avian, woodwind shrieks [00:48] and percussive conniptions [01:08 & 01:34]. Then there's a tiny tuneful trio [02:42-03:13], after which the kinetic chaos resumes, building to a manic dance bit [04:39-04:45] that ends things with a forte stomp.

The subsequent "Lento" ("Slow") [D-3, T-11] is in three parts. The first two are searching contemplations, which are respectively only for winds [00:00] and strings [02:26]. Then a subdued tam-tam stroke (STS) [04:41] announces the third, where the preceding ones are superimposed on each other, bringing the music to an anguished conclusion.

Wrapping things up, there's an "Allegro energico" ("Fast and energetic") [D-3, T-12], which is yet another sonata form creation. A lusty, dancelike offering, the opening statement has two themes, namely a headstrong, folksy first (HD) [00:00] and wriggling, rustic second (WR) [01:04]. They undergo an articulate development [01:50] with waning hints of WR [02:42] that are followed by a pause.

Then there’s an HD-initiated recap [03:03] with an HD-suggestive, waltz tidbit [03:33], succeeded by highly agitated passages [03:45]. These slow, giving way to another STS [04:59] and subsequent, HD-parented coda [05:04]. The latter ends with a rising, tam-tam-timpani-reinforced, forte riff [05:14] that closes the Symphony ecstatically.

Swiss conductor Rainer Held leads the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for all six selections. Hearing these finely etched performances, it's easy to understand why he's one of today's most sought after international conductors. His careful phrasing and attention to rhythmic detail are most welcome when it comes to sorting out Caspar’s convoluted music.

The recordings were made two years ago over a five-day period at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Scotland, and consistently project a somewhat withdrawn sonic image in pleasant surroundings. The instrumental timbre is characterized by vitreous highs in massed upper string passages, a tight midrange, and rock-bottom, clean bass.

While this isn't demonstration quality sound, we're lucky to have what's here. Moreover, the album introduces us to some rarely heard, fastidiously written, intellectually challenging music that will require repeated listening to be fully appreciated.

-- Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost and Found (CLOFO.com, P180831 - http://www.clofo.com/Newsletters/C180831.htm)