Symphony in F sharp major – Erich Korngold

Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Marc Albrecht.

I – Moderato ma energico – L’istesso tempo, cantabile – Tempo I – Allegro – Feroce – A tempo – Impetuoso – L’istesso tempo, cantabile- Tempo I – Poco meno, pesante: 0:00
II – Scherzo. Allegro molto – Trio. Molto meno (tranquillo) – Tempo I – Molto meno (tranquillo) – Subito allegro presto: 14:56
III – Adagio. Lento – Con tristezza – L’istesso tempo – Tempo I – Appasionato – Cantabile – Meno – Tempo I. Lento – Poco più meno, molto cantabile – Tempo I: 24:57
IV – Finale. Allegro – Poco più mosso – A tempo – Più lento – Tempo I (poco meno) – Poco meno, pesante: 40:22

Korngold’s Symphony was inspired by the death of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and subsequently dedicated to his memory. It was begun in 1947 though written mostly between 1951-52. The work was premiered on October 17 of 1954, performed by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra conducted by Harold Byrns. Unfortunately the work was poorly rehearsed and badly interpreted, being dismissed by critics with epithets as “Mahlerian” and “atonal”.

It was supposed to be his comeback piece after eleven years in enforced exile in Hollywood, where he had revolutionised film scoring. In 1959, Dimitri Mitropoulos wrote: “All my life I have sought the modern ideal of composition. In this symphony I have found it. I will play it next season”. But Mitropoulos passed away, and the symphony, despite being performed several times on Europe, was not performed in a concert hall until November 27 of 1972 in Munich, under the baton of Rudolf Kempe. Since then, the work has entered the repertoire and has been recorded on several occasions.

The first movement is written in sonata form. It is intense and stormy, with an irregular tragic main theme. Its use of chromatic dissonance and jagged, war-like rhythms make it one of the most modern pieces that Korngold wrote. It builds impressively through an unbroken fifty-bar symphonic crescendo, all from an initial, haunting theme, heard on solo B flat clarinet, which receives its impetus from a rising seventh. A lyrically tender second theme, built on intervals of the fourth and fifth, allows some respite, before the grim, portentous, march-like development. The thorough recapitulation leads to a haunting, mysterious coda in which, following the repeated opening chords the clarinet mournfully sounds that opening theme one final time, as pianissimo strings and flute ominously intone a plaintive, widely spaced F sharp major triad.

The second movement is a Scherzo. It begins with a fiendishly difficult tarantella, demanding virtuosic articulation, which is dramatically interrupted by a second, heroic theme from the horns, entirely typical of this composer. The spectral Trio, spare and translucent, resembles a ghostly lullaby, constantly modulating from one key to another, while using just four descending notes. Korngold was especially proud of this trio and its extreme economy of material. The Scherzo is repeated, with a brief reprise of the Trio, before the orchestra rushes headlong to an even faster climax.

The third movement is an Adagio, the broad heart of the symphony and a deep and meditative movement, in the tradition of Mahler and Bruckner. It opens with a solemn three-note motif that, together with its answering phrase, unfurls for some twenty-eight bars; at that point a secondary, sinister descending figure appears. The music gathers relentless momentum as it builds from one impassioned climax to the next. Finally, the main idea bursts forth in the major key, then suddenly reverts back to the tragic mood of the opening, which leads to the calm, resigned conclusion.

The fourth movement is structured as a rondo. It is boisterously optimistic and its main theme is an ingenious transformation of the lyrical second theme of the first movement. Korngold loved to demonstrate his skills of thematic transmogrification, by which, often by simply altering tempo and rhythm, he was able to give one theme the appearance of an entirely new idea. This Finale also contains a number of contrasting, tuneful episodes before its concluding recapitulation, which incorporates cyclical references to previous movements; the triumphant conclusion resolves the earlier tonal conflict and resounds finally in the brilliant key of F sharp major.

Korngold found that Vienna had changed, and his work had been forgotten. He failed to make his first works reappear, with which he had achieved fame in the thirties, and his new symphony failed to thrill the public. The musical style had completely changed and his music was out of date, being rejected as romantic. Disappointed, Korngold returned to Hollywood in 1955. He would compose two more pieces before dying in 1957.

Picture: “The Dream” (1912) by the German painter Franz Marc.

Sources: https://bit.ly/3dRdSqo and https://bit.ly/2YTBnuI

To check the score: https://bit.ly/40h4xkk

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