User:Silence of Järvenpää/Songs3

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Symphony No. 1
by Johan Svendsen
The composer (c. 1870)
KeyD major
CatalogueJSV 38[1]
Opus4
Composed1865 (1865)–1867
PublisherFritzsch [ca] (1868)
Duration35 mins.
Movements4
Premiere
Date12 October 1867 (1867-10-12)
LocationOslo, Norway
ConductorJohan Svendsen

The Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 4 (JSV 38),[1] is a four-movement orchestral work written from 1866 to 1867 by the Norwegian composer Johan Svendsen. Notwithstanding earlier partial performances, the symphony—in its entirety—received its premiere in Oslo on 12 October 1967, with Svendsen conducting. The First Symphony particularly is admired for its energy and "sparking" orchestration;[2] the composer's friend and countryman, the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg was so moved by Svendson's First Symphony that he withdrew his own work in the genre, the Symphony in C minor (EG 119; 1864). Along with Svendsen's Second Symphony (Op. 15; c. 1974), the D major symphony is credited with having given "Norway a strong local symphonic tradition".[3]

History

Composition

From 1863 to 1867, Svendsen was enrolled as a music student at the Leipzig Conservatory.[2]


  • Composed in 1866 while he was a music student at the Leipzig Conservatory.[2]
  • "It is an astonishingly inspired, well-integrated, unified, and powerful work".[2]
  • The orchestration shows that Svendsen was "moving in the French direction, producing a sound full of contrasts ... often placing them [the woodwinds] in their high registers, which contributed strongly to the work's sparkling character".[2]
  • Movement I is "overwhelmingly energetic", before being "balanced by a serious and expansive Andante.[2]
  • Movement III's opening "seems to foreshadow the Overture to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker (1892) ... the scherzando is remarkably nimble, brilliantly orchestrated, and so skillfully constructed that it deserves a place among the very best orchestra scherzos written".[4]
  • Movement IV reprises the opening theme of the first movement.[5]
  • The symphony is dedicated to the Swedish-Norwegian consul in Lübeck, Carl F. Leche, who had in 1863 aided the young composer to secure a scholarship from the Swedish-Norwegian king.[5]
  • It was Svendsen, not Grieg, "who gave Norway a strong local symphonic tradition. They orchestra was Svendsen's speciality".[3]
  • It was in his final year at the Leipzig Conservatory that Svendsen "was able to surprise his composition teacher", Carl Reinecke, by producing a symphony.[3]

Premiere

  • The first movement premiered in Leipzig on 9 May 1866 at the Gewandhaus, with Svendsen conducting; a year later in the same location, Svendsen conducted Movements II–IV for the first time.[5]
  • The first complete performance was on 12 October 1967 in Oslo, with Svendsen conducting.[5]
  • The score was published by E. W. Fritsch [ca] in 1868.[5]
  • In autumn 1867, Svendsen conducted his debut concert in Oslo, with the symphony on the program. Grieg, in a review, praised "the perfect balance between ideas and technique", and called the orchestration among "the best in existence" ... "God alone knows where Svendsen got it all from", Grieg wrote in a post-concert letter. And he guessed at Berlioz as inspiration. "I was deeply moved. Everything, just sever thing had my fullest sympathy and impressed me in an irrepressible manner".[3]
  • In his review, Grieg advised Svendsen to leave Norway: "for if the public carries on as it has started here, when presented with the best we have, Norwegian music will soon become nothing but a fiasco, whereas abroad, and especially in enlightened Germany, it will receive the recognition which it deserves". Svendsen subsequently returned to Leipzig and then travelled to Paris.[3]
  • [3]

Instrumentation

The First Symphony is scored for the following instruments, organized by family (woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):

Structure

The Symphony No. 1 is in four movements:

  1. Molto allegro
  2. Andante
  3. Allegretto scherzando
  4. Finale. Maestoso – Allegro assai con fuoco

Discography

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of Svendsen's First Symphony:

No. Conductor Orchestra Rec.[a] Time Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Odd Grüner-Hegge Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (1) c. 1961 ? ? Philips
[b]
2 Miltiades Caridis Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (2) c. 1974 33:26 ? Norsk Kulturråds Klassikerserie
[c]
3 Neeme Järvi (1) Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra 1986 34:48 Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS
[d]
4 Mariss Jansons Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (3) 1987 34:55 Oslo Concert Hall EMI Classics
[e]
5 Ari Rasilainen [fi] Norwegian Radio Orchestra 1996 36:42 NRK Broadcasting Hall, Oslo Finlandia
[f]
6 Terje Mikkelsen Latvian National Symphony Orchestra 1997 35:33 Rīgas Reformātu baznīca [lv] cpo
[g]
7 Bjarte Engeset Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 1997 36:02 Wessex Hall, Poole Arts Centre Naxos
[h]
8 Thomas Dausgaard Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra 2000 35:26 Danish Radio Concert Hall, Copenhagen Chandos
[i]
9 Neeme Järvi (2) Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra 2012 33:28 Grieg Hall Chandos
[j]

Notes, references, and sources

Notes
  1. ^ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
  2. ^ O. Grüner-Hegge—Philips (A 631 097 L) 1961
  3. ^ M. Caridis—Norsk Kulturråds Klassikerserie (NKF 30 001) 1974
  4. ^ N. Järvi—BIS (CD–347) 1987
  5. ^ M. Jansons—EMI Classics (7243 5 85070 2 7) 2003
  6. ^ A. Rasilainen—Finlandia (0630–19055–2) 1998
  7. ^ T. Mikkelsen—cpo (777 372 2) 2008
  8. ^ B. Engeset—Naxos (8.553898) 1998
  9. ^ T. Dausgaard—Chandos (CHAN 9932) 2001
  10. ^ N. Järvi—Chandos (CHAN 10766) 2013
References
  1. ^ a b Engeset 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Christophersen 2013, p. 5.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Skans 1986, p. 3.
  4. ^ Christophersen 2013, pp. 5–6.
  5. ^ a b c d e Christophersen 2013, p. 6.
Sources
  • Anderson, Keith (1998). Johan Svendsen: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (CD booklet). Bjarte Engeset & Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Naxos. 8.553898.
  • Engeset, Bjarte (2022). "Svendsen: Johan: Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 4". musikkarven.no. Norsk Musikkarv. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  • Cornelius, Jens (2001). Svendsen: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 / Polonaise No. 2 (CD booklet). Translated by Sydenham, Jonathan. Thomas Dausgaard & Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Chandos. CHAN 9932.
  • Christophersen, Morten (2012). Johan Svendsen: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 (CD booklet). Neeme Järvi & Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Chandos. CHAN 10711.
  • Haglund, Rolf (1987). Johan Svendsen: The Two Symphonies / Two Swedish Folk Tunes for Strings (CD booklet). Translated by Barnett, Andrew. Neeme Järvi & Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. BIS. CD–347.

External links


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