Search - Anonymous, Takao Ukigaya, Hannover Radio Symphony Orchestra :: Ernst Krenek: Symphony No. 2, Op. 12

Audacious

Scott Spires | Prague, Czech Republic | 02/12/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I got this disc a couple of years ago; a recent hearing showed me it had lost none of its power. Ernst Krenek (1900-91) is a pretty obscure figure, but on the evidence of his 2nd Symphony he ought to be better known. The 2nd is an audacious anarcho-symphony. Two huge, sloppy outer movements surround a rather dour scherzo; a sort of anti-structure is created by filling the piece with masses of heterogeneous material. The soundscape is aggressive and creepy. It seems to have nothing to do with any sort of human emotion or thought, but sounds more like a sonic record of hostile natural processes. I am impressed that Krenek keeps up this impersonal, inhuman style for the whole length of the symphony. Much of the time it sounds like a mess, but the material is compelling.Check out this symphony if you are a fan of 1) the unstable elements in late Mahler; 2) the early "free atonalism" of the Second Vienna School; or 3) Shostakovich's 4th Symphony, another anarcho-symphony which may have used the Krenek as a model. The obscure Austro-American composer is well served in this recording by an obscure Japanese conductor and an obscure German orchestra."