Masterful 2nd, Lyrical 6th!
Christopher Forbes | Brooklyn,, NY | 04/25/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Rubbra's symphonies have been overshadowed by the work of his better known colleagues, Walton and Vaughn Williams. But his work is every bit as well crafted and provacative as anything by his compatriots. This Chandos CD is a welcome continuation of a traversal of the entire Rubbra symphonic cycle by Richard Hickox...one that is long over due. The Sixth Symphony is perhaps one of the best places to begin a survey of the composer's symphonies. It is an immediately friendly work, primarily lyrical in style...almost folksy at times and yet still distinctly Rubbran. Cast in the traditional four movements, this is a work of exquisite charm and craft. For me, though it is problematic, the second is a much deeper piece. It follows on the heels of Rubbra's First Symphony and takes up where that turbulent work left off. Rubbra is in modernist mode here, tonal and yet sharply dissonant and rhythmic. The first movement is a restless allegro reminicent of the first movement of the 2nd, but with even greater concision and craft. Most impressive is the climax of the slow movement, a truly terrifying and intense build up of sound. Hickox is to be commended for his attention to forgotten British repertoire. His conducting is pristine, the BBC National OPrchestra of Wales is rich and lush, and the sound is typically brilliant for Chandos. In fact, along with Naxos, Chandos is fast becoming my favorite classical label. The smoothness and clarity of the recorded sound, along with the adventurousness of the programming, really appeals to me.If you like the music of Vaughn Williams, Walton, or Finzi, I would highly recommend this symphony of Rubbra's to you. You may want to start with this disc to see if you enjoy the music. If you do, then you should go ahead and get the complete boxed set of all the symphonies."
Rubbra's Masterpiece
Christopher Forbes | 01/23/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Sixth Symphony is, perhaps, the most perfect of Rubbra's works. Each movement has a strong lyrical drive which, coupled with Rubbra's translucent orchestration, results in one of the most delicately beautiful pieces of symphonic music from the last century. I cannot recommend it highly enough.The Second Symphony is rich in invention, and although it has its flaws, offers an interesting insight into Rubbra's symphonic development.As always, Richard Hickox gives a first-rate performance."
A 20th Century Polyphonist
Thomas F. Bertonneau | Oswego, NY United States | 12/11/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Robert Layton wrote as recently as 1992 that Edmund Rubbra (1901-1986) had yet to make his case as a symphonist of unavoidable interest. Rubbra will never enjoy the popularity of a Sibelius or a Shostakovich, but he seems to me to belong to a circle of British composers who rank quite high as twentieth century practitioners of symphonic form; in terms of consistency and continuous development of a complicated personal style, he definitely outranks William Alwynn and Malcolm Arnold (as impressive as they are) and stands next to Robert Simpson as an author of undeniably modern works that nevertheless set their roots deeply in the soil of tradition. Rubbra's symphonies appeared sporadically on disc beginning with a 1948 performance of the Fifth led by Sir John Barbirolli; in the 1960s and early 1970s, Lyrita gave us the Second, Third, Fourth, Seventh, Sixth, and Eighth, under a variety of leadership and with different orchestras. Richard Hickox's Chandos cycle, however, is the first to yield all the symphonies under a single hand and with one orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Here I consider the CD of the Second (1937; revised 1950) and Sixth Symphonies (1953/54). What are the characteristics of Rubbra's symphonism? Rubbra accepts the shared premises of Renaissance polyphony and the Bachian fugal style; rarely does he write a straightforward sonata movement with clear first and second subjects, development, and recapitulation. Almost always, Rubbra derives the entire material of a given movement from a web of contrapuntal motifs given out in the first few measures. He has a fondness for variational procedures, particularly for passacaglia, with its rhythmical strictness and dialectical yoking of alteration against repetition. Rubbra offers his symphonic music thickly scored, with the kind of density we associate with Tudor motet-writing, a trait that has admittedly elicited some complaints (unwarranted, I believe) about textural opacity. The Second Symphony offers a study in the Rubbran style: The opening Lento Rubato, for strings alone, sounds like something by Tallis or Weelkes; woodwinds enter, then the brass, all part of an organic elaboration of the song-like commencement in descending intervals, coupled with a rising figure presented first by the horns. The Scherzo (Vivace Assai) might remind savvy listeners of the lone completed movement that Gustav Holst, Rubbra's friend and mentor, produced for a projected but unfulfilled symphony. The emotional heart of the Second lies in the slow movement (Adagio Tranquillo), an essay in mystical quest and implicit faith that looks forward to the Romanza of Vaughan Williams' wartime Fifth Symphony. Scalar figures play an important role, as they did in the First Movement; pedal notes and stalking bass often underpin the contrapuntal elaboration of the parts. Wilfrid Mellers spoke of the "profoundly calm" ethos of this movement and said (in 1942) that it amounted to Rubbra's "finest achievement." The Finale (Allegro Amabile - Presto) returns to the boisterousness of the Scherzo; syncopated rhythms lend it a certain impetuosity. The Sixth Symphony comes from a decade and a half later. The First Movement (Lento [Sempre Flessibile] - Allegretto) begins with a string cantilena over pedal notes in the woodwinds and eventually gives way to dance-rhythms, an ethereal rather than an earthly dance. Rubbra describes the Second Movement (Largo & Sereno) as a "Canto," a song, and appends a brief text by the Italian poet Leporello to the score: "Always was this lonely hill dear to me / And this hedge which shuts out / So much of the distant horizon." The calmness of this quiet, ever-changing, densly contrapuntal music defies verbal summation just as it touches the soul. After the brief Scherzo (Vivace Impetuoso), the Finale (Poco Andante - Allegro Moderato) returns us to the earth. A Roman Catholic, Rubbra nevertheless felt great sympathy for the magic of old, pre-Christian places, ideas, and lore. The Sixth Symphony expresses this. Hickox and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales turn in fine accounts. There used to be competition for the Second on Lyrita and for the Sixth on an Italian Intaglio import, neither currently available."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1