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Home , Robert Schumann

NI 6163 SCHUMANN WAGNER SCHUMANN WAGNER London

ROBERT SCHUMANN Symphony No.3 1 Lebhaft 10’01 2 : Sehr mäßig 7’10 3 Nicht schnell 5’33 4 Feierlich 6’38 5 Lebhaft 6’00 Symphony No.4 SCHUMANN 6 Ziemlich langsam – Lebhaft 11’55 3 & 4 7 Romanze: Ziemlich langsam 4’33 8 Scherzo: Lebhaft 6’09 9 Langsam – Lebhaft 8’57 WAGNER : The Flying Dutchman 10 Overture: The Flying Dutchman 11’36

Total playing time: 78’33

Produced by Simon Rhodes Engineered by Simon Rhodes, edited by Simon Haram Recorded at Abbey Road Studios on 29th October, and at Hall, London on London Symphony Orchestra 2nd and 3rd November, 2011 Yondani Butt P 2012 Wyastone Estate Ltd. g 2012 Wyastone Estate Ltd. Yondani Butt ~ conductor In 1850, the Schumann family – Robert, Clara and their five children – moved from Saxony to Düsseldorf, in Robert’s beloved Rhineland. Schumann had been invited to Yondani Butt was born in Macau. He studied music at Indiana University and the become the city’s Director of Music, and the family was welcomed with lavish University of Michigan. He also has a Ph.D. in Chemistry, on which subject he has concerts and effusive gestures of generosity. The Lower Rhenish Festival, held published numerous research papers. As founder of Symphonie Canadiana, he has led regularly in Düsseldorf, meant that there were plenty of openings for Clara both as the orchestra on major tours throughout North America. In addition, since 1983, he has teacher and performer, and that Robert had a and orchestra at his disposal for held the position of Resident Conductor of the Victoria International Festival, creating trying out new works. Initially, at least, this would bode well for a time of respite and the highly successful Concerti Extravaganza series. Frequently in demand as a guest recovery following the 1840s, which had been characterised by the increasing fragility conductor, Yondani Butt has recorded and performed in the United States, Canada, of Robert’s mental health. Latin America, Asia and Europe. He has conducted the of London, London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, American Symphony, Hamilton Although his new position became fraught with tensions, and ultimately prompted Philharmonic of Canada, Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Mexico, Singapore further breakdowns, the autumn of 1850 was a fruitful time for Schumann. A visit to Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Japan Gunma Symphony and Het Gelders Orkest, Cologne inspired his ‘Rhenish’ Symphony, set in an expansive, five-movement amongst many others. Hailed by Robert Marsh of the Chicago Sun-Times as “an structure. Published as his Third, this would in fact be Schumann’s last full outstanding talent” and acclaimed by critics and audiences alike for his many CD symphony. In it, his approach bears an affinity with the Beethoven of the ‘Pastoral’ recordings and concert performances, Yondani Butt received an MRA Gramophone Symphony, No.6, more than with the philosopher Beethoven of the Ninth – whom Award in the Symphony Category 1995 for his recording of Glazunov’s Sixth Symphony. Wagner sought to emulate. Furthermore, Schumann’s evocations of nature may be He had previously won the same Award in 1986 for Rimsky-Korsakov’s Third seen on a creative continuum with those of Mahler, who re-orchestrated these Symphony. His recording of Glazunov’s Third Symphony is recognised by the Glazunov symphonies to enhance colouristic effects which Schumann himself was, perhaps, not Society as definitive and earned him the title of Honorary Patron of the Society. His always adept at achieving. extensive discography features the more exotic pages of the orchestral catalogue with works by Saint-Saëns, Elgar, Sibelius, Lalo, Grieg, Barber, Kodály, Mahler, Strauss, Raff There is no programme attached to the ‘Rhenish’ Symphony, though there might and Liszt. His recording of Goldmark’s featured in the Classical have been; Schumann initially named the scherzo ‘Morning on the ’, and the Charts and was Gramophone magazine’s Critics’ Choice for 1992. In 2009 Yondani Butt fourth movement originally bore the words, ‘In the style of an accompaniment to a was selected to be the first conductor for the Masterworks of Giants cycle of the Brahms Symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra, recorded in state of the art recordings at Abbey Road Studios.

2 11 solemn ceremony’. Both descriptions were removed before the work was published, and, in any case, were superfluous: Schumann succeeds in conjuring up these scenes musically.

The first movement eschews a slow introduction, plunging instead into an exhilarating theme, which features a rugged rhythmic tussle between duple and triple meters (a device Brahms would use to great effect). Schumann then develops his material with ease and candour, moving from the unfettered joy of the opening into more complex terrain, and successfully manoeuvring between subtle changes in mood without the whole becoming unwieldy. Mahlerian sonorities are in evidence, with shimmering strings supporting proud French horns, creating an effect that is pastoral, but mingled with a palpable sense of expectation. The forward-momentum increases at the movement’s end, urging the music towards a triumphant close.

The scherzo (marked, sehr mässig, ‘very moderate’) has a rather leisurely quality, with its spacious main theme, like a gesture of welcome, in a genial, lilting triple meter. There are moments of Brahmsian power, but the light ending is more Haydnesque, exhibiting an understated, throwaway humour not readily associated with Schumann. The charm spills over into the next movement, which continues the prevalent mood of elegance and relaxation.

In contrast, the fourth movement ushers in music of sombre, spine-tingling grandeur. This movement was directly inspired by a specific event: when the Archbishop von Giesel was made a cardinal in Cologne Cathedral – hence Schumann’s allusion to a ‘solemn ceremony’. The music is characterised by the interval of the rising fourth,

10 3 underpinned by chromatic harmony and a slow, inexorable building of tension. At one moment Schumann decorates his principal material with a fluid accompaniment of quavers and semiquavers, rather like 16th-century variations, enhancing the impression of Gothic antiquity. Forceful writing for brass and percussion adds to the sense of awe created by this movement, which is one of Schumann’s most outstanding. The finale returns us to the carefree atmosphere of the opening movements, using touches of softer lyricism to punctuate a movement which brims with rhythmic vitality and an “These performances invite comparisons with entries by Furtwängler, Böhm, infectious joie de vivre. Szell, Karajan rather than figures of lesser stature.” Schumann had begun the first version of his Symphony in May of 1841, four American Record Guide months after his First Symphony (‘Spring’). He completed the work on 9 September of “An outstanding talent. Butt is absolutely the master of Strauss’ dramatic style.” the same year, but its premiere at the Gewandhaus was insufficiently successful to persuade the composer to have the work published or performed. He shelved the Robert Marsh, Chicago Sun-Times symphony for a decade, before returning to it in Düsseldorf, in 1851. The material “Butt performs with brilliant imagination and dramatic command.” itself did not undergo substantial changes; but the orchestration did. After his initial Music and Musicians revisions, Schumann entitled the work Symphonische Phantasie, but then made further alterations two years later, renaming the work Symphonie in 1853. It was in this form “Yondani Butt conducts with much verve and accurate colour.” that the work was, at last, published, as the Fourth Symphony. The Financial Times, UK

Schumann informally dedicated the 1853 score to the violinist (1831- 1907) – a pivotal figure in the lives of the Schumanns, Mendelssohn and Brahms:

At the time of the first sounds of this symphony originated, Joseph Joachim was still a small boy; since then the symphony and even more the boy have grown bigger and for this reason I dedicate it to him, even if only privately.

4 In the compelling opening section, undulating strings billow into wave-like sweeps of Despite the long gap between its conception and publication, Schumann’s D minor sound, punctuated with fanfare-like brass. Wagner conjures up the sea as vividly as any Symphony is one of his most coherent, tautly integrated works, unified with motivic composer before Britten, but also sets the emotional scene of the . The opening relationships that are not always explicitly audible, but which permeate the fabric of passage dies away into a serene, hymn-like Andante, beginning on cor anglais, with the music. In this respect Schumann’s achievements as a symphonist are more moments for and flute, all supported by the winds. This intimate, soothing significant than is sometimes recognised. Neither Beethoven nor Mendelssohn music is associated with Senta throughout the opera. integrated their symphonies in precisely this way, and for Schumann to create such a successful large-scale conception from the two short motifs which appear in the first Tempestuous writing erupts once more, with a jovial sea-shanty overpowered by the movement’s slow introduction was a remarkable feat. onslaught of the waves. Yet the Overture ends unexpectedly: not with blazes of glorious sound, as so often in Wagner, but harking back to Senta’s theme, with delicate One of Schumann’s diary entries, written in March 1841, reveals that the symphony harps and strings in a of luminous beauty. was conceived as a tribute to Clara, although it is possible that the became the outlet for this intention: “... in it I will paint her picture with flutes and © Joanna Wyld, 2012 and harps.” It is intriguing that this colourful depiction of orchestral sound is rather at odds with the common perception of Schumann’s orchestration as rather limited. Certainly, whereas some composers have a strong sense of orchestral colour as they are writing the musical material, Schumann was, it seems, more inclined to separate the acts of composition and orchestration, feeling, perhaps, more at home with the former.

Indeed, the differences between the early and later versions of the D minor Symphony largely concern orchestration, shifting from the translucent, chamber-like sonorities of the 1841 score, to the richer 1853 version, which includes greater use of woodwind doubling to thicken the texture. Opinion remains divided as to whether www.myspace.com/masterworksofgiants www.masterworksofgiants.com every alteration was an improvement. But it is important to listen to the symphony without, if possible, preconceptions about Schumann’s abilities as an orchestrator.

8 Listened to in this spirit, there are many felicitous instrumental mixtures, such as the The work deals with the themes of love and redemption, and with the symbiotic Romanze’s combination of oboe and (also used by Haydn in the Largo of his relationship between those needing redemption (here, the Dutchman himself), and Symphony No.88); and the beautiful violin solo, its triplets floating above a warm those whose purpose in life it is to redeem others (a role often taken by a woman, in orchestral backdrop. this case, Senta). As with many of Wagner’s central figures, the Dutchman has committed a crime, having sworn to sail round the Cape at any cost, for which Satan Furthermore, Schumann made the innovative specification that the whole Fourth has sentenced him to eternal voyaging. Every seven years, the Dutchman may set foot Symphony be performed without breaks between movements. This was an approach on land in the hope of finding a woman prepared to sacrifice herself for him. also taken by Wagner for his opera The Flying Dutchman, completed just two years after the original version of Schumann’s Fourth, in 1843. The Symphony and Wagner’s Wagner was fascinated by the complexity of human longing: is it love we desire, or Overture share the key of D minor, too. In other respects, however, the two men – like redemption, and can love itself redeem? These questions are posed in The Flying numerous Romantic composers trying to emulate Beethoven – were more inclined to Dutchman with remarkable clarity: rivalry than mutual influence. On hearing Wagner’s in 1832, Clara The sombre glow that I feel burning here, had written a letter warning Schumann: “Listen! You have been outstripped by Herr Should I, wretched one, call it love? Wagner”. History has chosen to celebrate both, of course, but in different genres; Ah no! It is the longing for salvation, Wagner’s symphony is rarely played, whereas his stage works are among the most might it come to me through such an angel! significant in Western music. Like the opera it precedes, the Overture to The Flying Dutchman ushers in what would In many respects, The Flying Dutchman may be considered the work in which Wagner become quintessential aspects of Wagner’s style. The Overture instantly demands our found his voice. Though he would go on to compose greater and more thoroughly- attention, and uses elements of what is to come, in a manner that was unprecedented. organised operatic works, it was in The Flying Dutchman, premiered in 1843, that the Furthermore, the use of D minor is significant. It was usually the key of choice for the various aspects of Wagner’s style and vision first coalesced into something truly most unhinged moments in Mozart and Beethoven and, in particular, D minor is the coherent and profound. Wagner himself recognised this turning-point, writing in Eine key of the latter’s Ninth Symphony, a work deified by Wagner. Other influences were Mitteilung an meine Freunde (‘A Communication to my Friends’) in 1851: Weber’s Der Freischütz and Marschner’s Der Vampyr, but the resultant music is From here begins my career as poet, and my farewell to the mere concoctor of unmistakeably Wagner’s own. opera-texts. SCHUMANN | WAGNER – LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA/BUTTNI 6163 4’33 6’09 8’57 7’10 5’33 6’38 6’00 11’55 11’36 10’01 Total playing time: 78’33 Total 2012 Estate Limited Wyastone 2012 Estate Limited Wyastone P g Made in the UK by Wyastone Estate Limited Wyastone Made in the UK by http://www.wyastone.co.uk AGNER W RICHARD WAGNER Dutchman The Flying Overture: Nicht schnell Nicht Feierlich Lebhaft No.4 Symphony langsam –Ziemlich Lebhaft langsam Ziemlich Romanze: Lebhaft Scherzo: Langsam – Lebhaft ROBERT SCHUMANN ROBERT No.3 Symphony Lebhaft mäßig Sehr Scherzo: London Symphony Orchestra London Butt Yondani 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 10 CHUMANN S

SCHUMANN | WAGNER – LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA/BUTTNI 6163