Alexander Moyzes: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8

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Before the late Ladislav Slovak began his traversal of the 12 symphonies of his compatriot Alexander Moyzes (1906-84), Moyzes was generally perceived as a composer of lighter music. We now know better – and the symphonies themselves get finer as the series progresses (two of the earlier discs were reviewed in the July 2000 and December 2001 issues).Moyzes's Seventh Symphony (1954-55) has something in common with another symphony by a Slovakian, Franz Schmidt's Fourth: each was inspired by the death of the composer's daughter (in truth, though born in Bratislava, Schmidt was of Hungarian stock). You'd hardly suspect the inspiration as the work opens, in a beautiful, albeggiante pastorale – quite the loveliest thing I've heard from Moyzes – which leads into a jolly, even rumbustious, folk dance. But there are hints of the tragedy to come, and Moyzes's slow movement opens, like Schmidt's, with an extended string melody that soon grows in intensity into a powerful, deeply felt lament-cum-funeral march. The finale brings to mind Shostakovich's Fifth, not in musical language (here Moyzes still cleaves to a post-Dvorakian aesthetic), but in communicating the sense of forced rejoicing – he wrote the work, of course, under a regime that required its artists to be optimistic, whatever their personal circumstances. He couldn't have known what would trigger his next symphony – the Soviet suppression of the Dubcek liberalization. And just in case there was any doubt, he gave it an explicit title: 21.08.1968 – a courageous move, and one that was enough to earn the symphony a ban on performance. Ivan Marton's helpful notes add that even now Moyzes's Eighth still awaits a public presentation. It begins hesitantly, as snippets of theme gradually coalesce into an angry Marcia funebre. The scoring is hollower than anything in Moyzes's oeuvre hitherto, as if someone had scooped out the middle of the orchestra – and suddenly Moyzes has left his folk-music inheritance behind: it's no longer enough. A jagged Scherzo is followed by a grim, march-riven finale, which ends with the briefest of gestures that says, in three chords, 'Oh, sod it'.Propelled by events into a twentieth-century language, Moyzes took the bull by the horns, and the Ninth Symphony (1970-71) is a pained protest of unmistakable anger. The first movement builds up driving march rhythms, which collapse into emptiness; the central Andante con moto struggles to stir itself from empty string textures into a brittle march before the energy ebbs away again; and the finale pushes forward in taut, intemperate phrases that have an obsessional quality to them, with occasional solos – violin, horn – suggesting individuals looking out over a desolate landscape. 'It is no exaggeration', says Marton in his notes, 'to consider the symphony a musical description of the tragedy and hopeless situation of a violated country.' Of No. 10 (1977-78) he writes that it is 'an even work, full of internal peace and harmony, avoiding extremes of desperation'. Is it? It may not have the manic quality of the previous two symphonies, but this is still the work of a composer who has known deep sadness: the phrases are terse, the harmony brittle. Not until the chirrupy, folky finale does the music suggest the jollity that is the hallmark of Symphonies Nos. 1-6, and even then, as in the nervous capering of the skittish second movement, the suspicion lingers that here it is just a mask – more forced rejoicing.Ladislav Slovak, who died in 1999, does Moyzes as proud in these two releases as in the previous recordings in the cycle: reliable playing; good sound. The concluding disc is in the can; I look forward to it keenly. Martin Anderson

Alexander Moyzes: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8, Music, Alexander Moyzes, Ladislav Slovak, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Orchestral & Symphonic, Symphonic, Symphony

Average customer rating: Finally a commercial recording of the 7th

Alexander Moyzes: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 Manufacturer: Marco Polo ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music Similar Items: Symphonies 11 & 12 Moyzes: Symphonies Nos. 9 & 10 Moyzes: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 Symphonies 3 & 4 ASIN: B00005N8E0 Release Date: 2001-10-16

Customer Reviews:

Finally a commercial recording of the 7th.......2004-04-14

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