Symphony No3 in B minor Mieczysław Weinberg

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ee4FaWBGcfQ

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thord Svedlund • I - Allegro - Largo: 0:00 • II - Allegro giocoso - Andante sostenuto - Tempo I: 10:22 • III - Adagio: 15:03 • IV - Allegro vivace - Moderato - Tempo I: 24:18 • Weinberg's Third Symphony was composed between March 1949 and June 1950. The premiere was scheduled to take place in Moscow, but then postponed. Ten years later he made an extensive revision, cutting redundant material and recomposing episodes, especially in the outer movements. The symphony was finally premiered on March 23, 1960 in Moscow, performed by the Symphony Orchestra of the Radio and Television of the Soviet Union conducted by Alexander Gauk. • Weinberg was hit by the anti-formalism campaign spearheaded by Andrey Zhdanov in the first months of 1948, which exhorted all Soviet composers to produce music for the People in a broadly comprehensible language, preferably drawing on folk material and idioms. Apart from vocal and choral works to unimpeachable texts. In his output during the years that remained of Stalin’s rule Weinberg shows these changes of emphasis as clearly as do his peers and elders in theirs. • The nod in the direction of official recommendations still proved insufficient to ensure a performance at the time. It was said that Weinberg himself had discovered a number of errors during the rehearsals, and that this brought on his decision not to present the work in public. Whether or not this was a cover-story for official pressure to withdraw the work cannot be proved, though it seems scarcely coincidental that the same fate had befallen Weinberg’s Cello Concerto of the previous year. The symphony is divided in the traditional structure of four movements. • The first movement is written in an unorthodox sonata form. It opens with a pastoral theme of slavic flavour, presented by the piccolo and the flutes, supported by arpeggios of the violins. The second theme is introduced with a solo from the clariner over a gently syncopated support. An energic third theme of folkloric nature is presented by the cellos, based on a Belorussian folksong ( What a moon ). The reappareance of the main theme begins the development, which rises with epic and militaristic tones. The music elevates in an energic climax, with the themes in counterpoint and the brass dominating the texture. The recapitulation is inverted. The second theme is recapitulated in a more lyrical way, over the soft pizzicatos from the strings. The slavic main theme reappears in an almost new development. Calm rolls from the timpani leads us to a desolate coda from the strings and harp. • The short second movement is a scherzo, it was originally the third movement but became second after the revision. The oboe, through a solo, presents a rhythmic theme of folkloric nature, which passes to several instruments in imaginative orchestrations. The development is joyful and energetic, based mainly in mazurka-like Polish folksong ( Matek has died ). Phrases from the bassoon leads us to a brief trio, which while sustaining the marked rhythm, several wood instruments perform melodic solos as a contrast. The music deceives into believing it's going to end with a slow coda, but instead the oboe restates a short version of the scherzo theme. • The third movement is monothematic. It opens with a dark and melancholic theme on the strings, full of a slavic flavour. The music rises in a dramatic climax before the cellos takes the theme. The oboe present a contrasting folk motif. Then, the orchestra elevates in an extensive climax of Russian grandeur. The theme is restated in a more desolated way, followed by the oboe with the folk motif along with the harp in a calmer enviroment. Soft timpani rolls and phrases from the strings conclude the movement. • The fourth movement is written in a modified sonata form. It begins with an impetuous theme of epic nature, rhythmically marked and enhanced by the brass. In contrast, the second theme is delicately lyrical, a waltz reminiscent of hebrew music presented between dialogues of the violin and clarinet. The dance is interrupted by sudden outbursts. The development is complex and makes considerable efforts to balance its more positive heroic elements with metamorphoses of material associated with darker expressive worlds. Phrases of brass and wood leads us to a dissonant climax, followed by a whirlind of motifs. A powerful climax leads to new contrasting solos of the wood. The recapitulation of the main theme takes us into a resolute coda. • Picture: Pan (c1903) by the Russian-Polish painter Vasili Wilhelm Kotarbinsky. • Musical analysis done mostly by myself, sources: https://bit.ly/30f0usd and https://bit.ly/3l6SnGb

#############################

New on site