Spohr: Symphonies 7 & 9

Griffiths, Howard, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover

CPO 777746

»One of the most significant projects of the Osnabrück label cpo«: this is what klassik-heute. com wrote after the release of Vol. 4 of our universally highly praised edition of Louis Spohr’s complete symphonies. Vol. 5 now offers his Symphonies Nos. 7 and 9 along with the waltz »Erinnerung an Marienbad,« in which the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (1835) found »a completely uniquely executed, harmonically often surprisingly modulated piece of music.« Along with Spohr’s Symphony No. 4 (»Die Weihe der Töne«), the Symphonies Nos. 7 and 9 have programmatic titles clearing identifying them as program music: »Irdisches und Göttliches im Menschenleben« (No. 7) and »Die Jahreszeiten« (No. 9). In his seventh symphony Spohr explores new musical terrain; it is a so-called double symphony, that is, a symphony performed by two orchestras. Spohr’s idea is fundamentally different from the older works of this »genre«: it is realized not by two equal orchestras but by the opposition between an ensemble of soloists and an orchestra with more than one instrument for each part. The form in which the program is presented is also new inasmuch Spohr took delight in having a quatrain functioning as a motto introduce each movement.

SACD x 1

CPO

2/24/15

761203774623