Johann Brandl Symphony anticipates Beethoven

This release features two works by Johann Evangelist Brandl, a younger contemporary of Mozart. Their lives were hardly parallel, but both had to deal with the business of music -- like finding employment. 

Brandl composed his Symphonie Concertante for just that purpose. He used the work as an audition piece for prospective employers (members of the nobility). The Concertante worked, and Brandl landed a post at the Karlsruher Court as first violinist. 

The piece is in the early Classical style, light and tuneful. It also features prominent solo roles for the violin and cello. 

David and Alexandro Castro-Balbi respectively perform those parts. The pair are well-matched, turning their solo and duet passages into a conversation. 

Also included is Brandl's Symphony in D major, written in 1792. The work is actually quite advanced. To me, it anticipates Beethoven, whose first symphony would appear eight years later.

The themes are big, the climaxes are thrown into sharp relief. And the harmonies sound more like Beethoven than Mozart to me. 

Kevin Griffiths leads the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. The recorded sound has a little bit of a soft-focus for my taste. But the performances are quite good. This is the second Brandl recording by these musicians. I trust there will be more.

Johann Evangelist Brandl
Symphonie Concertante, Op. 20; Symphony in D
Nanthild, das Mädchen von Valbella, Op 50 Overture
David Castro-Balbi, violin; Alexandre Castro-Balbi, cello
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz; Kevin Griffiths, conductor
CPO

  

   

Christopher Gunning symphonies well-crafted modernism

Christopher Gunning is one of those composers who is quite comfortable in both the cinema and the concert hall. His TV and movie credits include "Agatha Christie's Poirot" (a PBS mainstay for decades). 

The three symphonies on this release show another side of this composer. Gunning is skilled at creating movie themes and short music cues. And he's also just as adept at building well-developed (and lengthy) worlds of sound. 

Gunning studied with Edmund Rubbra. Rubbra composed by starting with the opening and just seeing where the music led him. Gunning took a similar approach with his 10th and 12th symphonies. 

The single-movement 10th symphony grows organically out of the opening motif. Gunning is an effective orchestrator, and his instrumental combinations are as important as his motivic variations. 

Gunnison's 12th Symphony is in two movements. To me, Gunnison seems to be weaving together several different motifs, all with some kind of interrelation. The work struck me as more expansive and perhaps more tonally adventuresome than the 10th.

Symphony No. 2 is technically the earliest work on the album. It was composed in 2003 but withdrawn by Gunnison. He revisited the work 2018, and that's the version on this recording. The three-movement work struck me as a more formal composition.

The form is clearly delineated, and the motifs develop in a logical fashion. I think it's a well-crafted work. I think it lacks the spontaneity of the 10th and 12th symphonies, but there are still many passages of great beauty to enjoy. 

Kenneth Woods leads the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in some superb performances. Woods has a clear artistic vision of how these symphonies should unfold. The end result is a collection of modern symphonies that are engaging, exciting, and thoroughly satisfying. 

Christopher Gunning: Symphonies 2, 10, and 12
BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Kenneth Woods, conductor
Signum SIGCD592