September 25, 2013

  • Premiere Recordings of Music by Marcel Tyberg, Holocaust Victim

     

    Tyberg: Symphony No. 2; Piano Sonata No. 2
    Fabio Bindini, piano.  Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra/JoAnn Falletta
    Naxos 8.572822
    Total Time:  74:47
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    JoAnn Falletta is fast lifting the Buffalo Philharmonic to world-class status and she is accomplishing this by exploring a variety of classic and less traditional literature.  The present release is one such example.  It is the second featuring music by Marcel Tyberg (1893-1944).  Tyberg was a Jewish composer with Italian and German parents who was deported during WWII and died on the deputation train headed to Germany.  Tyberg’s parents were musicians in Vienna and were close friends of conductor Rafael Kubelik.  It was Kubelik who actually introduced the second symphony with the Czech Philharmonic in 1930.  The manuscripts of Tyberg’s music were given to a family friend, whose son is now a specialist at the Buffalo Roswell Park Cancer Institute.  He brought these works to Falleta to see if they might be performed by the Buffalo orchestra.  A previous release paired a piano trio with the final, third symphony.  The present release takes a similar approach of pairing a chamber work with an orchestral one.

    Some may recall Decca’s Entarte Musik series that sought to bring to light works by composers whose lives were tragically ended, or whose careers were forced to take different directions as a result of WWII and the Holocaust.  The composers explored tended to be those writing in a more modern idiom, apart from say Korngold.  Tyberg’s music provides another thread of music that was lost as a result of the holocaust, namely composers who continued the traditions of late-19th century classicists like Bruckner and Mahler.  For a work composed in 1927, the Symphony No. 2 is certainly quite tame when set aside a host of new musical movements at the time, but it is no less interesting.  Unlike Bruckner, the movements here are all well-balanced temporally such that the whole work plays in about 40 minutes or so.  The notes suggest listeners are to take this as an “homage” or memoir of 19th-century life, but the Czech-like musical style of late romanticism is perhaps one reason Kubelik performed it where he did originally.  The symphony is still quite delightful.

    The opening movement of the symphony has roots in the great Bruckner symphonies of the latter 19th century.  The thematic material is engaging and the rhythmic material, especially in the climaxes will even seem a bit Wagnerian with perhaps a touch of Smetana.  The exciting opening serves as a sort of overture-like introduction to the work with big brass moments and a wonderfully lyrical thematic area for contrast.  The second movement is an adagio with gorgeous orchestral writing and a somewhat pastoral feel, reflective of a cross between Beethoven and perhaps Dvorak.  A series of differing material presented in a sort of dialogue among the orchestra lends a rhapsodic feel to the form.  One does wonder though if this movement may be too fast at times, though it is hard to know without further interpretations to base this on (I have not heard Falletta do Bruckner or Mahler so it is hard to know if her tempos would move the music along there as well in slower movements.)  There is some truly gorgeous final writing for violin and cello in the final bars.  The spirited scherzo updates the sort of playful scherzo of Dvorak and scampers about with an almost magical quality.  Parts of the A section have moments of Mendelssohnian style.  The trio becomes a great folk-like contrasting section mostly for winds.  Harmonic shifts provide a few additional surprises.  Tyberg was an organist and this becomes a possible source of inspiration for the final movement, a “Prelude and Fugue” that is set almost like a passacaglia.  The opening bars are exquisite harmonically.  But the clarinet idea that appears out of this first statement is heartbreaking and sets a tone that feels as if something has been truly lost.  One might perhaps then hear this work as a nostalgic look back to a world that had been forever changed by WWI and whose innocence was gone only to be challenged again in the near future.  The Brucknerian brass return to help ramp up the final exciting moments of the work.

    Take just a moment to think of the late Nineteenth-century piano sonata.  Very few have entered the standard repertoire.  Instead one finds many miniature works often exploring dance and folk forms, or being more narrative and descriptive.  By the 20th century, the form had received some more attention as composers sought to apply modernist harmonies and explore their use in formal settings.  The present sonata, Tyberg’s second of two, was composed in 1934 but has its feet firmly planted in the Vienna of Beethoven and Shubert and perhaps is filtered through the virtuosity and later spiritually-inspired works of Liszt.  Harmonic approaches may be along the lines of Brahms however and that of the post-Wagner era with hints at Eastern European.  The opening movement feels like a mid-century Liszt showpiece with displays of virtuosic runs and rapid shifts in mood.  A slow movement follows providing a Schubert-ian lyricism with often beautiful harmonic writing.  The scherzo has a more Liszt-like feel with its little flourishes and flair for drama.  Beginning with a bell-chime like sound, the finale soon moves into a delightful theme with a sense that the music is also looking for something along the way.  The piece ends in the relative major for an uplifting finish.  Overall, a fascinating sonata that finds its roots in Liszt’s style perhaps the most, a bit anachronistic for 1934, but no less entertaining.

    The music here is all quite fascinating with often engaging themes.  Taken on its own, one can certainly find much to enjoy in the technique of the symphony.  One can easily wonder where this may have led Tyberg musically had he survived.  Would he have adapted modern harmonic writing?  Shifted to more atonal work of the Second Viennese School, or perhaps continued his thread of romanticism unopposed and likely underperformed only to be rediscovered again like so many other composers who followed that thread of musical development.  Therein lies the great tragedy of music that never had a chance to be and if nothing else this release is another somber reminder of how historical events can shape the cultural landscapes for generations.

    Again, the performances are really beautifully realized here both in terms of interpretation and in recorded sound.  The Buffalo players tackle this work with energy and commitment and the sort of excitement of discovery that helps make the music more exciting overall.  It would be interesting to hear this work interpreted by a conductor who specializes in Bruckner or Dvorak to see how tempos and shape may differ.  Bidini also does a fine job of presenting this somewhat sprawling work in a committed performance.  The equalization for the piano portion of the disc is higher than that for the orchestral recording which may require some slight volume adjustment.

    The present release will still be the one that can stand as an important touchstone and introduction to this composer.  The recordings here were made in 2011 (symphony) and 2012 (sonata) which suggests more that the label was deciding to create paired chamber and orchestral works than any problem with the performances.  Recordings like this one are the reason why Naxos continues to be an important label in the classical music world.