In my first two encounters of this work I was unimpressed with it as a whole; seemed too
fragmented, not really adding up. But on my third listening my reaction was very
different; I was totally engaged and thoroughly enjoyed my experience while still
still hearing moments that didn’t really work for me. Of course, this just
shows how important the listener’s frame of mind is while they are listening. In
this instance I was in a state of emotional dissonance so perhaps I better
connected to the overt drama of this music because of the state of my psyche.
This is a big piece, full of dramatic gestures; hammer blows; long harmonic
sequences building to thundering climaxes using the full orchestra to full
effect. There are, though, some strange (interesting?) choices here; all the movements
really have non-endings which I found a little off-putting. They all end softly
with no sense of finality.
Movement one begins with an
angular, improvisatory sounding unison multi-clarinet wake up call that leads to the
first of many immense, full orchestra statements, in this case reiterating the
clarinet’s opening melody. The music is dramatic, exciting, pulsing, and fast.
There is then a pastoral like melody in the strings, played in canon, building
to another climax, which precedes, for me, the most interesting section of the
first movement; low brass playing slowly rising clashing half and whole steps
during which the percussion and high brass have short outbursts of fast,
repeating notes and gestures. This leads
to a restatement of the first theme and then – the first non-ending; a solo
piccolo playing the opening theme. While still ending with a sense of ‘wait, is
there more?’, there is more finality here
then in the subsequent movements. The main gesture
in the second movement is a five note rising figure. It’s beautiful harmonized and
goes through many key changes. There is a contrasting central section. This movement is moderately paced. The general
structure of a symphony is 4 movements; fast, slow, fast, fast. The third movement easily fits into the usual scherzo spot; it’s lively and has an A-B-A form. The first
movement also fits into the accepted scheme though it’s not in sonata-allegro
form. The second and especially the fourth movement do not fit into the usual
symphonic format. The fourth movement starts with
ominous timpani rolls, then thunderous repetitive chords, building to two big
unison notes, which were rather anti-climactic considering the build up to
them. This movement is the least successful. It has an end-of-the world feeling
to it and rather relentlessly stays threatening and tragic throughout. It is a
slow movement overall and ends with soft timpani hits, fading out into an
uncomfortable silence.
Theofanidis is
not a melodist, rather he likes to take short fragments or motives and play
around with them. The symphony is tonal and mostly of a dark shade, second
movement excepted. If you need to listen to something to release some pent up
energy this just might do the trick, but I don’t listen to music to fit my
moods. I usually like to be as clear and calm as I can before listening. I
found enough interest in this work and so will keep a lookout for more music by
Mr. Theofanidis, but the last movement did not work for me as a companion to the
other three and I probably will not return to this work.
Robert Spano is conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in this recording and they sound marvelous!
Next up on the list is Decasia by Michael Gordon. I was blown away by this piece but that's for my next blog. It'll be up soon. In the meantime go listen to some music that you've never heard before!
