Arne - Symphony
No. 4 in C minor
The attitude of England toward its own
'home-grown" composers has
been curious...over the course of 200 years
(roughly 1700 to 1900),
the Brits have treated their native
composers somewhat harshly, preferring
instead to import composers from other countries
(Handel, Mendelssohn,
Dvorak, and..of course, Haydn, whom we will hear
from later in our
concert).
Thomas Arne was a prolific and popular English
composer whose contribution
to his country's own "classical" era
was remarkable. He was known primarily as
a composer of stage works, many of which
were produced at London's Drury
Lane Theater. His instrumental output is rather
small, and his FOUR SYMPHONIES
are dated as a group from 1767.
This in itself is interesting, since Arne's 4th Symphony is a
rather surprising work
in that it clearly
points ahead some 35 years to the late classical or even the early
Romantic period. It's first movement is rather
dark and stormy, with marvelous
contrasts in dynamics and texture.
The middle slow movement is also noteworthy for
its austere beauty; during
certain passages, the music seems to
"hover" as the gentle voices of flutes
and oboes gradually emerge and form themselves into
lovely melodic phrases.
The Finale
is light and gracious, and very "sweet" in its sound. And yet,
there are
frequent reminders of the somewhat wistful, dark
sound of the first movement,
prior to the symphony's vigorous and joyous
conclusion.
Was it possible that Arne knew any of Haydn's
early symphonies...some of which
are also dark and dramatic? It's not likely,
since Haydn's strikingly bold early
scores were brand new when Arne composed his
4th. It's possible that Arne
was a more original and forward-looking composer
than he is given credit
for....at least that's the impression created by
this wonderful work.
I would guess that Sunday's performance of
Arne's 4th Symphony
will be
a Chicago-area first; the only performing
version available was published in
1973, and I doubt that there's been any
particular rush to play it. So,
as usual, the NSO is providing audiences an
opportunity to hear an overlooked
but deserving work brought to life in
performance---if only for its
brief "15-minutes" of fame (the
approximate length of the symphony).
Thus far, the NSO has performed Arne's 1st and 2nd symphonies,
leaving
only #3 for a future date. I love doing the
"second-tier" works of this period,
providing that they have something uniquely
beautiful about them. Arne's
4th is definitely
in that category, and I can assure you that our performance
will be a superbly crafted and extremely
committed one--- like everything
else the NSO does. We approach this work
as if it's the greatest piece known
to man.....because for the 15 minutes in which
we are performing it, it is.
Thanks for reading; see you Sunday!
Larry
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