Friday, September 13, 2013

The Lost Genius of Hans Rott

Every once in a while you come across a musical work that is so powerful, so compelling--not only the music itself, but the story behind it as well---that it lodges in your subconscious and becomes something of a personal "mission" for you, the artist.
There is such a work, which the Northbrook Symphony and I will present in its first-ever Chicago-area performance on Sunday afternoon, September 22nd at Glenbrook North H.S. The composer is Hans Rott, a super-talented young Austrian, who wrote an amazing, full scale symphony for orchestra at age 22 (completing it in 1880), then suffered a nervous breakdown and died in total obscurity at age 25, having been confined to a mental institution outside Vienna for the last years of his tragically brief life.

Tragic indeed. And when, 
on September 22nd, you actually hear the amazing Symphony in E  Major of Hans Rott, I am confident that you will understand the immensity of the loss to the musical
world; if ever there was a case of "what if this guy had lived another twenty years?", this is it!  The promise of true greatness is emblazoned in ever single bar of this brilliant, youthful masterpiece.

Rott's Symphony in E has everything: a heroic sense of grandeur, magnificent waves of brass-laden orchestral sound that sweep you along, gorgeous melodies and exquisite harmony, a thrilling 
Scherzomovement, itself a bizarre fantasy on a series of Austrian folk-dance themes, and a massive finale that opens with distant chorales and horn calls and ends in an overwhelming, glorious "sunset" of orchestral beauty almost heartbreaking in its emotional impact, especially when you realize that you are listening to the final work of a super-charged --- but doomed--musical genius.

Even more astounding is the resemblance of much of Rott's Symphony to the much-more familiar, symphonies of his friend and fellow-classmate Gustav Mahler. One automatically assumes that Rott was imitating Mahler's monumental symphonies---until you check the actual chronology; in fact, Hans Rott died before his pal Mahler even started to compose his first symphony! For anyone who knows the symphonies of Mahler, the Rott Symphony is a revelation, like a bucket of ice-cold water in the face.

Hans Rott's Symphony has acquired a strong cult-like following, especially in Europe; there are currently five commercial recordings of this masterpiece available. So why has it never been performed anywhere near Chicago, which is known world-wide as a major "Mahler Town"? The
Chicago Symphony could knock this one out of the park! But no one in our area has touched it. Admittedly, it is a huge undertaking for any orchestra, very difficult to perform, and in need of major editing and detailed, time-consuming preparation before rehearsals begin. But all of this becomes insignificant in the face of Rott's incredible music; believe me--the final product will be worth all of the effort!

There will be a single performance only: Sunday, September 22ndat 4 pm in the Sheely Center at Glenbrook North High School. I urge you all to come---even if your interest or curiosity is slight---
to experience a most unique event: a celebration of the lost, youthful genius of Hans Rott, who died so tragically young and whose monumental Symphony in E Major will at long last be given a hearing
within the Chicago musical community.   

 

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