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- Mischa Spoliansky
Symphony in Five Movements (1969)
- Novello & Co Ltd (World)
- 2+pic.2+ca.2+bcl.2+cbn/4.3.3.1/timp.5perc/hp.cel/str
- 50 min
Programme Note
Symphony is a symphonic song cycle, which allows the listener to dive into the sound world of the Russian revue and film composer Mischa Spoliansky. It was a very personal project to Spoliansky and he commented on it in his biographical notes: ‘When I was younger and working from one commission to the next, I decided that when the time came to work less, I would start composing a symphony. In the interim, whenever I had some spare time, I would make notes of my ideas, musical themes, phrases, anything that came to my head. I carried on over several years until I stopped working so much. By this time, I had collected a considerable amount of material. And what was so extraordinary was that these brief sketches and outlines fitted together and had taken on some sort of form. I was then able to write out my symphony’.
Spoliansky worked on Symphony over the course of three decades, from 1941 to 1969. It proves to be a very interesting historical document. Some passages are harbingers of orchestral composition techniques now well known in film music, while others evoke the music of the heyday of revue theatres. In his oeuvre Symphony counts as the only symphonic work and can be considered a programmatic symphony or, perhaps more appropriately, music for an imaginary film.
Through the five movements of the work different lines of development entwine. A first line represents the affirmation of the symphonic character: overture – fanfare – pastoral – symphonic dance – lament – finale. A second line follows the impressions of the character on an imaginary film set. A third line focuses on the instrumental rendering of the expressivity of the human voice in ariosos, moritants and hymns. With each listening, more lines of interconnectedness are to be found.
Symphony is a unique work deserving of performances, due to its witty combination of symphonic gesture and its incorporation of three decades of popular classical music.
Spoliansky worked on Symphony over the course of three decades, from 1941 to 1969. It proves to be a very interesting historical document. Some passages are harbingers of orchestral composition techniques now well known in film music, while others evoke the music of the heyday of revue theatres. In his oeuvre Symphony counts as the only symphonic work and can be considered a programmatic symphony or, perhaps more appropriately, music for an imaginary film.
Through the five movements of the work different lines of development entwine. A first line represents the affirmation of the symphonic character: overture – fanfare – pastoral – symphonic dance – lament – finale. A second line follows the impressions of the character on an imaginary film set. A third line focuses on the instrumental rendering of the expressivity of the human voice in ariosos, moritants and hymns. With each listening, more lines of interconnectedness are to be found.
Symphony is a unique work deserving of performances, due to its witty combination of symphonic gesture and its incorporation of three decades of popular classical music.
