Hendrik Andriessen - Symphonic Works, Vol. 3 (David Porcelijn)

Information

Composer: Hendrik Andriessen

• Symphony No. 3
• Symphonie concertante
• Ouverture "Chantecler"

Netherlands Symphony Orchestra

David Porcelijn, conductor

Date: 2015

Label: CPO

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Review

Here is another attractive offering in CPO’s valuable Andriessen survey that pairs a symphony with shorter orchestral works: shorter, but not necessarily lighter, because the symphonies themselves steer away from heavyweight, philosophically charged issues. Like the Second in last year’s Vol 2 (3/14), Andriessen’s Third (1946) is essentially a genial affair – far more so than, say, Vaughan Williams’s Sixth, a near-contemporary whose melodic, harmonic and gestural language it nevertheless in several respects resembles. Once again, the movement titles – here Overture, Sonata, Sarabande and Fugue – suggest the suite more than the symphony. Emotionally, too, there is no attempt to deal with contemporary neuroses and little or nothing that could plausibly be linked to the aftermath of war (though arguably relief and a wish to reaffirm besmirched values could be read into its benign progress). Still, this is expertly crafted music – the fugue is particularly resourceful – which could never be accused of triviality. Within its own narrow frame of reference, the only major criticism that could be levelled at it is that it has a rather routine conclusion.

Sixteen years on, the three-movement Symphonie concertante is in some ways more symphonic than the symphony itself. Notwithstanding the title, there are no solo instruments involved; rather, different orchestral sub-groupings are pitted against one another. Once again, the musical language is somewhat academic and circumspect. The variations of the middle movement directly invoke 18th-century suite models but without seeking to derive any message or dramatic tension from the confrontation of old and new.

The Overture Chantecler (1972) invokes Edmond Rostand’s play of that name, in which a cockerel awakens its fellow farmyard animals and reminds them of the power of traditional ideals. Here may indeed reside a clue as to the direction of Andriessen’s artistic-moral compass, though the music itself remains unpretentious and curiously reluctant to display its true colours.

— David Fanning

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Hendrik Andriessen (17 September 1892 – 12 April 1981) was a Dutch composer and organist. Born in Haarlem, he studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and became organist at Utrecht Cathedral in 1934. He taught also composition in Amsterdam and Utrecht and served as director of the Utrecht Conservatory (1937–1949). During World War II, he resisted cooperating with the Nazis and was held hostage in 1942. After the war, he led the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (1949–1957) and taught at the Catholic University in Nijmegen. His compositions include symphonies, masses, chamber music, and organ works.

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David Porcelijn (born 7 January 1947) is a Dutch composer and conductor. He studied flute, composition, and conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Music in The Hague. Porcelijn has conducted major orchestras worldwide, including the London Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony. He held leading roles with ensembles such as the Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and the RTS Symphony Orchestra in Belgrade. A co-founder of Ensemble M, he promoted contemporary music from 1974 to 1978. Porcelijn has recorded extensively and taught conducting in both the Netherlands and Australia.

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