Jan van Gilse - Symphony No. 3 (David Porcelijn)

Information

Composer: Jan van Gilse

• Symphony No. 3 in D major "Elevation"

Aile Asszonyi, soprano

Netherlands Symphony Orchestra

David Porcelijn, conductor

Date: 2012

Label: CPO

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Review

After the rather conservative first two symphonies, Jan van Gilse’s Third Symphony comes as a refreshing surprise. Composed in the early years of the 20th century (1907), the subtitle “Elevation” presumably refers to the texts from the Song of Songs that feature in the third and fifth movements, sung by a solo soprano. Aside from the expanded number of movements, their arrangement is also highly unconventional: slow, fast, slow, scherzo, finale. The first movement is dark and sad, but more than merely preludial. The second is a passionate allegro with a hint of Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration in it, while the third is a consoling and yes, “elevated” song.

In the fourth movement Gilse offers an ebullient waltz, similar in a way to the scherzo of Mahler’s Fifth. The finale contains the most extended vocal setting, and at 20 minutes I’m not sure that Gilse sustains the music’s greater length with complete success; but the Brucknerian coda is aptly glowing and ecstatic. The music is more original in terms of its structure and overall concept, perhaps, than in the cut of its actual ideas, but taken on its own this is an impressive and ambitious piece for a composer still in his mid 20s.

David Porcelijn turns in a typically committed and convincing performance with The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. Unfortunately, soprano Aile Asszonyi has one of those voices that wobbles ferociously above mezzo forte, though she sings sensitively enough at softer dynamic levels. And let’s face it: what truly great singer is going to bother to learn a totally unknown work for the single recorded performance it’s ever likely to receive (unless lightning strikes and Gilse becomes a household name)? In other words, beggars can’t be choosers, and the music is certainly worth hearing even with a few minor reservations. The engineering is warmly natural.

— David Hurwitz

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Jan van Gilse (11 May 1881 – 8 September 1944) was a Dutch composer and conductor. He studied in Cologne, Berlin, and Italy, and served as conductor of the Utrecht Municipal Orchestra (1917–1922) and director of the Utrecht Conservatory (1933–1937). In 1935, he founded the Dutch Musical Interests foundation to support Dutch composers. During World War II, van Gilse and his sons joined the resistance; both sons were killed, and van Gilse died in 1944, likely from pneumonia. His music evolved from German late Romanticism to modernism, with his opera Thijl hailed as a Dutch masterpiece.

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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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