Josef Bohuslav Foerster - Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 (Hermann Bäumer)

Information

Composer: Josef Bohuslav Foerster

• Symphony No. 2 in F Major, Op. 29
• Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 9

Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra

Hermann Bäumer, conductor

Date: 2008

Label: Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm

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Review

These are the works of an out-and-out 19th century Central European romantic. Foerster wrote five symphonies, 350 songs  and six operas of which Eva has been recorded by Marco Polo. In December last year his Violin Concerto No. 1 put in a rare appearance at The Barbican. 

The Second Symphony appears first on the disc. It is a work of Dvořákian affability. The opening allegro is something of an amiable amble amid leafy Bohemian woodland with birdsong decoration. There’s also a theme which sounds like a second cousin to the Hymn in Finlandia and a zesty torque suggesting Dvořák 8 as the inspiration. The second movement is a very sombre then gradually very romantic (rather Rachmaninovian at 4.45) essay. We return strongly to Dvořák with a peppy yet pointed and elegantly gentle Allegro. The finale has Brahmsian accents in the manner of the Third Symphony with overtones of early Josef Suk as in the rather magical violin solo at 6:10. The effect is rather like that of Dvořák's Othello on the one hand and Brahms' Tragic Overture on the other. One can even pick out a feminine theme or two which might suggest Desdemona. The finale is the most original of the four with a swinging carillon climax at 7:13. 

The First Symphony is much shorter - only half an hour. After a musing introduction the music takes on a plunging open-air quality with a downy violin-chased silver filigree at 2:03. It is even rather Tchaikovskian in the manner of Symphony No. 4. It ends with a nice rocking motion curving down to repose (4.22). This is followed by an affable summery Andante. The allegretto scherzando (III) - which here goes rather ploddingly - touches base with the innocence of Elgar's Wand of Youth music. The Allegro energico makes way for stern echoes of Glazunov's Stenka Razin and the Liszt tone poems but all crafted with the suaveness of Dvořák. The work ends upbeat; a brass paean rings out with a grandeur that carries an undercurrent of Russian Orthodox chant. 

We know the Foerster 4th Symphony from Naxos and several Supraphon recordings so I hope that the next disc will give priority to the unknown Symphonies 3 and 5. 

Hermann Bäumer is to be congratulated on the results here. He is already known for his BIS recording of Leifs' Edda 1 but I also look forward to hearing his recording of Karl Höller's symphonies 1 and 2. 

Here are two symphonies rooted in, but not weighed down by, a heritage in Dvořák and Brahms. Foerster declares his individuality in the many subtle and often soloistic episodes in this music. He looks forward especially to Suk and across the garden fence to Tchaikovsky.

— Rob Barnett

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Josef Bohuslav Foerster (30 December 1859 – 29 May 1951) was a Czech composer educated at the Prague Conservatory, where he later became a professor and director. He served as an organist and music critic in Prague, Hamburg, and Vienna. From 1893 to 1903, he lived in Hamburg, befriending Gustav Mahler and teaching at the conservatory. Foerster composed primarily for chorus and solo voice, often using religious texts. His works include five symphonies and operas such as Nepřemoženi, Srdce, and Bloud. While influenced by Mahler's Romanticism, his lyrical style reflects the legacy of Dvořák and Smetana.

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Hermann Bäumer (born 28 January 1965 in Bielefeld) is a German trombonist and conductor. He received his degree in trombone from the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, and studied conducting at the Hochschule "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig while being a member of the Berlin Philharmonic. From 2004 to 2011 he was General Music Director of the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra and received an ECHO Klassik for his recording of Josef Bohuslav Foerster's Symphonies. Since 2011 Bäumer has been Chief Conductor of the Mainz Philharmonic State Orchestra and General Music Director of the Mainz State Theater.

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