Josef Bohuslav Foerster - Symphony No. 5; 'In den Bergen' (Hermann Bäumer)

Information

Composer: Josef Bohuslav Foerster

• In den Bergen, Op. 7
• Symphony No. 5, Op. 141

Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra

Hermann Bäumer, conductor

Date: 2010

Label: Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm

-----------------------------------------------------------

Review

Josef Foerster was sort of a Czech Delius, with all that this suggests. In the early suite In the Mountains (1884) he reveals an impressive command of conventional late-Romantic scoring and nature imagery. It’s a charming work, enjoyable on its own terms, if perhaps lacking personality. The late (1920s) Fifth Symphony is one of those shapeless, conservative, “mezzo” pieces that happens to operate according to tried and true procedures for no particular reason. There are four substantial movements, three of them slow-to-moderate in tempo, and one nicely zippy scherzo that’s naturally the shortest (and best) of all.

What to do with this sort of thing? The music, scherzo aside, just lies there. Rich orchestration and motivic interconnections between movements don’t compensate for the chronic lack of energy and momentum. The performance sounds well; it’s clear that Hermann Bäumer and his forces are up to the sometimes considerable demands that Foerster makes of them, but even the booklet writer seems unable to work up much enthusiasm for the piece. He notes that the symphony clearly meant very much to the composer; it was the outcome and resolution of a creative crisis caused by the death of his only son in 1921. Foerster worked on it for some four or five years. But however important it may have been personally, the music doesn’t make the transition from individual testament to universal statement all that well. Sad, but there it is.

— David Hurwitz

-----------------------------------------------------------

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.

***

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------