Symphonies that go hard
A short list of awesome music. Not all symphonies though that was just for the title.
The Poem of Ecstasy, op. 54 (1905-08)
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
If you’ve never listened to Alexander Scriabin, this 20 minute work is a great place to start. Also called his 4th symphony, Ecstasy is pretty typical of Scriabin’s use of 4ths and symmetrical scales. He’s mostly remembered for his piano sonatas which you can can hear if you listen closely to his melodic writing and orchestration. Scriabin can get weird (check out his even later stuff) but anyone familiar with Bartok and early Prokofiev should feel comfortable here. I hear a bit of Dukas in the lighter moments, and a lot of early Hollywood in his string writing, if that helps.
Scriabin wrote this a few years before he really let his freak flag fly, though he was always carrying it with him. He authored a 10-page poem to accompany this massive work, full of optimism and certainty despite the death of his daughter in 1905. But the excessively indulgent poem is just an outline on the page of a coloring book. By the end of Ecstasy, Scriabin’s painted the walls, the carpet, and the cat’s ass.
Ecstasy will sound okay on a laptop or earpods, but they’ll choke out the bass which is part of what makes Ecstasy special. The lower strings provide a welcome contrast to the upper brass colors, and anchors some of the sweeter violin licks. Listen for how Scriabin uses the massive orchestra, especially muted against unmuted brass, as well as organ. Also listen for how the work builds on itself — every event producing more dopamine than the last. The Vince Gilligan of his time.
For a really clean recording check out Muti with Philadelphia. Philly’s precision really shines here; they’re really perfect for the job. For great interpretations listen to Evgeni Svetlanov with the USSR SO or Stokowski with Houston. Houston’s playing is kind of sketchy, but I think Stokowski tickles them just right with his long ass fingers. It’s a lot of fun to listen to.
Psaume 130: Du fond de l’abime (1917)
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918)
This one is a masterpiece from start to finish. The low rumbling chants that fill out the opening minutes of this piece lead effortlessly to the first statement of the choir. Frightening and tragic, this one deserves a full listen if you can spare the time. It’s getting some play lately, but not nearly as much as it or the composer deserve.
Musicians reading might have known that Lili Boulanger is one of the tragic figures of classical music, having died at 24. Lesser known is the link between Lili’s death and Nadia’s turn away from composition to teaching — she stopped composing soon after Lili passed. In Lili’s short life she had managed to win the Prix de Rome, something her older sister was never able to do.
Lili’s one of those composers whose mastery of the craft allowed her to stand out on a pillar all her own. Few have really achieved this — the old masters all sound like their older masters.1 Boulanger is Boulanger, and that’s it. Listen specifically for her use of voice and organ throughout the work, as well as the payoff after the first 11 minutes of buildup. You’ll find a few quiet moments of brevity after this thing gets going, but there’s one really gorgeous vocal duet over some flute ostinato worth listening for.
Check out the NAXOS recording of Mark Stringer with Luxembourg, or the slightly more brilliant London recording with John Elliot Gardiner.
Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution (1937)
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
This one rules. You won’t hear it anywhere in America because our handlers hate decent music, but there’s a good British recording out, and more than a few Russian ones. Most of those were conducted by Gergiev though, and I won’t recommend someone who does music for a terrorist regime.
The work took a year for Prokofiev to finish. It depicts episodes from the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, including the actual revolution complete with klaxon, gun shots and a guy yelling propaganda. Other movements include accordion band, Russian choir, and two tubas.
I can’t find a score of this anywhere, so I don’t know what to listen for or what recordings to recommend in good faith. And I really don’t think it matters for this one. As far as sound effects go, this BBC Symphony recording has some of the most satisfying gun shots, even if the warning bell is a little weak. The video has English subtitles and labeled movements so you can explore the whole work out of order. Make sure to check out the revolution episode — you won’t hear anything like it in the entire western canon. Prokofiev the man.
Negro Folk Symphony (1934)
William Dawson (1899-1990)
This one needs no introduction. I’ll write one anyway, but William Dawson’s masterwork has become a recent staple of the repertoire, and for good reason. It’s one of the best American symphonies ever written. If I never hear New World again it’ll be too soon. Just give me Dawson.
The piece was as popular then as it seems to be now (according to the same musicologists whose field helped bury Dawson in a decades long flurry of academic waste), having been premiered by Philadelphia at Carnegie Hall under Stokowski in 1934. Dawson was just 35 years old when he wrote this incredible piece, his one and only symphony. Negro Folk Symphony is made up of a complimentary set of themes executed flawlessly in Dawson’s chosen medium. This can be overlooked, at least by musicians — a piece can be a bad symphony (Bruckner 8), that is, it doesn’t fit the orchestra or the form, but that doesn’t necessarily make it bad music (Rachmaninoff 1, also a bad symphony). It takes a serious grasp of the craft to do both well, something Dawson had over many of his contemporaries. Strange then that he fell to the wayside where less talented composers succeeded.
For a long time there was only one Stokowski recording available of this work. We now have new recordings. There’s the well known one by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Fagen, but I’m partial to Detroit under Neeme Järvi for their clarity and treatment of the folk themes. There’s never any doubt with Detroit where we are or where we’re heading. They navigate Dawson’s symphony with careful attention to each individual idea, a difficult task in this rapidly changing soundscape. The OG Stokowski is worth a listen too, but it’s a little choppy.
Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, op. 64 (1888)
P.I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Cheap way to round out the list, you knew this one already. If you don’t, check out Berlin’s recent under Petrenko, or my all time favorite, Jaap van Zweden with Dallas. There are really no wrong answers. Anyone who says otherwise is just being annoying.
I’m joking. But I’m also very serious