Alberic Magnard(1865-1914)

[Klaze]

Thanks mszczuj and Camphy.

From a quick search it seems that the Timpani set, that CPO release and the Quatuor YSaye discs are the only easy ways to acquire some of this stuff, lot of out of print items otherwise.

On to the wishlist they go.

[SymphonicAddict]

This composer is magnificent. It's a real shame that he died relatively 'young', he had great gifts in composition. I think the 4th symphony is his best orchestral work. I'm playing 'Hymne à la Justice', it has a heroic rush that generates some tension (which I love). Also I have listened to the String Quartet in E minor: elegant and somewhat elegiac. I think Magnard knew how to express sad feelings in music very effectively.

[vandermolen]

This composer is magnificent. It's a real shame that he died relatively 'young', he had great gifts in composition. I think the 4th symphony is his best orchestral work. I'm playing 'Hymne à la Justice', it has a heroic rush that generates some tension (which I love). Also I have listened to the String Quartet in E minor: elegant and somewhat elegiac. I think Magnard knew how to express sad feelings in music very effectively.

I agree - the Fourth and Third symphonies and Chant Funebre are my favourite works by Magnard. I often find his work moving.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Anyone who loves Magnard's music can count on my gratitude. Ever since hearing the Ansermet Third, Magnard is among the greats for me. His music has tenderness and severity. I love all of his orchestral music, but the Chant funèbre, the Hymne à la Justice and the Third and Fourth symphonies rank highest in my estimation.

[vandermolen]

Anyone who loves Magnard's music can count on my gratitude. Ever since hearing the Ansermet Third, Magnard is among the greats for me. His music has tenderness and severity. I love all of his orchestral music, but the Chant funèbre, the Hymne à la Justice and the Third and Fourth symphonies rank highest in my estimation.

Ansermet's Third is a wonderful performance - only discovered it recently:
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[kyjo]

Just discovered Magnard's 4th Symphony (Sanderling recording on BIS) and have been utterly blown away by it! Like other compositions of his, it sounds unlike no-one else and its style is difficult to describe, with grand, quasi-Brucknerian paragraphs alongside fresh, unhackneyed imitations of folk music. It's all held together by Magnard's masterly and unique sense of harmony and orchestration. I found the ending, with its awesomely majestic chorale dying away into tranquility, to be particularly moving. Magnard's 3rd Symphony is often thought of as his finest but I prefer the 4th overall.

[SymphonicAddict]

Just discovered Magnard's 4th Symphony (Sanderling recording on BIS) and have been utterly blown away by it! Like other compositions of his, it sounds unlike no-one else and its style is difficult to describe, with grand, quasi-Brucknerian paragraphs alongside fresh, unhackneyed imitations of folk music. It's all held together by Magnard's masterly and unique sense of harmony and orchestration. I found the ending, with its awesomely majestic chorale dying away into tranquility, to be particularly moving. Magnard's 3rd Symphony is often thought of as his finest but I prefer the 4th overall.

The 4th is also my favorite. I think it's the most eloquent and profound among the 4. Magnard was reaching a more developed style with this work. I have the recording by Ossonce and BBC Scottish S.O. (Hyperion). A great performance too.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

The 4th is a great symphony. I like the 3rd just as much, though. But as a musical edifice, the 4th is stronger and more cogent. I think Ossonce is better in the final movement. The sense of heroic desperation, of only just getting safely on the other side of the abyss is more compellingly communicated.

[SymphonicAddict]

The 4th is a great symphony. I like the 3rd just as much, though. But as a musical edifice, the 4th is stronger and more cogent. I think Ossonce is better in the final movement. The sense of heroic desperation, of only just getting safely on the other side of the abyss is more compellingly communicated.

Interesting. What about the rendition under Plasson? I'm not familiar with that performance yet.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Neither am I. It's on YouTube. All the reviews agree that it was superseded by the Sanderling and Ossonce recordings. Still, worth a try!

[vandermolen]

I'm loyal to the Plasson, which has a special quality to it. I have his boxed set of the symphonies.mmaybe I'm influenced by my first encounter with Magnard which was with Plasson's LP of Symphony 4 on EMI coupled with the moving 'Chant Funebre' - a wonderful LP. No.4 is my favourite but No.3 is excellent as well and I like Ansermet's recording (see above).

[kyjo]

I very much like the opening of the 3rd symphony (so austere and mysterious!) as well as the middle two movements, but I found the finale to be a bit of a let-down. Also deserving of praise is the dramatic Hymne à la justice, with its thrillingly impetuous opening.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I very much like the opening of the 3rd symphony (so austere and mysterious!) as well as the middle two movements, but I found the finale to be a bit of a let-down. Also deserving of praise is the dramatic Hymne à la justice, with its thrillingly impetuous opening.

We think alike... The finale of No. 3 is the weakest of the lot. That's why I said No. 4 is more cogent. And that Hymn to Justice is terrific.

[Symphonic Addict]

Quite frankly, having heard Magnard's 4th Symphony some minutes ago, I have to put it top on my list. A really valedictory, noble symphony, the most eloquent and transcendent Gallic swansong regarding symphonies. Magnard suspected his death was close and wanted to leave us his best creation before that IMO (I don't know Guercoeur yet). An epic French symphony. A firm masterpiece. What a work.

I wish he would have written a fifth symphony in the also epic E-flat minor key. I would have loved to hear something like that for sure.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Yes, it's terrific, isn't it? Which performance? Curiously enough I love the Sanderling in the first three movements, but prefer the Ossonce in the final one (there is more at stake, in the end some sort of tranquility is attained only just).

[Symphonic Addict]

I heard the one on BIS (I think it's Sanderling). Perhaps the benchmark performance (?).

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Yes, Sanderling is on Bis, Ossonce on Hyperion. Both are excellent.

[Madiel]

Magnard suspected his death was close

Eh? Magnard writing a symphony in 1912-13 foresaw that World War I was going to lead to him having a gunfight with Germans?

[Mirror Image]

Eh? Magnard writing a symphony in 1912-13 foresaw that World War I was going to lead to him having a gunfight with Germans?

Yes, I find that a bit of curious remark as well. I don't see how anyone could have had the foresight to know that they will be having a standoff with the Germans.

[Symphonic Addict]

Eh? Magnard writing a symphony in 1912-13 foresaw that World War I was going to lead to him having a gunfight with Germans?

I feel that in his 4th Symphony. It's what it conveys to me. A farewell. A very subjective and personal point of view of mine.