For this week’s selection, I ran a Google-search of “underrated classical music pieces,” and one site I found -- HERE – listed “Herrmann: Symphony No. 1.” Herrmann? As in Bernard Herrmann? As in the Bernard Herrmann who wrote the movie soundtracks for so many Hitchcock thrillers? Yep. The “Herrmann” referred to on the list of “38 Classical Hidden Gems You Should Listen to Right Now” was, indeed Bernard Herrmann. I was excited to give this symphony a try because I love Herrmann’s scores for “Vertigo,” “North By Northwest,” “Psycho” (rated #4 on the AFI list of top movie scores – HERE), and many other movie soundtracks (a list of his soundtracks is HERE). However, I had never heard any nonprogrammatic music by Herrmann before, so I wondered just how this would go. Below left: Scene d'Amour from "Vertigo" Below center: The overture from North by Northwest" Below right: The full soundtrack from "Psycho"
Herrmann was thirty-years old when he composed this piece, and he said, “For the first time I was not confined to the outline of a story. It was not necessary to depict waves, portray the anguish of a lost soul, or look for a love theme....Consequently, working on the Symphony I had a Roman holiday." The symphony lasts about 35 minutes, and it’s composed in a traditional format of four movements: 1. Maestoso: Allegro pesante 2. Scherzo 3. Andante sostenuto 4. Rondo: Epilogue à la processional The piece opens with a dramatic horn solo followed by an equally dramatic tangle of string, brass and woodwind phrases – and dramatic timpani rolls – all of which suggest tension. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t help but think of a chase and struggle on top of Mount Rushmore a la "North by Northwest." A little after two-minutes in, though, things quiet down a bit as the woodwinds lay a foundation for a more pensive mood with the strings. About six minutes in, a crescendo of lush strings punctuated by forceful chords in the brass suggest that the piece is about to take off – but things remain quiet though tense. An echo of the opening call of the horn is heard, and at close to nine minutes, the entwined phrases throughout the orchestra build to pounding timpani – but again, the drama fades. This dramatic ebb and flow continues until the end of the movement, when dissonant chords in the brass and one last timpani roll herald more drama to come. The second movement is a vigorous scherzo with a bit a macabre mood. Even the quieter sections hint at something a bit chilling. The third movement opens with a mournful tune from the woodwinds and strings. Hints of the score’s past drama are peppered throughout with brief outbursts of brass and timpani; however, the somber mood endures. Then, at about 27 minutes in, the melancholy and the (feel of the) earlier drama peak together in dramatic climax – followed by a short, quiet lament of a clarinet to end the movement. The fourth movement opens with a trumpet fanfare, and then the mood of the entire symphony shifts. This movement sounds more jubilant, more celebratory. There’s a bit of an introspective section in the middle with woodwinds and pizzicato strings, but it is not at all as somber as anything that came before. Soon, though, the boastful feel of the movement returns and continues until the symphony’s very triumphant end. Although the symphony has a bit of a fragmented feel – especially with how we got from “A” (the first three movements) to “B” (the final movement) – I did like it very much. Having listened to so many of Herrmann’s masterful scores, I couldn’t help but wonder what narrative Herrmann might have had in mind as he composed this work. ' At BernardHerrmann.org, an essay written by Bill Wrobel notes that Herrmann “tended to excel in music written not so much in a co-called abstract construct (concert works, say, or symphony) but in response to an external stimulus or medium such as the Big Screen (feature film), the Small Screen (television), radio plays, and the opera (Wuthering Heights). His dramatic instincts really shined in these Show Business mediums." In this case, with his Symphony No. 1, Herrmann did, in fact, excel.
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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