Symphony No. 5 (Chávez)

Symphony No. 5, also called Sinfonía para cuerdas (Symphony for Strings) is a composition for string orchestra by Carlos Chávez, composed in 1953.

History

The Fifth Symphony was commissioned on 24 September 1952 by the Koussevitsky Music Foundation, and was sketched in July and August 1953. Chávez composed all of it during the month of September, while he was living in Acapulco, completing the fair copy of the score the following month. The score is dedicated to the memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitsky. It was premiered in Royce Hall, Los Angeles, by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by the composer, on either 1 December (García Morillo 1960, 164) or 10 December 1953 (Orbón 1987c, 80).

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a conventional string orchestra of violins I and II, violas, cellos, and double basses.

Analysis

The Symphony is in three movements:

In contrast to the Romantic character of the Fourth Symphony, Chávez here adopts a neoclassical orientation. This is especially pronounced in the last movement, whose contrapuntal textures lend it a decidedly baroque character (Orbón 1987c, 73). The first movement is in 12/8 time and in a sort of E minor tonality. The style of the movement resembles the opening of the Allegro of the Third Symphony, though of course without the powerful effect of a large orchestra (García Morillo 1960, 166).

Symphony No. 5 (Henze)

Symphony No. 5 by Hans Werner Henze was written in 1962.

Scored for large orchestra, it is in three movements, the first of which quotes directly from the aria My own, my own from Henze's opera Elegie für junge Liebende (Elegy for Young Lovers). This melodic fragment reappears in the lyrical adagio, which takes the form of a series of slow cadenzas for alto flute, viola and cor anglais over hushed strings. The finale is 32 miniature variations on the cadenza material of the slow movement.

Henze composed the symphony for the New York Philharmonic, which premiered the work on May 18, 1963 under Leonard Bernstein. Although it was assumed that, if anywhere, New York was celebrated in the music, Henze later wrote that in the work

In 1965 the symphony was recorded by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the composer. A broadcast of the world premiere, with Bernstein conducting, was released by the New York Philharmonic as part of a Bernstein Live set.

References

Symphony No. 5 (Bax)

The Symphony No. 5 by Arnold Bax was completed in 1932 and dedicated to Jean Sibelius. It is in many ways heavily influenced by Sibelius.

It is scored for two piccolos, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, double bassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, tenor drum, snare drum, tambourine, cymbals, gong, glockenspiel, harp and strings.

It is in three movements:

It opens with a five-note motif that is used throughout the entire poco lento section, which is heavily reminiscent of Sibelius's Symphony No. 4. The allegro con fuoco section that follows however is highly Baxian, and all the features of his composition style are evident here. The second subject sees the return of Sibelian moods, but Bax's comprehensive musical technique is noticeable. The recapitulation is particularly exciting, making it one of the most energetic opening movements of all Bax's symphonies.

Symphony No. 5 (Davies)

The Symphony No. 5 was composed by Peter Maxwell Davies in 1994 on commission from the Philharmonia Orchestra, who gave the world premiere under the composer’s direction at a BBC Promenade concert on 9 August 1994, at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Character and materials

The form of the symphony (along with those of its predecessors) owes a great debt to the symphonies of Sibelius, in this case particularly the Seventh (Beecroft 1994, 2; Pruslin 1996). However, its sense of space, “less architectural than that of the previous symphonies, is a significant new departure, allowing a more relaxed attitude toward musical objects: closer to the Mahlerian aesthetic than at any time since the 1960s” (Beecroft 1994, 5). Davies has also cited the often canonic modal counterpoint of Sibelius's Sixth Symphony as an influence, and Sibelius's tone poem En saga has also been mentioned as a possible source of inspiration (Warnaby 1995, 34).

Instrumentation

The symphony is scored for 2 flutes (second doubling alto flute), piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, double bassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (marimba, glockenspiel, crotales, flexatone, 2 bass drums [small and large], cymbals, suspended cymbal, tambourine), celesta, harp, and strings.