Martinu 2

Recording:Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

     I think I liked this, but I feel like I need to listen to it again. There seems like there is a kind of hazy sheen over much of the symphony. The foreground is often pointed and clear with a background that just kind of smudges the clear lines the melody produces.

     And now for some quick thoughts on each movement. The first movement feels like being carried on the wind for much of it. The timbres used are adventurous, the movement is flowing and nebulous. There is a sense of emotional volatility present here. The second movement has may of the same features but is more impressionistic in nature. With the exception of an odd little fast action towards the end of the movement, it has the same clear folk-like melodies of the first movement obscured by the backgrounds.

    The last two movements are more forward moving and neo-classical in style. The third movement, with its complex themes, harmonies, and rhythms, keeps a clarity to it that seems very characteristic of the style tome. The final movement keeps the momentum, but with much of the first movements shimmer returned. The melodies in this movement feel kind of outdoorsy to me. In the last movement I particularly liked the use of dissonant background lines in the last movement.

Tomorrow: Erwin Schulhoff Symphony No. 2