This morning’s CD is a double-header: Symphony No. 3 in F and Symphony No. 4 in E minor are both on one CD, which means I have to listen to both today or else my count is wrong; it would take more than 58 days to get through the Brahms’ Complete box set.
I’m not particularly pleased with this turn of events because I like to take my time with each symphony, get to know it a bit, before I move to the next one.
But I’m nothing if not a professional. So, the show must go on.
The first of the two symphonies on today’s CD is Symphony No. 3 in F, Op. 90. The conductor is Jaap van Zweden. The orchestra is the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.
According to its entry on Wikipedia,
The Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, is a symphony by Johannes Brahms. The work was written in the summer of 1883 at Wiesbaden, nearly six years after he completed his Symphony No. 2. In the interim Brahms had written some of his greatest works, including the Violin Concerto, two overtures (Tragic Overture and Academic Festival Overture), and Piano Concerto No. 2.
The premiere performance was given on 2 December 1883 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Hans Richter. It is the shortest of Brahms’ four symphonies; a typical performance lasts between 30 and 40 minutes.
Brahms was 50 years old when he composed Symphony No. 3 in F. I don’t remember what I was doing when I was 50. But it wasn’t composing symphonies, I can tell you that.
Brahms wrote his symphonies in four movements. The time breakdown of this one (Symphony No. 3 in F), from this particular conductor (Jaap) and this particular orchestra (Netherlands Philharmonic) is as follows:
- Allegro con brio…………………………………………………………9:54
- Andante…………………………………………………………………….8:26
- Poco allegretto………………………………………………………..5:59
- Allegro — Un poco sostenuto………………………………….8:58
Total time: 32:37
Now, for the subjective part:
My Rating:
Recording quality: 5 (typically superb Brilliant Classics quality)
Overall musicianship: 5 (extremely well done)
CD liner notes: 3 (11-page essay about the life of Brahms, little else)
How does this make me feel: 5 (hooked from the start)
This is an amazing piece of music, extraordinarily beautiful, gentle, complex, emotional. Well, heck. Listen for yourself. (This isn’t the conductor or the orchestra from today’s CD. But it is the symphony I heard.)
See? Isn’t that beautiful?
I enjoy everything about this symphony, which is a very good thing because I heard it 3-4 times today. The gentle, hesitant ending of movement IV demands attention, too. It was the perfect way to draw the symphony to a close.
Now, let’s see what Brahms’ fourth and final symphony brings.