The symphonies of Karl Amadeus Hartmann

Over the course of the past year or so I have picked up a few discs of the music of Karl Amadeus Hartmann, and each time I praised it in another thread as music that is profound and grossly underappreciated. I also mentioned that I was so fond of the symphonies that I had accumulated that I should buy a complete cycle. So that is what I did. I purchased the complete cycle conducted by Ingo Metzmacher on EMI. I had to pay full price to get the three-disc set. Ouch.

Let me say that this is one of the finest set of symphonies written in the last century. All of the works are of a very high order and some are definite masterpieces of the repertoire that should be played more frequently in concert halls and should be better represented on disc. As for specific impressions, well . . .

I’ll start with the best. The last three symphonies are the highlight of the set and are all masterpieces, plain and simple. (Or perhaps unique and complex?) Anyway, I’ve already proclaimed the greatness of the sixth symphony and, if anything, the seventh and eighth symphonies are better yet. I lack the formal musical vocabulary to describe adequately the musical happenings, but suffice it to write that they kept me entranced. The works are short, concise, and combine modernist complexity with, if not quite tunefulness, then at least a relatively easy to listen to brand of music. Metzmacher’s rendition of the sixth is a significant step up from Leon Botstein’s, though the Telarc recording is vastly superior for those of you who crave great sound. Truly great stuff. To me, these are in the same category as those better known modern masterpieces – Prokofiev’s Fifth, Shostakovich’s Eighth, Mahler’s Ninth, et al. (Okay, maybe not quite Mahler’s Ninth.)

Then there are the second-tier works, so to write. Into this category fall the first, third, and fourth. The first, as with the sixth, is a step up from Botstein’s. This recording makes a better case for the work and more accurately conveys the mood. The third is quite something, too. And the fourth here so easily outdistances the version available on ECM with the Munich Chamber Orchestra that there really is no comparison. The work is much more forceful here, due no doubt to the larger ensemble, and emerges as a darker, more intense work with more to say. Nearly a masterpiece. A few more listens and I may upgrade it.

That leaves only the second and the fifth. Both are short little works that are not quite up to the standard of the other half-dozen works but they make interesting listens. Of the two, the second is more enjoyable though the fifth is lighter in tone. Make no mistake, I’m glad to have them.

This set also instilled in me a great appreciation for Ingo Metzmacher, a conductor new to my collection. His understanding and expression of this music is astounding. He manages to make music that can sound harsh or a little too jagged sound a little more accessible. Bravo. And the Bamberg symphony play admirably. The sound could have been a little better, but I don’t care too much about that. Overall, this set is worthy to be in every 20th Century music fan’s collection.