Georg Wilhelm Rauchenecker (1844-1906)
Symphonisches Tonwerk im Stil einer Ouvertüre (1880)
Symphony No.1 in F minor (1875/76) Orientalische Phantasie (1865)
Sebastian Bohren (violin)
Sarastro Quartett
Musikkollegium Winterthur/Howard Griffiths
rec. 2020, September Radiostudio Zürich; Stadthaus, Winterthur Switzerland
CPO 555 416-2 [64]
Another composer famed in his own time all but forgotten today. Munich-born Georg Wilhem Rauchenecker was playing in the local Court Orchestra by the time he was fourteen and was director of the Avignon Conservatory in France at the age of twenty-four. Along the way he met Wagner, was one of thirteen musicians to have played in the first performance of the Siegfried Idyll and before he was thirty had been appointed director of the Musikkollegium Winterthur in Switzerland. This chamber-sized orchestra, which features on this disc, dates back to 1639 but Rauchnecker was responsible during his eleven years in charge of rebuilding the stature and standard of the organisation.
The disc opens with the clumsily-titled Symphonisches Tonwerk im Stil einer Ouvertüre. This was written to be performed as part of a concert celebrating the Winterhur orchestra’s 250th anniversary in 1880. The liner rightly describes this as “a solemn overture” with the emphasis on ceremony rather than celebration. By that time Rauchenecker had rebuilt the orchestra to a playing strength of 43 players which apparently is about the size of the ensemble on this recording. For all of Rauchnecker’s awareness of ‘modern’ musical trends and his close personal link with the music of Wagner, the overture is essentially a rather conservative work. That said there are running arpeggiated figurations in the strings that possibly hint at the opening of Das Rhinegold? The scoring of the work is quite modest with standard double wind plus pairs of horns and trumpets, with a single trombone and timpani alongside the usual strings. The modern-day Musikkollegium Winterthur play this very well under Howard Griffith with a warmth and weight that belies their relatively small number. Rauchnecker’s scoring is effective if not revolutionary with a certain Brahmsian harmonic richness combined with a Wagnerian instrumental sweep – his string writing seems clearly influenced by his own prowess on the violin. The only compromise is that the final ‘grand’ peroration with a brass-led chorale registers as underpowered not through any fault of the current performance but simply because the orchestration here does not allow for anything more substantial. Perhaps at 14:36 this overture slightly outstays its welcome but overall it sustains the interest.
Apparently for all his time devoted to teaching, leading this orchestra and other practical musical pursuits, Rauchenecker was a pretty prolific composer. The liner states that there are some 120 surviving works in all the ‘standard’ forms including 3 symphonies, 6 string quartets and 9 operas. This disc includes his Symphony No.1 in F minor which he wrote soon after his arrival in Winterthur with the first performance taking place there on February 23rd 1876. Again the liner writer Reto Schärli points to the ‘traditional’ style and layout of the work. The orchestra is more typically Brahmsian with double wind this time complimented by four horns, a pair of trumpets, three trombones, timps and strings. The symphony is in the traditional four movements with the slow movement second and a scherzo third. Curiously the booklet has the correct total time for the work – 36:16 – but all the individual timings wrong and the movement titles/tempo indications are completely different from the score viewable on IMSLP here. I suspect there has been a proofing error whereby a different work’s timings and movement titles have been applied to this work on the booklet page that lists the disc’s contents. Within the main liner notes the movement indications/titles are correctly given. Proportionally the work is well balanced with an opening Allegro ma non troppo of 11:38 balanced by a finale Moderato-Allegro Vivace of 10:26 with the inner movements 8:42 and 5:39 respectively. The general spirit of the work is warm-hearted, bucolic and certainly attractive. Although there is no programme intended, there is something of the spirit of a Bohemian symphony rather than a seriously Germanic Romantic work. The Adagio con espressione opens with a richly harmonised solemn but flowing melody in D flat major which has a hymn-like quality. As this theme is repeated the accompaniment becomes increasingly animated which leads to a quite impassioned climax before the music sinks back to gentle conclusion. The scherzo – Allegro impetuoso written in 9/8 is much more boisterous than the Tempo di menuetto marking the liner would erroneously suggest. Again this is urgently good humoured rather than dramatic but Rauchenecker’s fluent string writing in particular is always attractive to the ear. The finale opens with an unexpected solo for Cor Anglais marked Moderato that is more atmospherically pensive than the preceding movements but this soon gives way to an Allegro vivace. Again there are echoes of Brahmsian forthright energy – the liner notes that Brahms’ Symphony No.1 would receive its premiere 9 months after this work – which soon dissolves into Meistersinger-like brass figure before returning to the busy string figurations that characterise much of the work. But if this reads like some stylistic mish-mash then in all fairness to the composer that is not how it sounds. These influences have been well-absorbed and integrated with the result more individual and impressive than might be expected. More than in the earlier movements there is some sense of academic “working out” of the material but the build-up to the closing pages is exciting if just a little over-extended. The playing by the Musikkollegium Winterthur is good without being exceptional lacking the precision and tonal glamour of finer ensembles. But overall this is a genuinely interesting discovery and one that makes me interested to hear how he progressed in his later symphonies.
Rather than explore more orchestral works by Rauchenecker, the disc is completed by an early work for solo violin and string quintet that he wrote as a vehicle for himself as violin virtuoso. The Orientalische Phantasie was written while Rauchenecker was based in Aix-en-Provence where the opportunities to perform with an orchestra were scare. Hence the work was originally written for violin with piano accompaniment with the version for string quintet accompaniment following shortly thereafter. Another liner query; the players here are listed as Sebastian Bohren the fine solo violinist accompanied by the Sarastro Quartet with no bass player named. But the music – again available on IMSLP – indicates a part for double bass and so it sounds here. The liner rightly points to the fact that the “Oriental” title is wholly misleading as this is as warmly Romantic a piece as you will ever hear with even the melodic outlines not hinting at anything further East than Munich. The oriental reference is probably no more than a publishing/publicity ploy to encourage sales. That said the writing is lush and effective and beautifully played here by both soloist and accompanying group. The opening Andante con espressione in a lilting 6/8 allows the soloist to decorate his part with various arpeggiating figurations that are fairly “stock” soloistic fayre but very well played here. About 4:40 into the work’s duration of 13:01 the tempo increases to Allegro con fuoco. This is again an attractive display piece certainly effectively if a little generically written for the soloist. The tempo relaxes back into a more reflective meno mosso where an archetypally Romantic melody is developed and elaborated by the soloist over a simple string accompaniment as the tempo returns to the con fuoco material which in turn becomes piu presto. A brief cadenza leads to an equally brief Presto animato coda. The piece is as inconsequential as it is fun to hear – especially when as well played as here. I was reminded of those many “Air de Ballets” by de Beriot and the like where crowd-pleasing display is front and centre. Certainly this work would be just as effective with a string orchestra accompaniment as a quintet.
I would not make any grand claims of “greatness” for any of the music presented on this disc but conversely it is wholly enjoyable, certainly skilfully written and well worth hearing in these well presented performances. An example of just how competent a second or even third rank composer can be.
Nick Barnard
Help us financially by purchasing from
