Wind Serenades
Joachim Raff (1822-1882)
Sinfonietta op. 188 (1874)
Gustav Schreck (1849-1918)
Nonett Divertimento op. 40 (1885)
Salomon Jadassohn (1831-1902)
Serenade op. 104 (1890)
Jena Philharmonic Wind Ensemble/Simon Gaudenz
rec. 2021, Volkshaus Jena, Germany
cpo 5555702 [59]
It is only fairly recently that my listening has extended to include wind ensemble music, and in general, it has been a delightful journey of discovery. It may be that this disc of late 19th century works is the best so far.
Joachim Raff, the best known of the three composers here, is one of those whose music is less appreciated, and certainly less performed, than it might be. Everything I’ve heard of his is well-crafted and, at the very least, enjoyable, but there is no doubt that it lacks just the spark of genius that one hears in Mendelssohn and Brahms. That he was prolific is evidenced by the opus number for this late work – 188 – but there is a consistency in the quality of his music lacking in other very prolific Romantic and 20th century composers (Martinů and Villa-Lobos come to mind). The Sinfonietta is undoubtedly the pick of the three works here: very much in the mould of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with plenty of fine melodies, perky rhythms and interesting colours.
I don’t believe I had heard of Gustav Schreck before this. His main claim to any lasting fame is that he was the Thomaskantor in Leipzig (the tenth in the role after Bach) for the last twenty-five years of his life. He took the choir into the wider musical community, forming a strong link with the Gewandhausorchester. His Nonett dates from before his tenure in Leipzig and is more folksy (in a good way) than the other two works on the disc; the final movement has the feel of a village band to it. None of the movements lasts longer than six minutes, so Schreck doesn’t make the common mistake of lesser composers in overextending his material.
Jadassohn’s Serenade gets off to a slow start, by which I mean quality rather than tempo, as the opening Allegro di Marcia doesn’t convince. It is somewhat akin to a fanfare, but where works in that genre are normally relatively short, this lasts five minutes, without really going anywhere. Fortunately, the remaining movements are much better; the Scherzo could have been written by Mendelssohn (on an admittedly less inspired day), and the closing Allegro di Bolero is the best of the four movements, with the expected swirling rhythms.
The eleven members of the Jena Philharmonic comprising this ensemble sound like they are really enjoying this music, and they are admirably supported in their endeavours by Simon Gaudenz. The sound is very natural, and the notes, in their English translation, are fairly typical of the label: very informative, but prone to verbosity and overstatement.
While these three works may not reach the heights of Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds, they are cut from the same cloth and provide a hour well-spent.
David Barker
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