Elsa Barraine (1910-1999)
Symphony No.2 “Voïna” (1938)
Illustration symphonique pour Pogromes d’André Spire (1933)
Symphony No.1 (1931)
Musique funèbre pour la mise au tombeau du Titien* (1953)
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln/Elena Schwarz
Alberto Carnevale Ricci* (piano)
rec. March 2024 Kölner Philharmonie, Köln Germany
cpo 555 704-2 [62]
The life of Elsa Barraine straddled the bulk of the 20th Century including two World Wars and much cultural upheaval. In her native France she was a vibrant musical presence although post World War II this seems to have focussed more on teaching rather than composition. The list of her works published on Wikipedia – which there is no way of knowing how complete it is – seems to suggest that the amount of composing tailed-off significantly post-war with little at all written after the mid-1960s. Interesting to note that her teacher was Paul Dukas – a famously self-critical composer – I wonder if any of his zealous self-editing obsession rubbed off on Barraine?
This is a typically excellent CPO disc – technically skilled, musically convincing and very well engineered. The four works presented are very impressive too although the statement that opens the CPO liner; “Elsa Barraine was one of the most significant French composers of the 20th Century” seems a bold assertion. Clearly Barraine was precociously talented; she entered the Paris Conservatoire aged just nine and ten years later became only the fourth woman to win the prestigious Prix de Rome – the Symphony No.1 recorded here (and due to be performed at the 2025 BBC Proms) was written as part of the requirement of the prize. Away from music – although you feel you can hear her dynamic and individual personality in her scores too – Barraine was a genuinely remarkable character. During World War II she ran extraordinary risks as both a dedicated Communist and member of the Resistance – as well as having Jewish ancestry. Musically all four works present as confident, technically assured and formally convincing. Given that three of the four works were written before Barraine reached thirty it is perfectly reasonable to feel that her musical ‘voice’ and personality is not yet fully formed or strikingly individual.
The disc opens with the compact – three movements totalling just 17:29 – Symphony No.2 ‘Voïna’ (the Russian for “war”) which the liner writer Dr. Laura Hamer considers one of Barraine’s finest works. She goes on to suggest it reflects “Barraine’s unease over the growing inevitability of a Second World War.” The structure is a standard fast-slow-fast with the central section a powerful Marche funèbre the heart of the work in every sense. The piquant harmonies, motoric energy and angular writing is reminiscent of Prokofiev and Stravinsky in his neo-classical phase and it is played with ideal clarity and precision by the ever-excellent WDR Sinfonieorchester under Elena Schwarz. Given the implications of the title and date of composition the finale is curiously light-hearted – seemingly without the irony that a Shostakovich could ‘infect’ some of his symphonies. Again the writing is a model of careful and intelligent orchestration with a neo-classical objectivity rather than any emotional outbursts. Before the Symphony No.1 there is the 8:33 tone poem Illustration symphonique pour Pogromes d’André Spire written when Barraine was just 22. Apart from any musical value the date of the work and its message – deep concern over the rise of the Nazis in Germany – shows that Barraine was politically aware far more than most of her contemporaries. After all, 1933 was the year of Hitler ascent to the Chancellorship and the Reichstag fire. There is an emotional intensity and passion in this work that really impresses. Apart from the quality of the playing, conductor Elena Schwarz paces the music well – at the impassioned climax around 6:30 there is perhaps a pre-echo of the ecstatic harmonies Messiaen – an exact contemporary and life-long friend of Barraine’s at the Paris Conservatoire and another Dukas student – would go onto develop.
In some ways I personally found the ‘student’ Symphony No.1 to be more impressive – relatively speaking – than No.2. Simply because of the remarkable potential it displays. Slightly longer at 25:24, it is in the same three movement structure although the central movement is a tri-partite Adagio-scherzando where a central faster section is framed by two slower, reflective passages. The closing Andante-allegro giocoso e leggiero is again quite light-hearted although the music finally subsides into a simple held chord that fades to silence. All four works here are tonal although Barraine clearly enjoys the clash and frisson of dissonant harmonies although these are always within a strictly controlled formal structure and lucid orchestration. In many ways the politically revolutionary Barraine is relatively musically traditional.
The only post-War work recorded here completes the programme; Musique funèbre pour la Mise au tombeau du Titien. Again this embracing the French tradition of ‘tombeau’ suggests an affiliation with the past rather than any great desire to break musical norms. A solo piano – played here by Alberto Carnevale Ricci – opens the work with a repeating motif clearly derived from the ubiquitous Dies Irae chant. The keyboard writing is not virtuosic although it leads the composition. The work proceeds with a nearly unwavering funereal cortege tempo that builds to another impressive climax complete with side-drum. By the time of its composition Barraine was professor of sight-reading at the Paris Conservatoire so work on this piece must have been completed away from her main job. Wiki lists a moderate amount of music from the mid 50’s onwards but certainly there is a sense of a formed individuality here that builds on the promise of the pre-War scores.
Given that Barraine did not teach composition herself and that her music, fine in every respect though it is, breaks no moulds, the claim of great musical significance as a composer is hard to support on the basis of this disc alone. However, the calibre of the music and performances here is not in doubt and the genuine hope must be that further volumes exploring other aspects of Barraine’s music will be forthcoming. All in all another very fine and stimulating disc from the ever-enterprising CPO.
Nick Barnard
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