Hugo Kaun (1863-1932)
Sir John Falstaff – A Humoresque, Op. 60 (1905)
Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 85 (1908)
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jonathan Stockhammer
rec. 2024, Haus des Rundfunks, Berlin, Germany
cpo 555 714-2 [59]
The portrait of Kaun in the booklet either catches him inaccurately or he was a man, at that stage, who was disillusioned or ferocious – possibly both. He was sufficient of an adventurer that he emigrated from Germany to the USA. There he resided, up to the turn of 20th century, in New York and then Milwaukee. After that he moved to Berlin and remained there. These two works date from his Berlin days. His life straddled the Great War but not World War Two.
The Falstaff humoresque for full orchestra is just over a quarter hour in duration. The effect is more good-humoured than humorous. Like the Second Symphony it is heard here in demonstration-worthy sound with plenty of bass rasp, grunt and roar. Truth to tell though, it’s all a bit bloated and loquacious. There are [Richard] Straussian moments (4:55); the equally unfocused and garrulous MacBeth by Strauss dates from just over a decade earlier. That said, Kaun is an impressively capable practitioner of delicate orchestral writing and the marshalling of ideas.
Kaun’s big Second Symphony, is dedicated to the composer Peter Raabe (1872-1945). In four movements, there’s no flannel this time. The orchestra and conductor bring us early 20th century ambition and cpo’s technical team flatter the music. There’s something stern and romantically seething about this music which distantly recalls Elgar. The fact that it never trawls up the full fleet-footed spirit of delight makes it entertaining and transiently gripping stuff but floundering and not compelling.
The more than useful liner-note is in English and German and the obliging author is Hartmut Hein.
Jonathan Woolf’s review of cpo’s CD of the Kaun Third Symphony dates from 2023. It is of course well worth reading again.
Rob Barnett
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