Victor Bendix (1851-1926)
Symphony No. 1 in C minor Op. 16, Ascension (1877-1878)
Symphony No. 3 in A minor Op. 25(1891-1892)
Malmö Symphony Orchestra/Joachim Gustafsson
rec. 2022, ‘Malmö Live’ Concert Hall, Malmö, Sweden
Dacapo 8.224742 [70]

Victor Bendix composed his first symphony shortly after Antonín Dvořák had composed his fifth, and just before his sixth. I mention this because the symphony’s romantic orchestral style occasionally reminds me of the Czech’s earlier symphonies. (Not, I hasten to add, the actual melodies: Dvořák’s tunes were infused with the music of his native land.) I can catch glimpses of Carl Nielsen. But Nielsen’s first symphony, my favourite, dates from 1892, and his first orchestral work, the Suite for Strings, from 1888, so to say “influence” is wrong.

In fact, it is probably more accurate to describe Nielsen as influenced by Bendix. They were close friends, and Nielsen often conducted Bendix’s works in the 1890s. The highly informative booklet suggests that, for a time, Bendix’s symphony influenced the younger generation of Danish composers, particularly Rued Langgaard, whilst the older composers, notably Niels Gade, were not impressed.

Bendix was subject to anti-semitism, which, along with his radical political views, may have kept him out of Copenhagen’s musical circles. He also was sharply sarcastic, and was known for his numerous erotic affairs, also with his own piano students.

He was the only Dane present when Wagner laid the foundation stone of the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth in 1872. He also spent some time with Franz Liszt in 1872 and in successive years. He showed his first symphony to the great Hungarian. Liszt approved, not least because Bendix had conformed to his methods, combining an abstract four-movement form with a program, like a symphonic poem whose form Liszt pioneered. Bendix was obviously attracted by the New Weimar School of Music (the music of the future). It should also be noted that he conducted the first performance of Tristan in Denmark. He mounted the performance at his own expense, because the Royal Danish Theatre would not take on the responsibility.

So, the first symphony has a detailed program. The following text by the composer is taken directly from the booklet notes.

Drawing a picture of a laborious hike towards the temple on the mountain peak, the symphony deals with a person’s emancipatory development from frivolous aimlessness to a life guided by a higher idea. In the first part of the symphony – the struggle before decision – the motifs embodying the ideal, despair and hope interact. The second part, a Nocturne, presents a nocturnal ramble through the mountain woods, which alluring monuments of the past seek to hinder. In the third part, marcia solenne, the induction into the temple is portrayed. Finally, in the last part we have a picture of the joy of a life lived through work in the service of the idea.

The first movement, the most striking, combines an adagio with an allegro. The themes are distinctive, the orchestration is colourful. As I mentioned, it makes me think of European contemporaries such as Joachim Raff, Dvořák and, of course, Liszt.

The second-movement Notturno is actually marked Allegro vivace. To my mind, this suggests more of a nocturnal run than ramble. It begins with an impressionistic nocturnal forest scene and a misty wilderness. A violin solo is a floral rest, but the ramble has to continue, and the trombones urge the hiker onwards and upwards into the Marcia solenne of the third movement. This represents the induction procession at the temple, and the music becomes appropriately dignified. On into the final movement, where the achievement of the ideal is played by the trombones, and impactive gong tones contribute to the achievement through effort.

In general, the symphony is melodically very nice. It has no particularly striking melodies, but subsequent hearings serve to prompt recognition. It is an enjoyable piece, without quite the melodic distinction needed to make it a repertory standard.

The third symphony is rather different: it does not represent an upward striving towards an ideal. Perhaps the idealistic enthusiasms of youth have been tempered by experience. In any case, I have found it to be a more satisfying listen, particularly so in the long last movement.

Unfortunately, it was performed in Denmark only once in Bendix’s lifetime. Maybe his personality interfered with his career. In 1890, after Gade’s death, he offered himself as a candidate for the post of Conductor of the Music Society in Copenhagen. As a means of demonstrating his abilities, he arranged a concert at which he conducted his first symphony and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. It did not help: he received no votes at all in the election for the post.

The first-movement Fantaisie is largely melancholy. An attractive main theme in the minor is interrupted by a march-like theme. There follows a lovely passage scored for a few strings, which transitions to a gentle close. If the whole movement represents a fantasy on the part of the composer, then it is not an experience which gives him much joy.

The short second movement, some seven minutes after the first’s fourteen, is a bustling Scherzo appassionato. Molto vivace (Bunte Bilder). It is a restless affair, and the exhortation of ‘Variegated Pictures’ certainly reflects the transformations from rustic dances to pastoral serenade.

The third and last fifteen-minute movement really is the core of the symphony. The main theme is a sorrowful lament, a rather powerful motif. It slowly grows in strength, whilst reminiscences of the first movement are briefly recalled. The movement ends without any sign of hope or triumph.

The first Danish performance met with a puzzled critical reaction, particularly to the elegiac finale. One perceptive critic argued that the work was, in fact, autobiographical. The composer expressed his disappointment that the hopes of his youth had not been achieved. The scherzo represented the tribulations of his life and his defiance of them. The final movement depicted resignation and renunciation. The critic was Robert Henriques, who was himself a Jew, a friend of Bendix’s family. He probably wrote with the benefit of an insider’s view of things.

Bendix’s own ‘adventures’, if that is the correct term, did him no good whatsoever. He was surrounded by the stifling attitudes of Victorian morality – he had an affair with a well-known pianist who became pregnant and had a child out of wedlock. The pianist later attempted to shoot Bendix! This little lot ended on the front page of the newspapers. It must be said that even in today’s liberal society the same could have happened.

Bendix’s four symphonies had been recorded for Danacord by the Omsk Philharmonic Orchestra. Rob Barnett received them enthusiastically on this site (review). It would seem that the pioneering recording was a labour of love for Danacord’s guiding light, Jesper Buhl. Thas is why it deserved applause. I have not heard this set. My only reason not to buy it is that some Amazon reviews are critical of the orchestral playing and recorded sound. So, it is unfair of me to claim that the new recording is superior.

I can say, however, that the Malmö Symphony Orchestra are well disciplined. They offer fine unanimity of playing in a well-judged performance, really well recorded. The booklet notes, English and Swedish, are well written. They give rather tantalising biographical details of the composer’s somewhat controversial lifestyle, and appropriate musical descriptions.

Jim Westhead

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