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Track Listings
| 1. Pastorale dété (Summer Pastoral) - Various Performers |
| 2. Symphony No. 4 (Deliciae Basilienses) - Various Performers |
| 3. Une Cantate de Noël (A Christmas Cantata) - Various Performers |
Product Description
Review
Of course, anything conducted by Vladimir Jurowski is worth hearing. His galvanising effect on the band whose Principal Conductor he will shortly become was evident again here, notably in the beguiling, brushed-velvet textures he conjured in Honeggers Pastoral dété and in an immaculate ensemble and textural clarity everywhere. --Richard Morrison, The Times, March 2007
Full of charm and tactile invention,vivdly realised in this live recording. --The Times,29/10/11
The inclusion of the Une Cantate de Noël on LPO Live's Honegger disc has ensured a release clearly aimed at the seasonal market. Its companion pieces are rather summery, however, and it's ultimately nostalgia that links all three works. Pastorale d'Eté depicts a country landscape under shimmering heat. The problematic Fourth Symphony, swivelling inconsequentially between neoclassical austerity and tentative lyricism, was written in the aftermath of the second world war and attempts to escape the gloomy mood of its times by evoking earlier happiness in Basel. The Cantata itself Honegger's last work, composed when he was terminally ill glances longingly and tenderly at ideas of new beginnings before gradually retreating towards its final, spiritually ambiguous silence. *** --Guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 November 2011
Paul Sacher, the Swiss music patron who died in 1999, often said his compatriot Arthur Honegger's time would come. Maybe that time is now: this disc comes on top of Marin Alsop's Joan of Arc project on both sides of the Atlantic. Honegger (1892-1955) never lacked champions Karajan and Jansons recorded the Third Symphony and here we have Jurowski and the LPO in music that shows a more seductive side than the dark depths of the wartime symphony and the Joan oratorio. All three works on this unexpectedly satisfying CD communicate a joie de vivre without ever sounding lightweight. The jaunty Symphony No 4 is performed with the wit and subtlety it deserves, bringing out the song-like character of its three movements. Pastorale d été is a dreamy orchestral summerscape, Une Cantate de Noël a radiant choral celebration of the human and the divine. **** --Financial Times 18/11/11
The playing is Faultless. Performance **** Recording ***(**)(Pastorale D'ete &No.4) --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'11
The other two Honegger works on this CD ( Pastorale d été and Symphony No 4) are an acquired taste, but Une Cantate de Noël is impressively voiced. The music moves from contemplative ritual to a cunningly crafted medley of Christmas melodies and an ending of quiet serenity. --Sunday Telegraph,11/12/11
The playing is Faultless. Performance **** Recording ***(**)(Pastorale D'ete &No.4) --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'11
Serge Baudo's incisively Stavinskian recordings have stood the test of time well,though there is no denying either the greater warmth and presence of Jurowski's performances or the more all-round perspective of the sound.Succinctly informative annotations enhance a release especially recommended to those who have previously resisted Honegger,believing him to be overly dry or dour figure.The music-making here avowedly proves otherwise. --IRR,Jan'12
The playing is Faultless. Performance **** Recording ***(**)(Pastorale D'ete &No.4) --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'11
crafted with impeccable, watchmaker precision in terms of some interesting rhythmic syncopations. --Gramophone,Feb'12
The playing is Faultless. Performance **** Recording ***(**)(Pastorale D'ete &No.4) --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'11
Pleasing performances of some pleasing and unfamiliar music. Recommended to beachcombers (and anyone else who's curious). **** --Classic fm Magazine.Mar'12
The playing is Faultless. Performance **** Recording ***(**)(Pastorale D'ete &No.4) --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'11
Full of charm and tactile invention,vivdly realised in this live recording. --The Times,29/10/11
The inclusion of the Une Cantate de Noël on LPO Live's Honegger disc has ensured a release clearly aimed at the seasonal market. Its companion pieces are rather summery, however, and it's ultimately nostalgia that links all three works. Pastorale d'Eté depicts a country landscape under shimmering heat. The problematic Fourth Symphony, swivelling inconsequentially between neoclassical austerity and tentative lyricism, was written in the aftermath of the second world war and attempts to escape the gloomy mood of its times by evoking earlier happiness in Basel. The Cantata itself Honegger's last work, composed when he was terminally ill glances longingly and tenderly at ideas of new beginnings before gradually retreating towards its final, spiritually ambiguous silence. *** --Guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 November 2011
Paul Sacher, the Swiss music patron who died in 1999, often said his compatriot Arthur Honegger's time would come. Maybe that time is now: this disc comes on top of Marin Alsop's Joan of Arc project on both sides of the Atlantic. Honegger (1892-1955) never lacked champions Karajan and Jansons recorded the Third Symphony and here we have Jurowski and the LPO in music that shows a more seductive side than the dark depths of the wartime symphony and the Joan oratorio. All three works on this unexpectedly satisfying CD communicate a joie de vivre without ever sounding lightweight. The jaunty Symphony No 4 is performed with the wit and subtlety it deserves, bringing out the song-like character of its three movements. Pastorale d été is a dreamy orchestral summerscape, Une Cantate de Noël a radiant choral celebration of the human and the divine. **** --Financial Times 18/11/11
The playing is Faultless. Performance **** Recording ***(**)(Pastorale D'ete &No.4) --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'11
The other two Honegger works on this CD ( Pastorale d été and Symphony No 4) are an acquired taste, but Une Cantate de Noël is impressively voiced. The music moves from contemplative ritual to a cunningly crafted medley of Christmas melodies and an ending of quiet serenity. --Sunday Telegraph,11/12/11
The playing is Faultless. Performance **** Recording ***(**)(Pastorale D'ete &No.4) --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'11
Serge Baudo's incisively Stavinskian recordings have stood the test of time well,though there is no denying either the greater warmth and presence of Jurowski's performances or the more all-round perspective of the sound.Succinctly informative annotations enhance a release especially recommended to those who have previously resisted Honegger,believing him to be overly dry or dour figure.The music-making here avowedly proves otherwise. --IRR,Jan'12
The playing is Faultless. Performance **** Recording ***(**)(Pastorale D'ete &No.4) --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'11
crafted with impeccable, watchmaker precision in terms of some interesting rhythmic syncopations. --Gramophone,Feb'12
The playing is Faultless. Performance **** Recording ***(**)(Pastorale D'ete &No.4) --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'11
Pleasing performances of some pleasing and unfamiliar music. Recommended to beachcombers (and anyone else who's curious). **** --Classic fm Magazine.Mar'12
The playing is Faultless. Performance **** Recording ***(**)(Pastorale D'ete &No.4) --BBC Music Magazine,Christmas'11
Product Description
Pastorale d'été - Symphonie n°4 - Une Cantate de Noël / Christopher Maltman, baryton - New London Children's Choir - London Philharmonic Orchestra - Vladimir Jurowski, direction
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This CD suggests an attempt at rehabilitation. Although Swiss by parentage, Honegger was born in France and holds his place there as a member of Les Six, while elsewhere he is mostly forgotten. His two dramatic oratorios, King Davd and Joan of Arc at the Stake, still had currency when I was young; they manage to be religious, popsy, and lurid all at once. Two fellow members of Les Six, Poulenc and Milhaud, Honegger's modernism wasn't shy of popular culture, and the last toehold he has in the standard repertoire is probably Pacific 231, which depicts a modern locomotive; Honegger had another tone poem dedicated to rugby.
To bring him closer to English tastes, Vladimir Jurowski has cannily chosen diffuse, easy-listen pastoral music that will remind English audiences of familiar sounds from Delius and that ilk. French modernism tended toward the breezy as well, another kind of easy-listen sound to be found in the nostalgic Sym. #4. Unless you were a real Honegger devotee, it would be hard not to believe that these works aren't generically like Roussel, Ibert, or Jolivet. So it's surprising to go to the London Phil's website and listen to a clip of Jurowski placing Honegger on much the same level as Stravinsky; his defense is eloquent but seems misplaced to me.
The postwar era and the threat of the Bomb turned the composer somber, and in addition he knew he was dying when he composed the grave, soul-searching Cantate de Noel in 1953, surely the most cheerless Christmas music I can imagine (it begins in the bowels of the orchestra with a De prfundis). We aren't gamboling in pastures here; the composer draws out some searing, harmonically jagged passages of souls pleading for release from suffering. The work calls for large forces, including an organ and children's chorus as well as a mixed chorus and baritone soloist. The three-part structure heads from darkness toward the light, ending with a Laudate Dominum (in that regard it resembles Stravinsky's Sym. of Psalms, also in three parts, that ends in a Laudate Dominum). Christmas carols do enter the musical texture, which for me makes for a queasy mixture of the sentimental and the agonized. But then, I have much the same reaction to Honegger's religious oratorios.
Jurowski clearly believes in this music and delivers it very well, as do all the forces, orchestral and choral, that are involved. The sound is excellent and captures the spatial placement of various voices. We don't get many new Honegger releases to add to classic ones from Markevitch, Bernstein, and Karajan, among others who championed his work. Jurowski joins the catalog at the top level.
To bring him closer to English tastes, Vladimir Jurowski has cannily chosen diffuse, easy-listen pastoral music that will remind English audiences of familiar sounds from Delius and that ilk. French modernism tended toward the breezy as well, another kind of easy-listen sound to be found in the nostalgic Sym. #4. Unless you were a real Honegger devotee, it would be hard not to believe that these works aren't generically like Roussel, Ibert, or Jolivet. So it's surprising to go to the London Phil's website and listen to a clip of Jurowski placing Honegger on much the same level as Stravinsky; his defense is eloquent but seems misplaced to me.
The postwar era and the threat of the Bomb turned the composer somber, and in addition he knew he was dying when he composed the grave, soul-searching Cantate de Noel in 1953, surely the most cheerless Christmas music I can imagine (it begins in the bowels of the orchestra with a De prfundis). We aren't gamboling in pastures here; the composer draws out some searing, harmonically jagged passages of souls pleading for release from suffering. The work calls for large forces, including an organ and children's chorus as well as a mixed chorus and baritone soloist. The three-part structure heads from darkness toward the light, ending with a Laudate Dominum (in that regard it resembles Stravinsky's Sym. of Psalms, also in three parts, that ends in a Laudate Dominum). Christmas carols do enter the musical texture, which for me makes for a queasy mixture of the sentimental and the agonized. But then, I have much the same reaction to Honegger's religious oratorios.
Jurowski clearly believes in this music and delivers it very well, as do all the forces, orchestral and choral, that are involved. The sound is excellent and captures the spatial placement of various voices. We don't get many new Honegger releases to add to classic ones from Markevitch, Bernstein, and Karajan, among others who championed his work. Jurowski joins the catalog at the top level.
By philip kirk
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having actually sung this work several years ago ,i have wanted a copy for some time,and this recording has met my expectations pretty closely.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars
6 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jaunty, accessible, sombre, spiritual Honegger
13 Dec 2011
By Dean Frey
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
This new disc fom the LPO illustrates Honegger's journey from his modernist period as a member of Les Six in 1920s Paris to his less ironic and more expressive maturity in the 1940s and 50s. The earliest work on the disc, the 1920 Pastorale d'Ete, is a sometimes jaunty and jazzy trip into the countryside. It has a pastoral feel, but it's often slightly off-centre. This is a fascinating, and for me immensely appealing, seven minutes of music.
Honegger, like Villa-Lobos who took a similar journey during the same years, was swimming upstream in the post-WWII period. His 4th Symphony was designed to be just the opposite of the fashionable music of the day: accessible and expressive. In 1946 Honegger wanted to give his audience, and perhaps himself, some relief from the austerities of the post-war world. This music might have seemed old-fashioned and even banal at the time, but I appreciate its directness and simplicity.
Honegger's final composition is the 1953 Christmas Cantata, which was written during his final illness. The first movement is very dark - sombre seems too light a word for the oppressive mood Honegger creates. But of course darkness is part of many Christmas stories, from the Massacre of the Innocents to the depressing first draft of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. When Honegger lets the light in, the effect is magical. This is deeply spiritual music, well-crafted and very moving.
So much credit for this excellent disc goes to the conductor Vladimir Jurowski. As he explains at the LPO website, he believes that Honegger deserves a much higher reputation than his present quite modest ranking. Jurowski seems to have communicated this passion to the musicians who performed at the Royal Festival and Queen Elizabeth Hall concerts recorded for this CD. And he's convinced me!
Honegger, like Villa-Lobos who took a similar journey during the same years, was swimming upstream in the post-WWII period. His 4th Symphony was designed to be just the opposite of the fashionable music of the day: accessible and expressive. In 1946 Honegger wanted to give his audience, and perhaps himself, some relief from the austerities of the post-war world. This music might have seemed old-fashioned and even banal at the time, but I appreciate its directness and simplicity.
Honegger's final composition is the 1953 Christmas Cantata, which was written during his final illness. The first movement is very dark - sombre seems too light a word for the oppressive mood Honegger creates. But of course darkness is part of many Christmas stories, from the Massacre of the Innocents to the depressing first draft of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. When Honegger lets the light in, the effect is magical. This is deeply spiritual music, well-crafted and very moving.
So much credit for this excellent disc goes to the conductor Vladimir Jurowski. As he explains at the LPO website, he believes that Honegger deserves a much higher reputation than his present quite modest ranking. Jurowski seems to have communicated this passion to the musicians who performed at the Royal Festival and Queen Elizabeth Hall concerts recorded for this CD. And he's convinced me!
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Jurowski makes a case for remembering Honegger
15 Nov 2011
By Santa Fe Listener
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
This CD suggests an attempt at rehabilitation. Although Swiss by parentage, Honegger was born in France and holds his place there as a member of Les Six, while elsewhere he is mostly forgotten. His two dramatic oratorios, King Davd and Joan of Arc at the Stake, still had currency when I was young; they manage to be religious, popsy, and lurid all at once. Two fellow members of Les Six, Poulenc and Milhaud, Honegger's modernism wasn't shy of popular culture, and the last toehold he has in the standard repertoire is probably Pacific 231, which depicts a modern locomotive; Honegger had another tone poem dedicated to rugby.
To bring him closer to English tastes, Vladimir Jurowski has cannily chosen diffuse, easy-listen pastoral music that will remind English audiences of familiar sounds from Delius and that ilk. French modernism tended toward the breezy as well, another kind of easy-listen sound to be found in the nostalgic Sym. #4. Unless you were a real Honegger devotee, it would be hard not to believe that these works aren't generically like Roussel, Ibert, or Jolivet. So it's surprising to go to the London Phil's website and listen to a clip of Jurowski placing Honegger on much the same level as Stravinsky; his defense is eloquent but seems misplaced to me.
The postwar era and the threat of the Bomb turned the composer somber, and in addition he knew he was dying when he composed the grave, soul-searching Cantate de Noel in 1953, surely the most cheerless Christmas music I can imagine (it begins in the bowels of the orchestra with a De prfundis). We aren't gamboling in pastures here; the composer draws out some searing, harmonically jagged passages of souls pleading for release from suffering. The work calls for large forces, including an organ and children's chorus as well as a mixed chorus and baritone soloist. The three-part structure heads from darkness toward the light, ending with a Laudate Dominum (in that regard it resembles Stravinsky's Sym. of Psalms, also in three parts, that ends in a Laudate Dominum). Christmas carols do enter the musical texture, which for me makes for a queasy mixture of the sentimental and the agonized. But then, I have much the same reaction to Honegger's religious oratorios.
Jurowski clearly believes in this music and delivers it very well, as do all the forces, orchestral and choral, that are involved. The sound is excellent and captures the spatial placement of various voices. We don't get many new Honegger releases to add to classic ones from Markevitch, Bernstein, and Karajan, among others who championed his work. Jurowski joins the catalog at the top level.
To bring him closer to English tastes, Vladimir Jurowski has cannily chosen diffuse, easy-listen pastoral music that will remind English audiences of familiar sounds from Delius and that ilk. French modernism tended toward the breezy as well, another kind of easy-listen sound to be found in the nostalgic Sym. #4. Unless you were a real Honegger devotee, it would be hard not to believe that these works aren't generically like Roussel, Ibert, or Jolivet. So it's surprising to go to the London Phil's website and listen to a clip of Jurowski placing Honegger on much the same level as Stravinsky; his defense is eloquent but seems misplaced to me.
The postwar era and the threat of the Bomb turned the composer somber, and in addition he knew he was dying when he composed the grave, soul-searching Cantate de Noel in 1953, surely the most cheerless Christmas music I can imagine (it begins in the bowels of the orchestra with a De prfundis). We aren't gamboling in pastures here; the composer draws out some searing, harmonically jagged passages of souls pleading for release from suffering. The work calls for large forces, including an organ and children's chorus as well as a mixed chorus and baritone soloist. The three-part structure heads from darkness toward the light, ending with a Laudate Dominum (in that regard it resembles Stravinsky's Sym. of Psalms, also in three parts, that ends in a Laudate Dominum). Christmas carols do enter the musical texture, which for me makes for a queasy mixture of the sentimental and the agonized. But then, I have much the same reaction to Honegger's religious oratorios.
Jurowski clearly believes in this music and delivers it very well, as do all the forces, orchestral and choral, that are involved. The sound is excellent and captures the spatial placement of various voices. We don't get many new Honegger releases to add to classic ones from Markevitch, Bernstein, and Karajan, among others who championed his work. Jurowski joins the catalog at the top level.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
More than a one-hit wonder
22 Dec 2011
By Digital Chips, Inc.
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
Swiss composer Arthur Honegger is basically known for two things: being a member of "Les Six," and writing Pacific 2-3-1. This release goes a long way towards changing that shallow impression for the better. Arthur Honegger was a consummate craftsman, writing music that was impressionistic, lyrical, full of rich harmonies, and sounded like no one else.
The album opens with Honegger's tone poem Pastorale d'ete. Composed on holiday in the Swiss alps, this short work is a wonderful sonic postcard from and makes a great opener for the program.
Symphony No. 4, written just after the end of the Second World War, is an exuberant work. Honegger incorporates two Swiss folk songs into the composition, which provide some of the thematic material Honegger rigorously develops. Although this is a light-hearted work, it's by no means a light one. While pleasant-sounding on the surface, the structure and depth of the composition reward careful and repeated listening.
Une Cantate de Noel was Honegger's final completed composition, written while he was terminally ill. Although it features several familiar Christmas carols artfully woven together, this is no treacly songs-of-the-season medley. The opening is somber and restless, reflecting Honegger's emotional state. As the music progresses, that mood changes, as if the composer is turning from the woes of this world, to the serenity of the next. Une Cantate is a transformative work, moving from darkness to light, returning spiritual depth to well-known (if not shop-warm) carols.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir do an excellent job, turning in remarkably clean and tight live performances. Conductor Vladimir Jurowski exhibits sure command of this material, and clearly has a deep affinity for Honegger's music.
If you're not familiar with Honegger, or - worse yet - only know his one hit, this disc can be a revelation.
The album opens with Honegger's tone poem Pastorale d'ete. Composed on holiday in the Swiss alps, this short work is a wonderful sonic postcard from and makes a great opener for the program.
Symphony No. 4, written just after the end of the Second World War, is an exuberant work. Honegger incorporates two Swiss folk songs into the composition, which provide some of the thematic material Honegger rigorously develops. Although this is a light-hearted work, it's by no means a light one. While pleasant-sounding on the surface, the structure and depth of the composition reward careful and repeated listening.
Une Cantate de Noel was Honegger's final completed composition, written while he was terminally ill. Although it features several familiar Christmas carols artfully woven together, this is no treacly songs-of-the-season medley. The opening is somber and restless, reflecting Honegger's emotional state. As the music progresses, that mood changes, as if the composer is turning from the woes of this world, to the serenity of the next. Une Cantate is a transformative work, moving from darkness to light, returning spiritual depth to well-known (if not shop-warm) carols.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir do an excellent job, turning in remarkably clean and tight live performances. Conductor Vladimir Jurowski exhibits sure command of this material, and clearly has a deep affinity for Honegger's music.
If you're not familiar with Honegger, or - worse yet - only know his one hit, this disc can be a revelation.
›
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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