Joseph Marx: Orchestral Songs

He's certainly right in saying that Marx's orchestral songs are luscious. The first set, eleven songs sung to perfection by soprano Angela Maria Blasi, are mostly short, usually strophic and have brilliant orchestral accompaniments and melodies reminiscent of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. Marx was not only a master orchestrator, he had a fecund melodic gift. The last song (and longest at seven minutes), 'Barkarole,' ('Barcarolle') is rather different in that it is almost a symphonic poem with voice obbligato.

The next two sets of songs (six 'Songs for Middle Voice,' and 'Verklärtes Jahr' ['Transfigured Year'], a 'song symphony' of five movements) are sung by mezzo Stella Doufexis and unfortunately suffer a bit, to my ears, from the somewhat wearing quality of her voice, which seems to lack some degree of support and a clear central core. The songs themselves, however, are simply lovely. In the later set, written in 1930-1932, what has been called 'Romantic impressionism' is evident in the extremely intricate and wholly lovely orchestral writing. There are many moments that sound almost like Respighi, which is not too far-fetched as some of the music was inspired by Marx's love of Italy. Further, it quotes from his Second Piano Concerto, subtitled 'Castelli Romani' ('Roman Castles'). So, while Doufexis's performance leaves a bit to be desired, the music itself is extremely winning and deserves to be better known.

I understand that there is a real possibility that Marx's two piano concerti will be recorded and released some time in the next year or so. I have, through the kindness of Mr Haydin, heard old off-the-air recordings of those concerti and am eager to hear modern performances. And we're still awaiting a first recording of what some might consider Marx's masterpiece, his monumental 'Herbstsymphonie' ('Autumn Symphony').

It is, however, true that Marx's unparalleled career in Vienna and his international fame were originally due to the enormous success of his piano-accompanied songs, most of which - sung by Lotte Lehmann, Ljuba Welitsch, Elisabeth Schumann, Arleen Augér, Hermann Prey and many others - were composed before he turned 30, when he became a Doctor of Philosophy at Graz University. And yet his own style had already been formed: colourfully shimmering complex harmonies and remarkable melodic richness. His songs have much in common with those of Richard Strauss, although Marx uses a slightly more modern musical language, which is often reminiscent of works by Arnold Bax or his friends Franz Schreker and Erich W. Korngold, and occasionally resembles the music of other contemporaries such as Charles Martin Loeffler, Vitezslav Novák and Ottorino Respighi.

Responding to requests from artists and orchestras, and certainly with the intention of getting his works performed more often, Joseph Marx arranged some 20 of his songs for orchestra or string accompaniment. In this form they were performed by conductors such as Nikisch, Alwin, Loewe, von Hausegger, Krauss and Horvat. Yet these Orchestral Songs, in contrast to the frequently played piano-accompanied Lieder, are rarely performed and, with the exception of "Marienlied", have never been recorded. A listener who immerses himself in these lush harmonies soon discovers the incredible skill with which Marx set the texts and orchestrated the often demanding piano part. These works are, without doubt, among his most delightful compositions.

Inspired by a journey to Italy, Marx wrote the legendary song symphony "Verklärtes Jahr" that was premiered in February 1932 under Robert Heger and which can be heard at the end of the disc. With a positively intoxicating richness of sound, this mature work speaks of transience and the continual return of beauty and harmony.

This is music written by a profound lyrical composer and yearning optimist whose wish it was to share his neverending joie de vivre with other human beings. Thus it is that Joseph Marx occupies a very special place in music history as a poet of happiness.

Hopefully ASV will release the next volumes of this great series as quick as possible!