Joachim Raff: Symphony No. 7; Jubel-Overture

Raff's Seventh Symphony is subtitled 'In den Alpen' ('In the Alps') and it paints pictures of both the landscape (in I & III) and the culture (II & IV). I, at 18 minutes is by far the longest. Subtitled 'Wanderung im Hochgebirge' ('Hike in the High Mountains') it begins with a maestoso unison four-note theme (c G d c) that conjures up the majesty of the Alpine peaks. It is cast as a fairly standard sonata-allegro and, aside from a jaunty second theme introduced by the bassoons, the thematic materials are rather mundane. This is the least successful movement of the four. It doesn't help that the bassoons don't accent the second theme vigorously enough to give it the profile it acquires when taken up later by other instruments (and, indeed, when the theme reappears in the coda of the Finale). II, subtitled 'In der Herberge' ('In the Inn'), is a rustic 3/4 dance, a sort of scherzo. One very nice bit of color in the Trio is the set of allegro countermelodies by clarinets and then flutes in thirds chasing each other all around the main theme. Both this and the fourth movement remind me in tone of Karl Goldmark's 'Rustic Wedding' Symphony. III, 'Am See' ('By the lake'), is a serenely beautiful larghetto. (Quite by chance, one time when I was taking a walk [not in the Alps, but in the flat landscape of Kansas!] and listening to the symphony on my Discman, I came to a small lake just as this movement began. I had to chuckle.) IV, 'Beim Schwingfest,' ('At the swingfest,' a Swiss shepherds' celebration) depicts peasant revelry. It begins with a typical Swiss music-box tune played in high winds and strings. Later this tune becomes the bass line of an oom-pah band section. Much fun is had by all, but close to the end there is a short, sad 'Abschied' ('Farewell') section before a rollicking coda brings us to the conclusion of the symphony.

The 'Jubelouvertüre' ('Jubilee Overture') is an occasional piece written in 1864 in honor of Adolf, Duke of Nassau, on the 25th anniversary of his reign; it was just in time, too, because he lost his throne two years later when his territory was annexed by Prussia. For reasons quite beyond me, this piece is a set of free variations on 'God Save the King' (in America, 'America'). Perhaps Adolf had a connection to the British royal family that I'm unaware of, or perhaps the tune was used in other countries besides England and America. At any rate, this is a second-rate piece that alternates between bombast and uninspired musing. Its second theme, based on the harmonies of the original tune, is little more than slow triadic arpeggios. Boring. (I much prefer Charlie Ives's set of variations on this tune.) But it's nicely played, for all that.

TT=65:38

Scott Morrison