Joseph Marx: Alt-Wiener Serenaden; Partita in Modo Antico; Sinfonia in Modo Classico

The first of these works is 'Alt-Wiener Serenaden' ('Old Viennese Serenades'), a four movement work for large orchestra that invokes the music of his beloved city and of some of the music associated with it. The first movement, 'Intrada,' immediately strikes one with its charm and evocation of times past, gemütlichheit and courtly manners combined. 'Aria' is a dreamy song featuring wind solos. The 'Minuet' is really more of a Ländler, that forerunner of the waltz entirely fitting in a Viennese suite; it quotes Haydn directly. The 'Scherzo con marcia (Presto)' is a lightly scored contrapuntal romp.

Marx wrote three string quartets. In the 1940s he orchestrated the Second and Third for string orchestra. The string quartet versions have already been recorded on ASV by the Lyric Quartet. The versions for string orchestra do not appreciably change the musical materials of the quartets, but the sound of the full ensemble is richer.

'Quartetto in Modo Antico,' arranged from the Second Quartet, comprises four movements in, in order, the Mixolydian, Dorian, Phrygian, and again Mixolydian modes. Written in homage to the contrapuntal music of such composers as Palestrina, Lassus and Tallis, there is the medieval feeling associated with this harmonic language. Most striking is the slow movement, in Phrygian mode [the scale one hears by playing the white keys from E to e]; at times one is reminded some of the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and then one realizes it is because we associate this mode with his 'Variations on a Theme of Thomas Tallis' in that mode and as well as RVW's use of contrapuntal string writing. The last movement is a marvelous double fugue.

'Quartetto in Modo Classico,' the orchestrated Third Quartet, is written in neoclassic form but also in part in late Beethovenian harmonic language. His is clearly an homage to the music of Classic Period, at least in the forms used, but Marx cannot resist some added-note harmonies and a smidgen of chromaticism, although extremely mild compared to the First Quartet. The homage is absolutely genuine and heartfelt; there is none of the irony implicit in, say, Prokofiev's 'Classical Symphony' or Harold Shapero's 'Symphony for Classical Orchestra.' Perhaps, among modern composers, the feeling comes closest to that magnificent late-Beethovenian slow movement in George Rochberg's Third Quartet. The Adagio is serenely beautiful; the first time I heard it I had to go back immediately and hear it again two times. The third movement, Tempo di Menuetto, is a particularly gracious specimen that ventures occasionally into more chromatic harmonies, but its Trio reverts to a musette-like rustic drone, a charming touch, before it returns to the main theme. The Finale is a masterfully crafted contrapuntal 6/8 romp (with a 3/4 middle episode). The return of the A section incorporates the opening section of the quartet's first movement, a subtle rounding-out of the entire work.

We have the previous Amazon reviewer, Berkant Haydin (sternenschöpfer), to thank for this renaissance of the music of Joseph Marx; he has been more or less single-handedly responsible for spearheading it. His booklet notes for this release are excellent. He maintains a Joseph Marx website that contains all manner of additional information about the composer. (You can find it at joseph-marx.org) The playing of the Bochum Symphony Orchestra under Steven Sloan, on this and the previous orchestral releases, is simply wonderful. We are waiting for recordings from them of the two piano concerti, which I understand have already been recorded but not yet released, and the magnificent 'Herbst-Symphonie' ('Autumn Symphony'). The growing number of Marx enthusiasts are waiting eagerly.

Scott Morrison

As an impressionist who nonetheless called himself a 'Romantic', Joseph Marx never tried to
conceal his deep admiration for the founding fathers of music - such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Robert Schumann, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert. Thus it was that he
sometimes used in his own works variations of old tunes, as for example in his Alt-Wiener Serenaden, in
which he quotes themes from the works of Karl Michael Ziehrer and Joseph Haydn, or in his works for
string orchestra such as Partita in modo antico and Sinfonia in modo classico, in which Marx paid most
impressive homage to his musical models. But why did Marx, towards the end of his composing life (from
approx. 1935-45), turn away from his impressionistic and late Romantic style to devote himself for the most part to chamber-like music in the early Romantic and classicising manner?

We are dealing here with a period in which Central Europe, under the influence of National
Socialism, became increasingly involved in political conflict, and in which art (according to Joseph Marx
one of the most basic possessions of human culture) was gradually losing its importance - something
that Marx had seen coming. The 'new' style that he favoured in his late music was therefore not merely a
riposte to avant-garde music and an instructive guideline for young composers; by adopting such a style
Marx had hoped to protect the important spiritual values that he associated with this classical style, and
to rescue them 'for better times'. And his efforts were certainly not without success. The compositions
from this late period earned him the same high recognition that he had received for his early songs, which
had made him famous.

The Alt-Wiener Serenaden ('Old Vienna Serenades') brought together much that is regarded to be
'Austrian' in music. Written in 1941/42, they were given their first performance on 14 April 1942 by Karl
Böhm and the Vienna Philharmonic, to which the composer dedicated this work in celebration of the
orchestra's centenary.

The most atypical work of Joseph Marx is probably the Partita in modo antico for string orchestra
(originally written for string quartet in 1937/38, arranged for string orchestra in 1945). Atypical, because
there is a complete absence of chromaticism and irregular dissonances - and this from a composer who,
until the early 1930s, had wallowed in colourfully Romantic lusciousness.

The Sinfonia in modo classico (originally composed for string quartet in 1940/41 and arranged for
string orchestra in 1944) once again takes the listener through a journey of Viennese music history.
Though the form once again has the classical clarity of a Haydn, the musical language is nearer to that of
the late Romantic style.

The expressions 'modo classico' and 'modo antico' certainly do not correspond to any traditional
musical terminology. As has already been mentioned, these expressions that seem to indicate key, are an
attempt to infuse these new works with the values and ideals of classical and ancient music and thus to
formulate a cultural message. But the deeper meaning of these expressions goes much further, for Marx
never ceased, even in his late works, to express his deep admiration for the classical and ancient music
of Southern Europe, which seemed to remain for him eternally young. Thus it was that Joseph Marx
remained surprisingly progressive in this period too, for the way in which he fused the old and the new, in
order to create truly timeless art, is worthy of the highest admiration. The great cellist Pablo Casals
summed up Marx's contribution to Central European music with the following words: "Joseph Marx is
absolutely indispensable for the preservation of the music of the future".