Harald Genzmer (1909-2007)

[jlaurson]

Anniversary today.

Small appreciation on WETA: http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=495

Because Genzmer wrote for just about every instrument and in any conceivable combination, and not the least because his teacher was Hindemith, his works have the air of Gebrauchsmusic ("Utility Music"). Looking for a work for Cello and Double Bass? Three recorders and piano? Saxophone quartet? Horn quartet? Trombone and organ? Guitar duo and orchestra? Genzmer's got it.

[Turner]

From my want list, now down to 9 items, I ordered a 10 CD Anniversary box with music by Genzmer. In this case from French Amazon; the price for the item was €32 + postage.

I´ve heard a couple of very nice CDs with chamber music by him, and his style is extremely entertaining. He seems to be one of the most accessible 20th century composers - mainly neoclassicism, but very much without any dryness or pedestrianism, a sort of modern Haydn perhaps. It is somewhat surprising how neglected he is, compared to (relatively speaking) Holmboe.

Lots of samples of his style can be heard here in mp3, and there´s a list of the box´ content:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Harald-Genzmer-1909-2007-Harald-Genzmer-Zum-100-Geburtstag/hnum/9186815

My experience with jpc.de is that it is a good dealer too, and their postage fee is smaller than most other sellers - there´s just a single fee of around €7 for the packet (Europe).

[classicalgeek]

That Anniversary box has now been licensed to Membran and is available for around €12 + postage. I'm likely going to pick it up at some point in the near future - Genzmer's style really drew me in. It reminded me a lot of Hindemith (Genzmer studied with him), and a little bit of Stravinsky and Bartok. Bacewicz is another composer who came to mind. It's solidly crafted, rhythmically vital, and tuneful music; he writes in traditional forms, but the music is always fresh and alive.

He had a large and varied output, and he seemed to write for every instrument (and combination of instruments) possible. In this respect, Genzmer reminds me a bit of Niels Viggo Bentzon: extremely prolific, and all but unknown.

[kyjo]

In resurrecting this miniscule thread, I'm reminded that we haven't heard from classicalgeek (I believe his name is James?) in about a year. I certainly miss his contributions and hope he's doing okay!

Until a few weeks ago, I don't believe I'd heard any of the long-lived Genzmer's music. I was predicting something rather sub-Hindemithian without too much personality, but my expectations were largely exceeded! The first album I checked out was this relatively recent Capriccio release:



The Piano Concerto No. 1 (1942) is a neoclassical, well-written work which may be slightly "generic" but makes for an enjoyable listen. The third movement scherzo has quite a catchy main theme and is too brief at just 2 minutes long. The Trombone Concerto, from much later in his career (1999), is broadly in the same style as the PC. It held my attention at first but my mind started to wander by the middle of the work. But the Cello Concerto (1950) is quite a major discovery, and is a meaty work at 35 minutes in length. It has superbly sweeping and expansive lyrical passages alongside fearsomely difficult technical material, which excellent cellist Patrick Demenga conquers with ease and command. This is one of the finest new (to me) cello concerti I've discovered recently!

And a few days ago, I listened to this album:



I found all three works on this disc to be consistently compelling! The overture-length Prolog II is a tremendously gripping and exciting opening to the program, and is characterized by really purposeful and propulsive percussion writing, which can also be said of the other two works on the disc - the Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 4. These powerful works contain no waste and are written in a language comparable to (but not derivative of) Hindemith, Bartok, and farther afield, Einar Englund. Again, I must emphasize the uniqueness and importance of Genzmer's percussion parts, which never become overbearing as they can with some other late-20th century composers. I particularly enjoyed getting to know the works on this disc, along with the Cello Concerto from the Capriccio disc. Genzmer's prolific output seems to be full of gems! I believe Andre is also a Genzmer admirer?

[Symphonic Addict]

In resurrecting this miniscule thread, I'm reminded that we haven't heard from classicalgeek (I believe his name is James?) in about a year. I certainly miss his contributions and hope he's doing okay!

Until a few weeks ago, I don't believe I'd heard any of the long-lived Genzmer's music. I was predicting something rather sub-Hindemithian without too much personality, but my expectations were largely exceeded! The first album I checked out was this relatively recent Capriccio release:



The Piano Concerto No. 1 (1942) is a neoclassical, well-written work which may be slightly "generic" but makes for an enjoyable listen. The third movement scherzo has quite a catchy main theme and is too brief at just 2 minutes long. The Trombone Concerto, from much later in his career (1999), is broadly in the same style as the PC. It held my attention at first but my mind started to wander by the middle of the work. But the Cello Concerto (1950) is quite a major discovery, and is a meaty work at 35 minutes in length. It has superbly sweeping and expansive lyrical passages alongside fearsomely difficult technical material, which excellent cellist Patrick Demenga conquers with ease and command. This is one of the finest new (to me) cello concerti I've discovered recently!

And a few days ago, I listened to this album:



I found all three works on this disc to be consistently compelling! The overture-length Prolog II is a tremendously gripping and exciting opening to the program, and is characterized by really purposeful and propulsive percussion writing, which can also be said of the other two works on the disc - the Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 4. These powerful works contain no waste and are written in a language comparable to (but not derivative of) Hindemith, Bartok, and farther afield, Einar Englund. Again, I must emphasize the uniqueness and importance of Genzmer's percussion parts, which never become overbearing as they can with some other late-20th century composers. I particularly enjoyed getting to know the works on this disc, along with the Cello Concerto from the Capriccio disc. Genzmer's prolific output seems to be full of gems! I believe Andre is also a Genzmer admirer?

I've listened to some works by Genzmer, but I haven't found any work that makes me say "wow" yet. His 3rd and 5th symphonies have given me the most favourable impressions so far. Probably that cello concerto could elicit some interest.

As for classicalgeek, sometimes I've seen him on line, but nothing else.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Re: @classicalgeek

Perhaps if we tag him as I've done here, he'll come out of hiding. I think the last time he posted anything was last year.