Ernst von Dohnányi (1877-1960)

[Scion7]

Admittedly, I've lost interest in most late romantic composers ...

Well, hopefully the virus that is causing this will be cured soon!

[cilgwyn]

I'll admit that I needed a freshen up with some cooling,choral music by Gustav Holst,afterwards (still recovering)....but I did enjoy them! I even enjoyed the Joseph Marx Piano Concerto for the first time ever. I Just let the lush orchestration meander over me.
And it did!!

[SurprisedByBeauty]

World-Première Orchestral Songs From Ernő Dohnányi

[vers la flamme]

Dohnányi was a professor for several years at my alma mater. That is all I know about him. Going to check out something of his later on tonight.

[kyjo]

Dohnányi is a composer who hardly ever disappoints. His output contains many gems and has a greater amount of variety than he is often given credit for. Recently I was listening to his Piano Concerto no. 2, a late work of his but firmly late-romantic in style. The stirring first movement is positively epic and gives Rachmaninoff a good run for his money! Perhaps the slow movement is a tad disappointing, but the finale caps the work off in exciting, colorful fashion. His 1st Piano Concerto from much earlier is also very enjoyable if a tad overlong. And of course, the relatively well-known Variations on a Nursery Tune is delightful and ingenious. Continuing in the concertante realm, his Konzertstuck for cello and orchestra is a heart-warming work with an emphasis on generous lyricism rather than technical display. Also, we shouldn't overlook his gorgeous, magical Concertino for harp and orchestra, which is 17 minutes of pure bliss. I have yet to hear his two violin concertos, which have received some glowing reviews.

[vers la flamme]

For some reason, I'm fascinated with late Romantic music that extended well into the 20th century, composers who remained die-hard Brahmsians, or Wagnerians, or Mahlerians well into the age of the specter of Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Bartók. Dohnányi seems to have been a textbook example.

Anyway, I listened to the first movement of his 2nd symphony last night. Very Brahmsian, I enjoyed it. I may have to check out the piano concerto you've mentioned, kyjo. It seems he was indeed quite a talent and I've read positive things of the role he played in the Holocaust resistance in Hungary.

[kyjo]

For some reason, I'm fascinated with late Romantic music that extended well into the 20th century, composers who remained die-hard Brahmsians, or Wagnerians, or Mahlerians well into the age of the specter of Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Bartók. Dohnányi seems to have been a textbook example.

Anyway, I listened to the first movement of his 2nd symphony last night. Very Brahmsian, I enjoyed it. I may have to check out the piano concerto you've mentioned, kyjo. It seems he was indeed quite a talent and I've read positive things of the role he played in the Holocaust resistance in Hungary.

To the bolded text, you're not alone, my friend! Neo-romantic (in the broadest sense of the term) 20th century music has been my primary musical interest for quite some time. It's fascinating to me how different 20th century composers can put their own personal spin on the Romantic language.

And yes, the role Dohnányi played in helping Jews escape Hungary during the Holocaust was highly honorable to say the least. A great composer as well as a great human being!

[SurprisedByBeauty]

And yes, the role Dohnányi played in helping Jews escape Hungary during the Holocaust was highly honorable to say the least. A great composer as well as a great human being!

Not to take anything away from Ernő, but you are talking about his son, Hans von Dohnanyi, who was subsequently hanged for his deeds.

[71 dB]

Long ago I had a Hungarian working pal who loved Dohnányi's piano concertos, but despite of his "propaganda" I never explored this composer.

I don't explore composers anyone just because some other people like them. Most of the time it's purchasing CDs you only listen to once and forget afterwards in your bookshelf to collect dust. Real discoveries are often unexpected. You just happen to listen to radio at the right moment and hear something that chances your life. It's cracy to think one can explore all music out there. I can only hope I discover a lot of the music that I'd love would I have 1000 years time to explore. Exploring Dohnányi is away from exploring Maslanka and exploring Maslanka is away from exploring Silvestrov and exploring Silvestrov is away from exploring Hovhaness and so on... 

[kyjo]

Not to take anything away from Ernő, but you are talking about his son, Hans von Dohnanyi, who was subsequently hanged for his deeds.

Hmmmm...I've never heard anything about his son. On Dohnányi père's Wikipedia page, at least, there's extensive information about his humanitarian deeds, and I remember hearing about them before. Tragic to hear that his son was hanged, though...

[SymphonicAddict]

An interesting composer, but his output is not as strong as I wanted. I really like the way he stamped a sense of humour in many of his works. The 2 symphonies are splendid, so are the 2 piano quintets, the Serenade for string trio, the 3rd String Quartet, the Sextet, the Variations on a nursery theme and a few more works. The 2 piano concertos are rather discursive. The cello sonata and violin sonata fall into this category as well. I remember liking one of the violin concertos, though.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Hmmmm...I've never heard anything about his son. ...

But you will have heard of at least one of Hans' children: Christoph von Dohnányi. (The other one was the famous and important Northern German politician Klaus von Dohnanyi.)

[kyjo]

An interesting composer, but his output is not as strong as I wanted. I really like the way he stamped a sense of humour in many of his works. The 2 symphonies are splendid, so are the 2 piano quintets, the Serenade for string trio, the 3rd String Quartet, the Sextet, the Variations on a nursery theme and a few more works. The 2 piano concertos are rather discursive. The cello sonata and violin sonata fall into this category as well. I remember liking one of the violin concertos, though.

I agree with you about Dohnányi's sense of humor, which is especially apparent in the Variations on a Nursery Theme and the almost laugh-out-loud ending of the Sextet. There's also two other delightful orchestral works - the Suite in F-sharp minor and the late American Rhapsody. His chamber output is very strong and consistent, with only the first two string quartets occasionally lapsing into note-spinning.

[Symphonic Addict]

The 1st Symphony on this recording blew me away. What an exceptional piece! I had forgot how epic and ambitious it is. Almost 55 minutes of solid music. Perhaps the Intermezzo is not as strong as the other movements.

[Brahmsian]

A composer I meant to explore probably 10+ years ago and never got around to it.  What I have heard and really liked was the Serenade for String Trio, and his Violin Concerto.  Other than that, I know nothing of his music, but at the time was particularly interested in exploring his chamber music, back when I was known as ChamberNut. 

[Symphonic Addict]

A composer I meant to explore probably 10+ years ago and never got around to it.  What I have heard and really liked was the Serenade for String Trio, and his Violin Concerto.  Other than that, I know nothing of his music, but at the time was particularly interested in exploring his chamber music, back when I was known as ChamberNut. 

He really excelled in chamber music, being the Cello Sonata and Violin Sonata some exceptions. I'm not fond of his concertos (except the Harp Concertino); the symphonies (including an early one in F major), however, are much more to my liking.

[Daverz]

The 1st Symphony on this recording blew me away. What an exceptional piece! I had forgot how epic and ambitious it is. Almost 55 minutes of solid music. Perhaps the Intermezzo is not as strong as the other movements.

I'll have to try that one again, it didn't make much of an impression.  I love the Symphony No. 2, though.

[kyjo]

He really excelled in chamber music, being the Cello Sonata and Violin Sonata some exceptions. I'm not fond of his concertos (except the Harp Concertino); the symphonies (including an early one in F major), however, are much more to my liking.

Surprised to read you're not fond of his concertos; I've enjoyed the below Chandos disc tremendously:



I was listening to the Violin Concerto no. 2 (performed superbly here by none other than James Ehnes!) the other day, and I can't hesitate to say this might be amongst my top 10 VCs ever! It's a tremendously imaginative and surprising work, with a strikingly angular (for Dohnanyi, anyway) opening, a grotesque scherzo, an unabashedly, richly Romantic slow movement, and a jolly, catchy finale with a witty ending. Dohnanyi's style in his later works is a fascinating mixture of Romantic lushness and modern "sharpness". The Harp Concertino is beautiful and the PC no. 2 is really sweeping and exciting. His much earlier initial concerti for violin and piano are more conservative and arguably too long for their material, however there are so wonderful moments in them (such as the scherzo of the VC no. 1 with its gorgeous trio). The Konzertstuck for cello is a bit discursive as well, but it's undoubtedly beautiful with a killer main theme.


Another great Dohnanyi disc which I can't recommend highly enough:



I was listening to the Suite in F-sharp minor recently - what a scintillating work! Dohnanyi was great orchestrator and tunesmith, both qualities which are in full display in this characterful work. Long story short, the oft-underestimated Dohnanyi is surely climbing his way up in the ranks of my favorite composers!

[vandermolen]

I'll have to try that one again, it didn't make much of an impression.  I love the Symphony No. 2, though.

+1 for Symphony No.2 - that's a great disc.

[Symphonic Addict]

Surprised to read you're not fond of his concertos; I've enjoyed the below Chandos disc tremendously:



I was listening to the Violin Concerto no. 2 (performed superbly here by none other than James Ehnes!) the other day, and I can't hesitate to say this might be amongst my top 10 VCs ever! It's a tremendously imaginative and surprising work, with a strikingly angular (for Dohnanyi, anyway) opening, a grotesque scherzo, an unabashedly, richly Romantic slow movement, and a jolly, catchy finale with a witty ending. Dohnanyi's style in his later works is a fascinating mixture of Romantic lushness and modern "sharpness". The Harp Concertino is beautiful and the PC no. 2 is really sweeping and exciting. His much earlier initial concerti for violin and piano are more conservative and arguably too long for their material, however there are so wonderful moments in them (such as the scherzo of the VC no. 1 with its gorgeous trio). The Konzertstuck for cello is a bit discursive as well, but it's undoubtedly beautiful with a killer main theme.


Another great Dohnanyi disc which I can't recommend highly enough:



I was listening to the Suite in F-sharp minor recently - what a scintillating work! Dohnanyi was great orchestrator and tunesmith, both qualities which are in full display in this characterful work. Long story short, the oft-underestimated Dohnanyi is surely climbing his way up in the ranks of my favorite composers!

You're making me want to relisten to those works! According to my notes, the Violin Concerto No. 1 was more enjoyable, but the others didn't hold my attention. I'll need to refresh my memory with the concertos then, including the Suite in F sharp minor.