Conrado Del Campo (1878-1953)

[arkiv]

Conrado Del Campo (1878-1953)
was almost alone among Spanish composers of his time in taking his musical inspiration from Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, and Franz Liszt instead of the French impressionists.
La Divina Comedia,' of Conrado del Campo, approximates itself to Strauss's symphonic poems on account of its strength of construction.

http://www.amazon.com/Del-Campo-Divina-Comedia-Orchestral/dp/B00005QITG

[Dundonnell]

I bought the linked CD sometime ago after reading a review somewhere(can't remember where).

The trouble with having too many CDs and too little time to listen to them is that I frequently forget the quality of a particular set of pieces!

I shall listen to the CD again and post my impressions.

[arkiv]

Good, wait for your comments.

[Dundonnell]

Good, wait for your comments.

Sorry, only finally got round to listening to this CD again!

As you say, the first impressions are of music very much influenced by Wagner, Liszt, Strauss and the other great late Romantic composers. I understand that del Campo actually went to Bayreuth to study Wagner's music-which I cannot imagine was often played in Spain at that time.

Listening to 'La Divina Comedia' I am trying to imagine where I would place del Campo's music if I did not actually know that he was Spanish. I suppose that if I was guessing I might try d'Indy or one of the other French composers of that school. del Campo could certainly write for the orchestra-lush, voluptuous music sometimes reminiscent of Tchaikovsky, sometimes of Debussy as well. Not great music but very attractive nevertheless.

[arkiv]

Thanks for the impressions.
I have not gotten the CD yet. Here in the 3rd world is difficult to find this kind of records.

[Symphonic Addict]

Great to see this series of his SQs continuing. The four quartets recorded so far (3, 5, 6 and 7bis) have been revelatory.

To be released on June 21st.

[Symphonic Addict]

I've followed this surging cycle with enthusiasm, and now with this recent release my admiration increased. These two quartets + an Intermezzo-Scherzo on the surname Mi-La-Nes (a sort of homage to John H. Milanes, the British consul in Madrid in 1941) are truly substantial compositions as the previous ones that have been recorded. I don't want to imagine these ambitious works being tackled by non-prepared players, the result would be atrocious since this music is dense and intricate, it requires expert musicians to pull them off rightly and the Quatuor Diotima excelled in the task. Besides dense and intricate, these three works are full-fledged late-Romantic in style (and not particularly Spanish-sounding), displaying enormous passion and intimacy. Interestingly, the 9th Quartet is titled 'Apasionado' (Passionate), but I feel the 8th Quartet (on the death of the composer's mother) even more impassioned and it's a monumental piece lasting almost 48 min. in length. These works can be so fervent that they can also be a little exhausting, I don't recommend to hear these works back-to-back.

We'll have to wait for the next year for another installment. So far all of these works have paid dividends.

[kyjo]

I've followed this surging cycle with enthusiasm, and now with this recent release my admiration increased. These two quartets + an Intermezzo-Scherzo on the surname Mi-La-Nes (a sort of homage to John H. Milanes, the British consul in Madrid in 1941) are truly substantial compositions as the previous ones that have been recorded. I don't want to imagine these ambitious works being tackled by non-prepared players, the result would be atrocious since this music is dense and intricate, it requires expert musicians to pull them off rightly and the Quatuor Diotima excelled in the task. Besides dense and intricate, these three works are full-fledged late-Romantic in style (and not particularly Spanish-sounding), displaying enormous passion and intimacy. Interestingly, the 9th Quartet is titled 'Apasionado' (Passionate), but I feel the 8th Quartet (on the death of the composer's mother) even more impassioned and it's a monumental piece lasting almost 48 min. in length. These works can be so fervent that they can also be a little exhausting, I don't recommend to hear these works back-to-back.

We'll have to wait for the next year for another installment. So far all of these works have paid dividends.

I listened to these two meaty quartets recently and was favorably impressed by No. 8 in particular. Could del Campo possibly be dubbed "the Spanish Reger/Taneyev"? Not that his music particularly sounds like either of those two composers, but he shares with them a seriousness of purpose and a love of contrapuntal complexity. He's also totally unique amongst Spanish composers of the period for writing prolifically in standard forms - there are no less than 14 string quartets(!), several concerti, and much else. The sometimes densely chromatic (but never impenetrable) nature of the writing sometimes brings to mind fin-de-siècle Austrians like Franz Schmidt and Karl Weigl. However, both quartets contain delightful scherzo movements with the indication en carácter popular which clearly betray the composer's Spanish heritage and provide some relief from the seriousness of the other movements.

The epic 8th String Quartet (1913) is, to my ears, the stronger of the two works, notwithstanding some occasional "note-spinning" in the first movement. The folksy scherzo is filled with character and spark, and the ensuing slow movement is deeply-felt and elegiac in mood. The finale wraps the work up in a blazing, heroic fashion with plenty of virtuosity required from all four musicians.

Nearly thirty years separate the 8th quartet from the 9th (1942). Even so, the latter quartet has many of the same stylistic characteristics as the former, but I found the general level of inspiration to be a notch or two lower. I feel it doesn't quite live up to its Apassionado subtitle, and if anything, that title would've been better suited to the 8th quartet (as Cesar remarked above).

I heartily commend the Quatuor Diotima for rescuing these important works from oblivion, and they dig into them with plenty of abandon and a particularly incisive approach to articulation. I did find the first violinist's tone to become a bit strained and wiry at times, but I can't exactly blame him/her since del Campo's writing sounds quite unforgiving with its predilection for the stratospheric registers. I'm certainly looking forward to exploring earlier volumes in their del Campo cycle, as well as to any future releases!

[Symphonic Addict]

I listened to these two meaty quartets recently and was favorably impressed by No. 8 in particular. Could del Campo possibly be dubbed "the Spanish Reger/Taneyev"? Not that his music particularly sounds like either of those two composers, but he shares with them a seriousness of purpose and a love of contrapuntal complexity. He's also totally unique amongst Spanish composers of the period for writing prolifically in standard forms - there are no less than 14 string quartets(!), several concerti, and much else. The sometimes densely chromatic (but never impenetrable) nature of the writing sometimes brings to mind fin-de-siècle Austrians like Franz Schmidt and Karl Weigl. However, both quartets contain delightful scherzo movements with the indication en carácter popular which clearly betray the composer's Spanish heritage and provide some relief from the seriousness of the other movements.

The epic 8th String Quartet (1913) is, to my ears, the stronger of the two works, notwithstanding some occasional "note-spinning" in the first movement. The folksy scherzo is filled with character and spark, and the ensuing slow movement is deeply-felt and elegiac in mood. The finale wraps the work up in a blazing, heroic fashion with plenty of virtuosity required from all four musicians.

Nearly thirty years separate the 8th quartet from the 9th (1942). Even so, the latter quartet has many of the same stylistic characteristics as the former, but I found the general level of inspiration to be a notch or two lower. I feel it doesn't quite live up to its Apassionado subtitle, and if anything, that title would've been better suited to the 8th quartet (as Cesar remarked above).

I heartily commend the Quatuor Diotima for rescuing these important works from oblivion, and they dig into them with plenty of abandon and a particularly incisive approach to articulation. I did find the first violinist's tone to become a bit strained and wiry at times, but I can't exactly blame him/her since del Campo's writing sounds quite unforgiving with its predilection for the stratospheric registers. I'm certainly looking forward to exploring earlier volumes in their del Campo cycle, as well as to any future releases!

Great review, Kyle, and I quite agree with you on that Reger/Taneyev connection. Definitely those quartets possess the density and complexity that remind oneself of those composers. I hadn't heard any Spanish quartet with that ambition and scope until I stumbled upon del Campo's efforts in the form and I've been sold so far.

Looks like this year there won't be any new recording of his string quartets, which would be a shame. The MarchVivo label released a recording of Spanish piano quartets instead:



Bartolomé Pérez Casas: Piano Quartet in D minor
Vicente Zurrón: Piano Quartet in D major

Totally unknown territory for me. Those pieces seem substantial: 37:58 min. and 34:28 min. respectively.

[Mandryka]

@ritter How is he received now in Spain?

[ritter]

@ritter How is he received now in Spain?

He still is a rather obscure figure, one who played a significant role in the musical life of Madrid in the 20th century, but you only encounter in textbooks (and you seldom get to hear his music, despite his vast output).

The (IMHO superb) series of the SQs promoted in live concerts (which are then released on CD) by the Juan March Foundation is helping to bring him back into the spotlight, but it would be premature to talk of anything vaguely resembling a "Conrado del Campo renaissance".

[kyjo]

Great review, Kyle, and I quite agree with you on that Reger/Taneyev connection. Definitely those quartets possess the density and complexity that remind oneself of those composers. I hadn't heard any Spanish quartet with that ambition and scope until I stumbled upon del Campo's efforts in the form and I've been sold so far.

Looks like this year there won't be any new recording of his string quartets, which would be a shame. The MarchVivo label released a recording of Spanish piano quartets instead:



Bartolomé Pérez Casas: Piano Quartet in D minor
Vicente Zurrón: Piano Quartet in D major

Totally unknown territory for me. Those pieces seem substantial: 37:58 min. and 34:28 min. respectively.

Very interesting, Cesar! I haven't even heard of either Casas or Zurrón. It's sometimes easy to forget how many Spanish/Basque composers there are out there besides Albeniz, Granados, Falla, Turina, and Rodrigo. I'm thinking of the vast array of obscure Spaniards recorded on the Verso label, as well as the substantial "Basque Music Series" on the Claves label.