Arthur Honegger (1892-1955)

[snyprrr]

Any recommendations for Symphony 1 recordings? This is the only on I still have to hear.

I'd love to find a cheap one somewhere... definitely not many choices.

[Drasko]

There aren't that many solo recordings of the first symphony, actually I can think of only one: Munch live with ONd'F on Auvidis, excellent but not that readily available. Baudo's is a fine performance.



http://www.amazon.de/Various-Artists-Honegger/dp/B00002MXV3

[Mirror Image]

I stumbled upon some Honegger rarities and a box set of his chamber music all under the Timpani label and, as it goes, I pulled the trigger:







Almost 90% of this music will be new to my ears. Does anyone else own these recordings or have heard some of these works? I would love some feedback. This is some new territory for me, which proves that there are still gems to discover in a composer's output, but I think I have all the bases covered now in regard to Honegger's music. These were crucial gap filling recordings.

[Mirror Image]

Also bought this recording which I hope signals a new symphony cycle:

[vandermolen]

Also bought this recording which I hope signals a new symphony cycle:

How interesting! Let's hope so - thanks for posting.

[Mirror Image]

How interesting! Let's hope so - thanks for posting.

You're welcome, Jeffrey. By the way, do you own any of the recordings I posted above? One of them is quite rare now.

[Mirror Image]

In many of the articles I've read about Honegger, it seems that he's viewed as the 'lone wolf' of Les Six. This possibly is due to his connections with Switzerland and that his music draws upon darker and more personal experiences than any other member of the group. I thought, and this is my personal opinion, that he was the best composer of the group and, with or without them, stands on his own as a unique compositional voice in 20th Century music. Honegger's music is hard to define or categorize as he draws on so many influences and his oeuvre, contrary to what someone wrote in the Honegger Vs. Martinu thread I started, has a lot of variety from choral works to orchestral showpieces to film scores to chamber music, he wrote in almost every genre. A truly amazing composer IMHO and one that I really hope finds a way back into the concert hall again.

[Gurn Blanston]

Well, MI, I'm going to buy that Zinman disk that you touted in the WAYLT thread. I don't know Honegger at all, seems like I should somehow. Thanks for the tip.

[Mirror Image]

Well, MI, I'm going to buy that Zinman disk that you touted in the WAYLT thread. I don't know Honegger at all, seems like I should somehow. Thanks for the tip.

Excellent, Gurn! I hope you enjoy it. Have you heard any of his music prior to this purchase?

Edit: Just some fun info - I share the same birthday as Honegger as does Daniel (Madaboutmahler).

[snyprrr]

I stumbled upon some Honegger rarities and a box set of his chamber music all under the Timpani label and, as it goes, I pulled the trigger:







Almost 90% of this music will be new to my ears. Does anyone else own these recordings or have heard some of these works? I would love some feedback. This is some new territory for me, which proves that there are still gems to discover in a composer's output, but I think I have all the bases covered now in regard to Honegger's music. These were crucial gap filling recordings.

The Chamber set is fine, though I preferred getting mine piecemeal. 'Le Dit' is supposed to be top drawer Honegger, and, surely, the other two would be very interesting also.

Honegger was King of the... well, he wrote a lot of nice little 7-9 minute Impressions. There's a Nocturne, a Largo, I think, a Hymne,... that all would be worth checking out. There's that Oehms disc.

Do you have the EMI Ibert set, which sounds a lot like Honegger's half-brother?

[Mirror Image]

The Chamber set is fine, though I preferred getting mine piecemeal. 'Le Dit' is supposed to be top drawer Honegger, and, surely, the other two would be very interesting also.

Honegger was King of the... well, he wrote a lot of nice little 7-9 minute Impressions. There's a Nocturne, a Largo, I think, a Hymne,... that all would be worth checking out. There's that Oehms disc.

Do you have the EMI Ibert set, which sounds a lot like Honegger's half-brother?

Thanks for your feedback. Honegger wrote a variety of pieces --- some a considerable length (Le Roi David, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher) and others that are shorter (Pacific 231, Rugby, Monopartita). Still, some very fine works, even if we were to examine his non-symphonic output. As for the chamber music set, it was much, much cheaper for me to acquire the whole set at one time than collect individually plus I got Amazon Prime for a month so I took advantage of their free two-day shipping. Couldn't turn that down.

[Mirror Image]

As for Ibert, I've got several recordings of his music. My favorite one being perhaps the Dutoit-led recording on Decca:

[Mirror Image]

Anyway, apparently the last orchestral work Honegger composed was Monopartita. I really like this moody work. I wished he lived longer to compose more symphonies. There's no telling where he would have went. I wonder if he would have mellowed out? There's no telling. I'm going to try to find a good biography on his life. He's certainly a fascinating composer and I found it rather strange that he remained in Paris during WWII, but my understanding was that the Nazis didn't bother him too much. Imagine being in that environment as an innocent bystander? This war, from what I've read, also had a negative effect on his overall outlook on life.

[Mirror Image]

I found a biography, obviously not a book length one with meticulous detail, but a good one from an online source:

http://www.arthur-honegger.com/anglais/biographie.php

[snyprrr]

As for Ibert, I've got several recordings of his music. My favorite one being perhaps the Dutoit-led recording on Decca:

Yea, I wanna I wanna get that. The samples to Paris make it sound like a great piece.

Anyway, apparently the last orchestral work Honegger composed was Monopartita. I really like this moody work. I wished he lived longer to compose more symphonies. There's no telling where he would have went. I wonder if he would have mellowed out? There's no telling. I'm going to try to find a good biography on his life. He's certainly a fascinating composer and I found it rather strange that he remained in Paris during WWII, but my understanding was that the Nazis didn't bother him too much. Imagine being in that environment as an innocent bystander? This war, from what I've read, also had a negative effect on his overall outlook on life.

Hindemith wrote his 'Organ Concerto' in what, 1963? He was still pretty thorny. Malipiero, Bloch, HVL, they all continued to 'harden' their language, but never breaking with tonality. I think Honegger would have continued alike. Perhaps a 'Symphonie No.6' would have been another 'Pastoral' work, whereas a '7th' might have been a mighty combination of all things in a steely Beethovinian cast. I think he had Masterpieces left.

[pjme]

The biography by Harry Halbreich, Arthur Honegger, published by Amadeus Press in 1999. This is the first extensive study that is objective about the musician. Following a lively and detailed chronology of the life of Honegger, Harry Halbreich reviews the complete works before summarizing his vision of the artist and his music. This is the main work on the musician



The English translation may have a different cover.

Halbreich has gone to great lenghts to find all the details about every work, sketch and early work. Really quite amazing and a very interesting read.

PS: I wouldn't call Le dit des jeux du monde major Honegger. It is interesting and the parts for orchetra stand out. The percussion interludes sound dull compared to Milhaud ( l'Homme et son désir, Choéphores...) or Stravinsky ( Noces ).
The same goes, in my opinion, for Sémiramis, Amphion and l'Impératrice aux rochers. All works ( melodramas) were made for the theater ( Ida Rubinstein) and propably loose some of their impact as concertworks.
Honegger made orchestral suites from l'Impératrice" and Phèdre. Phédre is a lovely and dark score, which adds six female voices to the orchestra. There's an old recording on Olympia ( Rozhsdestvenky) that is very good. But a new one in better sound would be welcome.



P.

[vandermolen]

You're welcome, Jeffrey. By the way, do you own any of the recordings I posted above? One of them is quite rare now.

Sadly not John!

[vandermolen]

I really like his film score for the animated film 'L'Idee' - very poetic, haunting and oddly moving. I think that it's on Naxos now.

Here it is:

[asin]B001F1YBW6[/asin]

[Gurn Blanston]

Excellent, Gurn! I hope you enjoy it. Have you heard any of his music prior to this purchase?

Edit: Just some fun info - I share the same birthday as Honegger as does Daniel (Madaboutmahler).

No, no, not at all. But I do like other composers from that same era (particularly Bloch), and dammit, I have a fascination with trains that can be construed as an attraction too.   

I had no idea you were that old, and I thought Daniel was a mere teenager!   

[snyprrr]

No, no, not at all. But I do like other composers from that same era (particularly Bloch), and dammit, I have a fascination with trains that can be construed as an attraction too.   

I had no idea you were that old, and I thought Daniel was a mere teenager!   

For Honegger novices, I'd recommend, in order (sort of):

Symphony No.4
Concerto da Camera
Cello Concerto
Piano Concertino
the 'Summer' piece
Symphony No.5
Symphony No.1

For me, I really didn't get Honegger until I heard these pieces. The famous Symphonies 2-4 are definitely NOT my favorite Honegger, and if this is all you know of Honegger, the pieces I mentioned are much more convivial.