# ReinholdGliereseemm close to Brahms to my ears but not as intense wrong r wright?



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

Take symphony 1 of Brahms i love so mutch , first time i heard Gliere symphony 2 i thought of Brahms i dont know why , but not quite tthat similar, can you elllaborated on Gliere Please, what are is best symphony, how come he so unndergroundd(not pejoratiiively saiid).

I put the sound of Gliere in between Zemlinssky and Brahms, this is what, i think, not to says that he dosen't have is own sound but help me out im not familiar whit 119 century composers, please be my guess elaborated tediously pls.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Brahms and Gliere sound the same? Not to my ears. Brahms, the solid, logical, almost classical composer - sometimes severe. His orchestral technique solid, often brilliant, but never fanciful or all that colorful. Gliere - rhapsodic, colorful, not all that rigorous in his symphonic methods.

I love the 3rd symphony and have for 50+ years. It's a breathtaking, epic symphony. Highly descriptive with enormously colorful orchestration about as far from Brahms as can be imagined.

Gliere's 1st and 2nd are interesting enough, but frankly are too long for their material to support. If you like Russian nationalism in music both are well worth a listen. The 3rd is an altogether different beast - it's four symphonic poems strung together. There are some terrifically exciting and atmospheric passages and there are several stretches that are just tedious - the fourth movement in particular. Nonetheless, Ilya Murometz is one of my all-time favorite symphonies. Nowadays I rarely listen to the older versions which were almost always cut, sometimes severely. Of the "complete" versions, I have yet to hear a recording where the performance can match the 60 year old Scherchen - mono sound and all. Botstein, Downes and Farberman just don't let it all hang out - they're ok, but there's so much more potential. I heard this live in Philadelphia years ago with Neeme Jarvi - that should have been recorded and released! Thrilling, electrifying, passionate -- wow! I now hope that Gergiev will give it a shot - and no cuts!


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## aussiebushman (Apr 21, 2018)

Brahms? - I do not think so and I know his works rather well. While one's tastes change all of the time I must say I have never tired of hearing the Gliere 3rd and anyone interested in testing the dynamics of his/her audio system could do worse than play this vast work composed for a very large orchestra where the contra- bassoon, basses and brass are not shy of demonstrating their power.

I agree it is essentially four symphonic poems but "strung together" is too negative a phrase to describe how they form a composite whole and I disagree about the statement of several passages being tedious. Hell! one could make that observation of almost any composer - like Bruckner or Mahler for example (and yes both are favorites of mine)

There are several excellent recordings of this wonderful work and there are some legendary Russian performances, but the London Symphony with Sir Edward Downes is my personal favorite - get the CD if you want the full dynamics but here is a taster:


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