# SS 12.07.14 - Webern "Symphony"



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening!

For your listening pleasure this weekend:

*Anton Webern (1883 - 1945)*

Symphony, Op. 21

1. Ruhig Schreitend
2. Variationen

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Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

This may very well be the shortest Symphony we do for the "Saturday (or Sunday if you prefer) Symphonies". Clocking in at around 9 and 1/2 minutes, I may listen to this one a couple times to get a better feel for it. I've only heard it once before so I'm looking forward to hearing it again.

I'll be going with the only recording I have:

View attachment 46299


Pierre Boulez/London Symphony Orchestra


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

I will also listen to Pierre Boulez/London Symphony Orchestra.









I recommend people with Spotify go for the Berlin Philharmonic recording, though, especially if this is their first time hearing the work. Oh, and the Gilbert/New York Philharmonic version cuts the repeats from the first movement, so don't go for that one.

(Oh and as a shameless bit of self-promotion, I wrote a blog post on this work below. It goes over the second movement variations in detail.)


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

It's so short, so I will have no problem listening to the two versions I own on CD:









Boulez/LSO









Sinopoli/Staatskapelle Dresden

This is a longtime favourite


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

I'll follow in Brot's tracks and do a twofer as well:

As many will surely opt for Boulez, I'll leave him out...

#1: *Christoph von Dohnányi and the Cleveland Orchestra* (Decca)










#2: *Herbert Kegel and the R-S-O Leipzig* (Berlin Classics)










/ptr


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## csacks (Dec 5, 2013)

Webern!!!!What a challenge. I do not have a single copy of it, and to be honest, I can not assure that I will buy it, at least until give it a try.
But I will. On monday I will let you know if I was able to listen it of all his 9 and a half minutes!!!
My previous experiences with Webern are not that successful, so this will be a new round. Thanks for the suggestions


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Not heard this before so took Mahlerian's recommendation via Spotify.
Can't say I understood what was going on so will try it again as it is so short but I do not think it is going to 'float my boat'
But always good try something new


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Listening to these pieces in this order might give some idea of how Webern's music developed:

Im Sommerwind (1904) - Late Romanticism, large orchestra used for lush sound
Passacaglia (1908) - Late Romanticism/Early Expressionism (still written with a key signature of D minor), large orchestra used for lush sound
Six Pieces for Orchestra (1909-10) - Expressionism, large orchestra used sparingly
Five Pieces for Orchestra (1911-13) - Increasingly rarefied expressionism with a small ensemble

And that leads, about a decade later, to the Symphony of 1928.

Sorry, fixed the last link, which was supposed to go to Op. 10, not the unpublished Five Pieces for Orchestra.

Edit 2: Fixed the second link for a version with better sound quality.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Boulez and LSO recording on YouTube with the score.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

What I find particularly appealing about this work is the groupings of certain instruments at different points and how the colours of the tiny orchestra change slightly as the first movement progresses. Webern is well known for _klangfarbenmelodie_ and this is an excellent example of it. As for the second movement, I feel that even though the music is very fast paced and unpredictable with layers of melody and motif creating a wash of complexity, the moments of rhythmic simplicity from within sections of the orchestra alone give a second character to this movement that holds each passage together.


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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

Only one I found from local library was Boulez & LSO. I check something from youtube also.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Anton von Webern

Symphonie, op. 21
Pierre Boulez, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra [DG, 2000: Complete Webern CD2]










I went with the version I own and am familiar with today, but when I return home from London on Tuesday I'll give a couple of other recordings a go as well.

This isn't an easy piece to grasp, I've found, despite having listened to it a dozen times or so now.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

> Boulez and LSO recording on YouTube with the score.


As the link was here, I took the opportunity to give it a listen. To be honest, for me this isn't a symphony; it would be just as valid to call it a clarinet concerto. But then it wouldn't do for us all to like the same music or indeed have the same parameters when it comes to definitions.


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## csacks (Dec 5, 2013)

I have just listened the link given by ComposerOfAvantGarde, thanks for that help.
To be honest, I should say thanks, but at the moment is not music for me. 
Probably in the future, but not yet.


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## Rhythm (Nov 2, 2013)

I've finally heard Webern's Sym#21 on Sunday evening!

Previewing the symphony's score first by muting the video was a newish idea, and, while looking through the score, I noticed all those rests and grace notes. Those were the first two curiosities.

Then, listening twice to the symphony while following the score, a video handily put by ComposerOfAvantGarde, I thought the piece reminded me of the game, hide-and-go-seek, but no one was seeking. Unnoticeable were expected rhythm sequences.

I decided to move to other Webern pieces, so I listened to Mahlerian's offerings, but listened to them in reverse order. Oh. My. Each of those compositions was like a box of chocolates! Scrumptious, they were, allowing towering sonorities to roll all over me as I leaned back in my chair. Each piece revealed discernible rhythms, which I quite enjoy, atop other aspects of composition.

Okay, I listened once again to Symphony#21, and what remained was that game metaphor. However, at the very end, when the harp plays alone the final two eighth notes pizzicato, the sound of which was as if someone was peeking, I grinned, thinking I had just heard what I had been seeking.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

1961 performance in Venice, conducted by Hindemith.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Ah ... Webern's Symphony.
The perfect work for those days when you need _something_ to listen to but you just don't have time for the Mahler Third or Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony. Or, dare I say it ... or even for an early Haydn or Mozart!


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