# SS 26.12.15 - Hanson #2 "Romantic"



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening! 
_*
I'm posting this one a little early this week due to the Christmas Holiday. Hope everyone has a good Holiday (for those who celebrate) and enjoy the final Saturday Symphony of 2015!*_

For your listening pleasure this weekend:*

Howard Hanson (1896 - 1981)*

Symphony No. 2 in D-flat major, Op. 30, W45 "Romantic" 

1. Adagio - Allegro moderato - Lento molto espressivo - Piu mosso - Meno mosso - Tranquillo - Molto piu mosso - Animato - Molto meno mosso - Animato - Meno mosso - Ancora meno mosso - Molto meno mosso
2. Andante con tenerezza
3. Allegro con brio - Molto meno mosso - Piu mosso - Animato - Largamente

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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)

I'm not familiar with Hanson so I'm looking forward to giving this one a spin. I'll be listening to the composers recording.

View attachment 79264


Howard Hanson/Eastman-Rochester Orchestra


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

I'll be listening to the Schwarz/Seattle Symphony recording. Haven't heard this piece in a number of years now.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

The Schwarz for me as well. I remember this as a symphony I love, but I have not heard it for a while.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

After double check about the right piece this time

​
This one for me.:tiphat:


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Is it Saturday already?! My hopes were raised for a moment! I love this work and will also be listening to Hanson's own recording with Eastman.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

I have performed this piece several times. It is really fun to play.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I don't own this, and with the decline of Rdio, I have no streaming for now. So YouTube for me.

I'll go with Schwarz and Seattle.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Schwarz/Seattle


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## Bayreuth (Jan 20, 2015)

I know nothing about this work or composer, so I'll go with the composer's own rendition too


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

For all of you first-timers, if anyone has seen Alien, you've already heard the end of it.

I hope to have time to squeeze this in, because it's fun to hear. I have Schwartz and Seattle.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I shall go with this version via Spotify
Looking forward to another new work


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Pugg said:


> After double check about the right piece this time
> 
> ​
> This one for me.:tiphat:


I have had the Slatkin recording for probably 20 years, but the Mercury with the Composer is contained in a big Mercury Box that I have and I haven't listened to this disc yet, so that will be it


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

Ah, the Interlochen theme.


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## Jeff W (Jan 20, 2014)

I love, Love, LOVE this symphony! Maybe I'm just a sucker for the big romantic sound of it or something. I don't know. It just tugs at my heartstrings every time I play it. I just listened to the Leonard Slatkin recording, coincidentally.

I'll go with:









Howard Hanson conducting the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Gee, I must have missed something  I just found this quote by Virgil Thomson that eloquently sums my impression:

"I have never yet found in any work of his a single phrase or turn of harmony that did not sound familiar," and of the [second] symphony specifically "it is as standardized in expression as it is eclectic in style. Not a surprise from beginning to end, nor any adventure."

I think I'll give it a second listen right NOW 

I just listened again. I can't help hearing it as lighter movie music. The second movement sounded like the theme from _Born Free_ (a listener on YT pointed it out and he's spot on, to my ears). I prefer the third movement, that has a bit of punch. Perhaps I'm too rooted in the Austro-German tradition, but I'd be hard-pressed to call this Romantic... more like Flaccid :lol:

No offense intended to anyone. I realize we all carry our own associations that influence our perceptions of the same music differently.


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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

Mahlerian said:


> I'll be listening to the Schwarz/Seattle Symphony recording. Haven't heard this piece in a number of years now.


The one I have, the one I listen


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

brotagonist said:


> I just listened again. I can't help hearing it as lighter movie music. The second movement sounded like the theme from _Born Free_ (a listener on YT pointed it out and he's spot on, to my ears).


I have Erich Kunzel's recording. I have a note that in the first movement at 7:49, there's the Woody Woodpecker theme. It's not intentional on the composer's part, but if you find yourself nodding off in the middle, that's something to look forward to.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

brotagonist said:


> Gee, I must have missed something  . . . I'd be hard-pressed to call this Romantic... more like Flaccid :lol:


I don't think you missed anything. From a structural standpoint, your flaccid statement is spot on. But just for sonic pleasure, this is lovely. This is music for turning off the brain and for reveling in the emotions.


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## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

Pugg said:


> After double check about the right piece this time
> 
> ​
> This one for me.:tiphat:


This for me as well, but it might be a pre-New Year listen.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

I think the Charles Gerhardt performance of this symphony puts others in the shade. Unfortunately, it might be difficult to find. It is a Chesky recording, called Great American Composers. (It has Copland's Billy the Kid and hoh-Down from Rodeo, Griffes' the White Peacock and The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Kahn, Gould's Tropical, and Hanson's "Romantic" Symphony


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Huh, this might be the first Saturday symphony I've come across that I wasn't really interested in listening to. Oh well, time to wait for this Saturday's piece


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The Romantic Symphony figures in Michael Steinberg's amusing story about Hanson, who was the longtime head of the Eastman School of Music:
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Early in my time as a music critic, I once referred to his Romantic Symphony as "Sibelian slush." Some five or six years later I met Hanson for the first time at an international music critics' symposium at Eastman. Hanson, who spoke at the opening session, had something individual and appropriate to say to each of the dozen and a half participants. When he came to me, he told the "Sibelian slush" story. Then, after a beautifully timed silence, he added: "Of course Mr. Steinberg was quite wrong. [Applause]. It is my _Nordic _Symphony that is 'Sibelian slush.' "

(I've probably quoted this before, but it's a pretty good story...)


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## Truckload (Feb 15, 2012)

I never had the honor of meeting Hanson, but I knew several of his students. They all loved him. He apparently was one of those rare individuals who could make every student feel comfortable and appreciated regardless of their level of ability. Of course anyone who made it to Eastman would have been one of the best in any event.

He was by all accounts a truly great educator, an insightful conductor, and by the evidence of my own ears a marvelous composer. The 2nd Symphony brilliantly reflects his mastery of lush orchestration and lush harmonies. A giant like Hanson can make the complex seem simple.


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