# SS 26.11.22 - Lajtha - Symphony # 7



## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening!

For your listening pleasure this weekend:

*László Lajtha* (1892 – 1963) 

*Symphony No. 7, Op. 63 ‘Revolution Symphony’*

I. Modéré - Agité
II. Lent
III. Agité

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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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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

If the symphony is called 'Revolution symphony', it must be a great symphony . We have not covered any Lajtha symphonies so far, so it is about the time to do it. László Lajtha is said to be one of the greatest Hungarian composers of the first half of the twentieth century. He was the only Hungarian composer since Franz Liszt to be elected corresponding member of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts.

The brutal suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 against Communist dictatorship and Soviet oppression made a deep impression on the composer, which found musical expression in his Symphony No. 7. I will listen to these recordings:


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

I'm not familiar with No. 7 but I have a few of his other symphonies and they are magnificent imo! The sound world reminds me of Ginastera.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Lajtha: Symphony No. 7

Pecs Symphony Orchestra, Nicolas Pasquet


Lajtha: Hortobagy, Op. 21
Lajtha: Suite No. 3, Op. 56
Lajtha: Symphony No. 7, Op. 63 'Revolution'





I have the Marco Polo disc.


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

There's only one recording available. All of these are different issues of the same recording. What do people think of the actual music? Let's get some actual discussion going in here.

I thoroughly enjoyed it when I listened earlier. Again as I said earlier, Ginasterian in orchestral tone painting. I note his inclusion of the saxophone as well, a relative rarity in orchestral music. There's a darkness in the music too which pleases me.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I've collected pretty much all of his symphonies on Marco Polo, and Naxos. He is a much neglected 20th century composer. I'm due to revisit the entire cycle.


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

I should as well. I have the recordings of No. 2 (c/w Variations), Nos. 5 & 6, and Nos. 8 & 9.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Intrigued by the posts above I tried out the Naxos recording of the symphony - on first listen I wasn't overly impressed but that means little. I will try again later as first impressions are often not as reliable as they could be.
One thing I will agree with is Maestro267's point about getting discussion going about the works featured each week. Without discussion the thread is little more than an individual symphony focused extension of the listening thread - just my view, no offence intended!


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## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

I'll go with the You Tube recording. Lajtha is a composer I've always been intrigued about and haven't given him as much listening time as I should.


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

Listening right now. It is a very heartfelt piece. I think if you are familiar with the 1956 uprising you can actually feel the excitement and dread of the time though this music. Lajtha seems a very perceptive composer in that he truly brings a grand cohesiveness to the orchestra while maintaining the unique songs of all the sections, (the type of music where repeated listening brings out new discoveries each time). There is a fullness of sound that carries the listener along, similar in a way to how a novelist keeps the reader turning pages in grand plot development. Passionate and stark music played with equal passion by The Pecs Symphony. I like it!


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