JOACHIM RAFF : Symphony No. 6 · Jubel-Overtüre · Festmarsch · Overture To Dame Kobold (Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra (Košice) · Urs Schneider) (1994) Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

The fifth of Raff’s numbered symphonies, Lenore, was written in 1872. The next year brought Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 189, a work scored for Raff’s usual orchestra of double woodwind, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings and sub-titled, portentously, Gelebt, gestrebt, gelitten, gestritten, gestorben, umworben (“Lived, strove, suffered, fought, died, sought after”), although this programmatic suggestion is omitted from the later published score. The opening figure, played pizzicato, introduces an important element in the principal theme, leading through a more lyrical theme, a triplet pattern and a passage treated sequentially in dotted rhythm descending scale figuration to a second subject proper, marked Unpochettino meno mosso. The transitional material all has some place in the development that follows. The strings introduce the B flat major second movement, a simple folk-dance to all appearance, leading to a passage of rapid embroidery from a solo flute, followed by the strings. There is a lyrical E flat section, a Trio. The dance is syncopated by the woodwind and then accompanied by plucked strings. The original key is restored for the slow movement funeral march, introduced by the strings, followed by oboes and horns, joined by the rest of the woodwind. A long-drawn melody appears in the first violins and clarinets, in the key of B flat, and there is a passage of counterpoint, based on a semiquaver subject, through which the rhythm of the march is maintained. The second theme returns in D major, but is replaced by the more solemn mood of the opening, with an air of sinister suspense continued to the end. The last movement opens dramatically, as the strings build up chords of histrionic suggestion, answered by fragments of the important rhythmic figure of the first subject of the opening movement of the symphony. The principal theme of the movement follows, in D major, succeeded by a fine working out of the material here, in a second subject, and in figuration derived from the first movement, all leading to a triumphant conclusion.

Raff’s Jubel-Overtüre may seem somehow familiar to British audiences, based, as it is, on the British national anthem, God save the Queen. Although written shortly after the jubilee of Queen Victoria, it was in fact designed to mark the twenty-fifth year of the reign of Adolf, Duke of Nassau, a reminder that the anthem had been appropriated by a number of German states, among other countries. The melody is treated in a variety of ways, with interesting counterpoint, entrusted at one time to the French horn and at another to piccolo and flute, with a pizzicato accompaniment. Other suitably jubilant material is introduced, with a lyrical theme, before Raff allows himself a fully contrapuntal treatment of the original theme. The lyrical theme reappears in recapitulation before the final coda, which brings the whole anthem into prominence again.

The comic opera Dame Kobold, based by P. Reber on a work by the Spanish playwright Calderón de la Barca, was staged in Weimar in 1870, a year after its completion. The same subject, La dama duende, was later to be used for operas by the conductor-composers Felix Weingartner and Kurt von Wolfurt. Raff’s treatment of the comedy was unkindly described by Liszt as un salmagondis habillement apprêté. The introduction offers a French horn melody, accompanied by plucked strings, answered lyrically by the violins, which take up the theme. The main section of the overture introduces a greater sense of dramatic urgency, while the whole provides a spirited prelude to the comic opera.

Raff’s Festmarsch, Op. 159, displays again his technical skill in orchestration for a relatively conventional complement of instruments. It shows, too, his fluent command of harmonic and melodic idiom, the celebratory element contrasted with more sentimental material that serves as an admirable foil to the principal theme. Keith Anderson

Joachim Raff (1822-1882)
1-4. Symphony No. 6 In D Minor, Op. 189
5. Jubel-Overtüre In C Major, Op. 103    14:32
6. Dame Kobold, Overture, Op. 154    7:33
7. Festmarsch, Op. 159    6:44
Credits :
Orchestra : Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Košice
Conductor – Urs Schneider
Cover painting: “Dents du Midi in Clouds” by Ferdinand Hodler.