Leevi Madetoja (1887 - 1947) was a Finnish composer, music critic, conductor and teacher. He wrote his second symphony in 1918, and it is in four movements. Going against the classical form however, his final movement is called 'Epilogue' and is marked 'andantino'. In the recording on YouTube which I listened to, the work was played by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Storgards.
Madetoja was a contemporary of Jean Sibelius, in fact Sibelius even gave him private lessons in composition, and this bears evidence in this work. His music is deeply passionate, Romantic and heartfelt, yet full of Finnish melancholy. His works are unknown outside Scandinavia, but he does deserve to be better represented in orchestral repertoires. His music is to some extent an extension of Sibelius, and yet is also completely different and original too. Perhaps, because Sibelius was born before Madetoja and died after him, answers the question as to why he was completely overshadowed by Sibelius.
Madetoja wrote 4 symphonies, although his fourth never saw the light of day, as it was, reportedly, stolen from him at a Paris railway station, and that was his original and only manuscript. His second symphony is sometimes given the moniker "War Symphony". Perhaps not because it was written in 1918 as the First World War was coming to an end, but more probably because it was a time when the composer was suffering from personal loss during the Civil War. Whatever the case, this is the longest and most elegaic of his symphonies.
Madetoja's music is not forward-looking at all, but based on well-worn Romantic paths. There are the odd flashes of non-conformism, and is by and large quite dark but tonal and melodic. The music is never overflowing or gushing in a way that people like Tchaikovsky are; there is a conservatism to his orchestrating, making, in his own words, "a balance, clarity, refinement of expression, and technical polish".
His moments of non-conformism in this symphony though are strokes of genius. In the second movement he employs an offstage oboe and offstage horn, and the effects this creates in this haunting and melancholic andante are superb. Whilst the slow and majestic final movement offers not a glimmer of hope, not even at the most unconventional ending. Ponderous, pianissimo, and drfiting into silence.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 21/5/20
No comments:
Post a Comment