Symphony No. 1 (Hill)

Last updated

Symphony No. 1 in B-flat major , Stiles 1.3.4.1 Sy1, [1] the so-called Maori Symphony, is the first symphony by Alfred Hill. Its first three movements were completed by 1898, [2] but the last movement remained unfinished. This may have been the second symphony composed in the Antipodes (the first was George Marshall-Hall's C minor completed in Melbourne in December 1892). [3] The first two movements (and maybe the fourth, if it was reconstructed correctly) of this symphony are the only symphonic movements by Hill not to be arranged from his earlier chamber music. The Finale was reconstructed by Allan Stiles, and the whole symphony got its first performance in 2007. The approximate duration is 40 minutes.

Contents

History

The unfinished composition

Hill could begin composing the first movement of the symphony in his Leipzig years (between 1887 and 1891). Originally it had no program. The first three movements are prefaced with some poems by Thomas Bracken related to Māori, but they were not initially intended for this piece: Hill added them after the success of his cantata Hinemoa . [2] According to Allan Stiles, there are no real Māori musical elements in the symphony. The first two movements were prefaced with extracts from the poem The March of Rauparaha, the third with part of the poem Waipounamutu. [2] These inscriptions led the symphony to bear the subtitle Maori in some sources. [4]

The unfinished symphony may have been intended for a Wellington orchestra Hill conducted in 1892-1896. There are several reasons to think so: only two horns are required as well as two hand-tuned timpani (rather than pedal tuned ones). There is a copyist's contrabass part of the first three movements at the Mitchell Library, dated 1898, which gives the terminus ante quem for them. [4]

The manuscripts of the first three movements are located at the National Library of Australia in Canberra. The draft score of the finale was nearly completed: it lacks only the timpani part and dynamics (music), some brass parts are incomplete. Allan Stiles proposes two reasons why this composition remained unfinished: the one being Hill's growing interest in theatrical music, the other being the unlikely prospect of a complete performance. [4]

Performance history and the final completion

Two of the three completed movements have been performed on several occasions, with different titles. The first (Allegro con brio) was performed in Melbourne in 1913 as Te Rauparaha Symphonic Poem. The second (Adagio) was performed as Tangi in Sydney (1899), then in Wellington (1907 and 1909) and in London (Crystal Palace, 18 July [5] 1911). [2] It is unknown whether the Scherzo has ever been performed, but it definitely originates from an early version of Hill's String Quartet No. 1 written in Leipzig (this first scherzo was later substituted in the Quartet with another one and eventually made its way into String Quartet No. 4 ). [2] [4]

The symphony was edited by Richard Divall without any finale at all. After years of research, Allan Stiles identified and reconstructed the unfinished movement. His edition of the complete work was premiered on 15 July 2007 by the Wellington Chamber Orchestra under Professor Donald Maurice. [6]

For the Finale Stiles used the 1903 Inaugural march used for the opening of Her Majesty's Theatre in Sydney. It was then included in Hill's unperformed opera Don Quixote (as overture) and later used in his film music for Smithy (Pacific Flight). [2] Stiles claims the Inaugural march was rescored from the unfinished symphony's last movement. To back this hypothesis he lists similarity of music paper types, key, orchestration, and handwriting. However, Rhoderick McNeill thinks that the verdict of its status within the symphony remains open, as it is quite different from all the finales of Hill's string quartets and symphonies. [4]

Structure

The symphony is in four movements. [3]

I. Adagio ma non troppo — Allegro con brio (B-flat major)
II. Adagio molto espressivo (E-flat major)
III. Scherzo. Presto (F major)
IV. March. Maestoso (B-flat major)

The first movement containing 559 bars and lasting about 18 minutes is the longest in all Hill's instrumental output. [4] It is in a sonata form. The Adagio is in a simple ternary form with a funeral march in C minor as a central section. The third movement is an uncomplicated scherzo with a trio. The F major cadenza it ends with, according to Stiles, is "incomplete", and he deduces from it a link to the timpani roll on F beginning the reconstructed finale. It opens with a fanfare-like introduction and proceeds to the main A section. Then comes the trio (in E-flat major), a transition with a reprise of part of the fanfare and a full orchestral return of the A section (with reversed order of melodic material). [4]

Editions

Further reading

Related Research Articles

Robert Wilfred Levick Simpson was an English composer, as well as a long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 2 (Beethoven)</span> Musical work by Beethoven, composed 1801-1802

The Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36, is a symphony in four movements written by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1801 and 1802. The work is dedicated to Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Quartet No. 12 (Beethoven)</span>

Ludwig van Beethoven completed his String Quartet No. 12 in E♭ major, Op. 127, in 1825. It is the first of his late quartets. Commissioned by Nicolas Galitzin over a year earlier, the work was not ready when it was scheduled to premiere. When it finally premiered by the Schuppanzigh Quartet, it was not well received. Only with subsequent performances by the Bohm Quartet and the Mayseder Quartet did it begin to gain public appreciation.

Clive Edward Hazzard Strutt is an English composer. He was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, and he was educated at Farnborough Grammar School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Hill (composer)</span> Australian composer and conductor

Alfred Francis Hill CMG OBE was an Australian-New Zealand composer, conductor and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 9 (Bruckner)</span> Symphony by Anton Bruckner

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, WAB 109, is the last symphony on which Anton Bruckner worked, leaving the last movement incomplete at the time of his death in 1896; Bruckner dedicated it "to the beloved God". The symphony was premiered under Ferdinand Löwe in Vienna in 1903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Quintet (Bruckner)</span>

Anton Bruckner's String Quintet in F major, WAB 112 was composed in 1878/79 in Vienna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Trios, Op. 9 (Beethoven)</span>

The three String Trios, Op. 9 were composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1797–98. He published them in Vienna in 1799, with a dedication to his patron Count Johann Georg von Browne (1767–1827). They were first performed by the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh with two colleagues from his string quartet. According to the violinist and conductor Angus Watson, these were probably Franz Weiss on viola and either Nikolaus Kraft or his father Anton on cello. Each of the trios consists of four movements:

String Quartet No. 1 in B-flat major "Maori Quartet", Stiles 1.2.3.3 SQ1 is the first of Alfred Hill's seventeen string quartets. Its composition began before 1892, it was completed after 1896 and premiered only on 18 May 1911 in Sydney.

Alfred Hill composed his String Quartet No. 3 in A minor "The Carnival", Stiles 1.2.3.3 SQ3, in 1912, while he was a member of the Austral String Quartet. The manuscript score is preserved in the National Library of Australia. In 1955, Hill transformed the quartet into his Symphony No. 5. The quartet is composed in four movements with an average duration of 20 minutes.

String Quartet No. 2 in G minor "A Maori Legend in Four Scenes", Stiles 1.2.3.3 SQ2, often called "Maori Quartet", was composed by Alfred Hill in 1907–1911 and premiered immediately in 1911. It is dedicated to Earnest [sic] Wunderlich — "in slight appreciation". The first two quartets were published together by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1913. Each of them used to be referred as Maori, a feature that can lead to confusion. Today the first one is called Maori, while for the second the longer subtitle is retained.

Violin Sonata No. 4 in C minor "Maori Sonata", Stiles 1.2.1.6 So4, is a sonata for violin and piano by Alfred Hill composed ca.1909. It was premiered on 6 April 1910 by Cyril Monk and Laurence Godfrey Smith in the YMCA Hall, Sydney. Its approximate duration is 18 minutes.

String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Stiles 1.2.3.3 SQ4, was completed by Alfred Hill on 25 July 1916 in Neutral Bay, Sydney. It is dedicated to Henri Verbrugghen and his Verbrugghen String Quartet. It is Hill's first non-program string quartet. The first two movements were transcribed for orchestra in 1955 forming the basis of the Symphony No. 4 "The Pursuit of Happiness" in which this music turns to have a program.

Symphony No. 4 in C minor "The Pursuit of Happiness", Stiles 1.3.4.1 SyP, was finished by Alfred Hill in 1954 or 1955. Its first two movements were arranged from Hill's String Quartet No. 4 (1916), while the last one derives from the finale of his String Quartet No. 17. The symphony is dedicated "to my esteemed friend Henry Kripps", a prominent Australian conductor. Its approximate duration is 20 minutes.

Symphony No. 1 in A major, Op. 4 was composed by George English in early 1932. It uses Romantic material and shows various influences including Brahms, Wagner, Richard Strauss, Elgar, Delius and Faure. It was never performed after 1945, and, according to Rhoderick McNeill, it is interesting and deserves a revival. The approximate duration is 28 minutes.

Symphony No. 1 in G minor, "Sérieuse", is an orchestral work by Swedish composer Franz Berwald. It was premiered on December 2, 1842 in a concert at the Royal Opera, Stockholm given by the Swedish Royal Court Orchestra conducted by the composer's cousin Johan Fredrik Berwald. This first performance was not a success, leading to this symphony being the only one of Berwald's mature symphonies to be performed during his lifetime;.

String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat major "The Allies", Stiles 1.2.3.3 SQ5, was completed by Alfred Hill on 24 June 1920 in Sydney. It is dedicated to Henri Verbrugghen, whose quartet gave the first public performance of the composition on 2 March 1921. The music of the quartet presents four nations who were allies during World War I. It was subsequently arranged by Hill for string orchestra as his Symphony No. 11 "The Four Nations". The approximate duration of the quartet is 29–33 minutes, which makes it one of the most substantial quartets composed by Hill.

Symphony No. 11 in E-flat major "The Four Nations" for string orchestra, Stiles 1.3.3.1 SyFN, was arranged by Australian composer Alfred Hill from his String Quartet No. 5 "The Allies" at some point in 1950s, but the precise date remains unknown, and there is no information about the first performance. The music of the symphony follows that of the original String Quartet, except for the Finale being 4 bars shorter than in the quartet, due to a minor truncation of the melody of the main subject at each repeat of it. The most obvious difference is the addition of the double bass part. Hill also altered the title of the composition.

String Quartet No. 6 in G major "The Kids", Stiles 1.2.3.3 SQ6, by Alfred Hill bears dedication: "for the young fry at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music". It was most likely written for the student string quartet groups at the Conservatorium mentored by the composer. The manuscript is dated 3 September 1927. Its technical demands being limited, it is an accessible for amateurs composition. The quartet is set in earlier style, reminiscent of Haydn, Schubert, and other classical composers. With approximate duration of only 15–16 minutes, this is the shortest of all Hill's quartets.

String Quartet No. 8 in A major, Stiles 1.2.3.3 SQ8, by Australian composer Alfred Hill was finished half month after his Seventh: the manuscript score and parts, which are preserved in the National Library of Australia, are dated 6 December 1934. While the previous quartet was a somewhat transitive composition from his middle period, with the Eighths one starts counting Hill's late quartets. It is thematically unified and has many impressionistic features. In 1950s Hill arranged it into a string symphony, the first known performance of which was on 27 March 1957. The approximate duration of the quartet is 25–28 minutes.

References

  1. ↑ Allan Stiles. A Catalogue of the Music of Alfred Hill
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lam, Y. C. (2006, June). Analytical study of Alfred Hill’s String Quartet no. 2 in G minor (Thesis, Master of Arts). University of Otago
  3. 1 2 Stiles Music Publications
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rhoderick McNeill (23 March 2016). The Australian Symphony from Federation to 1960. Routledge. pp. 51–56. ISBN   978-1-317-04087-3.
  5. ↑ Stephen Pleskun (17 January 2012). A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN COMPOSERS AND THEIR COMPOSITIONS: (VOLUME 1: 1901–1954). Xlibris Corporation. p. 158. ISBN   978-1-4653-8226-9.
  6. ↑ Wellington Chamber Orchestra official site
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.