Eduard Tubin - Symphonies Nos. 9-11 (Arvo Volmer)

Information

Composer: Eduard Tubin

• (01) Symphony No. 9 'Sinfonia semplice'
• (03) Symphony No. 10
• (04) Symphony No. 11 (unfinished)

Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Arvo Volmer, conductor

Date: 2004
Label: Alba Records
http://www.alba.fi/en/shop/products/4132

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

After the acerbic, frequently tormented style of Symphonies 6-8, Eduard Tubin’s last works in the form reveal him as less concerned with pain and suffering and instead preoccupied with comparatively tuneful, gracious thematic material, lucidly organized. In this he resembles Sibelius, particularly in the single-movement 10th Symphony, a work as organic in its growth and development as Sibelius’ Seventh. Tubin’s orchestration also thins out considerably in these later works, with percussion limited to timpani and the scoring more open and widely spaced among instrumental groups than previously.

Symphony No. 9, subtitled “Sinfonia semplice”, lives up to its title. The first movement reveals as shapely an example of sonata-form as Haydn or Mozart ever wrote, with clearly defined thematic groups and a pellucid development section. The second movement, beginning slowly, includes an exceptionally deft quick fugue on the way to its peaceful close. Symphony No. 11, only the first movement of which was performable after Tubin’s death, shows the composer returning to the neo-classical manner of such works as the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, allied to his newly luminous scoring.

Neeme Järvi recorded the Ninth and Tenth symphonies for BIS very successfully. As usual, he tends to be a bit swifter than Arvo Volmer in the slow movements, but here Volmer’s slightly more measured serenity accompanied by beautiful string playing from the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra easily renders these performances the equal of Järvi’s, and some listeners may very well prefer them. In any case, the differences are slight, and the recorded sound of this release is excellent in every way: warm and ideally balanced, with superior depth and transparency. This is music well worth getting to know, and these interpretations make the process as easy and enjoyable as we have any right to expect. A lovely disc.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

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Eduard Tubin (18 June [O.S. 5 June] 1905 – 17 November 1982) was an Estonian composer, conductor, and choreographer. Tubin studied at the Tartu Higher Music School under the guidance of the Heino Eller. When the Soviet Union again occupied Estonia in 1944, Tubin fled to Stockholm, Sweden, where he wrote most of his greatest works, including two operas, symphonies 5-10, a second concerto for violin, one concerto for double-bass and one for balalaika, a piano concertino, much piano and violin music, choir and solo songs etc. Tubin often used Estonian folk music in his works, and was a very good orchestrator.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Tubin

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Arvo Volmer (born November 4, 1962 in Tallinn) is an Estonian conductor. Volmer was principal conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2001. From 2004 to 2013 he was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Since September 2014 he has been the Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento. Volmer has also been guest conductor of many orchestras, especially in Scandinavia. Among his recordings are the complete orchestral works of Leevi Madetoja and the complete symphonies of Eduard Tubin and Jean Sibelius.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvo_Volmer
https://www.arvovolmer.com/

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