Benjamin Frankel - Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6 (Werner Andreas Albert)

Information

Composer: Benjamin Frankel

• (01) Mephistopheles Serenade and Dance, Op. 25
• (02) Symphony No. 4, Op. 44
• (05) Symphony No. 6, Op. 49

Queensland Symphony Orchestra

Werner Andreas Albert, conductor

Date: 1996

Label: cpo

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Review

Both these symphonies are filled with incident and drama, often quite astonishingly distilled from the simplest ingredients. The first movement of the Fourth Symphony, for example, proceeds from striking introductory gestures (a bold rocking motive in the strings, a plain trombone phrase) via a tense climax to a baleful close almost without your noticing until you listen again that much of the argument has been built from resourcefully deployed scales. The beautifully grave lyrical counterpoint of the finale, too, constantly interrupted by gestures of protest (the work was inspired by the premature death of a friend) gains some of its eloquence from the very simple (but very cunningly handled) interval structures that underly it.

In the Sixth Symphony there is a curious little intermezzo in which Frankel almost seems to be debunking his own simplicity of means (a tuba solo demonstrates that an industriously used three-note fragment could perilously easily turn into a drunken rendering of “O sole mio”). But the very fine first movement, in music of nobly intense lyricism, shows that his ‘simple’ descending figure and its ascending equivalent are in fact crafted with great skill as well as resourcefully used. The tensely striving central Adagio, too, and the disturbing finale (an almost lullaby-like melody emerges from abruptly attacking music, but is not victorious over it) are further demonstrations that Frankel’s simplicity is deceptive.

Mephistopheles’ Serenade and Dance is vividly orchestrated programme music, almost light music, written several years before any of the symphonies and audibly related to the style that made Frankel such a popular and successful film composer. It is minor but provides an entertaining contrast to the symphonies. As before in this series, Albert draws performances of distinction from an orchestra who, like him, seem urgently convinced of the stature of this music. The recordings, too, are excellent.

-- Michael Oliver, Gramophone

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Benjamin Frankel (31 January 1906 – 12 February 1973) was a British composer. His best known pieces include a cycle of 5 string quartets, 8 symphonies, and concertos for violin and viola. He was also notable for writing over 100 film scores and working as a big band arranger in the 1930s. During the last 15 years of his life, Frankel also developed his own style of 12-note composition which retained contact with tonality. In the years following his death, Frankel's works were almost completely neglected, until Thea King's landmark recording of the Clarinet Quintet was published, follow by his complete oeuvre on CPO.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Frankel

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Werner Andreas Albert (10 January 1935 – 10 November 2019) was a German and Australian conductor. His conducting teacher included Herbert von Karajan and Hans Rosbaud. Albert regularly conducted in Australia and was principal conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (1983–90). He made over 600 recordings for the Cologne, Bavarian and Northwest German Radio Networks. After recording all of the vast standard repertoire, he began to champion new composers and to research works that had never been recorded. In the process he earned the distinction of the most recorded artist in Germany.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Andreas_Albert

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