Ewald Sträßer - Symphony No. 1 in G major, Op. 22 (1909)

Ewald Sträßer (Burscheid, 1867 - Stuttgart, 1933)
Symphony No. 1 in G major, Op. 22 (1909)
Movements:
1. Alla breve e con anima (0:00)
2. Andante sostenuto (12:08)
3. Scherzo. Presto (23:07)
4. Finale. Molto con fuoco, vivacissimo. Sehr scharf rhythmisch (32:55).
Played by the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, conducted by Werner Andreas Albert
Illustration: Cologne cathedral, ca. 1900.

[@abdul7591]

One of the more pleasant discoveries in 20th-century music for me has been this "underlayer" of German-speaking composers who did not follow the 12-tone model of the Schoenberg school, but continued composing in a Romantic vein. People like Franz Schmidt, Schreker, Korngold, Joseph Marx and Paul Buettner. Straesser is clearly another member of this neglected group. I'm glad I got a chance to hear his music through this upload. Thanks.

[@bomcabedal]

Straesser is really of an earlier generation than Schmidt, Korngold, et al., though.

[@leostraer1565]

Super !

[@warrenmalach5528]

I am very grateful for such labels as CPO, Naxos, Sterling and the others which bring so much previously-unknown/unheard music to the attention of classical music lovers. I spend thousands over a decade collecting such discs. Now I just listen to them on KZbin.

[@bomcabedal]

+Warren Malach Please keep buying the discs or downloads, though. These labels provide much of the stimulus to uncover forgotten works.

[@mianom]

Who sells Straesser CDs? I can't find them anywhere.

[@harryandruschak2843]

Thank you for uploading this kind of music which NEVER gets played on either of Los Angeles's two classical music station. I have been learning so much about this neglected music

[@tedwilks]

Yet another beautiful symphony by an unknown composer! As always, many thanks for finding these lovely yet shamefully neglected late-Romantic-era works! Ted Wilks

[@kratzkamer]

cannot thank you enough for all of this great great romantic music.you are so kind to post it .Please keep up.without you,there is no way to hear this many thanks

[@fulviopolce9785]

Che stupenda e personale sinfonia. Un musicista tutto da scoprire.

[@angeloignarro947]

0:00- Alla breve e con anima 13:05- Andante sostenuto 23:05- Scherzo. Presto 32:55- Finale. Molto con fuoco, vivacissimo. Sehr scharf rhythmisch

[@philhomes233]

Stunning.

[@hectorbarrionuevo6034]

This Symphony has a nice, late Romantic, harmonic language. There are passages with great energy, orchestral color, and even "cinematic" ones. While movements I and II show the influence of Wagner, the Scherzo's and Finale's orchestral color remind us of some of J.J. Raff's and Tchaikovsky's symphonies (among other potential influences). Enjoyed it greatly !

[@bomcabedal]

There are six symphonies in total, of which three were published. There is a record of Furtwängler conducting the fourth and sixth symphonies, but no recording exists of symphonies 3-6, to my knowledge.

[@fulviopolce7652]

Complessivamente Mahleriano ,ma con molta personalità Veramente interessante!

[@JAMESLEVEE]

I believe these are the performers: Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie conducted by Werner Andreas Albert.

[@ewaldsteyn469]

Very enjoyable, indeed

[@abbalillie6382]

Meanwhile back to the music...for me another discovery and a very good one at that.

[@jksteven1]

Wonderful music. Thanks for this upload and the second as well. No third?

[@josealexandreferreiradacos193]

Again, a jewel out of the bench....Excellent. Self-imposing, maybe a little bit Bruckerian, not to say "Schubertian" and amazingly without a trace of Mahler or Richard Strauss which is surprising. Mahler died in 1911, so this symphony is contemporary of the last master pieces of Mahler. Hat off to the self-personality of Strasser.

[@Straessers]

Familie, mein Ururgroß-Opa ! :) Musikalische Gene habe ich wohl von ihm mitbekommen, habe ja auch so einige Songs recht erfolgreich über den Globus gestreuht, auch wenn in anderen Musikstilen.

[@leostraer1565]

Dito ;-) Gibt es eigentlich die Ewald-Sträßer-Gesellschaft - Internationale Vereinigung e.V. noch? Finde deren Homepage nicht.

[@eckhardtkiwitt8602]

@@leostraer1565 : ewaldstraesser.kulturserver-nrw.de/ -- allerdings sehr spärlich, kaum Inhalt, nur ein Bild.

[@eckhardtkiwitt8602]

@@leostraer1565 : de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewald_Str%C3%A4%C3%9Fer

[@barbarasauer1941]

Hallo, ich bereite gerade einen Vortrag über Ewald Sträßer vor. Habe ich hier wirklich Nachkommen gefunden? Ich würde mich seeehr über einen persönlichen Kontakt freuen. Bitte gern hier antworten. Barbara

[@Straessers]

@@barbarasauer1941 Hallo Barbara. Ich gehe von großer Wahrscheinlichkeit aus, dass ich ein Nachkomme bin. Meine Oma erzählte davon, dass wir einen berühmten Komponisten in der Familie hatten. Sie hatte mir damals auch einen Stammbaum gezeigt wo Ewald Sträßer mit enthalten wahr. Mein Name Andre Sträßer, Alter 52, wohne im Umkreis von Köln. Viele Grüße

[@rogerknox9147]

Great work! Thank you, Bom Cabedal. Movement 2 begins at 13:08, not 12:08 as given in the notes.

[@JAMESLEVEE]

You know, Bom, you can edit your description to add in the movements. Not only that, but if you put the times in before or after each movement (in the format 13:05), YT will actually set the video so that it will skip to that mark. That way if somebody just wants to hear a single movement, they can.

[@bomcabedal]

Just to be clear, by 'a record of Furtwängler', I mean that it is ON record that Furtwängler conducted them, not that there are recordings available.

[@bomcabedal]

Particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, music history was re-written with serialism and dodecaphonism appearing as the only viable forms of art music; of course, the reality was much more diverse: romanticism didn't just die overnight, and whole swathes of composers integrated modern forms with tonality - just listen to people such as Leo Spies, Siegfried Köhler, Eduard Künneke and Wilhelm Hohensee.

[@ernestoferreri]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6GcoIOld9aNnMk

[@eschiss1]

yep, on a big website of Furtwangler performances. There's information about the manuscript of the 4th (in G minor) at the website opac.rism.info . Also 5 rather good string quartets one can hear at imslp.org, and a clarinet quintet coming out on CD very soon...

[@eschiss1]

btw I __think__ the performers of syms. 1 and 2 are Werner Andreas Albert- will have to check, I think I also have the orchestra he's conducting written down somewhere...!! - assuming this is the same performance! I am guessing (I rather hope...), but would not know one-way-the-other, that these might be released on cpo at some point... there's also a recording "out there" (I don't know the performers) of his late-19th-century piano concerto (op.8).

[@erlandschneck-holze4476]

... sehr schöne, bemerkenswerte Komposition - wie auch die anderen Werke - des leider vergessenen Komponisten - auch rheinischer Brahms genannt - von Furtwängler geschätzt. Dank für die sehr gelungenen Interpretationen und das Posting ... siehe auch andere Aufrufe...

[@berndbodenstein2258]

Wunderbar...warum ist dieser Komponist so unbekannt??

[@eschiss1]

(Also 1 published sinfonietta for strings? and one lost - or misplaced, if not destroyed? - symphony, I think, mentioned in some issue of the Musical Times, I think- have to check- before 1910. 1910 as op.22 seems to have been premiered&published in 1910- not sure of composition date. At least, I think that was referring to a different work than any of the 6 known symphonies (in G , D minor, A (major? minor?), G minor Op.44(46?), G (major?), and sym.6 in E-something Op.50...:))

[@jksteven1]

Did Ewald Sträßer compose any more symphonies?

[@JoelLeBras]

Could we compare that with Tournemire's 1st ? A little bit less dissonant... Bom ?

[@Jeff-wb3hh]

Dear Bom Cabedal, I can't find this recording anywhere to buy. Do you know where I can buy this? What is the label and catalog number? Thank you.

[@bomcabedal]

This is a radio recording which I surmise was once made to be released by cpo. Sofar, though, they haven't done so, so it's not for sale anywhere. Also, if it were, I would not have uploaded it.

[@Jeff-wb3hh]

@@bomcabedal No wonder I can't find it. Thank you for giving us a rare composer's work in an exclusive recording. Ewald Sträßer (Straesser) seems to be a neglected composer of superb quality. Are there any websites devoted to neglected composers? I really can't find a detailed biography of his life.

[@eschiss1]

(I find the 4th quartet, E minor, pub. 1920, especially good- and depressing!)

[@bomcabedal]

Hi, I just uploaded No. 2 yesterday. Have a listen.

[@Scion-cy6wj]

Straesser is the English text version of the name.

[@bomcabedal]

The point being?...

[@Scion-cy6wj]

The 'point being' exactly what I said. ???

[@abbalillie6382]

Is his surname Straber or Straesser...I am an Englishmen living in New Zealand.

[@bomcabedal]

Without umlaut and ringel-s, it is "Straesser".

[@abbalillie6382]

I shall Google umlaut and ringel-s and I will be wiser.

[@GoodlivinGav]

I would rather play this than a Bruckner symphony any day

[@ewaldsteyn469]

You probably have been listening to the wrong recordings of Bruckner ( :) ). Ewald Sträßer's symphonies does not even come even close to Bruckner, as much as I would like to same good things about my namesake (we even have the same initials -ES). But taste differ, so may feel different about this than I do. At least we both agree that ES's music is very enjoyable indeed.

[@warmswarm]

Gavin Hill - Why do people always have to insult an artist in order to praise another. It's a lack of integrity.

[@xavierbordes1373]

Quand même pas beaucoup d'imagination mélodique...

[@foveauxbear]

A charming symphony, yet our orchestras still vomit up Beethoven and Brahms ...

[@bomcabedal]

Nothing wrong with playing Beethoven and Brahms. The problem is ONLY playing them.

[@darrylschultz9311]

@@bomcabedal But David never said he didn't like it when they played Beethoven and Brahms,he said he didn't like it when they vomited them up-big difference between vomiting and playing my friend!

[@bomcabedal]

@@darrylschultz9311 He rather heavily implied it, though.

[@darrylschultz9311]

@@bomcabedal Yeah true-I was just having a laff.