Franz Lachner - Symphony No.5 in C-minor, Op.52 "Passionata" (1835)

Franz Lachner
Work: Symphony No.5 in C-minor, Op.52 "Passionata" (1835)
Mov.I: Andante - Allegro 00:00
Mov.II: Andante con moto 20:43
Mov.III: Menuetto 36:08
Mov.IV: Finale: Allegro 46:55
Orchestra: Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Paul Robinson

[@BobBeverage]

Debates aside, we are MOST fortunate that some orchestras have chosen to obtain, rehearse, program, and record works of these lesser known (but for some tastes, superior) composers. If they had not, we would never know they existed or what their music sounds like. This is a fair expense and effort for an orchestra that the public does not realize. It's much easier (and safer) to pull out Beethoven's 5th from the orchestra's library for the umpteenth time and program it than it is to find and prepare unknown musical works for performance.

[@paulheffron4836]

@@anandsamuel1978 You're speaking for a lot of us who want to discover new composers and music after hearing the old chestnuts for so long.

[@paulheffron4836]

@@anandsamuel1978 Think of all the composers we'd never have come to know if it weren't for You Tube. I think we're both very grateful for this.

[@rrozoff1]

A thousand bravos. Your insights and your integrity are inspiring.

[@patrickmaynard8009]

A fun find: At 6:11, we get a few seconds (repeated elsewhere in the piece) that Ferdinand David quoted a couple years later in the second movement of his concertino for trombone, which is still used in a lot of auditions to this day. So Lachner's music lives on in a thousand trombonists' heads, even if they don't know it.

[@James-ll3jb]

Cool😊

[@ericmoninpianocomposer5454]

One of the most beautiful symphony, that I have ever listened! Thank you for sharing!

[@firoza8994]

Not only is this symphony noble and grand, but that painting! Masterpiece! The land is of sky, the sky of land, and earth is as the cloud... The Plains of Heaven aptly titled, as Lachner's grand horns exalt the soul!

[@utsteinproductions]

Been on a Lachner binge lately, especially his symphonies. Amazing compostions, hard to pick a favorite.

[@joselopes2293]

What magnificent music this talented and amazing composer produces. This 5th symphony is one of the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever heard. It is, in my opinion, a composition that touches us emotionally in depths of our soul. The moments of magnificent lyricism are unforgettable. The orchestral interpretation and direction are fabulous. Viva the sublime music of the great composer who was Czerny. Thanks for the delight moments of pleasure that this fantastic recording offers us.

[@joselopes2293]

I apologize for the mistake, instead of mentioned Franz Lachner I named Czerny. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[@steveegallo3384]

@@joselopes2293 -- Oh....SURE you are.....NOW! Long after All the Damage is Done!

[@tomyamartino]

@@steveegallo3384 The lawsuit is just ramping up ...

[@giginorman1955]

This symphony brings me much calmness

[@JohnBrogden29]

This is a great work, and by another forgotten composer!

[@georgenestler2534]

I agree. Beautiful music.

[@alanhowe1455]

@@georgenestler2534 I don't - with respect. Too long, too repetitive.

[@TheOneAndOnlyZeno1889]

@@alanhowe1455 Bruckner...? Bore off

[@alanhowe1455]

@@TheOneAndOnlyZeno1889 I didn't mention Bruckner. Lachner can be grand, I agree, but oh the repetitions! He doesn't know when to stop.

[@TheOneAndOnlyZeno1889]

@@alanhowe1455 Bruckner is more repetitive than Lachner, from the first half an hour I have digested of his 5th Symphony, though obviously it doesn't have the complexity of Bruckner's large scale structures.

[@12corners]

Listen to this all the way through - you don't know what you're missing!

[@georgenestler2534]

Yes, it is quite beautiful. Especially the first 2 movements. But the piccolo is very annoying in the dance 3rd movement. Otherwise it is very good music.

[@alanhowe1455]

@@georgenestler2534 Soooooooooo repetitive. Yawn...

[@BobBeverage]

@@alanhowe1455 YES! Same motifs, rhythms, and melodies over and over. The development of a theme is just an endless repetition, at least in rhythm, beating it to death.

[@ihaveacoolnickname]

Brilliant. Innovative. Daring. This is one to remember.

[@donaldauguston9740]

There is a Rossiniesque quality to the first movement. Thank you for posting. I really haven't heard of this composer before now. DA

[@joselopes2293]

I apologize for the mistake, instead of mentioned Franz Lachner I named Czerny. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[@noelia3598]

No conocía estás sinfonias y me encanta escuchar música nueva para mis sentidos. Gracias ❤

[@bowerdw]

A very pleasant find for me. I enjoyed listening to it.

[@user-uv9bi3to7e]

Прекрасная симфония завораживает хочется слушать бесконечно спасибо ,что выложили

[@kokonssp]

wonderful symphony that is elegant but very friendly.

[@barrymalkin9031]

The more I listen to Lachner's symphonies, the more I agree with Brian Knapp that there is a lot of Bruckner to be heard in them. His music has the gravity and spirituality of the Austrian symphonist.

[@georgenestler2534]

Bruckner composed much later. Lachner sounds a lot like Mendelssohn and looks forward to Raff. Listen to any of Raff's symphonies to see the similarities.

[@Galantski]

Near the end of the first movement I can definitely hear music very similar to Bruckner's, though any similarities must be accidental.

[@bigg2988]

@@Galantski that is unless Bruckner copied Lachner... I am only joking of course. No such thing as IPR those days; whatever inspired you was valid.

[@mrturtle1128]

There is a bit of Bruckner in the first movement, not so much afterwards though, for what it is worth, I just heard his symphony 6, the third movement really did sound Bruckner to me, like Bruckner's early symphonies. And Bruckner or not, Lachner's symphonies are pleasant to listen to. I wish there will be more performance on his other symphonies as well.

[@pierrebonnechere7032]

Telling that there is something pre-brucknerian in this music does not mean that Bruckner could have written it. But there is often an "air de déjà entendu", a kind of atmosphere that prefigures what Bruckner will later compose. Maybe, as Patrick Becker told me on this site (in a comment about Lachner's 8th symphony), the key could be Simon Sechter, whose most bright students were (among many others, from Wikipedia in German) Anton Bruckner (1824-1896), Komponist und Organist Julius Egghard (1834-1867), Pianist und Komponist Adolf Henselt (1814-1889), Pianist, Komponist und Klavierpädagoge Theodor Kullak (1818-1882), Pianist, Komponist und Musiklehrer Franz Lachner (1803-1890), Komponist und Dirigent Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Komponist Sigismund Thalberg (1812-1871), Pianist und Komponist Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881), Violinist und Komponist Lachner was a close friend of Schubert (and their chamber music share many similarities). In some way, it is not surprising to find Lachner on the road between Schubert and Bruckner. Nice example after 17:00, with a fully Bruckerian sonority of the complete orchestra at 18:10 - 18:30. Twenty seconds are enough to get convinced of it.

[@lukitapolacco6914]

Such a beautifull moment - dramatic and energetic begins at 9:24.

[@dmeachy]

This popped up right after Joe Satriani's Strange Beautiful Music album completed. I echo the comments before regarding how nice it is to find pieces like this that are not on mainline (Halidon for example) classical music lists. (I love Halidon, by the way)

[@moussetache1815]

This is so good. Merci.

[@d.dorough]

So beautiful! Thoroughly enjoyed so much-

[@sleort42]

Herrlich Musik

[@fernandacarpinetti197]

I can fall asleep listening to it. It is very beautiful.

[@ulyssecarriere-bouchard6848]

+Fernanda Carpinetti And how exactly is that a compliment?

[@georgenestler2534]

If you fall asleep you must be bored with the music. It is not supposed to put you to sleep if it has your attention.

[@klop4228]

@@georgenestler2534 Or maybe she means it's calming? Sleep isn't a bad thing, and normally happens when you're tired, rather than bored.

[@96bora]

@@ulyssecarriere-bouchard6848 I am a classical musician and I love music that makes me sleepy :)

[@alanhowe1455]

@@96bora Certainly puts me to sleep.

[@franciscoparra347]

hermosa, cautivadora.

[@amemcgreen597]

Just discovered it, beautiful

[@pamelakeightley3472]

Very refreshing!

[@MedievalRichard]

Splendid stuff.

[@giovanskj9322]

Truly extraordinary piece!

[@steveegallo3384]

giovanskj -- EXACTLY! I had to re-check if I wasn't hearing some rare BERLIOZ masterpiece....BRAVO from San Agustinillo!

[@marioescudero7103]

Excelente

[@lorenzocassani8169]

I love this symphony , maybe only because of my emotional attachment to it . However I think that in this work lachner managed to to find his unique voice : I can’t name a work that I can find similar in sound

[@tigranhakobyan9439]

masterpeace

[@galas062]

danke!!!

[@michaelfphuber2511]

You can find the „DSCH“ (the famous Shostakovich motiv) at 2:50 to 2:55 😄

[@paulbeard4218]

1st movement is very suggestive of Berlios .

[@tepmich]

Ещё одно Чудо, сотворившее особым человеком!!! Теппер Михаил.

[@James-ll3jb]

The 2nd mvmt. is charming

[@poemesymphonique]

6:56 Gotta love the counterpoint

[@Emilien-hy3sy]

Beautiful melodies, the counterpoint is really good too, however, is he the ancestor of Philip Glass? hahaha

[@waltersteinbaum2627]

Beautiful, sometimes sounds like something between Schubert and Schumann. Thanks for share.

[@biomuseum6645]

Lachner is like an orchestral DLC for Schubert

[@steveegallo3384]

@waltersteinbaum2627 -- True...it's Colossal.....BRAVO from Acapulco!

[@aramkhachaturian8043]

I thought I was listening to the finale but I was only 8 minutes in lol

[@Ehedquist]

Еще одно доказательство - отличная работа не Бетховена.

[@arthurhiroa4238]

The part that begins around 8:30 reminds me of the music from The Wind Rises by Joe Hisaishi (the 'A Journey' song).

[@samaritan29]

do u think hisaishi was inspired by lachner?

[@arthurhiroa4238]

@@samaritan29 No idea, but they sound similar, right? In any case, they're two beautiful pieces of music :).

[@jamesdeaville9731]

It takes guts to write a Fifth Symphony in C Minor after Beethoven!

[@georgenestler2534]

Silly comment.

[@klop4228]

Or maybe the fifth symphony he completed happened to be in C Minor?

[@darrylschultz9311]

@@georgenestler2534 You think THAT was silly?How about THIS?!-If I thought James Deaville's comment above was brave,I could write-"It takes guts to write "It takes guts to write a Fifth Symphony in C Minor.after Beethoven!" Now supposing later on someone reads this comment of mine here, and liked my courage in writing it.He'd have no option but to write-"It takes guts to write "It takes guts to write "It takes guts to write...(etc)." Then another person reads THAT comment and admires HIS courage-and so it goes:-"It takes guts(×4)...(you get the picture).

[@Galantski]

Not that you need it, but I'll second your point. It isn't silly. I don't know if George really saw what you were driving at. If your comment is silly, then even as great a composer as Brahms must have been silly, too, because he spoke of how fearful it was to be in the gigantic shadow of Beethoven, and knowing that anything he wrote was going to be compared with a composer he revered like he did Bach.

[@theatavist5120]

C Minor is just a nice key. It works really well intonation-wise with a lot of orchestral instruments, especially the brass.

[@triangularplanet2424]

The first movement captured me but I feel like the rest of it didn't live up to that movement.

[@williamwoolford3734]

Pretty dramatic!

[@biomuseum6645]

I enjoyed the 3rd movement the most even though it seems is the least popular of them all Lachner is like an orchestral DLC for Schubert

[@rrozoff1]

Who is the patron saint of unjustly ignored composers of the first water? May history continue to expiate the transgression.

[@imveryveryveryveryveryvery9999]

2:46

[@dmuise93]

Howl's Moving Castle theme at 26:28! I wonder if Joe Hisaishi was inspired by this piece.

[@MedievalRichard]

What is the painting?

[@edwardneko1569]

The Plains of Heaven--John Martin (1851)

[@federicopalaciostrigo9739]

A John Martin le llamaron "The Mad", el "loco", debido a sus inmensos lienzos , magníficos, con escenas por lo general "catastróficas", ilustrando--por así decir-- pasajes bíblicos del Antiguo Testamento, del Apocalipsis (Revelaciones), terremotos reales o imaginarios e incluso fantásticos paisajes del mundo antediluviano, aunque con cierta intención arqueologizante, Fue un gran maestro del grabado y un revolucionario de la ilustración de libros. Su obra más importante en este campo son las que hizo para una edición del "Paraíso Perdido" de John Milton, y para la Biblia, etc.

[@jefverstegen6344]

Sounds a little bit like Schumann's 2nd symphony...

[@georgenestler2534]

What? Where? Sounds like Lachner to me.

[@michaelgregory9621]

What picture is this?

[@steveegallo3384]

Fine painting....yet it's NOT Bierstadt.

[@edwardneko1569]

The Plains of Heaven--John Martin (1851)

[@steveegallo3384]

@@edwardneko1569 -- Many thanks! How did you happen to Know? The whole triptych and series are wonders....Greetings from San Agustinillo, Oaxaca!

[@edwardneko1569]

@@steveegallo3384 He is my favourite romantic painter, sadly he is little known even if everyone is amazed by his paintings.

[@steveegallo3384]

​@@edwardneko1569 -- Amazing, true, thanks for introducing. I'm also following Conor Walton, Caspar David Friedrich, Don Hong-Oai, Zdzisław Beksiński and Aleksey Kondakov. Please Let me know what you think of them!

[@andrews582]

Lachner and Schubert were good friends but I don't hear any Schubert influence in this symphony.

[@alanhowe1455]

Length? Repetitiveness?

[@vince-tcturner9082]

Yes, length and repetitiveness is a trait of Schubert, like the outer movements of his Great C Major. However, Lachner's 5th is definitely not as Schubert-like as his earlier symphonies.

[@georgenestler2534]

I already heard head his 1st, 3rd and 8th symphonies. They are all tuneful but this one is over long and repetitive, although there is nice melody . I found the piccolo in the 3rd movement Menuetto very annoying. I hear much influence of Schumann and some Mendelssohn. A lot of passages sound like Raff although, of course he came much later. I enjoyed the music.

[@Galantski]

If you call 19 years "much later": Lachner (1803-1890), Raff (1822-1882). I'd say more like near contemporaries. Haydn (b 1732) & Mozart (b 1756) had a wider age gap, yet much of their music is stylistically quite similar. Anyway, like the two Austrian masters, it's quite possible Raff and Lachner knew of each other's music, and could have been influenced by each other. But more than anything the similarities stem from the fact that their primary influence was the same as dominated music for most of the 1800's -- _Beethoven._ As far as influences, based on my slight acquaintance with Lachner (this is the third of his works I've heard--the other two being first the String Quintet, then the Nonet), and I must say he's all over the place. Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert, (maybe Schumann, but I haven't noticed it too much, (Raff, I guess, but I'm not too familiar with his work), Haydn in the opening of the Nonet (the ascending passage after the first few chords--tho I haven't figured which string quartet he's borrowing from), and even some minor composers like Spohr and Danzi. Interesting, I seem to hear pre-echos of Bruckner in the final pages of the first movement of the symphony here. Interesting, indeed.

[@fabiograssi670]

Twenty minutes loafing around the same motive... (at circa 15 I shouted "I have understood!"). Yet, as usual, another neglected genius according to some listeners. And again, I ask to myself: if they love such a music, if this music for them is equal to Haydn's, Mozart's, Beethoven's or Schubert's, what have they understood of the latter's music? Mystery...

[@AndSendMe]

One can forgive a certain desperation for the new. I keep hoping a real gem will turn up.

[@darrylschultz6479]

@@AndSendMe One has but to Google "Eugen Cicero-Exercise", and one will hear 3-and-a-half minutes of music of true brilliance variety power excitement beauty surprises and most of all, an everlasting kind of quality rarely found in music of any sort in my experience.

[@AndSendMe]

@@darrylschultz6479 Thanks. It's always a challenge unweaving the objective virtues of music from the personal values. That's very pleasing music although the more it dips into the conventions of jazz the less exciting I find it. It reminds me indirectly of what film composer Jerry Goldsmith did riffing on the toccata from Bach's Partita number 6 in E minor for keyboard, BWV 830 for the movie 'Sebastian' (1968) kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5WViHpogs-ffbs

[@darrylschultz6479]

@@AndSendMe P.S. Glad you enjoyed it. After I first bought Exercise by Eugen Cicero when it first came out in the record store here in Adelaide back in the late-70s, it took me a good 5 listens to make enough sense of it to appreciate and really start to love it. A quite slow process, but the sudden switch to hard-swinging jazz grabbed my attention, and the building to a quite powerful climax that followed is what made it stand out. It gradually grew on me from frequent playing during the first week after buying it, to the extent it became and remains probably my favorite piece ever-and one of a handful of maybe half a dozen pieces that I've listened to over 1,000 times! If you're curious about the others, they're:-1)Horst Jankowski-Delilah; 2)Peter Nero-Speak Low; 3)Oscar Peterson-Wandering(all semi-jazz featuring piano),and a couple of songs, 4)Snowy White-Bird Of Paradise, and, 5)Tin Tin-Toast and Marmalade For Tea.(My "10s" I s'pose you'd call them!).

[@darrylschultz6479]

@@AndSendMe And I'll check out Jerry Goldsmith doing a bit of toccata riffing! Sounds interesting.

[@mrbigarms]

A nice symphony but hardly a masterpiece, it's over long and too drawn out for it's modest musical ideas.

[@xavierbordes1373]

Imagination standardisée, incapable de sortir des formules du passé, on comprend que ce soit techniquement correct, mais sans grand charme. Le sentiers battus de Beethoven ont été pour beaucoup des ornières !

[@ericandre6766]

tout à fait d' accord : pas de vraie mélodie . On est loin d'un Borodine , par exemple .