Hope I have time to listen to all of this the opening is really wonderful. Late romantic but not particularly like the other late romantics. In listening recently to Berger symphony no. 1 I have noted similarities in the harmony and feeling to Svendsen and early Nielsen; I hear something like that here; it seems to come a bit through Brahms/Schumann influence...but is more melodic than either of them and the orchestration and use of winds has a suppleness and lyricism that sets it apart from anything in Brahms or Schumann. Yet, is still quieter and gentler than Bruckner/Mahler. Why this shouldn't be as well known as the early Sibelius and Nielsen symphonies or even some of Dvorak's I don't know. It is the politics of the time that was very pro-Austro-German and particularly dismissive of French and Italian music.
Lovely and unusual slow movement with some really distinctive harmonies. Has the subtlety and marvelous emotional ambiguity that I love in the Andante from Svendsen's 2nd symphony. Full of understatement and mystery, and gentle beauty also would compare it to something like the slow movement of the Sibelius Violin concerto. So perfect.
I like Martucci's music and respect him all the more for not having been "just another Italian opera composer," but I have to confess that for me the Finale to this symphony doesn't live up to its fine buildup. I was pleased to learn that Toscanini championed his music, even if he didn't approve of any of the recordings which he made of it.
And what's wrong with being an Italian opera composer? Schumann would have loved to be an Italian opera composer. At one point he said Donizetti wrote music for a marionette theater, and Donizetti said, well I want to see his bank account. But the reality is that Schumann is a minor but talented composer; Donizetti is one of the greatest of the greats!
It is disappointing to read a comment like this. The point is that , of course, there is nothing wrong with being an opera composer. The fact is that unlike many well known Italian composers Martucci explored other genres. Your comment about Schumann being a “minor” composer is simply ignorant. I find it difficult to understand how a music lover could make such a comment if he/she knew what they were talking about.
@@davidforbes2795 hey man I'm not only a music lover I'm a pianist. I find Schumann runs out of steam for instance Kreisleriana goes steadily downhill from the amazing first movement. Schumann was a big promoter of the Deutschland über alles school of music criticism. I find him distasteful as a person for that reason. To write an opera you have to write a lot of music. The level of invention in Donizetti is consistently high. He's as good at the end as at the beginning. That's not true of most famous opera composers.
Sorry, I don't like much opera, and Italian opera least of all. For me, Schumann was a much greater composer than any Italian opera composer other than Verdi or Puccini, but I grant you that Donizetti and the other Italian opera composers made more money. Schubert tried hard to write a profitable opera and obviously admired Rossini (Schubert's music shows that.) And whatever happened to Jakob Liebmann Beer, by the way?
Warren Malach Hey man -- Meyerbeer is one of my favorites, he Auber and Donizetti in Paris was phenomenal. Donizetti has such great range, greater than Verdi or Bellini, and he was harder working than Rossini. But Meyerbeer also had great range, his most mature final piece is really Pardon de Ploermel a tragicomic meditation on the intersection of greed and love. Meyerbeer's not done because he's too hard, trust me I know singing, the French operas are so hard because they demand the ultimate of the human voice, and Spontini is the ultimate ultimate. And whatever you may think of Wagner, he was a big admirer of all of them. He only turned against Meyerbeer when M. stopped giving him money.
+Warren Malach This isn't opera. If you listen really carefully, - and I mean REALLY CAREFULLY, - you'll notice that there's no singing. Try listening really carefully, and with any luck, you should see what I mean.
Yes, I KNOW that Martucci's 1st Symphony isn't opera! That's WHY I would rather listen to the Symphony than to most of Italian opera. The fact that Martucci was not merely "another Italian opera composer" is what makes him interesting to me. He was willing to be different than most Italian composers of his day and write orchestral works. If Puccini has written more orchestral works than he did, I'd also be interested in listening to him.
+Warren Malach He became one of the greatest opera composers of all time. No body can argue about taste really; but I think it takes a lot of skill to write an opera as well as a lot of imagination, just think how much music you have to write! Operas are longer than even the longest symphony.
There's an interesting story about the composition of this symphony.Not sure how close to the truth it is,but one day while Martucci was sitting at the piano putting the finishing touches to the 1st movement,his mother came into his room carrying a big bowl of his favorite dish,Mama's home-a-made-a Spaghetti Bolognaise-a. "GuisEPPee,GuiSEPPee",she cried,hurling the soup ladel she was carrying at his head-"all-a de neighbours dey is-a TALKING-a!! I cannot-a walk-a down-a to de FISH-a market without alla dem-a staring and-a shaking of-a deir heads and-a fingers-a!! What-a you-a doin-a writing alla dese-sorry,I meant DESE-A, SYMphonies-a? Mama mia,if-a your Papa could-a see whats-a become of his 11th-born son,he'd turn over in-a his-a GRAVE-a! "My 11th born-a son,and-a 25th-a child-a Nancy boy?!!",he'd cry! Wassa MADDAH with-a you?Why you not-a see you coulda gone-a HIGH UP-a in-a de MAFIOSOS-a,and-a maybe even-a been-a de GOD-a Father like-a your poor bullet-riddled-a Uncle-a Alphonspaghettadoccio,God-a rest his-a soul!"."I don't know about "God-a rest his-a soul",replied Guiseppe mimicking his mother,"but perhaps it would've been a good thing if SOMEONE had arrested HIM!".