Symphony No. 1 by Charles Tournemire. Conducted by Antonio De Almeida with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.
I. Andante - Allegro Moderato - 00:00
II. Scherzo - Allegretto Spiritoso - 8:02
III. Largo - 15:15
IV. Finale - Allegro Energico - 22:28
Charles Tournemire was born in Bordeaux in 1870 and died at Arcachon in 1939. For some he may seem to have been a slightly mysterious organist with a reputation for improvisation, yet this master of modern organ music was at the same time a powerful symphonist. Between 1900 and 1924 Tournemire wrote no less than eight symphonies differing in dimension and form, without counting the Poème pour orgue of 1910 and various compositions for chorus and orchestra. As he himself made clear, these eight symphonies were only the preparation for an enterprise of greater scope still, conceived for that other orchestra, the organ. The reference was to L'Orgue mystique, written between 1927 and 1932, a great cycle that covers the liturgical year and consists of fifteen hours of music. After the completion of this, Tournemire only returned to the symphony with the organ in his Symphonie-Choral of 1935 and his Symphonie sacrée the following year.
The literary connection, size and particular technical qualities of Tournemire's symphonies have induced the few that have seen the scores to recall the work of Gustav Mahler. Such a comparison needs justification, but there are certainly points in common, apart from any consideration of the works as a whole. Mahler, after all, found it necessary to support his musical discourse with philosophical argument. We know from his letters that Tournemire knew some of Mahler's symphonies and that he acknowledged that composer's lofty aspirations, but the aesthetic and cultural tradition to which he belonged prevented him recognising any personal affinity with this music, although he may have been influenced by it sometimes, principally in orchestration.
The formal conception of the work is directly influenced by Franck and it is traditional by comparison with the symphonies that follow. The orchestration, which finds an important place for the solo violin, already marks the tendency of Tournemire to distinguish individual timbres in the whole orchestra. The first of the four movements is an Andante, marked avec mystère (with mystery), bringing out at once in the bass the cyclic theme of the work, characterized by two leaps of a rising fifth. This introduction leads to an energetic Allegro moderato, its development prepared by a return to the material of the introduction. The playful sonority of the scherzo Allegro spiritoso is coloured by the introduction of the harps. The slow movement is a Largo, in the speed of a funeral march, transfiguring the cyclic theme. As in the first movement, the solo violin adds brilliance to the final Allegro energico, with its syncopated rhythm, associating the cyclic theme with various episodes, spirited or relaxed in mood.
