Symphony No. 2 "Ouessant" Op. 35 (1908). Conducted by Antonio De Almeida with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.
I. Prelude - Tres Modere - Allegro Moderato - 00:00
II. Tres Calme - 20:47
III. Choral - Allegro - 34:09
Tournemire's Second Symphony "Ouessant" in B flat major, Opus 36, begun in 1908 and completed in February 1909, may be considered as marking the start of the composer's symphonic cycle in the spiritual perspective described above. Eight years separate this from the First Symphony, Opus 18, a period during which Tournemire's orchestral technique had developed. The Second Symphony may thus sometimes appear dense in texture and there may be detected in the use of lower woodwind, a high-pitched trumpet and two off-stage French horns in addition to the four horns in the orchestra, the influence of Richard Strauss, who had conducted his own music in Paris during the first decade of the century. Furthermore it may be added that the first performance of Debussy's La mer in 1905 had opened new perspectives for symphonic music. Finally it might be said that Tournemire's score was completed and performed a few months before he heard the first performance in Paris of a symphony by Mahler, the First, a performance described by Tournemire as trahison (betrayal). In fact in his Second Symphony he uses the evocative power of the orchestra for a religious purpose. As the title of the work suggests, the symphony was inspired by the fantastic landscape of the Isle of Ouessant. The composer adds that his work tends to the glorification of the Eternal. He owed to his first wife the revelation of Brittany and the possibility of spending each summer on the Isle of Ouessant. Like other pupils of Franck, Tournemire was influenced not only by the landscape of Brittany but by Celtic culture in general, from which, through medieval literature, he had borrowed several subjects. The Second Symphony echoes, moreover, the spirit of popular song and the writing is marked by chromaticism that gives several of its episodes a tormented expression. The thematic material seems to suggest the jagged outline of the rocks of Ouessant, constantly beaten by the waves, an impression accentuated by clear-cut rhythms, variations in the density of the polyphony and in dynamics and the occasionally violent contrasts of sonority that mark the work. The three movements of the symphony seem to follow the upward trajectory of the theme that in the Prélude, marked Très modéré, rises step by step. This introduction leads to an Allegro moderato of great expressive intensity, interrupted by the following episode, marked Très calme. The apotheosis of the final Allegro is preceded by a chorale that is intended to give the work its spiritual dimension.
Symphony No. 3 in D Major "Moscow 1913" Op. 43
With Natalia Malina on the organ. Conducted by Antonio De Almeida with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.
I. Bien Modere - 00:00
II. Avec Du Mouvment - 11:12
III. Les Cloches Des Moscou Lentement - 17:00
IV. Assez Modere - Avec Assez De Mouvment - 25:46
