Étienne Nicolas Méhul - Symphony No.2, 3

Méhul in 1799,

portrait attributed to Antoine-Jean Gros

Étienne Nicolas Méhul (French: [meyl]; 22 June 1763 – 18 October 1817) was a French composer of the classical period. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France during the Revolution".He was also the first composer to be called a "Romantic".[2] He is known particularly for his operas, written in keeping with the reforms introduced by Christoph Willibald Gluck.

• 1.Life

처음은 오르가니스트였으나 뒤에 글루크의 오페라에 감격, 그의 권유와 조언으로 오페라 창작에 전념하였다. 기품있는 멜로디와 힘찬 양식에 단정한 고전성을 보이는 그의 음악은 프랑스 대혁명 시대의 가장 고귀한 음악가로서 평가를 받았다. 모두 30곡이 넘는 오페라와 발레곡 가운데에서 가장 뛰어난 작품은 오페라 <조제프>(1807)이다.[위키백과]

 

Symphony No.2 in D major (1809)

Performers: Les Musiciens du Louvre conducted by Marc Minkowski Painting: English or Irish School, 18th century - Hunt passing through a pastoral landscape I. Adagio - 0:00 Allegro - 1:33 II. Andante - 7:29 III. Minuetto - 13:51 IV. Finale. Allegro - 18:06

 

Symphony Nº 3 in C Major

Symphonies and other works

Besides operas, Méhul composed a number of songs for the festivals of the republic (often commissioned by the emperor Napoleon), cantatas, and five symphonies in the years 1797 and 1808 to 1810.

Mehul's First Symphony (1808) is notable for its dissonant and violent mood, and has been compared to Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, written in the same year. Taking inspiration from the more anguished works of Haydn and Mozart, such as Haydn's Sturm und Drang and later Paris Symphonies of 1785–86 and Mozart's Symphony No. 40 (K. 550, 1788), it was revived in one of Felix Mendelssohn's concerts with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1838 and 1846 to an audience including Robert Schumann, who was impressed by the piece.[16] (At the time of writing, only Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 [1799/1800 and 1802] had been performed in France.) His other symphonies also followed German and Austrian models. Commenting after the premiere of his first symphony, he noted: "I understood all the dangers of my enterprise; I foresaw the cautious welcome that the music-lovers would give my symphonies. I plan to write new ones for next winter and shall try to write them… to accustom the public gradually to think that a Frenchman may follow Haydn and Mozart at a distance."

A fifth symphony was never completed—"as disillusionment and tuberculosis took their toll", in the words of David Charlton. The Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 were only rediscovered by Charlton in 1979. Interviewed 8 November 2010 on the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Professor Charlton said that Méhul's 4th Symphony was the first ever to employ the cyclical principle.