Bacewicz
Orchestral Works, Vol. 1: Symphonies Nos 3 & 4; Overture
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo
Chandos CHSA5316 (CD/SACD) 59:50 mins
‘Nervously jagged shreds of motifs, artificial dirt patches, stubbornly dissonant harmonies,’ was one early verdict on Bacewciz’s Symphony No. 3. It should be noted that this listener had an agenda – considering whether the Polish composer’s music fitted the demands of Soviet socialist realism, a test he thought the piece failed – but there’s a shred of truth in his description of the music. The nervy mood is certainly there – the end of the Drammatico first movement has the bitter edginess of Walton’s First Symphony, while the uneasy Finale is a sibling to Shostakovich.
Seventy years later, we listen to Bacewicz with different ears, a different agenda. Her music has been at the forefront of record labels and performers opening up the repertoire to include female composers. Chandos already has her string quartets and violin concertos to its name; now it’s started a series exploring her orchestral works, beginning with two symphonies that have also been recorded and released earlier this year by the CPO label.
These are two symphonies that show off the Polish composer at the height of her orchestral powers: in the early 1950s, when her writing was resolutely abstract, sombre at heart, serious in purpose and fuelled by a powerful drive and propulsion. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Sakari Oramo bring the vigour and dynamism it needs.
If that all suggests something rather dour, think again. There’s plenty of liveliness and sparkle: the vivace of the Third dances along and the scherzo of the Fourth bustles and bristles. And the 1943 Overture for Orchestra sweeps the listener along with irresistible energy. This recording is a superb showcase of her work. Rebecca Franks
