Mengelberg - Grieg - Two Elegiac Melodies for Orchestra, Op 34

1. The wounded heart
2. Last Spring


Willem Mengelberg
Born: March 28, 1871 - Utrecht, Holland
Died: March 21, 1951 - Chur, Switzerland

Grieg(1843-1907)

In the late 1860s Grieg married his cousin, Nina Hagerup, and settled in Christiania (now much less charmingly named Oslo). Life couldn't have been easy, eking out a living from teaching and conducting, particularly as his over-zealous studies in Leipzig had permanently damaged his health. Then, in 1874, still aged only 31, came a stroke of good fortune: he was awarded a life annuity from the Norwegian government (nice work if you can get it!). Maybe he isn't exactly a "front rank" composer, but his music is equally capable of charming the simple soul (like me) as it is the not so simple (like Liszt).

A composer of several choral works, reams of piano pieces, some chamber music, and a fair stack of orchestral music, Grieg generally shunned larger-scale forms (his celebrated Piano Concerto being the best-known exception), believing that his strengths lay in the more intimate forms associated with his native Norwegian folk culture. On the alter-stone of this credo he lay over 120 songs, many of which were inspired not only by Norway but also by Nina who, being a soprano, was equally often the intended interpreter.

The Two Elegaiac Melodies op. 34 are an arrangement for string orchestra of two songs from his op. 33. Shorn of their vocal element, both nevertheless reveal their provenance through the richly-inflected speech-rhythms of their melodic lines, simple and direct in their appeal to the listener's emotions. Heart's Wounds is the more overtly passionate, developing a strong compulsion in its central episode, while Last Spring (that's "Last" as in "final" rather than "previous") is generally more circumspect, tender, and achingly regretful.

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• Op 34

[bachlover99]

Thanks so much for uploading this. I am reminded of an old 78 with these 2 pieces that my mother played on an old gramaphone. She told me they were her father's favourite pieces. Heartache particularly brought tears to my eyes even as a kid. The sound of this recording is uniquely as I remember it, and has never been reproduced - and it is not just the "portamento" is it perhaps the overall string sound that was so special to that era ?

many thanks again

[2ndviolinist]

@bachlover99 You are welcome. Stokowski/Philadelphia had a string sound that was very special and as good as any ever recorded.

[egalitarianist]

Wonderful. Mengelberg was an outstanding interpreter of this music. For a man such sensitivity, he has always been a little puzzling to me - both for his troublesome politics and the fact that he never seemed to get the perfectly polished sound from the Concertgebouw that this music needs and that his successor, Eduard van Beinum, commanded from the start. I realize this may be unfair on both counts, since he was trying carry on under Nazi rule and since the recording process improved greatly.

[2ndviolinist]

@egalitarianist He conducted Concertgebouw for 50 years, the last few under Nazi rule. Would you give up your orchestra of 45 years or do what was necessary to stay? I strongly disagree about the polished sound statement, no other orchestra was more polished (other than the oboe sound) - equaled but not bettered. If you judge on sonics, you'll miss much music.

[jrakg]

Scored for strings alone (no oboe). The diminutive Grieg, at a concert where the diminutive Mengelberg conducted these pieces, jumped onto his seat afterwards, clapping wildly and declaring that this was exactly how he wanted them played. - John Austin, Australia

[2ndviolinist]

@jrakg The oboe comment didn't relate to this work. No surprise about Grieg's response. Mengelberg is as good as it gets. It's too bad other, far inferior versions of pieces than Mengelberg's are viewed so many ore times. Chattahoochee HS Orchestra's Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings, 4th mvt has 15,663 views to Mengelberg's 992. A version (1st mvt) with no conductor/orchestra listed has 1,022,515 views. Those of us in the know are, unfortunately for others, few and far between.

[egalitarianist]

@2ndviolinist We evidently think alike. Your thoughtful reply spelled out exactly what I meant by my last sentence. I also meant what I said in the first line - which is why I favorited this video. My quibble with the "sonics" may be due entirely to less-than-perfect recording techniques. More than for most composers, Grieg's genius was in subtle detail which is often evident only in polished performances. Many other composers saw Grieg as "front rank" - as do I. Thanks for a wonderful channel.

[AfroPoli]

The best!

[pianopera]

@2ndviolinist Thanks for mentioning!

[2ndviolinist]

@pianopera jacquesurlus posted it a year ago. jacquesurlus has many interesting posts. I only post things not uploaded unless my recording sounds better. I have about 17 hours of Mengelberg, certainly one of my favorites. Noticed jacquesurlus just uploaded Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings which I uploaded a while back. It is in my top 5 favorite Mengelberg favorites. He started with Concertgebouw 2 years after Tchaikovsky's death.