Search - Hans Rott, Gerhard Samuel, Cincinnati Philharmonia Orchestra :: Hans Rott: Symphony in E major

Still full of youthful flaws. But still fascinating.

Bob Zeidler | Charlton, MA United States | 08/17/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Quite some time back, when this performance had been on the full-price Hyperion label, but not before I had listened to the work multiple times, I offered my commentary on it. Now that it has been transferred to the budget-price Helios label (and as well has shown up, in different performances, on two other labels), I've taken some time to revisit the work. It continues to fascinate, perhaps not quite as a train wreck does, but more as a curiosity for those interested in the Mahler-Rott connection.



Mahlerites, as well as others interested in the development of the central-European symphony in the closing stages of the 19th century, have been fascinated with this "youthful" Rott work. In mostly even numbers, reactions to the work tend to fall into two camps: Those who feel that Mahler more than owes a debt to Rott, to the extent that they cry "plagiarism." And those who can find other, more benign, explanations for seemingly synchronous similarities. I definitely number myself in the latter camp, even after yet more listening to the work.



Since my opinion has not changed from then to now, here is a condensation of my earlier views.



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Discovering that the Symphony in E Major by Hans Rott (1859 - 1884) had been a work from which Mahler might have "borrowed" ideas for his own works was enough for me to "investigate further" by acquiring this recording. My first few hearings of it were full of surprises. But it's easy to jump to a possibly wrong conclusion. "Some study required" first.



Rott had been little more than a curious footnote to music (and particularly Mahler music) history, one about whom we can only wonder "what might have been," had he lived longer. With the musicological research that was necessary to reconstruct the score for this premiere recording effort as a starting point, Rott may turn out to be more than just a footnote. Two years older than Mahler, he was - with Hugo Wolf - a student friend of Mahler's when all were at the Vienna Conservatory. He was also one of Anton Bruckner's organ pupils; in fact, Bruckner's favorite.



About the music:



The work consists of three unequal pieces: A first half - the first two movements - which is clearly Brucknerian/Wagnerian in influence, a third-movement Scherzo in which many of the "interesting things" - the Mahler similarities - occur, and a final movement which, in a well-intentioned effort on Rott's part to gain the attention of Brahms, ultimately fails because Rott tries to combine the styles and rhetorics of both Bruckner and Brahms, to no good end. (Had Rott survived to work further on this symphony, I sense that he would have started by "cleaning up" this overloaded Finale.)



Despite the unequal quality of the movements, one can hear Mahlerian "pre-echoes" as early as the first movement, where Rott's writing for solo trumpet is eerily reminiscent of the posthorn solo in the Mahler Third Symphony (and the trumpet writing in the discarded "Blumine" movement of his First Symphony). This stylistic "pre-echo" occurs again in the third movement, along with some characteristically Mahlerian writing for solo violin. A theme very much like the "Eternity" theme in the final movement of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony, again assigned to solo trumpet, is perhaps the most eerie Mahlerian "pre-echo" of all.



The harmonic style of the second half differs from the Brucknerian first half. It is also very different, overall, than any specific Mahler work, despite the "pre-echoes." It is largely a second half of "unrealized possibilities": Interesting, but hardly fully worked out.



About the Mahler-Rott connection:



There are two documented facts which verify that Mahler knew this work, first in part and then in whole. In 1878, Rott submitted the first movement of the symphony for the Beethoven Competition prize at the Vienna Conservatory. Mahler would have been familiar with this movement then, submitted to the same competition to which his "Das klagende Lied" was. There is then a twenty-two year gap in the record, until 1900, when evidence that Mahler studied the full work during that summer for possible performance the following season exists in the form of correspondence from himself to Natalie Bauer-Lechner, a close friend. (He did not perform it.)



During this twenty-two year period, Mahler wrote his first five symphonies, some of which have brief passing similarities to portions of this Rott work, with the "Eternity" theme being perhaps the most immediately identifiable resemblance. But there is a quantum leap from these resemblances (which may turn out to have been purely accidental), to the claim put forth by Paul Banks, the musicologist who uncovered and prepared the score for this performance, writing in the booklet notes, that [there is] "...a conscious or unconscious re-use and creative exploitation of Rott's material by Mahler." The gap in musicological knowledge is at present simply too large.



The fullest possible picture of the Mahler-Rott relationship (and the possibility of Rott "influence" on Mahler) is likely to emerge with the publication of Henry-Louis de La Grange's revised English edition of Vol. I of his epic 4-volume Mahler biography. Most Mahlerians accept that La Grange is the most thorough and thoughtful of such writers, and that he will not endeavor to sweep this matter under the rug. Unfortunately, as I write this, La Grange's thoughts are still at least a few years off. And so we must wait.



About the performance and recording:



The Cincinnati Philharmonia (a student orchestra) is more than acceptable, and the sound is quite good, despite a tendency by Rott to overscore portions of the work. Of the available recordings of the work, this one is to be preferred, if only for Banks's notes. So far, an ideal performance does not yet exist.



Perhaps my mind will change with an ideal performance. Then again, perhaps not.



Bob Zeidler"

The first and still best

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 04/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gerhard Samuel's traversal of the Rott Symphony in E was its first recording, coming before Segerstram's labored account and the more recent recording of Dennis Russell Davies. Samuel's Cincinnati Philharmonic Orchestra is a product of the University of Cincinnati. They play this Teutonic music wonderfully and sound like the very German-sounding Cincinnati Symphony Orhcestra. The music, written about 1880 by the 22-year-old composer, was studied by Mahler before construction of his Symphony No. 1. So if it sounds like Mahler there is good reason. If it also sounds like Bruckner and Mendelssohn (and perhaps Wagner) then you are having the same reaction I did when I first became aware of it. Rott was an organist, same as Bruckner, making the relationship between the two more than just the way they build motifs. Rott's style is to construct themes of grand sweep, similar to Bruckner and Wagner, then move them forward into development with more of a singing tone similar to Mendelssohn. All you need to hear this in its entirety is listen to the opening theme of the first movement, which goes into development at about 2:50. A mysterious variation takes over at that point, and we are on our way to the journey of Hans Rott's only symphony. This is a glorious symphony built on the construct of late Romantic composers. If you love classical music you are almost certain to be swept away by this magnificent score, which is 100 percent realized by the Cincinnati forces under Samuel. With Hyperion lowering its asking price to less than $11 and most vendors asking $9 for it new, this is a tremendous bargain that should be in your library."

Great Subject For A Movie.

Robin Ray | Seattle, WA USA | 10/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can definitely see the short life of Hans Rott being made into a movie. He was young, tormented, but good looking. This biopic would be perfect Oscar-bait for someone like Shia LaBeouf, Timothy Olyphant, or any one of these young Hollywood turks. Rott kept amazing historical company: he was an organ student of Anton Bruckner, roomed with Gustav Mahler, had an unfortunate run-in with Johannes Brahms, and may have probably been treated for schizhophrenia at the Lunatic Asylum in Austria by Sigmund Freud himself. I haven't read a full biography of Rott, so I don't know about his romantic liasions or proclivities. Probably he could have been closeted like Tchaikovsky and this hidden torment could have contributed to his manic-depressive/psychotic-type episodes. And then there is this Symphony in E major. Brahms didn't believe Rott wrote it. Mahler referred to it as the "new symphony." If, like me, you like Wagner, especially Tannhauser, you'll enjoy this symphony. In certain passages it has that same "suspended 4th crescendo that resolves quietly into a major third). Very Wagnerian. This whole splendid recording almost sounds like an hour-long suite of music removed from (and inspired by) Tannhauser. The music is very listenable; you appreciate it just from one hearing alone (and that's probably because it already sounds familiar). Obviously there'll be traces of Bruckner and Mahler - and that's not bad company to keep. I do have a prediction. Here in Seattle Gerard Schwartz and the Seattle Symphony perform works not heard elsewhere, like the orchestral music from the anime Final Fantasy. I can see them tackling this hour-long piece. Of course, it'd be a hard sell because there's no movie to bolster its popularity and not too many people have heard of hans Rott. So, Hollywood, come calling now. Give Rott the same treatment Milos Forman did with Amadeus. You'll have Oscar material in hand."