Barber / Sibelius / Scriabin: One Movement Symphonies
Reference Recordings

Multiple rewards accrue from this inspired collection of single-movement works by composers Samuel Barber, Jean Sibelius, and Alexander Scriabin. While each piece satisfies for different reasons, the fact that each can be experienced as a singular statement without pause is an appealing quality common to all. That they're all performed by the Kansas City Symphony under the expert guidance of conductor Michael Stern also does much to recommend the release, as does its acoustically resonant sound quality. Recorded over two June days in 2016 at Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Kansas City in Missouri, the material has been brought to vibrant life by David Frost, seven-time Grammy winner for 'Classical Producer of the Year,' and Reference Recordings' lauded engineering team.

In terms of sequencing, the three works appear in reverse chronological order, though the dates separating their creation are not inordinately large. Barber's First Symphony, completed in 1936 while the composer was in Rome, is followed by Sibelius's from 1924 and then Scriabin's, created between 1905 and 1908. Though his Adagio for Strings is likely the first work that comes to mind at the mention of his name, Barber's first symphony might arguably present a better all-around representation of his style. It is, of course, in one movement, yet it actually approximates a four-part classical symphony in design. Three themes emerge in the initial allegro, after which the first two form the respective foundations for the scherzo and andante sections. The third theme finds its way naturally into the finale, though figures from the other themes appear also, with all woven together to create a satisfying recapitulation. Barber organizes the elements, however, into a lyrical, fully integrated whole, such that the music develops with elegant fluidity. From that dramatic first theme the symphony advances with cogency and no small amount of force, Barber's command of craft evident at each moment as episodes flow seamlessly from one to the next. He wasn't averse to allowing dissonance to seep into an otherwise harmonious design, and in fact a moment arrives halfway through that could be mistaken for Stravinsky. That said, one of the work's most memorable parts occurs when oboe gives voice to the affecting second theme over an expressive swelling of strings prior to the work's intense crescendo.

Like Barber, Sibelius has his own share of better-known works, among them Finlandia and the Violin Concerto, but the seven symphonies are as revered. Interestingly, when the composer conducted the first performance of the seventh in 1924, it was named Fantasia sinfonica No. 1; upon its publication a year later, however, it was titled Symphony No. 7. Unlike Barber's, where progression through different movements is discernible despite the single-movement presentation, Sibelius's awakens from its opening notes to blossom into a complex, multi-faceted creation, the impression ultimately generated that the work is more tone poem than symphony per se. The instruments' timbres are handled by the composer with the sensitivity of an impressionist painter, with strings, woodwinds, and horns forming an ever-evolving mass. Mood shifts transpire gracefully, with a peaceful episode giving way to sweeping episodes of supplication and rapture and lighter dance-inflected moments present to offset the occasional ponderous passage. As the work reaches its towering resolution, the orchestra's Sibelius presentation proves to be as satisfying as the one for Barber.

Memorably capping the release is an exquisite reading of Scriabin's Le poème de l'extase (The Poem of Ecstasy). In keeping with its title, a mystical quality permeates the work, which like Sibelius's is more tone poem than formal symphony. Of the three works, Scriabin's opulent creation exudes the greatest mystery and intoxicates with its refined poetic character. Though it was written before the other two works, its use of harmony and tone colour and fluid developmental design lend it a contemporary air. Motives and themes are delineated, but they're integrated so seamlessly into the design the listener's focus stays on the whole rather than the components. Consistent with the title, episodes of ecstasy appear as do corresponding moments of agitation, despair, and anguish before the piece reaches its triumphant end.

June 2021