Album Overview
Conclusion of an Original Symphonic Edition
This month we are concluding our Gouvy Edition featuring symphonic works by this German-French composer. Théodore Gouvy was born in 1819 in Goffontaine (today’s Scheidt-Schafbrücke), just outside Saarbrücken. His later life as a musician also went back and forth between Germany and France. When he died in 1898, he was regarded as a Frenchman in Germany and as a German in France. No other foreign composer’s works were performed as frequently in the 1850s in Leipzig as those by Gouvy. The influence of the allemands in France may have been a motivating factor in his decision in favor of the typical German genres of the symphony (and later of chamber music). Although Gouvy’s fourth symphony creates the impression of an absolutely tragic, gloomy work when compared to its predecessors, the positive resonance of this D minor symphony continued on the success of his earlier symphonies. Fellow composers such as Ambroise Thomas and Charles Gounod attended its Paris premiere in 1856 and were moved to amazed admiration, while the feuilletons approvingly wrote how "finely thought out, expansively developed, and clearly and brilliantly written" the score was. And in the two other works heard here, the Symphonie brève op. 58 and the Fantaisie symphonique, Gouvy once again demonstrates the bravura and clarté that earned him esteem from his contemporaries. "Melodic richness, natural sovereignty in the treatment of harmony, and a very unforced originality make Gouvy’s music absolute listening pleasure. The German Radio Philharmonic performs very nuancedly under Jacques Mercier from Lorraine, and the recordings are also convincing tonally.
Source:
cpo records
 Théodore Gouvy
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Composer: Théodore Gouvy
Gouvy was a man of two cultures, divided between France and Germany, from which he drew his inspiration, his characteristics and his force. While to a certain extent he was known and recognized in his lifetime, he fell into obscurity following his death. Gouvy, drawn toward pure instrumental music as opposed to opera, set himself the unenviable task of becoming a French symphonist.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Th%C3%A9odore_Gouvy
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 Jacques Mercier
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Conductor: Jacques Mercier
Jacques Mercier, born in Metz in 1945, rapidly achieved international success. He has performed at the Salzburg Festival, and in Bucharest, Helsinski, and Madrid where the critics described him as “one of the best French and European conductors of his generation”. Between 1982 and 2002 Jacques Mercier was artistic director and permanent conductor of the Orchestre National d’Ile-de-France.
www.acanthes.com/centre_2005/apedagogiegb2005.html
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 German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
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Orchestra: German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Deutsche Radio Philharmonie)
The German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra is the most recently formed German radio symphony orchestra. Created in 2007 following the merger of the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra (SR) and the Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern (SWR), two of ARD’s tradition-steeped ensembles, the orchestra has quickly made a name for itself and earned its place among the renowned German radio orchestras.
www.drp-orchester.de/pages/englisch/the-orchestra.php
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The Purchase field at the top is grayed out and doesn’t do anything. I still don’t know how rto purchase any of these interesting recordings.
Hi Mr. Corson – We just tested it and it seems to be working OK. We *think* that you might not be clicking on the “Buy It Now” button that is a little below after you click on the “Purchase” tab. Please look for “Buy it Now”. I’ll be checking back, please write if you have any further problems, and thanks for your patience. – Paul
This music is really wonderful, thanks for sharing!