Symphony No. 4 in C major / Variations on a Hussar's Song

"Sadly we come to the end of the cycle of Franz Schmidt's symphonies, one of the finest releases in the Naxos catalogue [also available: Symphony No. 1 Naxos 8.570828, Symphony No. 2 Naxos 8.570589 and Symphony No. 3 Naxos 8.572119]. His symphonic scores were in a style handed down from Brahms and Reger, and arrived when music was in a state of turmoil at the turn of the century. This Fourth was written in 1933, and was an outpouring of grief at the death of his thirty-year-old daughter. It is a moving, beautifully crafted score that could well have come from the young Richard Strauss. In one long unbroken span lasting almost fifty minutes, it divides itself into the four conventional movements, and calls for a large orchestra that is only used for a few climatic moments. Sadness erupts and simmers in an extended first movement, a cello solo linking into the following Adagio where Schmidt employs the solo woodwind in sombre mood, muffled drums and strings introducing a Mahlerian funeral march. The Scherzo brings back memories of happier times before a violent eruption leads into a finale that ends in peace and quietness. Completed the previous year, Variations on a Hussar's Song was dedicated to the great conductor, Clemens Kraus, and it was he who gave the first performance with the Vienna Philharmonic. Often a dark score, it has few moments of joy until we reach a boisterous finale. Neither piece could hope for a more persuasive performance, the Malmö Symphony and their Russian-born Principal Conductor, Vassily Sinaisky, bring such a telling gravitas to the symphony, the sound of every department placing it among the elite of European orchestras. They are greatly helped by the clarity, warmth and perfectly balanced sound obtained by the engineering team."
(David's Review Corner)