Looking Back: A Review Revisited: Egon Wellez's Symphonies Nos.4, 6, and 7

This review originally appeared on MusicWeb International on 5 June 2005. Considering my recent engagement with a recording of Wellesz’s String Quartets, I was prompted to revisit my earlier reflections on the composer. The renewed encounter with his music reaffirmed the relevance of those initial impressions about his Symphonies Nos.4, 6 and 7, and it seemed timely to bring them back into circulation. What follows is a reprint of that original review, offered now with the benefit of hindsight and continued appreciation for Wellesz’s distinctive voice. I have made a few edits.

I had never heard a symphony by Egon Wellesz before this CD arrived on the doorstep. Now, I know to some folk this will be a dreadful and unforgivable admission. But the simple fact is that I have never made it there before. It is one of the joys of listening to music that one makes constant discoveries – good, bad, and indifferent.

My immediate reaction is that I have been missing a lot these 50 years. But my mitigation is two-fold – he is not exactly the most prominent name at symphony orchestra concerts and secondly there are only thirteen or so “dedicated” CDs listed in the Arkiv online catalogue representing sixteen or so works. (Up to about 20 in 2025). We are fortunate in having seven out of the nine symphonies available on CPO.

Egon Wellesz was an ‘honorary’ British composer, having fled to this country from his home Vienna because of Nazi persecution. He had been professor of musicology at Vienna, and he continued this career in the UK.

In his Austrian days Wellesz had studied with Arnold Schoenberg but also absorbed influences from Max Reger and Gustav Mahler. Describing his style is difficult. I do not like to say he sounds like ‘x, y or z,’ however the consensus seems to be that he successfully managed to synthesise disparate elements from the expressionist, classical and archaic musical vocabularies.

The CD opens with the ‘easiest’ of the three symphonies to come to terms with. This Fourth Symphony is still in the tonal sound world, so it does not challenge the ears quite as much as some of Wellesz’s later work. In fact, the third movement, the adagio, is one of the loveliest pieces in the repertoire.

The op.70 is subtitled ‘Sinfonia Austriaca and quite obviously looks back to the composer’s birthplace. It would be appropriate to describe this as ‘romantic’: it owes more to Mahler and Reger rather than the Schoenberg or the ‘secret’ harmonies of Byzantine monks.

The Sixth Symphony is unlike the tonal and romantic music presented in the Fourth. Wellesz’s musical language has had a sea change in the meantime. It is fair to say that the first four symphonies owed much to Mahler, Bruckner, and even Schubert. The Fifth began to explore the use of the twelve-note row in conjunction with personal tonal language. The Sixth Symphony makes use of “freely applied atonality, melodic construction preferring broad intervals, increasingly thin texture, and, in connection with it, increasing economy of instrumentation.” It has three movements – an animated scherzo framed by two slow outer ones. This work is taut. Strange as it may seem, certain passages made me think of Vaughan Williams’ Fourth and Sixth Symphonies as reference points. It is Wellesz’s use of unison string cantilenas that suggests this.

I listened to the Seventh Symphony straight through twice. Now this was strange as after reading the programme notes I felt sure that this would be the one that I least enjoyed: I was wrong. It is the symphony that moved me most! Back in the late ‘sixties when it was written it would be seen as being quite ‘modern.’ Many years have flown and now it is revealed as actually quite a ‘lyrical’ work. The excellent notes by Hannes Heher describe the compositional process in detail. It is best to say that it owes something to Webern. But Wellesz is not slavishly beholden to anyone. I suppose that the work of Humphrey Searle kept springing to mind as I listened. The symphony carries a subtitle of ‘Contra Torrentem’ – against the stream.

The presentation of the CD is outstanding. The quality of the sound is absolutely beyond reproach. The artwork on the cover is by Egon Schiele (Melanie, the sister of the Künstlers) and adds to the sophisticated feel of this disc. And the programme notes come up to CPO’s usual high standard; it is a veritable essay on the symphonies and includes a short article by Gottfried Rabl on the trials and tribulations of preparing the scores for performance. Wellesz did not have an eye for detail on the written page!

Overall, this is a superb recording. It is a splendid introduction to the symphonies of Egon Wellesz. The order that they are presented allows the listener to be drawn into his sound world without too great a sense of musical dislocation.

Each of these works is vital; all three symphonies are an integral and essential contribution to the symphonic literature of the twentieth century, and I find it incredible that they are represented by only one recording each. Such, unfortunately are the ways of the classical music world.

I, for one, will be looking forward to hearing the other six symphonies at the earliest possible opportunity - which I have since done! 

Track Listing:
Egon Wellesz (1885-1974)
Symphony No.4 Op.70 (1951-1953) [27:56]
Symphony No.6 Op. 95 (1965) [23:18]
Symphony No.7 Op.102 (1967) [18:58]
Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien/Gottfried Rabl
rec. 13-16, and 26-27 Nov 2001, Grosser Sendesaal, Funkhaus ORF,
CPO 999 808-2