Two Unknown Symphonies That Blew Me Away
At the height of World War II, these two symphonies answered destruction with defiance
These two unknown 20th-century symphonies absolutely blew me away.
They were written during the Second World War and show two radically different ways of responding to the apocalypse:
Arthur Honegger’s Symphony No. 2 and Bohuslav Martinů’s Symphony No. 2.
Honegger, a Swiss composer living in occupied Paris, confronted the tragedy directly. The first two movements are tense, austere, and deeply dark. Scored almost entirely for strings, the symphony gives itself very little—and yet reaches an extraordinary radiance and sweetness in the finale, made overwhelming by everything that precedes it. There is also one small surprise at the very end, which I cannot allow myself to spoil, as it brought me so much pleasure when I heard it for the first time.
Martinů wrote his Second in America as a refugee and dedicated it to the Czech community of Cleveland. Its atmosphere is more pastoral and light-filled, although the first movement still contains distant shadows. The music gradually gathers energy, especially from the third movement onward, before arriving at a remarkably bright finale.
Its orchestration is colourful, abundant, and wonderfully lucid. Martinů uses the full orchestra, including piano and a broad percussion inventory, yet the textures remain transparent, and every detail is felt in a crystal-clear manner.
Two relatively short, unjustly neglected symphonies: one arriving at hope through restraint and confrontation, the other through clarity, vitality, and abundance. I highly recommend hearing them one after the other.
Recommended recordings:
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