Louis Spohr: Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, "Historical"

Richard Gibson.
MH352WI Granade
Louis Spohr: Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, "Historical"
Louis Spohr: Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, "Historical" consists of four movements. The Largo – Grave running at 7:30, Larghetto at 9:21, Scherzo at 6:29 and the Allegro Vivace running at 6:32 for a total running time of 29:52. This work is written for a symphonic orchestra and should not be allowed into the Canon for Romantic music. I feel that it is not a grand work and in Mr. Sphors attempt to imitate some of the great composers of old such as Beethoven, Handel, Mozart, Bach and Allerneueste falls terribly short of paying them proper homage. As hard as I tried to view a story through this work, in that I enjoy music that tells a story, I could not. All I could do was to sit and try to enjoy it as much as possible without any opportunity to find a story line to follow. I found myself wishing that I was listening to the radio so I could turn the dial and wait for it to be over with so I could go back and listen to something more my style.
In the "Largo – Grave," Mr. Spohr begins in a rather dull way with just a few strings playing, the cello, violas and violins. He steadily brings in more strings to try to add to the texture but it really does not help much. The lines are quite simplistic and they don’t change much throughout the movement. Eventually Mr. Spohr does add in some other woodwinds such as the flute and the oboe, but it remains a mainly string heavy movement. The dynamics do not change much throughout either. I think it would have added a little something extra if he could have shown more contrast with the dynamic markings instead of just adding in instruments. I do not feel that the "Largo – Grave" is true to the Romantic Period when it comes to adding more emotion to the music. He might have been trying to write in the Classical Period style to honor early Bach and Handel, hence the title "Historical." Yet I don’t think that he did a very good job at paying tribute to the great masters of the Classical Period.
The "Larghetto" is a much better movement. Spohr remains more in tune with the Romantic Period style by adding in a little syncopation and showing more contrast with his dynamic markings. Again, I feel he fell rather short of honoring Haydn and Mozart with this "Larghetto," but it is a drastic improvement from the "Largo – Grave." He still keeps it simple with the choice of instrumentation such as all of the strings again. But he adds in some horns to the mix and it really gives the movement something special. The texture that the horns give to the movement, when they enter, leaves you wishing for more of them. He brings out more emotion by adding them to the top of the phrases in addition to bringing out some fortes at the top as well. Mr. Spohr brings back the syncopation just at the right time to slide back into the opening theme, a nice touch. The motion adds to the contrast even more because all of the other instruments drop out except the opening strings.
The "Scherzo" opens up completely different from the previous two movements with tympani and then strings in the typical scherzo tempo. Spohr plays back and forth with the strings and the tympani throughout the whole movement. When the strings start to fade away and seem to bring the "Scherzo" to an end he picks things back up with the tympani playing the same phrase that they opened with. There is a reoccurrence with simplistic musical phrases in the "Scherzo." He takes the same phrase and repeats it time and time again and all that does is makes you want something more after about three-quarters of a way through it. Mr. Spohr attempts to honor Beethoven with this movement, and yet again he falls terribly short. It is far too repetitive to not get bored with and it lacks Beethoven’s grace, say as in Erocia.
The "Allegro Vivace" starts out just the way you would expect -- fast, loud and in your face to wake you up from the boredom of the previous movements in this symphony. Mr. Spohr uses a lot of sequencing in the opening and it seems that it is all he can do until the strings begin to play staccato. Yet, just when you think a new phrase is coming, the "Allegro Vivace" just repeats the same staccato style sequencing heard previously. There is not really anything that comes to your ear in this piece that is new and inventive. It is just the same few short sequences repeated over and over again. He does bring back the opening phrase, but it is so lack-luster that you get bored with it easily. I suppose Mr. Spohr does attempt to build upon them later on in the movement, but to no avail. They are not grand enough to make me forget about the previous boredom I felt. Even if the horns and percussion are playing full out. It just seems that he fell short again in trying to honor another composer, this time Allerneueste.
This is a piece of music that I really do not care to listen to again, and one that I cannot, in good conscience, suggest to fellow music lovers. Louis Spohr: Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, "Historical" is an attempt to honor composers that were far above his talent. Perhaps he should have written a memo and send it to all of his friends saying "My dear friends, this is my humble attempt to honor great composers of the past. It has never been done before, so please don’t take it too seriously and compare my music with those whose music will live on forever. It is simply an attempt to show my great appreciation for the genius they left us with." Needless to say that I won’t be spending another half an hour listening to this symphony again.