Hans Rott’s music was basically forgotten, or ignored, for the first one hundred years after his death. But in 1990 a recording of his first symphony, played by the Cincinnati Philharmonic Orchestra under Gerhard Samuel (Hyperion), sparked a small Rott renaissance. Over the last 30 years, several additional recordings of the symphony have appeared, along with some miscellaneous orchestral and chamber works. Yet several works remained unrecorded, so Capriccio deserves our eternal gratitude for producing the first complete series of Rott’s orchestral oeuvre.
Rott’s life reads like a tragic novel. In 1874 he began studying piano, organ (with Bruckner), harmony and composition at the Vienna Conservatory, and quickly became part of Bruckner’s inner circle. The older composer thought highly of Rott’s Bach performances and his improvisational abilities. In the summer of 1878 Rott submitted his “Symphonic Movement” into a composition competition; despite its technical excellence, the submission was rejected by all members of the jury (except Bruckner) because of its overt Wagner reminiscences.
Rott spent the next few years revising the work (making into the first movement of a full symphony), adding three additional movements to complete his first symphony in 1880. Rott then showed the score to Brahms and conductor Hans Richter: Brahms was purportedly brutal, telling Roth to give up composition, while Richter refused to program it. In October 1880 Roth (who was already suffering mental decline) drew a gun on a fellow train passenger, fearing that he lit his cigar, it would detonate dynamite Brahms had left on the train. Rott was committed to Vienna Hospital’s psychiatric ward where he died, 25 years of age, in 1884.
As one might expect, the influence of Wagner and Bruckner is audible throughout the work. There are also passages suggestive of Mahler’s future compositions, especially the first two symphonies. Indeed, one could decide to listen to this symphony just to track which passages echo or presage other composers. Yet that would sell this music short, for this is not just a work of pastiche, but a genuinely impressive effort to distill all those influences into a convincing personal whole.
Related Classical Music Reviews
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Listeners new to the work might also, especially knowing details of the composer’s life, expect a preponderance of anguished writing, music that rails against darkness, struggling towards victory and light. But Rott’s writing is not autobiographical à la Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, or (his Conservatory roommate) Mahler. Its emotion, much like Bruckner and Brahms, is offered in a more objectified manner. And in this new recording, a striving towards optimism permeates all four movements.
Ward and his Köln players offer a deeply impressive performance. The Gürzenich-Orchester is steeped in repertoire of the Romantic period, and their sound, as captured by the Capriccio engineers, is opulent and fulsome, with impressive attention to detail. The winds demonstrate impressive unanimity of attack, articulation, and blend in the many passages of shifting colors. Strings play with precision and power. One could argue the triangle is too prominent, but this is just as much the fault of the composer as the recording. More impressive still is Ward’s firm grasp of the work’s overall structure and trajectory, which gives the performance an organic coherence that equals and perhaps exceeds Constantin Trinks’ recent reading with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg (Profil Medien). Ward’s studio recording also generates as much energy and commitment as Trinks’ live performance.
As to the other competition, the symphony’s first recording has the undeniable energy of discovery, with exceptional playing by the Cincinnati’s conservatory orchestra. The BIS recording, featuring the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra and Leif Segerstam, is the longest recording at 64 minutes. Despite (or because of) some glorious playing, Segerstam too often allows himself to wallow in the sound, allowing the writing to seem more episodic. Paavo Jarvi’s Frankfurt reading offers transparency and technically immaculate playing, but his reading is less emotionally engaging than Ward.
The album also includes Rott’s “Symphony for Strings” and the premiere recording of the “Symphonic Movement.” The string symphony consists of three of its intended four movements – Roth never completed the final one. It is a sunny and enchanting work, with particularly deft writing exhibited in the opening movement’s development section, and winsome melodies throughout. The Gürzenich strings play with technical finesse and abundant charm; this is music that should be as well-known and oft played as similar works by Tchaikovsky, Grieg, and Elgar.
It is interesting to compare the “Symphonic Movement,” with the first movement of the symphony. The well written liner notes suggest the differences are readily obvious, though I might argue otherwise. Nevertheless, they make a good case for enjoying this music on its own terms.
Unless there are other works of which I am unaware, this album (the second of two) completes the recording of Rott’s orchestral works. The first CD includes three overtures and two movements that were intended to be part of the composer’s second symphony. Both albums feature the excellent playing and passionate advocacy of Ward and the Gürzenich orchestra, and both are wholly recommended to lovers of music from the late Romantic period.
Hans Rott – Complete Orchestral Works, Vol 2
Symphony No.1 in E major
Symphony for strings in A flat major
Symphonic Movement in E major
Gürzenich Orchester Köln
Christopher Ward – Conductor
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