"Eine Herbstsymphonie" (Autumn Symphony)

How the project came about

In 2004 Michel Swierczewski, the conductor of ‘Recreation - Großes Orchester Graz’ (‘Large Orchestra of Graz’), who at that point knew and greatly admired the 1st Violin Sonata by Joseph Marx, set off in search of a special rarity which would be worthy of rediscovery. Thus he had the score of the Herbstsymphonie sent to him by Universal Edition. The 280-page, giant-sized score was subsequently examined by him and a series of orchestral musicians - with great reverence, they told me. When it eventually became clear to everyone that they were dealing with a very extraordinary, mammoth work, they discussed the matter with Mathis Huber, the manager of the ‘Recreation’ orchestra and the 'Styriarte' organisation. Because this great composition of Joseph Marx, himself a native of Graz, had not been heard for about 80 years, Mathis Huber eventually gave the green light for a performance in the autumn of 2005.

Mathis Huber	Michel Swierczewski

A symphony of superlatives with a complex structure

Before one says a single word about the musical and compositional qualities of the Herbstsymphonie and about the technical quality of the performance by the ‘Recreation’ Orchestra and its conductor Michel Swierczewski, one must - even as experienced critics - understand that it is impossible even for the practised ear to fathom and grasp the Herbstsymphonie in its entirety on first hearing, for it is too sophisticated in structure and at the same time too rich in sound, too polyphonic and too gigantic. For this reason a live performance of the Herbstsymphonie would almost certainly represent a great challenge to any orchestra in the world.

Stylistic relationship with great contemporaries

In order to gain a rough impression of the Herbstsymphonie, we should imagine the operas and richly orchestrated works of Schreker, Strauss and Korngold, as well as the symphonies of Bax, Howard Hanson and Vaughan Williams, also the most dazzling passages from works such as "La Mer", "Daphnis and Chloé", "The Poem of Ecstasy", "Prometheus - Poem of Fire" and "The Firebird"; then finally we should mix all this with Marx’s own musical language and set it - in the manner typical of the composer - in a many-layered, logical and carefully designed structure. And so it must be evident that we are speaking here of a bewitching, sumptuous work of gigantic dimensions.

Masterly performed by conductor and orchestra

On both of the evenings, along with around one thousand people on each occasion, I was privileged to experience the lavishly scored 75-minute Herbstsymphonie played by an almost 100-strong orchestra under a conductor who combined ecstasy with absolute concentration and exemplary dedication. Even the most difficult, sometimes almost impossible passages in which the entire orchestra and percussion have technically to surpass themselves were mastered with great bravura. Yet the quieter, emotionally contemplative pages were also interpreted so expressively by the orchestra that significant numbers of the audience in the Stefaniensaal were quite obviously deeply moved. In the rows all around one could see many individuals sitting with eyes closed, smiling peacefully and allowing themselves to be swept along by the torrent of ecstatic music. Many must have realised that they had been witnessing a very special musical event.

A gigantic flood of sound

The sound world conjured up by Joseph Marx in his Herbstsymphonie - one which, with its countless majestic climaxes and examples of opulent symphonic development, is more like some breathtaking, awe-inspiring roller coaster ride through the Himalayas - plunged the Stefaniensaal into an almost unreal atmosphere. And so perhaps this is why the symphony is so difficult to fathom: even after several hearings of the entire work (the final rehearsal and the two performances of 24th and 25th October), it was virtually impossible for myself and those with me (all of us with long experience of listening to the lushly orchestrated large-scale works of the late romantic period) really to take in what was flooding, indeed shaking our very senses, so stunned were we by the great waves of sound. I would describe it like this: the Herbstsymphonie is so astounding in its power, intensity and lavishness, so brimming with passion, and is as a result in the truest sense of the word so overwhelming that, faced with this wild roller coaster of emotions, anyone who hears it must soon acknowledge his inability to come to an immediate understanding of the piece. And the impression which might arise at this point that the Herbstsymphonie is without structure and thus, despite all its beauties, of little consequence turns out, on a third or fourth hearing - to be a great mistake: The score, woven around just four main themes, contains in fact a clear sense of progression and tension which, in the course of the individual movements that describe autumn in all its phases and emotions, is built logically and stretches from the first to the last minute of the symphony. Furthermore, the many completely unexpected changes of key, harmonic turns and switches between minor and major are evidence of the composer’s unprecedented boldness and almost frightening powers of creativity - which took me, a Marx expert, entirely by surprise.

The journey does not end here

Thus, from a compositional as well as sonic and psychological point of view, the Herbstsymphonie turns out to be a most extraordinary phenomenon - one which I have never before encountered in such an unrestrained form in all my years of studying the large-scale late-romantic/impressionist works of many other composers. And therefore I find myself unable to describe in simple words the feelings which came over me during the two performances (of which the second of 25th October has remained in my memory as the “better one"). Deep emotions, set off by the virtually unending tone-painting and returning motifs which are hidden everywhere in the score alternated with thoughts and memories of the outset of my research into Joseph Marx which had begun five years ago with - and it must have been fate - my “quest of the Herbstsymphonie”. For me things had to some extent come full circle: the initial objective of being able to hear the Herbstsymphonie sometime in my life and to see it recognised by the public has now been achieved, and it seems to me at this point in time virtually impossible to find something else in the sphere of music which will satisfy my thirst for absolute perfection in sound better than the Herbstsymphonie. So the question that arises is this: what will be next and how shall I proceed? What direction will this musical journey take now? Standing at this turning-point, I direct my attention to the choral works of Joseph Marx which were written years before the Herbstsymphonie and are the only orchestral works by the composer still awaiting rediscovery.

A personal thank you

After all this - and on behalf of the several thousand Marx fans from all over the world of whose existence I am aware - I would now like to offer my most sincere thanks and admiration to the courageous manager of the Large Orchestra of Graz and the Styriarte organisation, Mr Mathis Huber, and also to the fascinating and incredibly versatile conductor Michel Swieczewski, and to all of the esteemed members of the orchestra. I wish the orchestra and its management many further successes in the future and hope accordingly that the orchestral and choral works of Joseph Marx will be performed not only in the place of his birth, but also elsewhere in Austria, as well as in many other countries.

HOW THE GRAZ PERFORMANCES OF THE HERBSTSYMPHONIE WERE RECEIVED