Gernsheim N

Symphony No 1,Op. 32 - Symphony No 2,Op. 46 - Symphony No 3,Op, 54 - Symphony No 4,Op. 62

Rhineland-Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra/Siegfried Köhler

Arte Nova     74321 63635-2 (129 minutes : DDD)

Reviewed: Gramophone (8/1999)
 
'Eminent player, composer and conductor', says Grove 4. 'He was at his best in chamber music, notably the Piano Quintet in B minor', says Concise Grove. And yet not one of his works is listed on the Gramophone Database, and many critics – including me – have never heard of him. Friedrich Gernsheim (1839-1916) was a stalwart of the Jewish community in Worms, a music director at Rotterdam and Saarbrucken and a friend and champion of Brahms. He was also an acquaintance of Rossini, Lalo and Saint-Saens, a teacher of Humperdinck and a noted composer of Lieder, choral music, instrumental and chamber works and a corpus of orchestral pieces. He wrote four attractive symphonies, and these are they – appealing pieces, often too discursive for their own good, and crowded with friendly allusions to Mendelssohn, Schumann, Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven, even Bruckner. If you need an approximate point of stylistic reference, then think in terms of Max Bruch's symphonic output.
The First Symphony (1875), in G minor, was premiered the year before Brahms's First, and although Gernsheim's biographer, Karl Holl, speaks of a shared 'affinity' between the two composers, evidence of Brahms's influence surfaced later. The opening is pensive, and the development fairly lyrical. Gernsheim's slow movements invariably blossom among comely melodic ideas, and the First's Larghetto is no exception. The bracing Scherzo harbours an appealing Trio, and the finale some Schubertian tremolandos and a hammering tutti near the coda that recalls Schubert's Ninth. The principal faults – as I hear them – relate mostly to a lack of held 'line' and a tendency to wander from what are often excellent initial ideas.
Gernsheim's Second (1882) in E flat, dedicated to 'The Philharmonic Society of Hamburg', has some remote key relationships in store as well as a strong hint of Brahms in the first movement's development section. Turn to the 'Notturno' and the beautiful opening clarinet melody (set above gently undulating strings) cries out for simple treatment, though within minutes Gernsheim's distracted muse rather complicates the course of things. I'm occasionally reminded of the enthusiastic over-crowding in Dvorak's (superior) early symphonies, music that I am none the less always delighted to revisit. Time will tell whether Gernsheim's appeal is equally long-lasting.
Like Brahms, Gernsheim was a dab hand at finales, and both the Second and Third Symphonies incorporate broadly stated Brahmsian themes that augur well for effective development. Initial promise isn't always fully realized, though some of Gernsheim's scoring is notably imaginative: I think in particular of his use of the harp in the Third's Molto adagio. The Third Symphony (1887), in C minor, known as Miriam, was initially inspired by a Leipzig performance of Handel's Israel in Egypt. 'Miriam stood before me as clear as one of the angels by Melozza da Forli in the sacristy of St Peter's in Rome,' wrote Gernsheim, 'and that image did not leave me.' The first movement's development takes some side-glances at Tchaikovsky (whether consciously or coincidentally, I cannot tell), the elfin Scherzo echoes Schumann, and the finale is strong on brass writing.
The B flat Symphony (1895), said to be a reflection on childhood memories, seems to me the best of the set. Indeed, the Fourth is as abundant in ideas as its predecessors but more focused, with an Elgarian slant to the melodic writing (most notably in the Andante sostenuto slow movement) and some delicate scoring in the finale. Gernsheim wrote especially well for strings, and his last symphony incorporates some especially effective cello lines.
Siegfried Kohler directs good, sturdy performances, never overstated though occasionally blurring a little around the edges. The Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic plays rather well and the recordings are warm and yielding – a little like the mellifluous sound frame that Philips achieved in East Germany during the 1960s and 1970s.
Although it would be stretching things a little to call Gernsheim an undiscovered 'great', playing the cycle twice through has given me much pleasure. Indeed, I doubt that lovers of Mendelssohn, Schumann or Bruch will consider either their money (precious little of which is needed) or their time wasted. A worthwhile enterprise, and a very happy musical encounter.