<<  -- 3 --  Robert Anderson    ORCHESTRAL COLOUR

Perhaps this is Atterberg's besetting sin: his very real skill in building a climax means he too seldom resists the temptation of manufacturing one. Symphony No 5 betrays at once its origin in the First World War. The opening is violent and uncompromising, but settles to a powerful tune of passionate conviction [listen -- track 4, 0:42-1:44]. It is a sombre work, of which the composition extended till 1922. The symphony makes no concession to post-war economy, and there is no hint of irony in the waltz that takes over much of the finale. Maybe Atterberg would have claimed it as another hoax. In sum, this is a late-Romantic symphony deploying large forces to telling effect, as witness the galvanic bars that launch the finale [listen -- track 6, 0:00-1:03]. I still await my two thousand pounds-worth of Symphony No 6, preferably from the Frankfurt Radio SO under Ari Rasilainen. Their performance on this CD is passport to my approval.

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