An analysis by Audrey Roncigli
Introduction
Symphony n°7 (adagio) by Bruckner
Coriolan Overture by Beethoven
Introduction
This analysis is based on a perspective
of cultural history: it concerns the
political interpretation of war
recordings, or how, from the audio
sources, one can reveal both the impact
of the political, moral and social
context, and the artist’s reaction to
such a troubled world.
Furtwängler’s war recordings leave
behind a testimony of a period of
revolt, tragic but also hopeful, as no
other conductor “at war” was able to do.
It is up to us to let the Maestro’s
interpretations (of e.g. Bruckner’s or
Beethoven’s symphonies) “speak”, based
on comparative listening of war
recordings and those before and after
the war. How does he create tension or
hope using simple musical means like
crescendo or the choice of tempo?
How do the war interpretations become
unique and reflective of a troubled
political context? So many questions
which we will try to answer and which
will shed new light on the art of the
maestro during Germany’s dark years.
We have chosen two works for
comparative listening:
- The adagio from Bruckner’s
Symphony n°7
- The Coriolan Overture by
Beethoven.
The musical excerpts are presented in
the following order:
- year of recording
- the musical excerpts used follow each
other as one would expect: for each
selected passage, you will hear the war
followed by the after-war version, with
identical sections presented to allow
for direct comparison
- interpretative analysis.
Translation Alex Demetriou.
(c) 2007
The composer | The man - | The conductor