Jan Křtitel Vaňhal (Wanhal): Symphony in A Flat Major, Bryan Ab1, Toronto Camerata, Kevin Mallon

Jan Křtitel Vaňhal (Wanhal) - Symphony in A Flat Major (Bryan Ab1), Toronto Camerata, Kevin Mallon (conductor) Molto – 0:00 Molto Cantabile – 05:33 I & II – 11:21 : Allegro Molto – 14:01 Jan Křtitel Vaňhal (Johann Baptist Wanhal; the modern Czech form Jan Křtitel Vaňhal was introduced in the 20th century) (12 May 1739 – 20 August 1813) was a Czech classical music composer. He was born in Nechanice, Bohemia, and died in Vienna. While being a prolific organist, he also played the Violin and Cello. Vaňhal was one of the most popular Viennese composers during his lifetime. His music was well respected by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. History, however, has been unkind to his reputation, the result of irresponsible statements that were made by imaginative authors who were neither acquainted with him personally nor his circumstances. Wild claims have been made that early in his career he was so overcome by madness caused by religious fervour that he burned some of his music and thereafter the quality of compositions deteriorated so much that he never realised the promise of his early works. The absurdity of this assertion is at once apparent from the works on this recording. His immense vitality and inventiveness are evident and illustrate why Vaňhal was considered such an important exponent of the genre. The magnificent Symphony in A flat, composed in all likelihood in Vienna about 1772-1773, is unique among Vaňhal’s symphonies both on account of its key and the use of a horn soloist in the second movement. Although the work appears to have circulated reasonably widely in manuscript, it was never published in the composer’s lifetime. Symphonies in the key of Aflat major are seldom encountered in the eighteenth century. Vanhal’s choice of such an unusual key is, therefore, interesting and might well reflect aesthetic considerations, the special effect (Affekt) of the key itself. Equally, however, it might have been to complement the second movement which features a solo horn (in E flat), accompanied by a choir of strings ‚con sordino’, and two oboes, a lovely effect that results from the timbre of the horn combined with the swirling semiquaver-dominated, gossamer sound of the muted strings. The horn part is carefully written. It is confined to the notes available on the natural horn without hand-stopping and is less demanding than the second movements of the horn concertos by Mozart and Haydn, but it still requires a player with flexibility and ability. One might suppose that it would be playable by the average first hornist who would be encountered in the normal Viennese orchestra, that is, not a virtuoso. It would be interesting to know for whom this symphony was written, and who was the horn player entrusted to perform the lyrical second movement. By the time Vaňhal composed the Symphony in A flat major he had already written more than fifty symphonies. It is a serious work, the product of a mature composer whose concept of what a symphony should be was well established in his mind.”(excerpts from liner notes by Paul Bryan and Allan Badley)