Swiss Symphonic Composers, Vol. 4 -

ALOŸS FORNEROD (1890-1965): Prométhée enchaîné, Op. 34, BERNARD REICHEL (1901-1992): Pièce symphonique for Orchestra with Organ, ALPHONSE ROY (1906-2000): Ballade for Large Orchestra, LAURENT METTRAUX (b.1970): Ombre, Vision immanente.

Description: Fornerod’s 1948 piece is an 11-minute concert overture in the form of Egmont or Coriolan which opens gloweringly, moves into harsh tones of struggle and ends in quiet resolution. Previous Fornerod pieces we’ve had were Ravelian but this is of much sterner stuff. Roy’s 18-minute Ballade from 1950 is cut from the same cloth but is even more manic-depressive, with two shattering climaxes of neo-romantic brutality that will test your speakers (and nerves). The Reichel (1946) is somewhat more contained and may remind you of some of Honegger’s music from the same period. Mettraux (1995-98) takes Poe’s “Shadow - A Parable”, a three-page distillation of the horror of death, and turns it into a 17-minute nightmare using all the tools in a modern composer’s toolbox; the eight-minute 1992 Vision (source of inspiration unknown) isn’t exactly a stroll in the sun either. Margarita Jeskina (organ), Volgograd Symphony Orchestra; Emmanuel Siffert.