Symphony No.8 - László Lajtha

Pécs Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nicolás Pasquet. I - Allègre et léger: 0:00 II - Lent et triste: 9:42 III - Très agité et toujours angoissé: 17:07 IV - Violent et tourmenté: 27:17 Lajtha's Symphony No.8 was composed in 1959. It was premiered on May 21 of 1960, performed by the Hungarian State Concert Orchestra conducted by János Ferencsik. The work was then performed in France with great success. The symphony also follows the more bleak and dissonant style of the previous one, fruit of the violent repression of the Hungarian revolution in 1956. The first movement is very free in form. A playful dancing motive is introduced by the bassoon, fleshed out into a full theme by the woodwinds. The music, despite being light and seemingly cheerful, it has deeper, darker nuances.There is no formal development nor new themes, following a series of fluid, continous variations through dialogues and colourful exchanges between instruments, interjected with new motives. A solo of the cello opens a widely lyrical passage, soon dominated again by the woods. The lively and lyrical variations thus alternate each other. A fantastical passage with tremolos of the strings leads us to an uplifting coda. The second movement is monothematic in form. It opens with a deeply bleak and melancholic main theme presented by the English horn, being born from the basses of the orchestra and darkly coloured. It is expressively developed, interrupted by brief orchestral outbursts. These appear as premonitions of something terrible coming. The music grows in a passionate climax as the theme appears on the violins, leading us to a calm coda. The third movement is very free in form. It begins with a timpani roll, followed by a series of motives presented through percussion and dissonant brasses. From these an anxious and restless main theme is formed on the strings in pianissimo. The composer's wife commented that it was an expression of restlessness and terror, unhindered haste, piercing screams. Woodwinds solos take place over percussive ostinatos, occassionally interrupted by violent brass calls. An accelerated passage leads us to a modest coda, with fatidical chimes of the bell. The fourth movement is structured as a rondo (A-B-A'-C-A''-Coda). It opens with an energic and dramatic main theme, becomes more and more dissonant and violent as it is exposed. According to what the composer's wife writes, it is a tragedy without consolation, comparing it with the atmosphere of Dante's Inferno. A contrastingly lyrical second theme is presented by the clarinets in canon. However, the main theme is soon forcefully recapitulated. A third lyrical theme is presented through a violin solo, more passionate and expressive. The main theme then menacingly reappears, leading restlessly us to a rather bleak coda. Picture: "The New Eve" (1924) by the Hungarian painter Sándor Bortnyik. Musical analysis written partially written by myself. Source: https://bit.ly/3GOV37q