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J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos

Alois Melichar

The conductor Alois Melichar’s musical career is somewhat different from that of others. He already began at the age of 12 as a violinist in his father’s orchestra. Later he studied counterpoint and composition at the Vienna Academy of music. His was influenced by among others Franz Schreker and Josef Marx. From 1923 he was an orchestral conductor, music teacher and choirmaster in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan and Georgia. In these countries he also collected folk-music. On returning to Berlin, he was active as the musical editor of Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung for a year before becoming the chief conductor and musical leader of Deutsche Grammophon. He was here from 1927 until 1933, but at the same time he was permanently employed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra until 1934. For the most part he was responsible for the more popular repertoire and made many recordings of, for example, Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio italien and the Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, Sibelius’s Finlandia, Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, Strauss’s Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald and other works. It looks as though this series of recordings continued at least until 1940. But he also made a large quantity of records with other orchestras, also of large-scale works.
As time went on, the composition of film music became his primary occupation. He wrote music for more than 60 films between 1933 and 1956. After the war he attempted to play down his role during Hitler’s regime. He maintained that he was prohibited from conducting, but already his recording activity shows that this was not the case. He managed even so to continue his career to such an extent that he came to conduct both the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphonic orchestras, and from 1946 to 1949 he was the leader of the classical music department of one of the radio stations in Vienna. Later he moved to Munich, where he was among other things active as a polemic writer on musical matters and declaimed against, for example, Schönberg’s music. A couple of his book titles speak volumes: “Schönberg und die Folgen” (Schoenberg and his Consequences) and “Musik in der Zwangsjacke” (Music inthe Straitjacket). It seems obvious that he was an intransigent, uncompromising and at times self-opinionated person, but with an unquestionable musical talent which he exploited with considerable efficiency. At the same time his energy and capacity for work were second to none.
We do not see the interest in the Brandenburg concertos to which his recordings testify elsewhere in his career. Something or other must have aroused his interest to such an extent that unlike most people who occupied themselves with baroque instrumental music in the 1920s, he developed independently the conception about precisely the music which his recordings reveal. It could well be that similar thoughts also occurred to others, but Melichar is the only one who committed his ideas to recordings. It is possible that Furtwängler’s recording of the third concerto was a thorn in his flesh. It is so much a shot in the dark that it may well not be true, but I must admit that the thought has occurred to me, and I believe that he was green with envy because he was not also allowed to record it with the three violins, three violas, three cellos and double-bass which the score prescribes.
His recordings are not very well known and the records are scarce, even among collectors, complete sets are rarely found, but oddly enough I have managed to obtain one. Many things are unknown about the recordings and the circumstances surrounding them, but the internet has various pieces of information which I cannot verify, but which seem likely. See, for example, Bach cantatas website, where it is possible to find the place of recording and dates as well as the names of many of the soloists. Only the soloists in the first and second concertos are given on the record labels. Where this information comes from, I am unable to say, but perhaps it was gleaned from some of the performers? The records are German POLYDOR, and its archives were destroyed during the war, but it is not impossible that some of the information stems from private persons who removed or copied material. Perhaps the Philharmonic Orchestra is in possession of information.

Š Claus Byrith (Except for D 683-4 all records are from my own collection)

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CD 1

J.S. Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV1046

  1. I. No tempo indication
  2. II. Adagio
  3. III. Allegro
  4. IV. Menuetto-Trio I – Polacca- Trio II

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Alois Melichar
Soloist: Szymon Goldberg, Violin – Gustav Kern, oboe
Polyphon 27313 – 15, Mtx.: 691 BE8, 692 BE8, 740 BE8 – 742 BE8. Rec 1932

Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV1047 

  1. I. No tempo indication. Melichar gives Allegro
  2. II. Andante
  3. III. Allegro assai

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Alois Melichar
Soloists: Paul Spörri, trumpet – Albert Harzer, flflute – Gustav Kern, Oboe
Szymon Goldberg, Violin – Hans Bottermund, cello
Polyphon 27293 – 94. Mtx. : 1251 BI 8 – 1254 BI8. Rec 1932

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV1048

  1. I. No tempo indication. Furtwängler gives Allegro con spirito
  2. II Allegro assai. Furtwängler gives only allegro

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Wilhelm Furtwängler
Polyphon 95417 – 18. Mtx.: 1104 BI1 – 1106 BI1. Rec 1930

Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major, BWV1049

  1. Allegro
  2. II. Andante
  3. III. Presto

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Alois Melichar
Soloists: Heinrich Breiden and Albert Harzer, flutes
Polydor 27307 – 09. Mtx.: 699 BE8 – 703 BE8. Rec 1933

 

CD 2

J.S. Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV1050

  1. I. Allegro
  2. II. Affettuoso
  3. III. Allegro

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Alois Melichar
Soloists: Siegfried Borries, violin – Friedrich Thomas, flute – Franz Rupp, cembalo
Polydor 15073 – 76. Mtx.: 461 GS8 – 467 GS8. Rec 1934

Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat Major, BWV1051

  1. I. No tempo indication. Melichar gives allegro
  2. II. Adagio ma non tanto
  3. III. Allegro

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Alois Melichar
Soloists: Reinhard Wolf and Kurt Oberländer, viola – Paul and Sylvia GrĂźmmer, viole da gamba
Wolfgang Kleber, cello – Hermann Menzel, bass – Eta Harich-Schneider, harpsichord
Polydor 15066 – 67, Mtx.: 749 GE8 – 752 GE8. Rec 1934

Bonus tracks:

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV1048

  1. Goosens only states Part 1 & 2
  2. Goosens only states Part 3

Royal Albert Hall Orchestra
Conductor: Eugene Goossens
HMV D683 – 84, Mtx.: Cc1535 – 37. Rec 1922 or 23

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV1048

  1. I. No tempo indication and Høeberg gives none
  2. II. Høeberg gives no tempo indication
  3. III. Høeberg gives no tempo indication

Berlin State Opera Orchestra
Conductor: Georg Høeberg
Nordisk Polyphon S 200004 – 006. Mtx.: 1629as – 1631as. Rec 1924

 

  1. Toccata & Fugue in D minor, BWV565 arr. Melichar

Berliner Philharmoniker
Conductor: Alois Melichar
Polyphon 15243Mtx.: 1044 GS 9 – 1045 GS9. Rec 1939

 

In the late romantic era there was little or no interest in Bach’s instrumental music.
But after the great upheaval which occurred in music especially in the first decade of the 20th century, there was a gradual resurgence of interest. In the years after 1920 this interest was evident with the issuing of gramophone records.

Until 1926 records were made without the use of microphones, amplifiers or other electrical equipment. It was the sound itself, captured by a large horn, which generated the energy to transmit the music or speech to the grooves. This method of recording is called acoustical as opposed to electrical, which was wholly predominant after 1926.
Considerations of space preclude an explanation of the process of recording and manufacture, even though in itself it is of great interest, so let it suffice to say that far from all types of music were suitable for acoustical recording. The human voice was in fact the best suited to this process. Partly because the considerably limited frequency range did not matter so much, because it actually covered the range which is most important for reproducing the human voice, and partly because it was easy to place the singer or speaker in a favourable position near to the horn, unlike, for example, a larger group of instruments.
But the limited frequency range meant that the characteristic sound of certain instruments was so obliterated that, for example, in the higher ranges it could be difficult to hear the difference between a violin and a flute. In general, strings were difficult to reproduce, and not until the beginning of the 1920s had recording technique become sufficiently advanced to make it possible to make acoustically recorded orchestral records of an acceptable quality.

Š Claus Byrith

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 2024

CATALOGUE NUMBER: DACOCD 975

EAN: 5709499975008

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