The first cycle of Englund’s seven symphonies is finally completed here (after 10 years and under its third conductor) with the Fourth and Fifth and an exuberantly parodistic theatre suite. Paavo Pohjola set the pace in the Fourth Symphony (1976) in the 1980s (Finlandia, 8/92 – nla); not until 1993 did a second appear, from Geza Szilvay’s fine youth orchestra. Well-phrased and zestful, especially in the ‘Tempus fugit’ scherzo, Szilvay’s focus on detail (in some places still the most finely realised) sacrificed momentum, a failing his rivals avoid. Panula plumbed deepest in the slow movement ‘Nostalgia’, though there is very little difference between his account and Klas’s; both set a more realistic tempo in the finale than Szilvay. Finlandia’s still excellent recording is edged out by Ondine’s.
The Fifth Symphony (1977) was recorded on LP by Jukka-Pekka Saraste; Englund once told me this was too fast, so I believe he would have approved of Klas’s better-judged version. Although titled Sinfonia Fennica (‘Finnish’ Symphony) and dedicated to the memory of President Paasikivi, the composer claimed it contained more of his wartime experiences than his famous War Symphony (No 1, 1946). In a bold, riveting single span, its full orchestration pairs very effectively with the strings-and- percussion of No 4.
The suite from the incidental music to Max Frisch’s The Great Wall of China (1949) is great fun. Pace the booklet-note, Englund parodied Shostakovich specifically in four of the eight movements, not just the March. ‘The Green Table Tango’ and ‘Rumba’ reveal what an adept light/jazz composer he also was (under the pseudonym, Marcus Eje). The Tampere band are really put through their paces here and come through very well. If Panula’s Naxos disc is still perhaps the best introduction to Englund’s music, this new disc should certainly be the next stop. Recommended