Page 397 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
P. 397
escape from catalonia: the composing experience of roberto gerhard
into its textures various melodic phrases which appear to have a very per-
sonal connection for the composer, 50 the most notable being the trumpet
fanfare figure in the middle of the work, and the reappearance of an ex-
tended variant of the Catalan folk-song, El Cotiló, which Gerhard had sub-
tly infiltrated into various works during his career, the Cantata of 1932, Al-
bada, Interludi i Danza of 1936, Homenaje a Pedrell of 1941 and now this
symphony. Finally, it draws within its compass many of the features, espe-
cially the sound, of the electronic music that the composer had used in the
previous ten years.51
The experience of Gerhard was no accident. He had about twenty years
of mature composing in his native country and studied with the best teach-
ers, Albeniz, Pedrell and Schoenberg. During this period he naturally ab-
sorbed the influences of his teachers, but also made many attempts to in-
corporate features of the music of his homeland into his compositions. He
left his native country first for Paris then for England, where he settled per-
manently. Although Gerhard lived fairly comfortably but modestly in his
first ten years in Cambridge, he received very little recognition. His main
achievement was to compose a group of pieces that reflected Spain and Cat-
alonia in music, the ballet Don Quixote, the Symphony Homenaje a Pedrell
(though only the finale was performed), and the opera The Duenna. Clear-
ly Gerhard was doing what he knew best and acting as a musical ambassa-
dor for Spain. It was only after ten years that Gerhard really found his feet,
in a composing sense, when he had transformed Schoenberg’s twelve-note
technique to his own methods and learned how to maintain his links with
Spain. Gerhard then in just over twenty years produced a stream of inven-
tive and unique masterworks. This led step by step to the complete synthe-
sis of all these features in the masterly Symphony No.4 of 1967. It was this
achievement that must be considered the true justification for Gerhard’s
emigration.
The difficulties that he faced, however, were enormous. During the
Second World War and in the four or five years following, he concentrat-
ed on Catalan and/or Spanish music and subjects in order to develop his
technique and style without too much outside scrutiny. The reception of his
music in England was modest at first but with increasing performances and
a rising reputation, he became well known which encouraged the composer
50 Calum MacDonald, “Sense and Sound: Gerhard’s Fourth Symphony,” Tempo, 100
(March 1972): 25–29
51 Carlos Duque, “The Influence of Electronic Music on Roberto Gerhard’s Symphony
No.4 “New York,” The Roberto Gerhard Companion, 285–306.
395
into its textures various melodic phrases which appear to have a very per-
sonal connection for the composer, 50 the most notable being the trumpet
fanfare figure in the middle of the work, and the reappearance of an ex-
tended variant of the Catalan folk-song, El Cotiló, which Gerhard had sub-
tly infiltrated into various works during his career, the Cantata of 1932, Al-
bada, Interludi i Danza of 1936, Homenaje a Pedrell of 1941 and now this
symphony. Finally, it draws within its compass many of the features, espe-
cially the sound, of the electronic music that the composer had used in the
previous ten years.51
The experience of Gerhard was no accident. He had about twenty years
of mature composing in his native country and studied with the best teach-
ers, Albeniz, Pedrell and Schoenberg. During this period he naturally ab-
sorbed the influences of his teachers, but also made many attempts to in-
corporate features of the music of his homeland into his compositions. He
left his native country first for Paris then for England, where he settled per-
manently. Although Gerhard lived fairly comfortably but modestly in his
first ten years in Cambridge, he received very little recognition. His main
achievement was to compose a group of pieces that reflected Spain and Cat-
alonia in music, the ballet Don Quixote, the Symphony Homenaje a Pedrell
(though only the finale was performed), and the opera The Duenna. Clear-
ly Gerhard was doing what he knew best and acting as a musical ambassa-
dor for Spain. It was only after ten years that Gerhard really found his feet,
in a composing sense, when he had transformed Schoenberg’s twelve-note
technique to his own methods and learned how to maintain his links with
Spain. Gerhard then in just over twenty years produced a stream of inven-
tive and unique masterworks. This led step by step to the complete synthe-
sis of all these features in the masterly Symphony No.4 of 1967. It was this
achievement that must be considered the true justification for Gerhard’s
emigration.
The difficulties that he faced, however, were enormous. During the
Second World War and in the four or five years following, he concentrat-
ed on Catalan and/or Spanish music and subjects in order to develop his
technique and style without too much outside scrutiny. The reception of his
music in England was modest at first but with increasing performances and
a rising reputation, he became well known which encouraged the composer
50 Calum MacDonald, “Sense and Sound: Gerhard’s Fourth Symphony,” Tempo, 100
(March 1972): 25–29
51 Carlos Duque, “The Influence of Electronic Music on Roberto Gerhard’s Symphony
No.4 “New York,” The Roberto Gerhard Companion, 285–306.
395
