Mogens Woldike (A remembrance)
Alan Watkins
Mackerras whom I admire greatly.
During the course of this discussion I mentioned the conductor Mogens
Woldike in particular reference to his Haydn recordings which brought
a response from another poster. I do not want to detract from the
thread on Sir Charles so have started a new piece and expanded it to
the other groups I know in case it is of interest.
David Gable commented that Mr Woldike's recording of the last Haydn
symphonies was "stunning" and asked what else he had recorded.
The composer Bob Simpson first drew my attention to the Haydn
recordings of Mogens Woldike many years ago and, on his advice, I
purchased such recordings as were available. Bob had met Mogens when
writing his biography of Nielsen as Mogens had been a pupil of the
composer. He also translated some vital documents for Bob and as a
result of that collaboration the two became firm friends.
Bob said to me: "You MUST listen to his London symphonies" (Vanguard)
and so I did and was enthralled by them. This was a long time ago when
there was no such thing as "early music" or very little of it but he
was someone delineating Haydn's sharp rhythms with what was clearly a
small orchestra. All the "mush" had gone. Everything about it seemed
right and almost 40 years on it still seems right.
I had the great privilege of meeting him when, as previously posted, I
organised the first recording (in collaboration with Bob) of any
Havergal Brian symphony. Mogens was in the UK at the time and Bob
invited him to the rehearsals at the De Montfort Hall, Leicester,
which he attended, liking Brian very much (in particular Symphony 10).
On the second night of those rehearsals I had dinner with Bob and
Mogens, the intention being that I would return to London immediately
afterwards. As we will still discussing music in the hotel lounge at
2 a.m. this did not happen! Before we finished the first course I
discovered a shared enthusiasm for the great singer Netania Davrath
and Dermota and Walter Berry among others, all of whom he had recorded
with. The singer he most regarded appeared to be Aksel Schiotz of
whom I knew little at the time but Berry was later to write to Bob
Simpson: "Of all the conductors I have worked with, Woldike has a
special place."
He was a charming man, full of humour, full of laughter, small in
stature but big in heart. I remember him saying that he wanted to
promote small scale performances of Haydn for he believed that the
(then) common place large forces destroyed the balance and, as he put
it, "destroy the cleverness of Haydn's writing. The larger the
forces, the larger the amount is lost. How can you do 102 with a big
orchestra? You miss all the jokes or very likely make them nothing.
Haydn is like some intricate machine and would you not appreciate that
machine better if you could hear those intricacies rather than being
overwhelmed with the noise? You would not know how the noise had got
there!"
His memories of Nielsen were wonderful. "He was never really critical
of his students but if you failed to meet his standards or, being a
student, had not spent as much time on preparation as he had wished
(much laughter, students are students then and now) he would just look
at you with such sadness that it was far worse than any Professor who
raged at you. You know he was terribly insecure? He once said to me
that he did not think he would be remembered for anything which was
shocking to me for he was a musical God for so many of us at that time
and I recall thinking that if he was not going to be remembered what
would happen to all of us?"
On Haydn: "He had a musical freedom that Mozart did not entirely
understand. There is a village boy to Haydn that Mozart would not
know. That is not better but it is different. It is a different boy!
In the schoolhouse, it would have been Haydn throwing something at
the teacher when he was not looking, not Mozart but of course Mozart
would have got the best marks. But not for daring!. Listen to 1 and
2 of Beethoven. I doubt they would have happened without Haydn.
There is very little Mozart in there."
On Bach: "He had the skill of taking all before him and refining their
achievements. A lot of those before him, particularly vocal
composers, had multiple lines of music, of counterpoint. Bach had
that unique skill of adopting and adapting that into what was the
first most important line...what was the second most important
line....what was the third most important line. He leaves nothing to
chance, in my view."
And then he launched into all the people I had at that time (to my
shame) never heard of: Dufay, Binchois, Hassler, Ockeghem, Obrecht all
of which he recorded for the "Haydn Society". (Extracts only, but it
was a start).
I remember him saying: "This early stuff is as wonderful as anything.
I do not think we realise where we are coming from sometimes or what
our history is. Listen to the harmonics from these people. We have
not invented anything. We use different means but we do not invent.
If Dufay was around today he would be a towering person but he
probably began with the Troubadours. There is some wonderful
Troubadour music you know."
To me, during the course of the evening: "I love the timpani and they
seem to attract such unusual people. You have to count and I just
make it up and play continuo."
Kind regards,
Alan M. Watkins
David Melnick
>
>
> He was a charming man, full of humour, full of laughter, small in
> stature but big in heart.
Uncanny as it may seem, that's how I imagined him all these
decades. I mean, exactly!
A wonderful reminiscence, Alan. Thank you so much.
David
Nightingale
>
> To me, during the course of the evening: "I love the timpani and they
> seem to attract such unusual people. You have to count and I just
> make it up and play continuo."
>
He sounds like a wonderful person. I love reading you stories - thanks
for posting this.
Bob Reith
conductor, so this reminiscence is invaluable.
Not only the aforementioned Haydn London symphonies (as well as earlier Haydn
syms), but his Handel Saul, Bach St Matthew Passion, and Haydn Creation are
superb. Also, reputed to be a fine Neilsen conductor.
Bob
David7Gable
Thanks for the wonderful memoir, Alan.
-david gable
David7Gable
A couple of posters have mentioned Wöldike's recordings of Haydn's "London"
symphonies. I have the set of the last six. Did he also record the first six?
-david gable
Richard Loeb
"Alan Watkins" <alanwa...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:62c8649c.04091...@posting.google.com...
Richard Bernas
I vividly remember Woldike's St Matthew Passion, my first recrding of
the piece, with excellent performances from Berry and Kmentt and
expecially Stich-Randall and Rossel-Majdan's beautiful, hushed and
intense duet at the end of Part One.
Richard
Richard S. Sandmeyer
Richar...@aol.com (Richard Bernas) wrote:
In addition to the other Woldike recordings mentioned in this thread, he
recorded Carl Nielsen's Fynsk Forar. I don't believe it has appeared on
CD. In LP days it was released in the US on Mercury, and later I saw it
on Philips; I don't know its release history in other countries. I'd
buy a copy if it came out on CD at mid-price or below -- I might even
pay full price for it depending on the fillers.
--
Rich Sandmeyer
rich dot sand at verizon dot net
Alan Hayward
Yes, a quite beautiful recording and a personal favourite. I have the LP,
released in the UK on Philips. I have never seen any re-issue of this
recording in any format and, like you, I would certainly purchase a CD re-
issue as my much played LP is showing its age.
--
Alan Hayward
normanstrong
"Alan Hayward" <alan_h...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9568B871AA0CCa...@217.32.252.50...
My Danish is not too good. Would Fynsk Forar by any chance translate
as Sprintime in Funan?
Thanks,
Norm Strong
Alan Hayward
> My Danish is not too good. Would Fynsk Forar by any chance translate
> as Sprintime in Funan?
Indeed, it does. Well, "Springtime" anyway ;-).
--
Alan Hayward
Alan Watkins
> Thanks for the wonderful memoir, Alan.
>
> -david gable
He recorded quite a lot but possibly not much of it is available these
days. Several performances stand out to me (apart from the London set
you mention which has to be heard, even in these days of HIP).
He recorded all the Buxtehude cantatas and I assume was the first
person to do so, remembering that people like him and Machaut were
virtually unknown to all but scholars in those days. And Mogens was a
scholar, no mistake.
There is a Bach recording, Cantatas 12/29 on Vanguard with Netania
Davrath, Hilde Rossel-Majdan, Anton Dermota and Walter Berry. It is
one of the rare opportunities to hear Ms Davrath in this type of
repertoire and, for me, it makes her early death from cruel illness
particularly sad. As I mentioned both Mogens and I had a profound
respect for her music making.
As a side note, Ms Davrath made some recordings of Jewish music which
I have always sought and never been able to find...if anyone knows if
they can still be obtained I would be delighted for any information.
Other recommended recordings are his wonderful Haydn Creation, Mass in
Time of War, and perhaps above all his St Matthew Passion. This is a
"blazing" performance of great intensity and one of the best
performances I have heard.
I have heard so many dirge like performances of this work (no names)
but this moves with reasonable pace, great singing and playing, and
you sense from the start that the conductor has an overall design here
and knows exactly what it is. The climaxes of the work are
tremendous. I can only compare it with Klemperer who (for me) turns
it into a Funeral Mass, not a great story. Woldike brings this music
alive and you do sense storytelling, or so I think.
It is a strange thing that conductors who have a speciality in choral
music - and Mogens would agree that he had a special interest in that
- seem to be among the most forgotten. Miroslav Venhoda in the Czech
Republic (another great scholar but whose music making was "so" alive)
has met the same fate.
One of the reasons we were still in the hotel lounge at 2 a.m. was
Nielsen's piece Springtime on Funen. I had just played this for the
first time and had fallen in love with it, discovering that Mogens had
done so somewhat earlier than me...and had recorded it (It is
currently available on Regis records in UK and is a wonderful
performance).
It is, I think, easy to fall in love with this little piece which
celebrates Nielsen's childhood on this beautiful little island.
Written for fairly small orchestra, soloists and children's choir it
is sheer beauty from beginning to end and "pure" Nielsen.
I told Mogens a story which much amused him and which I will repeat.
The performance was by Kosler for Prague Radio and included the Little
Suite for Strings and finally Peer Gynt Suite 2.
It was a normal 10-5 rehearsal. Strings did the Little Suite first
(which they had done before) and Funen followed (which no one knew)
with the soloists. We did it twice I think and it went well. In the
afternoon we started on Peer Gynt and he was happy with it by about 4.
Kosler then said: "Shall we do Funen again?" And the orchestra said:
"Yes":):) So we did it TWICE more without the soloists.
Funen has a wonderful triangle part, in particular a solo dialogue
with the soprano (Nielsen was a marvellous writer for the triangle and
percussion in general). And so I got to do it at least four times
before the actual recording. I was very happy. Mogens laughed and
said: "I always rehearse it MUCH more than I need to! I love it so
much."
When Mogens mentioned the insecurity of Nielsen, I noticed Bob Simpson
nodding vigorously in agreement and Bob said that Nielsen's widow had
confirmed that this was his usual state of mind. Bob said: "She told
me that he often said: "I think this is only for now, not for the
future." In his "brighter" moments he had hopes for Sym 2/5 and
Maskerade but I got the impression that the brighter moments were not
that long lasting.
A little story which may or may not be known. Bob spent hours with
Nielsen's widow when preparing his biography and one day she said to
him: "You are a composer and there is something I would like you to
have." She then presented him with the silver propelling pencil with
which her husband had written most of his scores. Bob said it was
one of the most moving moments in his life and I would think many
might understand that.
Until Bob was struck down with a stroke which immobilised the gripping
ability of his hands (and left him with a permanent headache, similar
to that experienced by the Danish composer Peter Erasmus Lange-Muller)
he used Nielsen's pencil to write HIS scores from then on. When he
could no longer grip a pencil, the Sibelius computer programme took
over and his last works were written on this. Most of the Simpson
symphonies were sketched with the Nielsen pencil.
If you like the London symphonies, I would think you would like much
else of what Mogens recorded. The "style" is the same.
Buxtehude has a special place in this house, not only for his music
but for the fact that my daughter, aged five at the time, on enquiring
who had written the organ music that was being played interpreted this
as Bunta Hoover and he is referred to in this way to this day:):)
Alan Watkins
> the piece, with excellent performances from Berry and Kmentt and
> expecially Stich-Randall and Rossel-Majdan's beautiful, hushed and
> intense duet at the end of Part One.
>
> Richard
Yes. It is the intensity which makes this such a great performance.
A master of dynamics, I think, the secret of so much music.
Richard S. Sandmeyer
"normanstrong" <norman...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Norm Strong
>
>
Yes, "Springtime in Funen" is the English for "Fynsk Forar" (there is a
small circle above the "a" in Forar, but I don't have it on my
keyboard).
The recording of Fynsk Forar that Alan Watkins mentions on Regis is
directed by Thomas Veto, though the same CD does include three Nielsen
Motets directed by Woldike as fillers. Veto's is a delightful recording
of FF, but I wish the Woldike recording were available on CD for
comparison.
Alan Hayward
> The recording of Fynsk Forar that Alan Watkins mentions on Regis is
> directed by Thomas Veto, though the same CD does include three Nielsen
> Motets directed by Woldike as fillers. Veto's is a delightful recording
> of FF, but I wish the Woldike recording were available on CD for
> comparison.
Yes, Alan Watkin's post sent me poste haste to the Regis website only to
find that recording he referred to is a re-issue of a disc originally
released by Unicorn-Kanchana with the three Motets added. The other piece
on the disc is a Suite from Aladdin, conducted by Mr. Veto.
Agreed, this is a delightful recording but it isn't quite in the same class
as the Woldike which is that bit more exuberant and which, played on a
miserable winter's day, lifts the spirits more than does the Veto.
--
Alan Hayward
Rodger Whitlock
> [Woldike] recorded Carl Nielsen's Fynsk Forar. I don't believe
> it has appeared on CD. In LP days it was released in the US on
> Mercury, and later I saw it on Philips; I don't know its
> release history in other countries. I'd buy a copy if it came
> out on CD at mid-price or below -- I might even pay full price for
> it depending on the fillers.
That makes two of us. I've got a couple of newer recordings on
CD: the Segerstam is pretty good, the Vanska only so-so, but
neither quite captures the vernal freshness of Woldike's account.
For those not familiar with it, Fynsk Forar is one of those works
best described as "life-affirming". When you're constipated from
listening to too much Bruckner and Brahms, and irritated by the
Vienna Second School to the point you kick the cat, Fynsk Forar
will help you recover your equanamity and perspective. It won't
open your bowels, but at least you'll feel a lot better.
No, wait, that's (as usual) not quite right. It won't *directly*
open your bowels, but with Fynsk Forar you may find yourself
hopping, skipping, and dancing about, which often does the trick
quite nicely.
A truly joyous piece of music, quite un-self conscious, and the
work of a true master.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]
Alan Watkins
> CD: the Segerstam is pretty good, the Vanska only so-so, but
> neither quite captures the vernal freshness of Woldike's account.
>
> For those not familiar with it, Fynsk Forar is one of those works
> best described as "life-affirming". When you're constipated from
> listening to too much Bruckner and Brahms, and irritated by the
> Vienna Second School to the point you kick the cat, Fynsk Forar
> will help you recover your equanamity and perspective. It won't
> open your bowels, but at least you'll feel a lot better.
>
> No, wait, that's (as usual) not quite right. It won't *directly*
> open your bowels, but with Fynsk Forar you may find yourself
> hopping, skipping, and dancing about, which often does the trick
> quite nicely.
>
> A truly joyous piece of music, quite un-self conscious, and the
> work of a true master.
That is a VERY good description of the piece. It's a delightful piece
to play (not particularly easy) but just such a refreshing piece of
music.
Ramon Khalona
Wöldike did not record all twelve London symphonies. His recordings
of The Creation and of Bach's Saint Matthew Passion are also
excellent.
RK