Urspruch: Piano Concerto & Symphony

Album review

More or less a contemporary of Rimsky-Korsakov or Vincent d'Indy (the two were friends), German composer Anton Urpruch (1850-1907) spent his whole life in the shadow of Brahms and then Bruckner, and absolutely refused to have anything to do with the new currents of the early 20th century, for which he was too old by then, and in any case in too poor health, as he died at the age of 58 from a heart attack... A sad end for a musician who, in 1871, was one of Liszt's favourite pupils, and whose output runs to only just 31 numbered works. Two operas, a little piano music, a little chamber music, a few works for choir, as well as a symphony and a piano concerto: this is his calling card; and these last two works are the subject of this rare and intriguing album. The Concerto, published in 1878, really starts out like Brahms, but quickly takes off and takes a more personal turn, strongly inspired by a polyphony inherited from Bach and great composers from long ago. As for the 1881 Symphony its 50 minutes seem to represent a missing link between... Hard to say. In it we can see the clarity of a Mendelssohn, the harmonic games of Schumann, and a little touch of French je-ne-sais-quoi which one might imagine originating in the Third Symphony by Saint-Saëns – only that work dates from 1885, and Urpruch's Symphony is dated 1881! This intriguing and rare gentleman is one to discover without delay, then. © SM/Qobuz