Top-drawer symphonies
Symphony No.2 \"The Legendary\" encapsulates what EDUARD TUBIN's symphonic form is all about - and it's a perfect place to begin the exploration of his ten symphonies. Right from the start there's a massive feeling of epic adventure and glorious nature. A big and bold work that beckons in the mind's-eye big and bold imagery: mountains, oceans, dynamic skies, vast snowfields etc. And yet it is not without passages of mysterious tension and giddiness, frailty and blissful uncertainty. A work of strong destiny. Symphony No.6 is less heroic, more subtle and changeable, though by no means inferior. Trains of musical thought clash and fight in ways I'll define as ironic, enigmatic, buoyant, sparky, capricious ... My flawed review technique is failing, so I'll finish by saying simply that these two symphonies are A-1 compositions excellently performed - \"The Legendary\" being the brighter star.
