Eduard Tubin - Symphonies Nos.2 and 6

Eduard TUBIN (1905-1982)

Symphony No.2 "The Legendary" (1937)

Symphony No.6 (1954)

The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Neeme Jarvi

Eduard Tubin was one of the greatest symphonists of the 20th century, and of all time. Although he remains lesser known, Tubin's symphonies stand with the biggest and finest. For scale, originality and impact, the Tubin cycle is one of the most compelling in music. A founding father of the Estonian symphony (along with Heino Eller and Kaljo Raid), Tubin's work, like Estonia geographically, is idiomatically regional yet far-reaching and international at the same time. Tubin's compositions were unique, but one can hear indirect influences and orchestral colors common with Sibelius, Bartok, Kodaly, English composers Vaughan Williams, Moeran and Bax, and some of the 20th century Russian composers, notably Shostakovich and darker works of Prokofiev and even Martinon.

Neeme Jarvi, an ardent and lifelong champion of Tubin's music, worked directly with the composer on these pioneering recordings. The Neeme Jarvi Tubin cycle captures the spectrum of Tubin's vast and varied sound world with a mastery that will never be matched (more recent recordings conducted by Arvo Volmer are noble attempts that do not rival Jarvi). The performances are passionate, insightful, intense, and note for note brilliant. This CD features the Second and Sixth symphonies.

Symphony no 2 offers sweeping vistas, a blend of pastoral and triumphant. This earlier work is reminiscent of Bax and Sibelius.

The much different Symphony No. 6 is from the 1950s. It is a brooding, jagged and slashing combat symphony, depicting a bitter conflict between jazzy modernity and then-contemporary sounds (that Tubin abhorred) with other music. One of the most violent symphonies of all time, no. 6 is an orchestral showcase on par with the Lutowslawski Concerto for Orchestra.