Jef Maes (b.
1905)
Symphony No.2
Viola Concerto
Ouverture
Concertante
Arabesque and
Scherzo for Flute and Orchestra
As a student of
the Antwerp composer and conductor Karel Candael - himself a student of
Lodewijk Mortelmans and Jan Blockx, who in their turn studied under Peter
Benoit -Jef Maes can be regarded as an 'artistic great- grandchild' of the
pioneer of the Flemish romantic movement. In this sense he is also a direct
heir of the renowned Antwerp School, started by
Peter Benoit. The social movement -'contact with the people, with the average
listener' - is, whatever the case, a concern which he shares with them. On a
technical- compositional level he also follows the same course of romanticism,
not so much in the choice of genres, not with large scale cantatas on
historical or popular themes in his works but more in the twentieth century. He
was certainly open to the new styles that were springing up everywhere. When
asked to describe his style, he likes to call himself a 'modem romantic', a
nineteenth century poet in the body of a twentieth century orchestrator.
In 1922, the
seventeen year old Jef Maes enrolled as a student at the Royal Flemish
Conservatory of Music in his home city of Antwerp. Initially it was his friend and contemporary Andre Cluytens, who
later took French nationality and became a well known conductor, who persuaded
him to take this step. A few years later Maes was awarded the First Prize for
viola and chamber music. His tutor for harmony, counterpoint and fugue was
Karel Candael. As a solo viola-player he worked with the most important chamber
music ensembles and symphony orchestras from his home town, and in this
privileged position, he enhanced, being self-taught, his knowledge of
orchestration. From the forties he gradually abandoned orchestral work in order
to spend more time teaching and - amongst other things he was chamber music
teacher at the Conservatory of Antwerp -and on composing. He kept in close
touch, however, with the concert world of the city and this led to him becoming
co-founder in 1955 of the Antwerp Philharmonic, the predecessor of the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders, which performs his work on the present
recording.
It was also this
orchestra which, on 17th October 1966, performed Jef Maes' Symphony No.2 in A,
conducted by the then chief conductor Eduard Flipse. The music had been
completed the year before and was dedicated by the composer to his childhood
friend and fel1ow student Andre Cluytens. In comparison with its predecessor,
this symphony sounds, certainly in the first two parts, especial1y sombre,
melancholy and sometimes even explicitly threatening. The work revolves around
the number 3: not only is the work in three parts, but each movement is itself
built up around three themes or motifs. In many cases the themes grow away from
each other organical1y, which improves the unity of the score considerably. The
second theme of the first movement for example is derived from the answer of
the string section to the iambic opening motif of the bassoons.
The second part
has a free rondo structure, where the melancholic cries of flute and oboe take
on the form of a chorus above the tension-fil1ed chords of the celeste, harp
and muted strings. Taking al1 three parts, this one is undoubtedly the most
impressionistic. In the finale the sombre mist, in which the work up to now had
been veiled, lifts. An a1most playful motif from the strings and the pure
fanfares of the brass contribute to the sudden about-turn. The tempo only slows
shortly before the end, but just at the moment that the symphony appears to be
bleeding to death in the same expressionless atmosphere in which it began, Maes
surprises again. Like an advancing brass- band the drums lay down a driving
rhythm from afar that carries along the whole orchestra in a joyful coda.
It is not really
surprising that Jef Maes would write as his first introduction to the concertante
style of writing a work for his own instrument, the viola. The Concerto for
Alto violin and Orchestra dates from the end of the thirties, but the first
performance, by the national broadcasting company orchestra featuring Rik Langewouters
as soloist, through force of circumstances, was only performed at the end of
1956. The romantic-expressive lines of the viola, in imitation of the big
romantic concertos, are kept in restraint by the sturdy straight-jacket of a
classical structure. Although the orchestral refinement that pervades Maes'
later works is only present in embryonic form, this work is also beguiling. The
more than twenty years separating the Concerto for alto violin and the Arabesque
and Scherzo for Flute and Orchestra and the unavoidable evolution which the
composer underwent in that period, can be heard immediately in the first bars
of the Arabe5que. The chromatic, swaying melodies of the flute and the
colourful orchestral accompaniment point to a more than superficial flirtation
with impressionism. The whimsical, arabesque poetry flows hardly noticeably
with a trill in the flute into the Scherzo, which takes its strength
from the pulsating rhythm and the fast tempo.
The Concertante
Overture was an occasional work, meant to celebrate in 1961 the eightieth
birthday of the Antwerp patron Marcel Baelde who was president of
the Royal Harmony Association, and who stimulated music to a large extent in
the city. Therefore Jef Maes decided to include the occasion for the
composition in the score. The main theme of the work is built up around the I
six letters of Baelde's name (B=si, A=la, E=mi, L=la, D=re, E=mi) which at the beginning
of the work are declaimed in various rhythmic guises in a playful Allegro
molto, a rousing march and a solemn hymn which starts with the horns and is
passed on to the whole orchestra. The return of the Allegro molto gives
us the final climax, but not before the BAELDE motif has been heard once again.
The title, Concertante Overture is misleading in this case, since the
work f] does not contain a single concertante element. It is better to regard
the term as
a rather unusual
synonym for the traditional concert overture.
