An Easter Symphony from the Czech Composer Josef Bohuslav Foerster

Josef Bohuslav Foerster

Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859-1951) is not a name that has appeared here before. Among composers, he is not as well known as his Czech forebears Bedřich Smetana and Antonin Dvořák, or even his younger contemporary Otakar Ostrčil, who like Foerster had evolved Czech music in the direction of late Romanticism.

Even so, Foerster's music is well constructed and highly enjoyable, and today we have what I believe to be the only recording of his best-known work, the Symphony No. 4 in C minor, the "Easter" symphony.

The composer began work on the symphony on Good Friday, 1904, and soon began to incorporate Easter themes in his work. Foerster himself said that the first two movements reflected meditations on Easter as seen by a child and an adult, with the third movement a prayer, and the fourth a celebration of the Resurrection. However, the subtitle "Easter" was dropped upon publication, although it is generally designated as such today.

The symphony is in the Czech lineage, with the influence of Dvořák evident but with traces of Mahler in the final movement, including the ending, which is reminiscent of Mahler's first symphony. Foerster was a friend of the German composer, and the symphony was composed in part in Vienna, where Mahler was director of the Imperial Opera. Foerster's wife, Berta Foersterová-Lautererová, was among the singers at the Opera.

Václav Smetácek

The performance here - a good one - is led by Václav Smetácek, who recorded several of Foerster's works for the Czech company Supraphon. Smetácek conducts what is called the Prague Symphony Orchestra on the label, but in other contexts has the more elaborate name "Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK (Film-Opera-Koncert)." Smetácek was the conductor of the orchestra for 30 years. They have appeared here before in the music of Jan Malát and Charles Gounod.

The recordings were made in Prague's Rudolfinum in 1968. This transfer comes from a 1972 US pressing on the Nonesuch label. The sound is good. The download includes scans, of course, but I've chosen to show one of the Supraphon covers here in place of the Nonesuch, which is too garish.

The US reviews for this unfamiliar music were generally good. R.D. Darrell said the music reflects "the piquant freshness of the Czech folk spirit" and that the work is "heartwarmingly voiced here by the Prague Symphony under Smetácek in Supraphon engineers' ungimmicked, robust recording."