Arthur Honneger, Symphony No. 3, "Liturgique"
About this episode
This episode explores Arthur Honegger's Symphony No. 3, "Liturgique," reflecting on its themes of war, peace, and the human condition in the aftermath of World War II.
In the aftermath of World War II, the Swiss composer Arthur Honegger, who had been living in occupied Paris throughout the war, wrote a new symphony entitled "Liturgical." He wrote an extended commentary on the piece, which included these lines: "My intention in this work was to symbolize the reaction of modern man against the morass of barbarism, stupidity, suffering, machine-mindedness, and bureaucracy that has been besieging us for some years now. I have reproduced in musical terms the combat that is joined in man's heart between yielding to the blind forces that encircle him and his instinct for happiness, his love of peace, his apprehension of a divine refuge. My symphony is, if you like, a drama played out between three characters, whether real or symbolic: misery, happiness, and man. These are everlasting themes. I have tried to give them new life." It doesn't get much clearer than that in terms of a "message" behind a piece, and the symphony reflects these feelings of Honegger's in almost every note. This is not a symphony to be taken lightly, and over the course of its roughly 30-minute runtime, Honegger explores these ideas from three different perspectives, all…
People in this episode
Host: Joshua Weilerstein
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Symphony No. 3, "Liturgique"
Places: Paris
More episodes of Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast
- Sibelius Tapiola
- Dvorak Piano Quintet, Op. 81
- Mozart String Quartet, K. 465, "Dissonance"
- Bonus Episode: Beethoven 5 en français!
- Liszt Faust Symphony
- Schubert: Die Schöne Mullerin Mini-Episode No. 1 (Free Preview)
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast podcast page.