Arthur Honegger

Yevgeny Mravinsky, Leningrad PO - 20th Century's Philosophies: Bela Bartok, Arthur Honegger, Igor Stravinsky (2015)

Béla Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta, Sz. 106;
Arthur Honegger: Symphony No. 3, H186 'Liturgique'; Igor Stravinsky: Agon 'Ballet for Twelve Dancers'
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 428 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 209 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Praga Digitals | # 350 087 | Time: 01:18:28

This release in Praga's Reminiscences series features Yevgeny Mravinsky leading the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra in a programme that includes one of Béla Bartók's best-known compositions: 'Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste'. It is coupled with Honneger's Symphony No.3, composed in the aftermath of World War II, and music from Stravinsky's modernist ballet 'Agon'.
Thierry Fischer, BBC National Orchestra of Wales - Arthur Honegger: Horace victorieux; Une Cantate de Noël (2008)

Thierry Fischer, BBC National Orchestra of Wales - Arthur Honegger: Horace victorieux; Une Cantate de Noël (2008)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 311 Mb | Total time: 75:43 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDA67688 | Recorded: 2007, 2008

Honegger’s Une Cantate de Noël is a Christmas number with a difference. His last work and one of his most popular compositions, it was written for the Basle Chamber Choir and Orchestra in 1953. The text of the cantata is derived from liturgical and popular texts— including Psalms and part of the Latin Gloria. A notable feature is the intertwining of traditional carols in French and German: appropriate for multilingual Switzerland and also perhaps symbolizing peace among nations seven years after the conclusion of World War II. Honegger scored the cantata for solo baritone, mixed chorus, children’s choir and an orchestra including organ. The combination of the different texts and forms creates a wonderfully uplifting effect.
Michel Piquemal, Orchestre de la Cité - Arthur Honegger: Le Roi David (1997)

Michel Piquemal, Orchestre de la Cité - Arthur Honegger: Le Roi David (1997)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 273 Mb | Total time: 66:04 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.553649 | Recorded: 1997

Michel Piquemal directs a wonderfully dramatic cast with style and passion in the smaller-scale original version of Honegger's symphonic psalm. Recommended.
Charles Dutoit, Marius Constant - Arthur Honegger: Le Roi David (2005)

Charles Dutoit, Marius Constant - Arthur Honegger: Le Roi David (2005)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 145:02 | 611 MB
Genre: Classical, Choral | Label: Erato | Catalog: 2564 62033-2

Honegger was an eclectic composer whose achievement is well reflected in this stimulating compilation. Dutoit’s recording of the oratorio King David is particularly compelling: on hearing it one understands why the composer frequently returned to the formula of narrator, soloists, chorus and orchestra.
Michel Plasson, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse - Arthur Honegger: Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 3 "Liturgique" (1992)

Michel Plasson, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse - Arthur Honegger: Symphonies N° 1, 2 & 3 "Liturgique" (1992)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 330 Mb | Total time: 77:27 | Scans included
Classical | Label: EMI Classics | # CDM 7 64274 2 | Recorded: 1977, 1979

In the first three symphonies, Honegger's seriousness is communicated through rhythmically propelled melodies, biting dissonances, and vigorous counterpoint, and his block-like orchestration is calculated more for impact than for nuance. Honegger alternates between muscular developments and searching meditations, and the combative Symphony No. 1 and the uneasy Symphony No. 2 effectively play off these contrasts. A reverent tone dominates the Symphony No. 3, for orchestra, "Liturgique," but its religious feeling is born of doubt and conflict, as conveyed in the work's brutal episodes. This disc restores to the catalog the fine recordings made by Michel Plasson and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse from 1977 to 1979, digitally mastered in 1992.
Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra - Arthur Honegger: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 "Ligurgique"; Pacific 231 (1994)

Mariss Jansons, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra - Arthur Honegger: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 "Ligurgique"; Pacific 231 (1994)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 241 Mb | Total time: 57:55 | Scans included
Classical | Label: EMI Classics | 5 55122 2 | Recorded: 1993

The Oslo Philharmonic is a world-class orchestra, and the playing in these two Honegger symphonies is superlative. Mariss Jansons conducts with real concentration and control; his attention to matters of detail and balance serves the longer-term expressive and symphonic concerns, while the recording allows the full range of the music to be experienced. Both these great symphonies date from the war years, the Second from the dark days when Honegger lived through the occupation of Paris, the Third from 1945. In his Second Symphony the string orchestra is joined in the closing bars by a single trumpet sounding a chorale of hope; and in Jansons’s performance this image emerges naturally from the resolution of the conflicts and the strenuous rhythmic activity which have come before.
Valérie Aimard, Cédric Tiberghien - Vierne, Debussy, Chausson, Honegger (2002)

Valérie Aimard, Cédric Tiberghien - Vierne, Debussy, Chausson, Honegger (2002)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 219 Mb | Total time: 58:42 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Lyrinx | # LYR 203 | Recorded: 2000

Trois chefs-d’oeuvre, dont deux quasi inconnus, interprétés de surcroît par deux interprètes épatants, la fine et véhémente Valérie Aimard et le toujours poétique Cédric Tiberghien : …un disque réellement indispensable.
Jérémie Conus - Swiss Piano Music by Arthur Honegger & Frank Martin (2022)

Jérémie Conus - Swiss Piano Music by Arthur Honegger & Frank Martin (2022)
MP3 CBR 320 kbps | Digital booklet | 01:10:03 | 178 Mb
Classical | Label: Prospero Classical

The 20 th century was indeed a very fascinating time. Musically, this century offered an incomparable variety of movements. From post-romanticism, neo-classicism, im pres sionism, jazz to the most diverse developments in the field of atonal and serial music, at the same time, people were composing in a vast variety of styles. Therefore, it is difficult to assign a single style to a composer, especially since the boundaries between them were very fluid and influences from the most diverse fields can be recognized in the works of many composers. In Arthur Honegger’s case, the French influences are unmistakable. Honegger, who grew up in Zurich, spent a large part of his life in France. He there was a member of the Groupe des Six, a group of six composers, whose members included Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc.
Heinz Holliger Edition: Albinoni, Cimarosa, Haydn, Honegger, Hummel, Martin, Martinů, Mozart, Telemann, Vivaldi (2012)

Heinz Holliger Edition: Albinoni, Cimarosa, Haydn, Honegger, Hummel, Martin, Martinů, Mozart, Telemann, Vivaldi (2012)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 09:17:32 | 2.8 Gb
Genre: Classical | Label: Brilliant Classics | Catalog: 94054

The artistry of Holliger (b1939) prompted Evelyn Rothwell (Lady Barbirolli) to call him 'The Paganini of the oboe' Holliger's mastery of the oboe ranges over a vast expanse of repertoire, from the baroque to contemporary – Bach to Berio and Zelenka to Zimmermann. His style is notable for its flexibility, agility, integrity and ability to communicate convincingly across the wide range of repertoire he performs. Holliger has done much to champion the oboe music of composers such as Zelenka and Krommer, and has also had over 100 works composed for him by composers including Berio, Carter, Henze, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Penderecki and Stockhausen.
Julian Lloyd Webber, Yan Pascal Tortelier, English Chamber Orchestra - Saint-Saëns, Honegger: Cello Concertos (1991)

Julian Lloyd Webber, Yan Pascal Tortelier, English Chamber Orchestra - Saint-Saëns, Honegger: Cello Concertos; Fauré: Élégie; d'Indy: Lied (1991)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 245 Mb | Total time: 53:14 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Philips | # 432 084-2 | Recorded: 1990

This disc makes for a satisfying programme. I agree with its title, too, for although reference books often call Honegger Swiss he was born in Le Havre, became a pupil of d'Indy in Paris, was one of Les Six and died in the French capital. His Cello Concerto is a small work both in style and content, pastorally Gallic in feeling and with a bouncy second section and finale to its single-movement form. This is unfamiliar repertory, well written for the cello, that earns its place in the catalogue.