The Symphony No. 5 by Swiss composer

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 t ...

is a three-movement work for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

written in the autumn of 1950. Its subtitle ''Di tre re'' (''of the three Ds'') is a reference to the D (re) played by the solo

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

and basses at the end of each movement. It was commissioned by the Natalie Koussevitzky Foundation and first performed on March 9, 1951, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Munch. Honegger's Fifth Symphony is a three-movement work with a total running time of about 22 minutes. Its three movements are marked: # Grave (approx. 7'20") # Allegretto - Adagio - Allegretto - Adagio - Allegretto (approx. 9'00") # Allegro marcato (approx. 5'30") This symphony is published by Éditions Salabert.

Recordings

Recordings of this symphony include full sets of Honegger's five symphonies performed by: * the

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra The Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra's principal concert venue is the Rudolfinum. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title ...

under

Serge Baudo Serge Baudo (born 16 July 1927) is a French conductor, the son of the oboist Étienne Baudo. He is the nephew of the cellist Paul Tortelier. Baudo was conductor of the Orchestra of Radio Nice from 1959 to 1962. He then served as permanent conduct ...

(Supraphon, 1994) * the Suisse Romande Orchestra under

Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. B ...

(Cascavelle, 2001) * the Toulouse Capitole Orchestra under

Michel Plasson Michel Plasson (born 2 October 1933, Paris, France) is a French conductor. Plasson was a student of Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1962, he was a prize-winner at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. ...

(EMI Classics, 2004) * the

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (german: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestr ...

under Charles Dutoit (Apex, 2006) Additional recordings of this symphony include: * the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Munch (RCA Victor Red Seal and Gold Seal, 1992) *

Orchestre National de France The Orchestre national de France (ONF; literal translation, ''National Orchestra of France'') is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France sinc ...

conducted by Charles Munch, recorded June 1964Charles Munch edition. Auvidis Valois CD V4831, 1998. * the

Danish National Symphony Orchestra The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Danish: ''DR Symfoniorkestret''; English abbreviation "DNSO"), is a Danish orchestra based in Copenhagen. The DNSO is the principal orchestra of DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation). The DRSO is based at th ...

under

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, ...

(Chandos, 1994) * the

Orchestre Lamoureux The Orchestre Lamoureux () officially known as the Société des Nouveaux-Concerts and also known as the Concerts Lamoureux) is an orchestral concert society which once gave weekly concerts by its own orchestra, founded in Paris by Charles Lamoureu ...

under

Igor Markevitch Igor Borisovich Markevitch (russian: Игорь Борисович Маркевич, ''Igor Borisovich Markevich'', uk, Ігор Борисович Маркевич, ''Ihor Borysovych Markevych''; 27 July 1912 – 7 March 1983) was a Russian- ...

(recorded 1957, DG Originals, 1997) * the

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its ...

under

Ernest Ansermet Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor. Biography Ansermet ...

(Andante, 2003) * the RIAS Symphony Orchestra under

(Audite, 2010)

References

{{authority control Symphony 5 1950 compositions Music commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky or the Koussevitzky Music Foundation