Music by grownups

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June 29, 12:45 PM

by Scott Foglesong, S.F. Classical Music Examiner

 

 

We celebrate the über-prodigies: Mozart, Mendelssohn (who wrote some of his finest works in his teens), or Saint-Saëns. Nowadays teeny-tiny violinists and pianists are virtually guaranteed public hearings at least until puberty kicks in and the Infant Phenomenon's burgeoning adulthood defies all attempts at concealment. Most prodigies, in fact, don't have careers past childhood. (Even Mozart's teenage years were grim and his journey to adulthood was plagued by persistent setbacks.)

Nobody ever seems to pay much attention to the phenomenon of the anti-prodigy — those artists whose development was steady, who matured at their own pace, and for whom artistic maturity and accomplishment were a good long while coming. But there are at least as many late-bloomer types in the pantheon of the great composers as there are survivalist child prodigies.

Pride of place must go to that inestimable Austrian symphonist, Anton Bruckner (pictured to the left). A lack of hurry characterizes just about every aspect of this reserved, country-bred master. Each of the nine symphonies takes its sweet time to make its point (they all run about an hour long), nor were they quick in coming. Bruckner really didn't get going as a composer (with a set of three Masses and the First Symphony) until he was in his forties, and what little public recognition he was to receive as a composer was to wait until he was in his sixties.

Joseph Haydn presents a slightly different case. He was a prolific composer by his twenties, but of his immense output, only the music written in Haydn's maturity and old age can be said to have entered the standard repertory. The popular "London" symphonies (Nos. 93 - 104) as well as the great oratorios "The Creation" and "The Seasons" are all products of Haydn's sixties. (Consider that Papa Joe was having a hot affair with a London widow at the same time; he was a lusty man in all respects.)

The deservedly popular Bohemian master, Antonin Dvorák (pictured to the right), was another relatively late bloomer. By his 30s he was achieving a bit of recognition, but he was closer to 40 by the time his career as a composer took flight. (Before then he made his living primarily as an orchestral player and teacher.) Dvorák's wrote his most popular symphony, the "New World", when he was 52.

The most controversial composer of the later nineteenth century, Richard Wagner, also qualifies as a late bloomer. His early career is marked by a steady string of failures and difficulties, but with Rienzi of 1842 (he was almost 30) the situation began to improve. However, Wagner's status as a major composer was by no means assured until he was well into his fifties; the first Bayreuth Ring cycle took place when he was 63, with his final opera Parsifal premiered in 1882, when he was almost seventy.

Gustav Mahler spent the bulk of his career as a conductor, thus it shouldn't be surprising to find that most of his compositional success occurred late in his relatively short life (he died at the age of 51). His First Symphony dates from 1889 (he was nearing 30); twenty years later, he was working on his last, unfinished (tenth) symphony.

Topics: orchestra , wagner , concert , symphony , classical music , haydn , bruckner , mahler

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