BERWALD
Sinfonie sérieuse 1842 | 34 mins
Franz Berwald, the leading Swedish symphonist of the nineteenth century, met more resistance than acceptance for his music, both in his native land and during sojourns in Berlin and Vienna. At least he did flourish in two other fields, gaining widespread acclaim for his work in orthopedic therapy and, later in life, showing management skills when running a glass-making factory. The earliest of his four surviving symphonies, the Sinfonie sérieuse (completed in 1842) demonstrates his distinct style. On the surface, it often parallels the language of such Romantic composers as Weber, Mendelssohn, and Schumann, but it also takes unusual turns of melody, harmony, and general structure, at times suggesting that Berwald was a sort of Swedish Berlioz fighting to make his voice heard. —James M. Keller
 
BRAHMS
Symphony No. 3  1883 |  30 mins
Unlike Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schumann, Johannes Brahms was middle-aged by the time he wrote his first symphony. Convinced now that he could get it right, in less than a year he turned out a second symphony. A third symphony would follow the second in six years. During that interval, Brahms discovered the subtleties of orchestral language and his emotional range. If his first two symphonies reveal Brahms exploring what he could do with an orchestra, the orchestral works that followed show him increasingly at ease as he knits his personal worldview into the fabric of sound. In these compositions, he consolidates his art. He becomes Johannes Brahms. LISTEN FOR: The intermezzo captures a melancholy that seems the essence of this composer.—Larry Rothe