Elsa Barraine: Symphonies 1 & 2 – Elena Schwarz

Elsa Barraine (1910-1999) must have been a musical prodigy. At 18, she placed second in the competition for the coveted Prix de Rome; by 19, she had it in the bag. While studying under Paul Dukas in the Eternal City, she composed, among other works, a first symphony of remarkable quality and individuality, unmistakably neoclassical. There is no question that this was no mere talent but the manifestation of an outstanding figure. And she lived up to the high expectations placed upon her: The “symphonic illustration of André Spire’s poem Pogrom” proves to be a gripping tone poem, and the second symphony from 1938 unleashes a force one neither wants nor can resist. And there remains La Mise au tombeau du Titien (The Entombment of Titian”) from 1953 – a passacaglia whose expressive power and intensity take one’s breath away.