A. Honegger - Symphonies No. 2 And No. 3 / Czech Philharmonic Orchestra , Conductor Serge Baudo / Grand Prix National, Paris / Supraphon LP Stereo 

50143 G

The Symphony No. 2 for strings and trumpet by Arthur Honegger was commissioned in 1937 by Paul Sacher to mark the tenth anniversary of the chamber orchestra Basler Kammerorchester. Progress was slow, however, in part due to the interruption of the Second World War. The music is primarily for strings alone and is very turbulent and troubled until the trumpet soloist enters near the end of the music, giving this mostly tragic work a hopeful ending.

The first performance was given by the Collegium Musicum of Zurich under Sacher on 18 May 1942.

The work is in three movements:

1. Molto moderato - Allegro
2. Adagio mesto
3. Vivace non troppo

The work is for string orchestra, except for the addition of a trumpet in the concluding chorale: "like pulling out an organ stop", according to the composer. The trumpet part is marked ad libitum, and although occasionally performed by strings alone, most performances include the trumpet.

Symphonie Liturgique is the Third Symphony by the Swiss composer Arthur Honegger.

Composed in the aftermath of World War II, it is one of Honegger's best-known works. It is in three movements, each of which (following the symphony's subtitle) is named after a liturgical text. The first movement is named after the Dies irae from the Requiem Mass. It is marked allegro marcato, and has an aggressive, storm-like quality. The slow movement, named De profundis clamavi after Psalm 130, is in contrast meditative and lyrical. The finale, named after the Dona nobis pacem from the Mass, is more episodic, with an insistent, brutal marching rhythm building to a dissonant climax, before a long, lyrical coda concludes the work. A melody resembling the robin song from Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher, can be heard towards the end of each movement.

Honegger himself wrote an extensive commentary on the work, making explicit the music's connection with the horrors of the War, and the desire for peace.

Written in 1945-46 on a commission from the Foundation Pro Helvetia, Honegger's Third was first performed in Zürich on 17 August 1946 with Charles Munch conducting the Suisse Romande Orchestra. Munch made a live recording of the work in Prague with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1956, which has been released by the Multisonic label. The symphony has been performed and recorded many times and was a specialty of Herbert von Karajan, who made a recording of it (with Honegger's Second Symphony) in 1969, which is still widely regarded as one of its finest interpretations.

The Symphonie Liturgique has strong thematic similarities with Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem written in 1940, although it is in no sense imitative or a reworking of the earlier piece.