Schmidt: Symphony No. 2

Schmidt (1874-1939) is an interesting musical figure in that he is a curious bridge from the 19th century to the 20th in Austro-Hungarian (or Czechoslovakian) music. After Mahler's death in 1911, Schmidt was considered to be Vienna's leading composer (even though Schoenberg lived nearby). Schmidt's music is ornately Romantic and has about it a fin de siecle ambience, a sense of the old aristocratic orders languishing in their twilight years. The Symphony 2 (of 1913) does not have a hint of the Great War to come. It's written in the grand manner of Strauss, but with a touch of Bruckner for structure. --Paul Cook