Grazer Philharmoniker - Joseph Marx: Eine Herbstsymphonie

The magnificent Graz premiere of Joseph Marx�s Herbstsymphonie (Autumn Symphony) was held on 28 September 1922 under the expert conductor and sound specialist Clemens Krauss. It was a great triumph for Marx, and when Krauss selected this work for a concert program in Vienna in late May of the following year, the public went wild. The Herbstsymphonie is not so much a symphony in the traditional sense as a multimovement rhapsody of massive proportions, both in view of its huge orchestral dimensions and its performance length. For this reason this gigantic composition ranks as one of music history�s most lavishly instrumented works. Until now Joseph Marx has been known primarily as a composer of songs and chamber music. However, already in 1911 he had composed the sumptuously designed cantata Herbstchor an Pan (Autumn Chorus to Pan), a work that also in its choice of theme may be said to herald the coming of the Herbstsymphonie.