Honegger: Complete Symphonies

Throughout his life as a composer, Arthur Honegger combined within himself the characteristics of the French- and German-speaking cultural circles, which made him one of the most appealing musicians of his time. Manysidedness and openness with respect to the most varied styles, the desire and the skill to build on the tradition, as well as the courage to take up new themes and forms distinguish his oeuvre, which he created primarily in Paris, his permanent place of residence since 1913. He was among the six composers who in a curious way became members of a supposedly programmatic group, for the establishment of the “Groupe des Six” came about more or less coincidentally. In fact, Honegger abstained from the Groupe des Six’s joint theoretic statements, yet participated in mutual projects such as the collective ballet Les Mariès de la Tour Eiffel (1929/30). From youth onward, he was influenced most strongly by Richard Wagner, Max Reger, and Richard Strauss, thus by German late-Romantic