Paul Paray: The Symphonies

Paul Paray composed two symphonies, written only five years apart (1935-1939). The Symphony #1 in C was first performed in Paris under the direction of the composer by the orchestra of the Association des Concerts-Colonne, at a time when Paray had only recently succeeded Gabriel Pierné as conductor of that orchestra. The work is divided into four parts; the first and second movements are played without a break.

The mounting tension in the world as it neared the outbreak of the Second World War may account for the shift from the impetuous optimism of the First Symphony to the persive sobriety of the Second. The Symphony #2 in A is a full-scale, four movement work in the late Romantic French symphonic tradition. It owes its inspiration to the composer's personal recollections of his youth and later life in the seaport of Le Tréport whose natural rich sights and sounds of the sea stimulated his creative genius. This Symphony was awarded the first Charlse-Martin Loeffler Prize by the Institute of France.