The Styrous® Viewfinder: 20,000 vinyl LPs 131: Arthur Honegger ~ Pacific 231

March 11, 2018

20,000 vinyl LPs 131: Arthur Honegger ~ Pacific 231

Arthur Honegger (French: [aʁtyʁ ɔnɛɡɛːʁ]; was a Swiss composer, who was widely known as a train enthusiast, and once notably said: "I have always loved locomotives passionately. For me they are living creatures and I love them as others love women or horses." His "mouvement symphonique" Pacific 231 (a depiction of a steam locomotive) gained him early notoriety in 1923.

He insisted that he wrote it as an exercise in building momentum while the tempo of the piece slows. It is post-impressionism bordering on modern music with it's dissonance and harsh harmonics. His orchestral piece, Pacific 231, is his most frequently performed work.

Arthur Honegger ~ Pacific 231

vinyl lp foil cover

photo by Styrous®

The orchestration consists of 2 flutes, piccolo flute, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon – 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, – 4 percussionists (tenor drum, cymbal, bass drum, tam tam) – strings.

He originally titled it Mouvement Symphonique, only giving it the name Pacific 231, which is a class of steam locomotive designated in Whyte notation as a 4-6-2, with four pilot wheels, six driving wheels, and two trailing wheels (the French, who count axles rather than wheels when describing locomotives, call this arrangement 2-3-1) after the work was finished.

A 1949 French award-winning film, Pacific 231, directed by Jean Mitry, used the orchestral work as the sound track for a tribute to the steam locomotive, and included close-up footage of driving wheels, running gear and railroad operations, mostly taken at speed, and cut/choreographed to the music (link below).

It would be interesting to pair Pacific 231 with the images of locomotive-fixated photographer, William S. (Simrell) Young.

It is also interesting to compare Pacific 231 with the Villa-Lobos piece of music based on a locomotive, The Little Train of the Caipira, (YouTube link below) from his Bachianas brasileiras No. 2. Where Honegger's piece is harsh, brash and agressive, The Little Train is gentle like a sensual samba (Villa-Lobos WAS from Brazil, after all) with occaional blasts to let you know it's a train we're talkin' about. Maybe it's the Northern European vs. the Latin-American temperment that is demonstrated by the two works.

Arthur Honegger ~ Pacific 231

vinyl lp foil cover detail

photo by Styrous®

His "dramatic psalm" Le Roi David (King David), made him a star in the music world in the early 1920s; it is still in the choral repertoire. Between World War I and World War II, Honegger was very prolific. He composed nine ballets and three vocal stage works, among many other works.

He composed the music for the Abel Gance epic 1927 silent film, Napoléon. I saw Napoléon with full orchestra accompaniment in Oakland at the Art Deco Paramount Theater.

Honegger was born on March 10, 1892, in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He died on November 27, 1955.