So pleased you are back, wimpel69. I hope all is well with you.

Listened to the Gram CD on Naxos Music Library - wonderful, uplifting music! There is also Volume 2!

Have you heard another 2-CD compilation by the same conductor featuring Leif Kayser (1919 - 2001). The earler pieces are tonal and very romantic, the later ones (after World War 2) more adventurous but no less interesting and worthwhile.

http://www.dacapo-records.dk/en/recording-leif-kayser---symphonies-vol--1.aspx

http://www.dacapo-records.dk/en/recording-leif-kayser---symphonies-vol--2.aspx

---------- Post added at 01:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 PM ----------

Quote: P.S.: No more FLAC links will be sent for the next 10 days.

Indeed! Could you delay removal of FLAC links over this period? I may not be able to PM you in time!!

No.829
Modern: Tonal

(Mozart) Camargo Guarnieri’s First Symphony was composed in 1944 and is dedicated to
Serge Koussevitsky. It’s as fine an example of American (in the widest sense) neo-classicism as anything by
Copland, Harris, or Piston, and it’s worth pointing out that this confidently mature work actually precedes
much of those composers’ symphonic output, as it does, say, Tippett’s, whose rhythmic complexity and
contrapuntal business it in some ways resembles. The central slow movement, marked “Profundo”, is
particularly well sustained and supports the composer’s claim to be regarded a major 20th century
symphonist.

Symphony No.4, in three brief movements lasting less than 20 minutes, is subtitled “Bras�lia”,
but it’s dedicated to Leonard Bernstein and was largely composed in New York. Both Bernstein and the
composer were especially impressed by the marvelous central slow movement (which is as long as the
two outer movements combined), and in particular with its “crazy” climax. A pellucid, formally elegant,
richly scored work based on Brazilian folk music (but never slavishly so and never at the expense of
structural coherence), it would make a terrific “first half” piece at a typical symphony concert. The
Abertura Festiva lives up to its name, being brilliantly scored with an especially colorful percussion
battery–and like the eponymous piece by Shostakovich, it’s simply a joy from start to finish.



Music Composed by Camargo Guarnieri
Played by the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by John Neschling

"Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (1907-93) composed seven symphonies in all. John Neschling’s first
issue (12/02) was something of a revelation, featuring two thoroughly attractive examples, plus
the Abertura Concertante. Unfortunately, the three works on this second disc – again two symphonies
separated by an overture – prove to be neither as entertaining nor as engaging. Guarnieri planned
his First Symphony (1944) for several years before he came to write it, but then had to temper
his ideas in order to fulfil the requirements of an orchestral competition. The resulting work is
earnest and well put together, but rather charmless, the music seeming to frown constantly.
There is some impressive orchestral writing, nonetheless, and the work was the springboard
for the more compelling works that followed.

The Fourth (1959-63), like No 1 in three movements (fast-slow-fast), also began life as a
competition entry, for the inauguration of the new capital of Brasilia. However, the composer
was appointed to the jury so could not submit an entry and as a result the symphony was
worked at in dribs and drabs, often set aside for other tasks. Guarnieri stated that while not
specifically descriptive, it could be taken as a metaphor for the transformation of the landscape
into the finished city. I find the result formulaic and remarkably soulless, so perhaps he was
more successful – or prophetic – than he knew.

The S�o Paulo orchestra clearly relish their task, as before, and make a good case for both
larger pieces. Most engaging is the brief Festive Overture (1971) with lots of percussion.
Neschling directs with energy and the sound is first rate."
Gramophone



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No.830
Modern: Impressionism/Tonal

This enthralling Vaughan Williams programme couples two wonderful alternative versions
of great works. Vaughan Williams’s two-piano version of his craggy Piano Concerto reinforces
its standing as in many ways the link between the Third and Fourth Symphonies. Here the
barnstorming piano team of John Lenehan and Leon McCawley with the Royal Scottish
National Orchestra and Martin Yates are thrilling in their traverse of this cherishable
score. The programme is completed by the 1920 version of A London Symphony, not recorded
since Goossens’s wartime 78s. Here, for the first time in modern sound, we have the opportunity
of exploring those various moments that RVW deleted from the version generally played.



Music Composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
With Leon McCawley (piano) & John Lenehan (piano)
Conducted by Martin Yates

"After its first performance in 1914 Vaughan Williams made a series of significant revisions to
the score of A London Symphony. The most substantial of these were carried out from 1918 onwards
prior to publication in 1920. Further work on the symphony followed in the 1930s and the score
that we know today was finally published in 1936.

In December 2000, with the consent of Ursula Vaughan Williams, Richard Hickox made a revelatory
recording of the original 1913 score for Chandos (review). At that time Mrs Vaughan Williams’
consent extended only to the making of that recording but so great was the interest that it aroused
that I believe she later relaxed the restriction to allow further opportunities for the original to be heard.

What Martin Yates gives us here is the 1920 published score. In fact it’s not the first time that this
version has been recorded. When Sir Eugene Goossens recorded it in 1941 with the Cincinnati
Symphony Orchestra orchestral parts of the 1920 version were still in circulation in the USA so
that version was used. The Goossens recording has appeared on CD (Biddulph WHL 016) but
the sound is, inevitably, somewhat limited so this new Dutton Epoch recording completely
supersedes it, though the recording still has interest and I for one will not be discarding my copy.

Anyone listening to the Hickox recording will notice radical differences between the 1913
version of the score and the familiar 1936 edition, especially in the last two movements –
only the first movement was never revised by VW. There are fewer differences between the
1920 score and the 1936 version of the symphony. VW pruned the 1913 score radically in
his first revision but subsequent surgery was much less invasive. Some of the later revision
work (between 1918 and the final edition of 1936) concerned re-touching the scoring in
places. In these further revisions, Lewis Foreman tells us in the Dutton notes, VW excised a
total of 12 bars from the slow movement and, in the finale, a further 36 bars, 25 of which
were taken out of the Epilogue.

I’ve found it very interesting to compare Martin Yates’ new recording with the Hickox
account of the 1913 score. Hickox takes 61:19 compared with a playing time of 48:41 for
Yates. However the timing difference of nearly 13 minutes doesn’t arise simply because
Hickox uses a more extensive text. The conductors’ respective treatments of the first
movement are directly comparable since the music played is identical. I was intrigued to
see that Hickox takes 15:04 for the first movement while Yates takes 13:17. Yates does
the mysterious opening well, establishing a good level of suspense. Hickox, however, is
significantly more expansive – and, it must be said, more magical with wonderfully hushed
playing from the LSO. You can tell how much broader is the Hickox treatment of the
opening by the fact that he arrives at the Allegro risoluto at 3:29; Yates gets there at 2:40.
I think Yates’ treatment of the opening is good. Hickox is more risky but he gets away with
it – others might not – and the results are wonderful. Yates is appreciably quicker than
Hickox in the Allegro risoluto. I admire the energy he injects into the music but I do
wonder if it’s not a bit breathless; for my taste Yates doesn’t quite allow the music to
breathe sufficiently. Hickox is more conventional in his pacing. The bustle subsides
eventually (7:41 – 9:51 in the Yates reading) with a lovely string and harp transition
which precedes a folk-like passage. Yates does this very well; there’s the right degree
of affection. In the same passage (9:01 – 11:22) the Hickox performance is very beautiful –
and even better played – but Hickox lingers a bit too lovingly. On balance my preference
is for Hickox’s account of the first movement but there’s a great deal to admire in the
Yates reading.

Once we’re past the first movement direct comparisons between Yates and Hickox become
less easy – and, in a way, less relevant – because they are playing different texts.
Both conductors play the lovely second movement very well indeed and their respective
treatments of it are not dissimilar – the fact that Yates takes just under a minute less
is largely explained by the small cuts as compared with the 1913 score. Yates is poetic
and atmospheric in the way he handles the movement and the climax (from 9:07) is
broad and noble. Listeners familiar with the 1936 score will notice one significant
difference shortly after the climax. Between 12:08 and 12:39 the violins provide a
ponticello accompaniment to various solo instruments such as horn and cello. Lewis
Foreman tells us that Bernard Herrmann likened the violin sound to “a damp drizzle of
rain” and greatly regretted the excision. I agree.

So far as I can tell without seeing a score the musical text of the scherzo that Yates
plays is the same as we’re used to hearing, though there may be some subtle changes
to the scoring. I like Yates’ lithe, scampering account. I think Hickox makes slightly
more of the brief “concertina” episode but perhaps VW altered the orchestration of this
between 1913 and 1920. What you won’t hear in this Yates performance is a substantial
passage towards the end of the movement (5:45-10:08 in the Hickox performance)
that VW had cut completely by 1920. This is an episode of slower, rather dark music.
It’s fascinating to hear in its own right and there are definite thematic links with the
movement as a whole. However, despite these links I don’t really understand what
VW was seeking to portray in this passage; it doesn’t seem to “fit”. Whilst glad to
have the opportunity to hear it in the Hickox performance I’m in no doubt that when
VW wielded the blue pencil he made the right decision.

The impassioned start of the last movement is very powerful in the Yates performance.
At first I thought his tempo for the following Marcato alla Marcia (quasi lento) was a
bit on the brisk side, not respecting sufficiently the quasi lento qualification. However,
I’ve come round to Yates’ way of thinking. He directs an ardent account of the Allegro
and the three-fold climax is imposing though, ideally, I wish he’d broadened the tempo
a little at the climax. There are 11 bars cut from the original 1913 score in the first
part of the finale. Some of these occur in one passage (4:23-5:23 in the Hickox
performance) which, to my ears interrupts and impedes the flow of the Allegro. These
are bars which are interesting in themselves but their excision improves the structure
of the movement at this point. There’s also a short ruminative passage, initially from
strings, leading up to the Westminster Chimes (6:30 – 9:03 in Hickox) which were
edited by VW after 1913. The remaining cuts, amounting to 25 bars, come in the
Epilogue. The excisions seem to involve bars that are frankly repetitive. Listening to
the Hickox version of the Epilogue immediately after the Yates performance I think
the 1920 version is tauter and thus preferable."
Musicweb





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Thank you

Thanks - looks fun!

Yes, fantastic! PM is on the way.

Thank you! Interesting to compare this new recording of the VW 2PC with the (very) old one by Vronsky & Babin.

VW link received with thanks. Amazing that this thread is already over 70 pages of brilliant rare shares. I downloaded a lot to sample, and it resulted in quite some CD's bought as well. :)
Thanks for all your efforts!

Thanks! That's the whole point, really :D


No.831
Late-Romantic

The Catalan composer Juli Garreta (1875-1925) has been well by the composition of sardanas,
but his orchestral work has to be attended. Les Illes Medes was premiered in 1923 in Palau de
la M�sica Catalana eith Pau Casals as conductor. Although there isn’t a programmatic work, there is
a poetic inspiration to describe a particular time in a landscape.

Impressions simf�niques is the composer’s first orchestral work. The score of this work
remained unpublished for over a century (the first edition was published by Trit�), despite it being
premiered in 1907. Joaquim Rabaseda and Joan Gay , that both recovered and edited the score
and the notes of this album, tell us that Juli Garreta was known in his time as the "Wagner
of the Sardana."



Music Composed by Juli Garreta
Played by the Symphony Orchestra of Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya
Conducted by Miquel Ortega

"The reviews editor, sending me this CD for comment, personally found Julio Garreta’s music
‘pretty enchanting’. I do too, and also remarkably individual, delicately easy on the ear and
unexpectedly ‘un-Spanish’ – in a folksy sense – for a Catalan composer who lived as recently
as 1875-1925.

The Impressions simf�niques for string orchestra was written first, an early work (but by no
means immature) which was not performed until 1907. Its four movements have something
in common with the Tchaikovsky Serenade (although its melodies and harmonies are less ripe).
It is structurally traditional, full of individuality, has a gentle, poignant cello solo at the centre
of its slow movement (affectionately played here by Nab� Cabestany) but, instead of a waltz,
provides a jolly, rhythmic, almost neo-classical Temps moderat third movement. The finale
is certainly increasingly De pressa i apassionat.

Les illes Medes is a mature work, a long time in gestation (because of various interruptions in
Garreta’s life) but was finally premiered in 1922, conducted by Pau Casals. It is a personal
recollection of a visit the composer made to the beautiful coast of the Medes Islands, opening
epically, then creating an idyllic evocation with bird calls from the woodwind. But the sea
is ever-present; the simple, dominating main theme is soon given to the horns, and it is
the horns and woodwind that provide the magical closing section. This a sea vista of a
high order, which becomes more haunting as it becomes really familiar, and this beautifully
played and recorded disc is increasingly rewarding."
Gramophone



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No.832
Modern: Neo-Romantic

Born in Baku, Kara Karayev (1918-1982) was one of Dmitry Shostakovich’s most distinguished pupils. Karayev
absorbed his teacher’s influence, binding it to his own distinctive use of native Azerbaijani folk melodies and
harmonies to produce music in an eclectic range of genres. The Seven Beauties is the first full-length
Azerbaijani ballet, and the suite heard here brims with an exotic array of appealing rhythms and melodies.
The Path of Thunder uses elements of African and Afro-American music in its exploration of the
theme of forbidden love in apartheid-era South Africa.

Kara Karayev is a composer with a highly expressive, individual style, whose compositions are infused with
the harmonies and melodic characteristics of his native Azerbaijani music. He once said: ‘Traditional music
of Azerbaijan is my native language. As a composer I grew up on Azerbaijani folk melodies, and to break
away from their influences, regardless of what artistic problem I am working on, I cannot, and do not want to do.’

Karayev was born in Baku, his favourite city, which he called ‘an enormous, multi-voiced symphony’.
His father was a famous professor of medicine, and his mother a talented pianist with a passion for
poetry. Karayev’s musical education began in Baku in 1930 and in 1938 he was accepted to study
composition at the Moscow Conservatory. His long and illustrious career as a composer, pedagogue,
music writer and critic began after his return to Baku in 1946 as a conservatory graduate.



Music Composed by Kara Karayev
Played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Dmitri Yablonsky

"The Seven Beauties dates from 1953 and offers many catchy tunes: try the opening Waltz or The Indian
Beauty (No. 5) or The Most Beautiful of The Beauties (No. 11). Actually, there are times when the music
can turn a little grotesque, as in The Dance of The Clowns (No. 3), and there are instances too (The
Maghrebian Beauty – #9) when the music can sound reminiscent of the some of the more exotic
Hollywood swashbuckler scores of the 1950s, replete with splashy orchestration, exotic love music,
and catchy rhythms. If you like light, colorful music, you won't find a dull moment in this score.

The Path of Thunder is quite similar, but with a tad more of an edge and a little more substance.
Although it was dedicated to the memory of Prokofiev, it sounds very little like his music. General
Dance (No. 1) features infectious rhythms and deft orchestration, and about midway through a
humorous sort of Stravinskyan passage of deliberately sour notes. Speaking of infectious rhythms,
Dance of the Girls with Guitars (No. 2) brings on much foot-tapping spirit and a dreamy sense of
the exotic. The ensuing number, The Dance of the Black Community offers some attractive rhythms
from percussion, while the longest selection in either ballet suite here, Scene and Duet (No. 5 –
nearly ten minutes), features some lovely melodies, perhaps the most memorable themes on the
disc. The concluding number, The Path of Thunder (No. 7), begins in a sinister manner with the
piano, percussion and winds auguring menace in their mysterious and agitated buildup. The
music eventually reaches a Ravelian sort of brassy climax that goes on and on, as if the
composer wants to let the thunder ring out.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra plays splendidly and spiritedly for Dmitry Yablonsky who
seems to have the full measure of these scores. The sound reproduction from Naxos is excellent.
If you're interested in the lighter side of ballet music, this disc will likely be a pleasing
addition to your collection."
Classical CD





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Many thanks for the V-W links, wimpel!

Dear Wimpel69, is ti posible to get the download links for this RVW CD? Thanks a lot.:)
hoffmann24

No.833
Late Romantic

During a guest performance in Berlin in 1913 Richard Strauss saw Sergei Diaghilev’s
Ballets Russes and was so delighted by them that he declared his readiness to compose the
ballet pantomime Josephs Legende (Joseph’s Legend) for this extraordinary ensemble.
The librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal had also become acquainted with the Ballets Russes as
�the practically unlimited pleasure of pure sensuous joy.� The story of the Joseph legend
was not new territory for Strauss inasmuch as the Bible and the Orient had previously supplied
him with material for his Salome. Moreover, the subject matter offered yet one more variation
on an old Strauss theme: love between an older woman and a youth. Potiphar’s wife belongs
to the magnificently sultry world of wealth and power and feels sexual desire for an
unspoiled shepherd boy, a dancer and a dreamer, who �has not yet been together with a woman.�
To depict the sumptuous sound world of the Orient, Strauss exploits all the resources the
late-romantic orchestra has to offer. Instead of producing a mixed sound, however, he relies
on harsh contours. This is music full of clarity, mental acuity, and immediacy of expression.



Music Composed by Richard Strauss
Played by the Staatskapelle Weimar
Conducted by Stefan Solyom

"Premiered in Paris in May, Josephslegende was Richard Strauss’s first completed ballet score.
Its history was vexed, and there is still considerable disagreement as to its qualities and worth.
Composed to a scenario by Strauss’s regular librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal and his friend, the
diarist Harry Kessler, it was originally commissioned by Diaghilev as a vehicle for Nijinsky to be
both choreographer and principal dancer.

Based on the biblical narrative of the attempted seduction of Joseph by Potiphar’s wife, the scenario
was expressly designed to appeal to the composer of Salome, but Strauss was soon at loggerheads
with his writers about their symbolic approach to the plot. Hofmannsthal demanded changes to the
music. Meanwhile, Diaghilev, who had been Nijinsky’s lover, sacked him from the project after the
latter’s marriage, replacing him as choreographer with Mikhail Fokine and as lead dancer by L�onide
Massine. The premiere was not the outright disaster some have claimed, though the work was
criticised as being more a mimed play than a genuine ballet. It disappeared from the repertoire in
the mid-1920s, not resurfacing until 1977 when a production was mounted in Vienna with new
choreography by John Neumeier.

The score is perplexing and arresting in equal measure. Strauss was both an atheist and anticlerical,
and his portrait of Joseph, while admirably suggesting his innocence, is less successful in conveying
the visionary spirituality that drives him on. The orchestration is tremendous and so is Strauss’s
treatment of the goings-on at Potiphar’s court. His use of symphonically developed leitmotifs to
delineate the psychological development of his protagonists, however, has proved a nightmare
for choreographers. Massine declared it “undanceable”, Neumeier thought it difficult, and its
most recent outings have been in the concert hall.

Issued to mark the 150th anniversary of Strauss’s birth and the centenary of the premiere,
CPO’s recording is beautiful. The Weimar Staatskapelle, which gave the first performance of
Don Juan in 1889, was one of Strauss’s own orchestras, and they play the ballet with sensuous
immediacy and plenty of focused detail for their Swedish conductor Stefan Solyom.
It’s a considerable achievement."
The Guardian


A modern production of Josephs Legende.



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Thank you, wonderful wimpel69!

Thank you.

The Garreta is a major discovery - don't miss. And as always, major thanks to wimpel69.

It's quite lovely indeed. I didn't hear about this Catalan composer until some months ago either. Even in this world of over-exposed repertoire there are still corners to explore.

So much stuff was indeed premiered by substantial talent all these centuries - in the day, and then fell into obscurity (I wouldn't say disregard, because that implies intent) for no reason. As in every field of art or entertainment, so much of what one calls "fame" and "posterity" just comes down to pure luck.

I agree totally with this point of view and also maybe ,to the more or less extrovert or shy personality of the composer.

Dear Mr. Wimpel69,
Is there any way to download Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 2 conducted by Martin Yates?
Thanks in advance.
hoffmann24

NOTE: Because of the space on one of the MEGA servers I've been using was running low, I had to delete for the time being the boxed-set releases of tone poems by Ferenc Liszt (No.600) and the Tubin symphonies (No.700).

OTOH, I have added an mp3 link for the wonderful orchestrations by Michel Decoust of short piano works by Erik Satie (No.599), which
were previously only available upon request:


Thread 121898

Dear wimpel69, thanks for Garreta's isles, it looks like a very exciting discovery !

Thanks very much for 'Ralph Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony (1920 version), Two-Pianos Concerto'.
Link received. Very much appreciated, as is the whole thread, and certainly the education and musical enlightenment unreservedly given via your efforts.
Again, many thanks.

No.834
Modern: Neo-Classical

Vagn Holmboe’s superb series of chamber concertos has been excellently documented on disc by
Denmark’s Dacapo label, but this disc is unusually interesting nonetheless, not least because it contains
two works not otherwise available. First however, it’s worth pointing out that all three concerted pieces
are “concertos for orchestra”, so having them together on a single disc is a good programming idea.
One newcomer to the current catalog is the Concerto giocundo e severo of 1977, a 10-minute single
movement scored for large orchestra that admirably lives up to its “cheerful and serious” title. In the first
quick episode, the lachrymose trombone part is particularly amusing. Also new to disc is the suite from the
abortive ballet project The Ill-Tempered Turk. It’s vintage Holmboe from the 1940s, a colorful
selection of dances that marries real musical substance to colorful but never tacky touches of “Orientalism”.

Both Chamber Concertos (8 & 10) reveal Holmboe’s formal ingenuity, the former being in two
movements of which the second is a marvelous theme and variations, while the latter has nine linked
sections exploiting different sections of the orchestra (along with thematic material evocative of the
composer’s studies of Romanian folk music).



Music Composed by Vagn Holmboe
Played by the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes

"It is clear from the outset of No 8 (1945) that Owain Arwel Hughes takes a quite different
view of the music to Hannu Koivula on Dacapo. Where the Finn achieves a touch more impulse
the Welshman underscores the music’s internal cohesion; Hughes also plays down the Hindemithian
overtones. In the variations of the second, final movement – as well as in the Tenth’s nine
contrasting sections – it is Hughes whose account flows more succinctly (a virtue heard again
in the 1977 Concerto giocondo e severo), Koivula preferring to emphasise the contrasts. Both
ways work and there is little to choose between the performances; BIS’s sound, though, is
more resonant and spacious.

Holmboe devotees will be particularly keen on the other two works, both novelties. The Cheerful
and Severe Concerto is a single (12-minute) movement, though like the Tenth (1945-46) divided
into sections; here, though, they are compressed to form a compellingly fluent design in the
composer’s late, luminous style. More fascinating still is the suite, made (with some recomposition)
in 1969 from the music of the still-unperformed ballet Den Galsindede Tyrk (1942-44). The opening
‘Dance of the Executioner’ has echoes of the contemporaneous Fifth Symphony, while later
movements – for instance, the central ‘Dance of the Trees’ – point towards the Sixth and
Seventh (1947-50). But the music also seems eminently danceable, making its neglect all
the more astonishing. Heartily recommended."
Gramophone



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Holmboe is very special, i own the Dacapo Series with complete chamber concertos. Now i can compare 8 & 10. Many thanks wimpel69.

Thanks for the Strauss ballet ... interesting blend of romanticism and straussian (if that's a word).

Many thanks for the link to #365 Roy Harris: Symphony No.6, "Gettysburg" / Aaron Copland: Songs after Emily Dickinson.
The Roy Harris work certainly pulls no punches. It's thought provoking and certainly demands attentive listening to. Great to be given the opportunity to hear it.
Many thanks indeed.

No.835
Modern: Tonal

William Schuman (1910-1992) composed his Symphony No.4 in 1941. Premiered a mere month and a half
after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the new symphony’s essentially positive emotional climate sounded an
optimistic note during a very dark time. The opening movement begins quietly with solo English horn intoning a long-
spun melody over solo bass, and is eventually joined by the rest of the wind section. The bass line functions as a
Baroque-style ground bass, above which textures change kaleidoscopically, dynamics increase and counter-rhythms
contrast with the steadfast gait of the quarter-note-laden bass part. This introduction yields to a rhythmically alive
section marked Vigoroso con spirito. Echoes of Copland and Harris impart a distinctly American accent to the music.
Schuman’s mastery of polyphony is very much in evidence here. The movement ends with a grand brassfilled climax.
The second movement, marked Tenderly, simply, begins quietly in the violins and violas, underscored by a slow,
steady tread generated by pizzicato chords in the cellos. The mood is melancholy yet infused with mediating
warmth. A sense of intimacy is enhanced by the violins and violas playing con sordino (with mutes). Eventually
winds and brass enter, but the mood remains understated until a concluding section marked Fervente raises the
emotional temperature before the solo oboe passage marked dolce initiates the quiet closing moments.
The Finale begins with an animated dialogue between strings and winds. The music is energetic, forward and,
again, distinctly American. Sonorous brass enter, also strongly insistent, before yielding to renewed conversation,
this time between wailing winds and punching brass. Pizzicatos in the lower strings add to the impetus.
Overall the music conveys �lan and optimism. Section by section more instruments have their say, and
while momentum is sustained contrasting densities of texture and a jaunty fugato provide contrast.
Timpani punctuate and further animate the music toward the end of the movement, echoed by
increasing power and dynamics in the rest of the orchestra.

The 1963 Orchestra Song is a deft arrangement for orchestra of an old Austrian folk-song. Short
and catchy, it is an affectionate take on a very rustic and simple tune in 3/4 time. At times brusque and
elsewhere unaffectedly sweet, the little ditty features a nice trumpet solo, colourful timbres from the
percussion, biting lower brass, and bow-struck strings. Not inappropriately, it conjures up sonic images
of calliope music. The Circus Overture dates from 1944. Originally bearing the title Side Show,
it was intended for use in a musical revue under the title “The Seven Lively Arts” conceived for the
Broadway stage; producer Billy Rose changed his mind, and the revue was dropped. Shortly thereafter,
Schuman rescored the light-hearted piece for full orchestra from its original pit-band orchestration.
The Overture begins with timpani and percussion leading all forces in an exuberant fanfare mode.
The whole piece suggests preparation for the arrival of the main event. A very energetic timpani part
plays off barking brasses before the winds enter. Typically for the composer, Schuman’s rhythmic
verve carries the music forward with relentless drive, even though the mood here is lightly festive.
Adding a sense of piquancy and whimsy, there is a colourful and droll Fellini-esque episode in 3/4 time.

In the spring of 1967, Schuman and his wife were in Rome, intending to visit the Ardeatine Caves,
the site of a horrific Nazi atrocity in 1944, when 335 innocent Italian men, women and children
were murdered. In notes Schuman provided for the original recording of the Ninth Symphony,
subtitled Le Fosse Ardeatine (The Ardeatine Caves), the composer wrote, “The mood of my
symphony, especially in its opening and closing sections, is directly related to emotions
engendered by this visit. But the middle section, too, with its various moods of fast music,
much of it far from somber, stems from the fantasies I had of the variety, promise and
aborted lives of the martyrs… The work does not attempt to depict the event realistically…"



Music Composed by William Schuman
Played by The Seattle Symphony
Conducted by Gerard Schwarz

"Schwarz’s Fourth competes with one from David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony
on Albany TROY566. Miller, I think, leads a sharper, more direct first movement, closer
to what I think of as Schuman’s characteristic sound. However, he hurries the slow
movement, robbing it of its due weight, and his finale moves less coherently than
Schwarz’s. Overall, Schwarz’s broader reading wins out and, excepting the first
movement, yields nothing in clarity to Miller. Schwarz also wins out over Ormandy
in the Ninth, but then Ormandy and the Philadelphia were playing complex music
just after the ink had dried. I’m certain Schwarz learned something from Ormandy’s
pioneering account and the intervening years.

My single favorite track on the CD is the Circus Overture. Schwarz gives us the
musical essence of Schuman in a bravura reading. Obviously, he has connected
deeply with Schuman’s art. An outstanding release in Naxos’s American series."
Classical Net





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No.836
Late Romantic

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) was the most significant figure in the formation of national identity in
Finnish music, to the extent that since 2011 Finland has celebrated a Flag Day on 8 December (the composer’s
birthday), also known as the ‘Day of Finnish Music’. The seven symphonies and Violin Concerto lie at the
centre of Sibelius’ oeuvre, surrounded by tone poems often concerning a Finnish folklore narrative.

The Overture in A minor, JS144 was composed for a concert in March 1902, at which the Second
Symphony received its premi�re. Legend has it that the piece had been written in a hotel room during the
course of a single night. There certainly is little sense of relationship between the formality of the stern
pening and conclusion and the lively comical middle section. Sibelius’ output of incidental music for the
theatre began in 1898 with King Christian II (Op. 27), a historical drama written by his friend, the
Swedish dramatist Adolf Paul. Although the play was a great success at the time, it has now disappeared
from the repertory, with only the music surviving the test of time. The narrative centres around the love of
Christian II (whose rule extended over all three Scandinavian countries) for Dyveke, a Dutch girl from a
humble background. The playful Musette movement, which stands out as the most distinctive of the
pieces, was intended to be danced by this character in the play, accompanied by street musicians outside
her window. Paul said that Sibelius had wanted bagpipes and reeds for this dance, but that he scored it
for two clarinets and two bassoons, adding: “Extravagant, isn’t it? We have only two bassoon players in
the entire country, and one of them is consumptive.” This is testament to the limited instrumental
resources available to Sibelius at the time, and he himself conducted the small ensemble, situated
behind the scenes.

Sibelius's incidental music for Kuolema (Death), JS113 was composed in 1903 to accompany a play
written by Arvid J�rnefelt, his brother-in-law (the composer having married Aino J�rnefelt in 1892). The play
is rich in symbolism, echoing the dreamscapes of Strinberg’s "A Dream Play" and Maeterlinck’s "Pell�as et
M�lisande" (for which Sibelius also composed incidental music two years later in 1905). The music for
Kuolema comprises six movements, the first of which, Tempo di valse lente, was intended for the
play’s opening scene. A woman, delirious and close to death, waltzes with an imaginary dancing partner,
who transforms into the figure of death, at which point she collapses, and her son wakes from his sleep
to find his mother’s lifeless body. It is scored for string orchestra, with the addition of a bass drum in the
fifth movement and ‘campanelli di chiesa’ (church bells) at the very end, evoking a suitably funereal mood.
Although Kuolema is not often performed in its entirety, several movements have enjoyed longevity
and widespread popularity, such as the first.



Music Composed by Jean Sibelius
Played by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
With Pia Pajala (soprano) & Waltteri Torikka (baritone)
Conducted by Leif Segerstam

"Leif Segerstam likes to let this music unfold slowly creating beautifully lyric lines in the process
and giving the music the sort of loving attention that it needs to be engaging. The music’s may
not always be at the top drawer, but there is still plenty here to enjoy. The Turku players also provide
committed performances and the singers work well here too. This is a great little disc of rarer
Sibelius that will fill in the esoteric gaps of those who love Sibelius’ music."
Cinemusical





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File Sizes: 257 MB / 164 MB (FLAC version incl. covers, sung texts & booklet)

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/>
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NOTE: Because of the space on one of the MEGA servers I've been using was running low, I had to delete for the time being the boxed-set releases of tone poems by Ferenc Liszt (No.600) and the Tubin symphonies (No.700).

OTOH, I have added an mp3 link for the wonderful orchestrations by Michel Decoust of short piano works by Erik Satie (No.599), which
were previously only available upon request:


Thread 121898

Some time ago someone said that Satie�s Sports & Divertissements has an orchestral version(besides the original piano work) and it�s right. This nice CD includes this work.

Yeah, but that poster (a most obnoxious guy btw) meant that there was an orchestral version by Satie himself - which isn't the case.
THIS version wasn't even released at that time, yet. :)


No.837
Modern: Americana

Peter Boyer is one of the most frequently performed American orchestral composers
of his generation, widely admired not least for his GRAMMY�-nominated Ellis Island: The
Dream of America (Naxos 8.559246). The composer writes, “The five works included on
this recording represent a cross-section of my orchestral music. Three Olympians reflects
my interest in mythology and history. Often I have received invitations to compose music
for celebratory concerts, and three of the works included here—Silver Fanfare,
Festivities and Celebration Overture—were created for such occasions.”
Symphony No.1 is a lyrical and rhythmically charged work, dedicated to the memory
of Leonard Bernstein.

The composer is best-known as an orchestrator in Hollywood, often for Michael Giacchino (Jurassic World).



Music Composed and Conducted by Peter Boyer
Played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra

"Peter Boyer’s love affair with American orchestras continues with his second Naxos recording,
dedicated to celebratory works composed for five American orchestras over a period of 15
years. Boyer, who claims more than 300 performances by more than 100 orchestras, writes
in a fluent, powerful style that fuses conservative American currents with Hollywood-ish size
and populist sentiment… Three Olympians… demonstrates the composer’s orchestration gifts
in a tour de force that evokes Apollo, Aphrodite, and, in a brilliant finale, Ares. [On Symphony
No. 1:] …the three-movement work is dominated by an 11-minute long third movement, an
absorbing, eventful Adagio with beautiful, written-out solo riffs… eloquent, spaciously
recorded performances."
Gramophone





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tangotreats posted his rip a while ago, so I'm making the FLAC version an open link, too.

Flac is welcome wimpel69, many thanks.

Ditto ... thanks for another gem in American music

Thank you for Crown Imperial. Very enjoyable.

No.838
Modern: Tonal

Ondine's successful Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) recordings with the NDR Sinfonieorchester
conducted by Christoph Eschenbach continue with another release featuring two major symphonic works by
the composer: Symphonie ‘Mathis der Maler' and Symphonie in Es. The orchestra's and Christoph
Eschenbach's previous Hindemith release together with Midori won a Grammy Award in 2014.

The ‘Mathis der Maler' Symphony is based on an opera that treats the life of the Renaissance painter
Mathias Gr�newald. Hindemith started to work on the symphony already prior to the completion of the opera.
The symphony was premiered with great success by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtw�ngler
on 12 March 1934. This performance was the last premiere of an orchestral work by Hindemith in Germany
before the National Socialist regime issued a general performance prohibition applying to his works in 1936.

Hindemith wrote his Symphonie in Es during his exile in the United States in 1940. The Symphony
is absolute music in the tradition of the four-movement symphony of Beethoven and the romantic period.
The work was premiered by Dimitri Mitropoulos who wrote to the composer: "The performance of your symphony
was for me one of the highest artistic moments of my career."



Music Composed by Paul Hindemith
Played by the NDR Sinfonieorchester
Conducted by Christoph Eschenbach

"Christoph Eschenbach made his conducting debut in 1972 with a performance of Bruckner's
Symphony No. 3, soon followed by Verdi's La Traviata at Darmstadt in 1978. In 1979 he was
named general music director of the Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic (through 1981). He
was permanent guest conductor, then chief conductor, of the Z�rich Tonhalle Orchestra (1971-1985).

In 1988 he began his most significant and productive association to date as music director of
the Houston Symphony Orchestra, where he remained until 1999. Although the orchestra was
already established as one of America's finer major symphonies, Eschenbach improved its
standards, heightened its international reputation, and broadened its repertory. He also
formed the Houston Symphony Chamber Players from its ranks. Eschenbach conducted the
Houston Symphony in recordings on the Koch International, Virgin, RCA Red Seal, Telarc,
and Carlton labels. These included standard fare such as some highly regarded Brahms and
Tchaikovsky recordings and all of the major Mozart wind concertos (with the orchestra's own
soloists). He and the Houston Symphony also recorded Kurt Weill's The Rise and Fall of the
City Mahagonny suite, Tobias Picker's Las Encantadoras, and the violin concertos of John
Adams and Philip Glass.

From 1991 to 1998 he was co-artistic director of the Pacific Music Festival, along with
Michael Tilson Thomas. In 1994 Eschenbach was appointed music director of the Ravinia
Festival, the summer outdoor season of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In the 1998-
1999 season he became music director of the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra
of Hamburg, and, concurrently, artistic director of its Schleswig-Holstein Festival. In
2003, he became music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he continued to
guest conduct from 2007-2010. Eschenbach spent the 2010-2011 season as music
director of the National Symphony Orchestra. Discs on which he conducts include Elgar
& Schnittke: Viola Concertos (2009), The Best of Lang Lang (2010), and Remembering
JFK - 50th Anniversary Concert (2011)."


Detail from an altarpiece by Matthias Gr�newald, the painter who
inspired Hindemith's opera "Mathis der Maler".



Source: Ondine CD (my rip!)
Formats: FLAC(RAR), DDD Stereo, mp3(320)
File Sizes: 270 MB / 155 MB (FLAC version incl. cover & conductor's bio)

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No.839
Late Romantic

Bax's Symphony number nought at last! The piano score of Arnold Bax’s Symphony
in F of 1907 was completed by its composer but never orchestrated, and has
long been one of the great “might-have-beens” of the British symphonic repertoire,
along with Elgar’s Third Symphony and E. J. Moeran’s Second. Unlike Elgar and Moeran,
Bax actually completed his symphony, and now Martin Yates has set it into
full score, managing to catch the elusive, idiomatic sound of Bax’s orchestra in a
convincing way we never expected to hear. The glorious second movement in particular,
on a similar scale to his many later tone poems, is revealed as a striking and
poetic creation in which Bax finds his voice. All lovers of English music will
want to get to grips with this epic, romantic score.



Music Composed by Arnold Bax
Orchestrations by Martin Yates
Played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Conducted by Martin Yates

"It is often the case that the first symphonic essay of any aspiring composer tends to be long.
Nevertheless, Bax’s Symphony in F must be one of the most extraordinarily ambitious initial
canvases for any composer at the beginning of his career. At just over 78 minutes, it reflects
the extended projections of Mahler and Rachmaninov, some of which Bax certainly encountered
on the European continent.

Written during a love affair in 1907, and time spent in Dresden, Bax’s Symphony was left
complete in short score (partly at University College, Cork, where I saw it as a young lecturer,
and partly in private possession) but has been very sympathetically orchestrated here by Martin
Yates. Although as yet stylistically inchoate (one can, as Lewis Foreman points out in his excellent
booklet-notes, detect strong elements of Glazunov and Strauss), the work is a fascinating
m�lange of rich thematic material and developmental processes in which Bax’s individual voice
is often discernible. A dramatic first movement, almost balletic in demeanour, is a wash of
orchestral colour. The second movement, to me much more Baxian in gesture (and somewhat
more redolent of his Celtic Twilight obsession), is a stronger lyrical essay, while the demonic
third, inspired by Hofmannsthal’s Der Tor und der Tod (‘The Fool and Death’), is distinctly
Straussian in its Till Eulenspiegel eccentricities. The last movement, by far the longest at
25 minutes, is an elongated fantasia where the thematic ideas are treated cyclically.
A demanding work, it is performed with energy and empathy by Yates and the Royal
Scottish National Orchestra. For any lover of early-20th-century British symphonic
music, this is a must."
Gramophone





Source: Dutton Epoch CD (my rip!)
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File Sizes: 360 MB / 179 MB (FLAC version incl. covers & booklet)

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Super rarity that Bax symphony, 1000 thanks wimpel69.

No.838
Modern: Tonal

Ondine's successful Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) recordings with the NDR Sinfonieorchester
conducted by Christoph Eschenbach continue with another release featuring two major symphonic works by
the composer: Symphonie �Mathis der Maler' and Symphonie in Es. The orchestra's and Christoph
Eschenbach's previous Hindemith release together with Midori won a Grammy Award in 2014.

The �Mathis der Maler' Symphony is based on an opera that treats the life of the Renaissance painter
Mathias Gr�newald. Hindemith started to work on the symphony already prior to the completion of the opera.
The symphony was premiered with great success by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtw�ngler
on 12 March 1934. This performance was the last premiere of an orchestral work by Hindemith in Germany
before the National Socialist regime issued a general performance prohibition applying to his works in 1936.

Hindemith wrote his Symphonie in Es during his exile in the United States in 1940. The Symphony
is absolute music in the tradition of the four-movement symphony of Beethoven and the romantic period.
The work was premiered by Dimitri Mitropoulos who wrote to the composer: "The performance of your symphony
was for me one of the highest artistic moments of my career."



Music Composed by Paul Hindemith
Played by the NDR Sinfonieorchester
Conducted by Christoph Eschenbach

"Christoph Eschenbach made his conducting debut in 1972 with a performance of Bruckner's
Symphony No. 3, soon followed by Verdi's La Traviata at Darmstadt in 1978. In 1979 he was
named general music director of the Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic (through 1981). He
was permanent guest conductor, then chief conductor, of the Z�rich Tonhalle Orchestra (1971-1985).

In 1988 he began his most significant and productive association to date as music director of
the Houston Symphony Orchestra, where he remained until 1999. Although the orchestra was
already established as one of America's finer major symphonies, Eschenbach improved its
standards, heightened its international reputation, and broadened its repertory. He also
formed the Houston Symphony Chamber Players from its ranks. Eschenbach conducted the
Houston Symphony in recordings on the Koch International, Virgin, RCA Red Seal, Telarc,
and Carlton labels. These included standard fare such as some highly regarded Brahms and
Tchaikovsky recordings and all of the major Mozart wind concertos (with the orchestra's own
soloists). He and the Houston Symphony also recorded Kurt Weill's The Rise and Fall of the
City Mahagonny suite, Tobias Picker's Las Encantadoras, and the violin concertos of John
Adams and Philip Glass.

From 1991 to 1998 he was co-artistic director of the Pacific Music Festival, along with
Michael Tilson Thomas. In 1994 Eschenbach was appointed music director of the Ravinia
Festival, the summer outdoor season of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In the 1998-
1999 season he became music director of the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra
of Hamburg, and, concurrently, artistic director of its Schleswig-Holstein Festival. In
2003, he became music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he continued to
guest conduct from 2007-2010. Eschenbach spent the 2010-2011 season as music
director of the National Symphony Orchestra. Discs on which he conducts include Elgar
& Schnittke: Viola Concertos (2009), The Best of Lang Lang (2010), and Remembering
JFK - 50th Anniversary Concert (2011)."


Detail from an altarpiece by Matthias Gr�newald, the painter who
inspired Hindemith's opera "Mathis der Maler".



Source: Ondine CD (my rip!)
Formats: FLAC(RAR), DDD Stereo, mp3(320)
File Sizes: 270 MB / 155 MB (FLAC version incl. cover & conductor's bio)

Download Link - [Click on the reputation button, leave a comment (or not) and PM me to get the FLAC link]
mp3 version - https://mega.nz/#!z8Ig3DzZ!PKDtXQY_ZWINvGvHXlMBP3SJid9H7GdDzD0kdx1ilRw

Enjoy! Don't share! Buy the original! And please click on "Reputation" button if you downloaded this album! :)


What a fantastic interpretation, antiphonal string section!, one of the best recordings of the symphony in es i know. Big thanks wimpel69.

Thanks so much for Bax symphony ! A real hidden gem !

Never heard this Bax before, and I'm a big fan. Thanks, wimpel69. You can always be counted on to bring us new and interesting music... scott

No.840
Pre-1945: Tonal

There is almost no information to be found on the web on the Soviet composer Yuri Vladimirovich Kochurov
except that he was born in Saratov in 1907 and died early, in 1952, in Leningrad. He composed music
for a number of movies that appear to be unknown outside the former Soviet Union, including "Young
Pushkin", "Professor Mamlock" and "Treasure of the Wrecked Vessel". The writer of the liner-notes - seems
to assume we will know his “most popular opuses” namely song cycles of texts by Pushkin, Lermontov
and Tyutchev and a Petrarch Sonnet for voice and organ. Only, we don't. So what do we have here:

The commissioning of incidental music for a 1940 production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth led to a
score Kochurov developed over the ensuing eight years as his Macbeth Symphony which was
premiered by Kurt Sanderling and the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra in December 1948. You should
know several things about this work straightaway; it is not a symphony even in the Domestica or
Alpine sense but it is remarkably Straussian and as such an extended tone-poem. For sure there
are thematic/character motifs that lend it a symphonic unity but the six linked but defined sections give
it much more of a feel of say Also Sprach Zarathustra. There is nothing particularly subtle in
the musical characterisation but then it could be argued that the big broad strokes of the play;
Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, killing King Duncan and the final death and destruction of Macbeth and
his ambitions do not require the subtlest of nuance.

The Suvorov Overture refers to Alexander Suvorov who was one of the great Russian military
commanders of the 18th Century. Apart from his skills as a soldier it can be imagined that his ‘common
touch’ was something much celebrated in the Soviet era by word if not in deed. In this work Kochurov
does not try to be specifically programmatic instead he uses the title to allow him to write what I can
only describe as a "Classical Comedy Overture" in the same way that Prokofiev’s Symphony No.1 is
‘Classical’.

With the Solemn March Kochurov wears another hat – this time it is the ceremonial/celebrational
march of Tchaikovsky. This is far more quirky than similar "propaganda" works of the era, and is more
jaunty than solemn. The fun is in the counter-melodies and how he orchestrates them. In the Heroic
Aria, the mezzo-soprano has a fairly dreadful text to sing: "Leningrad troops are marching to do
battle against evil invaders" is one of the more deathless couplets. But again Kochurov seems to have
found a way of setting it that has the ring of sincerity. It should be no surprise that this occupies more
of a predictable sound-world but it manages to feel more like an operatic aria than propaganda piece.



Music Composed by Yuri Kochurov
Played by the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra
With Olesya Petrova (mezzo-soprano)
Conducted by Alexander Titov

"This CD encapsulates exactly what I was hoping to find in more of the others in this series;
interesting repertoire by forgotten composers. Conversely the music here does not reflect
the influence of the War as clearly as others but for those interested in unusual music by a
maverick albeit a conservative one it is well worth investigating. If the quality of performance
and recording were better I would give this an unqualified welcome but as it is this is still
an interesting byway worth travelling."
Musicweb





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No.841
Modern: Symphonic Jazz

John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951) was a descendant of the very John Alden Carpenter who
arrived on the Mayflower. He was one of the earliest to incorporate jazz and Latin/Spanish-
flavored "popular" music into his scores. This Dutton release features American pianist
Michael Chertock and conductor Keith Lockhart, who bring verve and panache to the
popular Concertino for piano and orchestra and the world premi�re recording of Carpenter's
later Patterns for piano and orchestra. Also presented here is the delightful jazz-ballet
Krazy Kat and Carpenter's Leopold Stokowski commission, the beautiful Carmel Concerto,
Carpenter's final orchestral work.



Music Composed by John Alden Carpenter
Played by the BBC Concert Orchestra
With Michael Chertock (piano)
Conducted by Keith Lockhart

"Krazy Kat is the eponymous character of a cartoon strip that first appeared in the New York Evening
Journal in 1913. There aren't too many classical works that are based on cartoon strips; the only other
one I can think of is Ellen Zwilich's Peanuts. Carpenter's music was written for a pantomime ballet,
choreographed by Adolph Bolm. It predates Rhapsody in Blue by several years, so the use of a
saxophone and wa-wa mutes on the brass must have provoked consternation for some.

The sound-world of the Piano Concertino is something of a mix of the Romanticism of
Rachmaninov and the jazz of Gershwin, all blended with Latin sensibilities. The notes don't
explain why it is called a concertino, given that at 25 minutes plus, it certainly isn't a miniature,
but it is rather light in atmosphere, so that may be the reason. The rather odd mix results in
a work that is enjoyable at any moment that you choose to drop in on it, but doesn't really
hang together as a whole. The slow movement is dreamily pretty, but meandering.

The Carmel Concerto, Carpenter's final symphonic work, reworks material from an earlier violin
concerto; no solo part remains. It is a tribute to the California seaside town of that name,
where Carpenter had spent some time. It has no jazz influence, unlike its disc-mates. It is
my pick of the works on this CD, by turns playful, graceful, and wistful, adding some dramatic
elements towards the close. For this to be its first recording emphasises how there remain
plenty of fine works still waiting their turn.

Patterns is not a conventional piano concerto, or indeed concertino, but has a substantial
and difficult part for the soloist. Despite what I said about Carpenter's symphonies, he can't be
accused of not paying attention to the changing musical environment. This work uses a
tone-row as the recurring theme for the work, but clothes it in harmonies that make the
result more approachable.

The performances are uniformly excellent, and the notes by pianist Michael Chertock
comprehensive and informative."
Musicweb





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Great share, eagerly awaited. Big thanks wimpel69.

No.842
Modern: Tonal

Among America’s most admired, awarded and frequently performed composers, Ellen Taafe Zwilich,
who celebrated her 70th birthday in 2009, remains young at heart. Performed here by virtuoso
pianist Jeffrey Biegel for whom it was written, Millennium Fantasy is based on a
folksong that Zwilich’s grandmother sang to her as a child. Images drew its inspiration from a
number of paintings held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., including
the Alice Bailly self-portrait reproduced on the cover of this disc. Zwilich, herself featured
in Charles M. Schulz’s famous Peanuts� comic strip, returned the favor with a delightful
series of musical portraits of Schroeder, Linus, Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Peppermint Patty
and Marcie.



Music Composed by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
Played by the Florida State University Symphony Orchestra
With Jeffrey Biegel (piano) & Read Gainsford (piano)
And Heidi Louise Williams (piano)
Conducted by Alexander Jim�nez

"When Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s music first appeared on disc she had a couple of things going for
her: first, she was a woman, which was very politically correct and afforded her more attention
than she might otherwise have aroused at the time; and second, her last name begins with the
letters “Zw”, which makes her discs easy to find in large collections since they fall near the end
of the alphabet. Neither of these facts does her justice, obviously, and now that she’s exactly
as old as my mother it’s a pleasure to report that she has maintained and even enhanced her
reputation as a major American composer for no other reason than that she’s a major American
composer.

The earliest work here, Images for two pianos and orchestra (1986), is a moody suite of five
movements inspired by paintings created by, you guessed it, female artists. Next up is Peanuts
Gallery (as in the comic strip), a delicious piece for piano and orchestra somewhat in the
tradition of Carnival of the Animals. Schroeder leads off with a tribute to Beethoven, followed
by Linus asleep, Snoopy dancing the samba, Charlie Brown’s lament, Lucy “freaking out”, and
a final parade similar to that in Peter and the Wolf, led by Peppermint Patty and Marcie.
Unfortunately Pigpen doesn’t participate, and neither does Woodstock, but the music is
wholly delightful, all the more so for being so sincere and not a bit cartoonish.

Millennium Fantasy is a two-movement piano concerto based on a lovely folksong that Zwilich
first heard from her grandmother. It’s a terrific piece, beautifully constructed, and sounding
at times like modern-day Gershwin. In the second movement, dance rhythms keep on
breaking out, and if you listen to all three pieces in order you begin to realize that Zwilich
really does have her own distinctive voice. Her handling of certain instruments–suspended
cymbals, for example–and her use of sustained notes in the violins as a background for
music in quicker rhythms, features prominently in all three works. Just as noticeably, she
handles form in a smart and shapely manner, pacing each movement and grouping them
together to create unfailingly satisfying larger structures.

The performances here sound uniformly excellent. Jeffrey Biegel, for whom the Fantasy
was written, plays both that work and the solo part in Peanuts Gallery with aptly proprietary
confidence. Read Gainsford and Heidi Louise Williams team up most effectively in Images,
and the Florida State University Symphony Orchestra under Alexander Jim�nez leaves
absolutely nothing to be desired. The sonics are also excellent: bright, clean, and well-
balanced. A splendid disc, then, in all respects, and a mandatory acquisition if you’re
interested in good contemporary music."
David Hurwitz, Classics Today http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q574/taliskerstorm/p10_zpshsmtdoti.gif





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No.843
Late Romantic

The great twentieth-century Russian poet, Mikhail Alexeevich Kuzmin, was for much of
his early life also passionately devoted to composition. Masterpieces of the vocal miniature,
his Sacred Songs for voice and orchestra are settings of his own words based on studies
of ancient Russian music. His incidental music for Masquerade is notable for a heartfelt
"Romance" and a closing chorus which draws upon traditional Russian church music. The Society
of Honoured Bell Ringers displays Mahlerian and Mozartian influences whilst greater harmonic
complexity can be savoured in Kuzmin’s edgier music for Der deutsche Hinkemann.



Music Composed by Mikhail Alexeevich Kuzmin
Played by the Karelia State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra (Petrozavodsk)
With Mila Shkirtil (mezzo-soprano)
And the Petrozavodsk State University Male Choir
Conducted by Yuri Serov

"History will recall that Mikhail Alexeevich Kuzmin was one of the great Russian poets of the
twentieth century, and it will ignore his copious output as a composer. Not that his musical
education lacked anything, his two composition mentors being Liadov and Rimsky-Korsakov.
Yet it was to be his literary skills that took over, and he was to look towards music as more
of a hobby than a career. Working in either side of this dual lifestyle, he was essentially a
miniaturist, the present disc containing twenty-two tracks. He seemed particularly happy in
the field of incidental music for three plays, The Society of Honoured Bell Ringers, Masquerade
and Hinkemann the German. Here he followed in the footsteps of his tutors with colourful
cameos to picture scenes on stage, though his harmonic language was very personal and
interesting. Maybe an unusual suggestion, but I would advise you to start with the disc’s
final work, Hinkemann the German. Composed in 1923, it offers an entry point to Kuzmin’s
offshoot of conventional tonality, much of it composed in dance form. With a very smoochy
Tango and a quirky March, it is music in the same populist mode that Shostakovich was to
adopt a decade later. The one work that is here totally out of context comes with the
three Sacred Songs. Pieces that have their roots firmly in the world of Mussorgsky and
Borodin. They are not sacred, in the sense that they belong to the church, as they have
a sensual beauty of the secular world, the mezzo, Mila Shkirtil, having an ideal tonal
warmth for the characterisation of each song. This year the Karelia State Philharmonic—
from Northwest Russia—celebrates its 60th birthday, and is here directed by the much
experienced Russian conductor, Yuri Serov. We are in the world of Premiere Recordings,
and you will discover interesting music."
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No.844
Modern: Tonal

With three major works by Malcolm Arnold from the mid-1970s, Dutton Epoch surveys
his music written in Ireland. The focus of the programme is Arnold's Seventh Symphony,
dissonant and exhilarating by turns in the first movement and ending with Irish elements crowned
by a riotous Irish reel complete with the pounding rhythm of a marching drum. The distinctive sound
of a cowbell in the outer movements characterizes the music in memory. Peter Donohoe is the
commanding pianist in the Fantasy on a theme of John Field op.116. Arnold called it "a piano
concerto in one movement" in a piece in which John Field's radiant seventh Nocturne for piano is
subjected to a variety of treatments from wild march and circus music to lush romantic panoply.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra commissioned that vigorous display piece, the Philharmonic
Concerto op.120, for an American tour. It is in fact a sort of Concerto for Orchestra,
and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra rise to its colourful demands with typical
verve. The composer promised it would offer "the glorious sound of a symphony orchestra,"
and it certainly does in the RSNO's brilliant playing.



Music Composed by Malcolm Arnold
Played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
With Peter Donohoe (piano)
Conducted by Martin Yates

"These three works by Malcolm Arnold all date from the mid-1970s, when, as Piers Burton-Page says
in his informative note, the composer was plagued by mental illness. Symphony No. 7 is certainly
disturbed, and disturbing. Its first movement sets off in a bout of hysteria and exposes raw nerves
all the way through; its slow movement erupts at one point into a nightmarish crescendo; and its
finale tries but fails to find refuge in Irish dance tunes. Though the Seventh has prompted comparisons
with Mahler and Shostakovich, no work that I know of by either composer gives such a vivid sense
of a desperate struggle for sanity. The mood swings are enhanced by Martin Yates’s fast tempos
(about seven minutes faster than Andrew Penny’s Naxos performance), to which the RSNO responds
with collective and individual brilliance.

This orchestral virtuosity also lights up the Philharmonic Concerto, a display piece which veers
between Walton-like swagger, good singing tunes and interjections of crude banality. The Fantasy
on a theme of John Field, in which Peter Donohoe is the excellent soloist, subjects one of Field’s
pre-Chopin piano Nocturnes to a barrage of competing ideas and disruptive treatment, including
a climactic transformation of its melody into a parody of Rachmaninov. Field’s original, obsessive
Nocturne throws illuminating light on the Fantasy."
BBC Music Magazine (*****/*****)





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No.845
Modern: Neo-Romantic

The distinguished American composer Thomas Pasatieri (*1945) is well known for his operas,
having composed 22, as well as for his hundreds of songs and other vocal works. In fact,
his first symphony, written at age 63 came about because of his association with the
University of Kentucky and their production of his opera, The Hotel Casablanca.
His Symphony No.2 was written for conductor John Nardolillo and the University
of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra as well, while Symphony No.3 was commissioned and
premiered by the Northwest Sinfonietta. These are world premiere recordings of these works.

Pasatieri is best known to film music lovers as one of Hollywood's most experienced
orchestrators. He currently has 67 films to his credit, including "The Pelican Brief",
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "The Shawshank Redemption", "WALL-E" and "Wreck-It Ralph".



Music Composed by Thomas Pasatieri
Played by the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra
With Catherine Clarke Nardolillo (soprano)
And the Lexington Singers Children's Choir
And the Danville Children's Choir
Conducted by John Nardolillo

"I love the sound of the orchestra," says Pasatieri, a former artistic director of the Atlanta Opera
whose credits include orchestrations for dozens of films such as American Beauty and The Shawshank
Redemption. "I love the players and their personalities, and who they are as people. I was at their
Carnegie Hall concert, the one they do each year with Arlo Guthrie, and they played so beautifully,
with such virtuosity." That brings us back to the orchestra's big collaborations and events, which don't
surprise Pasatieri at all. This time last year, the UK Symphony was preparing to play as the orchestra
for the opening ceremonies of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, where it supported artists
including country star Wynonna Judd, Irish tenor Ronan Tynan, opera diva Denyce Graves and
members of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. In the past several years, the ensemble has
performed with stars such as violinists Sarah Chang and Gil Shaham, and later this year the UK
Symphony has concerts scheduled with the eclectic orchestra Pink Martini on Dec. 10 and violinist
Natasha Paremski on Feb. 11, in addition to the Boston Pops.

"They're so good, and he's so good," Pasatieri says of the orchestra and Nardolillo. "It's an incredible
opportunity for them to come here and be in this orchestra with all the experiences they get to
have." As a music education experience, presenting the world premiere of a new work is a huge
opportunity, Nardolillo says, because of the chance to interpret the score with no preconceptions
and the chance to interact with the composer."
Lexington Herald-Leader





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No.846
Modern: Tonal

The Albany Symphony conducted by David Alan Miller offers a recording of major
works by the illustrious American composer John Harbison. The Great Gatsby Suite comes
from Harbison’s opera and concentrates on the instrumental music. Darkbloom: Overture for an
Imagined Opera comes from material for an opera project that Harbison decided not to continue.
The newest work on the recording, Closer to My Own Life, in which the acclaimed soprano
Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie joins Maestro Miller and the Albany Symphony, uses texts extracted
from stories written by Alice Munroe, Harbison’s favourite prose writer.



Music Composed by John Harbison
Played by the Albany Symphony Orchestra
With Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie (soprano)
Conducted by David Alan Miller

"John Harris Harbison is among the most prominent and prolific of American composers;
his highly varied and interesting output has earned him the moniker, "the great master of
ambiguity." His principal works include three string quartets, three symphonies, the cantata
The Flight Into Egypt (Pulitzer Prize, 1987), and three operas, including The Great Gatsby
(commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera -- premiered there, 1999).

Harbison was born in Orange, NJ, on December 20, 1938, and grew up in Princeton. While a
teenager he received musical guidance from Roger Sessions, one of his formative influences,
while also developing considerable skills as a jazz pianist. Other of Harbison's teachers
include Walter Piston at Harvard, Boris Blacher at the Berlin Hochschule f�r Musik, and
Earl Kim at Princeton. As influential as any teacher was Harbison's marriage to violinist
Rose Mary Pederson -- the inspiration for many of his violin pieces. Since 1969, he has
been professor of music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, necessitating his
becoming a "summer composer." More than 30 of his compositions have been recorded
on the Nonesuch, Northeastern, Harmonia Mundi, New World, Decca, Koch, Centaur,
Archetype, and CRI labels. His music is published exclusively by Associated Music Publishers.

Exceptional economy and expressive range mark Harbison's music. His works embrace
elements of jazz as well as the early and late Baroque styles of Heinrich Sch�tz and J. S.
Bach. At times, the harmonic palette brings to mind the sound of Prokofiev or the rigorous
serialism of 1950s Stravinsky. He is also a practiced writer on the art and craft of
composition, and was recognized in his student years as an outstanding poet, later
writing the libretto for his The Great Gatsby.

Harbison's music first garnered national attention with the Boston Symphony Orchestra's
1976 premiere of Diotima, a commission by the Koussevitzky Foundation. This, his first
major work for orchestra, showed him an adept symphonic composer -- a talent that he
then applied to a string of concerted works, such as his Piano Concerto (1978) (recipient
of the 1980 Kennedy Center Friedheim Award), and the Violin Concerto (1978-1980, rev.
1987), written for and premiered by Rose Mary Harbison. Other concertos came later,
including one for viola (1989), oboe (1991), cello (1993), and flute (1993).

Occasionally, as in The Most Often Used Chords (Gli accordi pi� usati) of 1993,
Harbison enjoys putting compositional restrictions on himself to ignite his imagination.
A great percentage of Harbison's works are for voice -- either solo, small ensemble,
or large chorus; most notable among these are his Mirabai Songs (for soprano and
percussion ensemble) and his operas, which (besides the aforementioned Gatsby)
are: Full Moon In March (1977) and Winter's Tale (1974, rev. 1991).

Harbison has worked extensively as a conductor, particularly with the Cantata Singers
(1969-1973) and the new-music group Collage (established in 1984). He is a champion
of twentieth century music, especially composers he feels have been neglected,
such as Luigi Dallapiccola."





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No.847
Modern: Tonal/Minimalism

Four new works by the compelling American contemporary composer Michael Torke include the
Concerto for Orchestra performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and conducted by
Vasily Petrenko. Bliss, whose rhythmic syncopations are explored and developed over its
11-1/2 minutes to scintillating effect by the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble. Oracle was
composed and designed to be a concert opener and its tonal textures proclaim its raison d’etre and is
performed by the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, and finally Iphigenia performed by the
Camerata NY and written for the stage brings out the Baroque tendencies and influences in Torke’s
compositions. Ecstatic Records is the composer's own label.



Music Composed by Michael Torke
Played by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Quad City Symphony
With the Kansas Wind Ensemble & the Camerata New York
Conducted by Vasily Petrenko & Mark Russell Smith
And Paul W. Popiel & Richard Owen

"American composer Michael Torke is a synesthete who perceives the key of E major
as green and D major as blue. It followed that his new Concerto for Orchestra should
be marked by some astonishing splashes of colour, even if the thematic palette was
somewhat restricted. The 20 minute, seven-movement piece was structured around a
single, four-note motif, initially announced by the brass and passed round the ensemble
in various permutations. Torke has a distinctly American orchestral accent: transparent,
Philip Glass-like textures tussled with the infectious shimmy of Bernstein in mambo mode;
while Walt Disney was the presiding influence of a syrupy largo in which the theme broke
down and seemingly attempted to reconfigure itself as When You Wish Upon a Star."
The Guardian



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I was a little disappointed by the concerto, the older works of Torke are more my cup of tea (Ash, Bright Blue Music, An American Abroad for ex.).

No.848
Modern: Light Music

Bill Worland (1921-2011) was born in London and was trained as a classical musician, but
soon after leaving school started playing with light orchestras such as Cecil Barker’s band, a
regular feature of the Summer Season at the Broadstairs Pavilion throughout the 1950s and 60s,
and the East Kent Light Orchestra. He moved to Kent in the 1960s, and composed many works for
the BBC, but was aghast when in 1967 they cut the whole Light Programme (the forerunner of
Radio 2) and several individual programmes focusing on light music. He continued campaigning,
together with the Light Music Society, on behalf of this genre’s many fans, and now at last
it seems to be back in favour.



Music Composed by Bill Worland
Played by the RT� Concert Orchestra, Dublin
Conducted by Gavin Sutherland

"In reviewing Bill Worland's memoirs 'Fumble Four Bars In' (British Music Society News 80 page 246
) I said I would love to hear some of his music. Now, courtesy of Marco Polo and the highly accomplished
RTE Orchestra, brilliantly directed by the young Gavin Sutherland, I have my wish. Worland, born in 1921,
was a pianist in dance bands and light orchestras either side of the Second War and turned his hand to
composition at a time when British light music was going into something of a decline in public appreciation.
He is not easily discouraged, however, and has continued composing, achieving broadcast and some
live performances and now a CD to himself in Marco Polo's admirable series. And an attractive one it is,
too, and quite varied. Worland, like not a few light music composers, derives inspiration from Latin
American and Spanish rhythms, as we can hear from the Tres Se�oritas suite and the movements Latin
Lovers, Pepita, Sombrero, Happy Hacienda and Bossa Romantica, all in this disc, all tuneful and
entertaining. I also enjoyed In the Shadow of Vesuvius, a suite, or sequence in several sections, which
conveys the colour of Italy nicely. But Worland can portray British scenes and people too; Scottish
Power, another suite/sequence, Dreaming Spires, Leeds Castle, To Eleanor (wife of Edward I) and the
moving Rhapsody Tristesse, dedicated to his one time piano teacher. As he says in his insert notes
the lively Shopping Spree (track 1) was reckoned to resemble Robert Farnon. Indeed it does; Worland's
piece of train music is Farnonish too - hardly surprising in view of Farnon's long-held, high status in
light music this side of the Atlantic. Some of the music, like Millennium Celebration March and
Scottish Power, have been recently composed, for the recording in fact. Bill Worland will be a
new experience for many of you, but hopefully an enjoyable one. I hope there is more to
come from his pen."
Musicweb





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No.849
Late Romantic

After Carl Nielsen, Louis Glass surely has to be regarded as Denmark’s greatest composer
of the first half of the twentieth century. He began his career as a pianist, but when illness
forced him to retire from active concertizing, he focused all his energies on composing. His
six symphonies clearly occupy the center of his oeuvre. Early influence from Schumann, Gade
(from whom he received instruction for a time), and Grieg soon yielded to influence from
C�sar Franck, whom Glass is thought to have met in Brussels. In his six symphonies, however,
Glass also displays strong influence emanating from Bruckner, which was very unusual during
this generation and beyond the borders of German-speaking Europe. We are now beginning a new
edition of this highly interesting work complex, together with shorter symphonic compositions,
some of them in world-premiere recordings. Our Vol. 1 brings together the idyllic
"Forest Symphony" (Symphony No.3) and the Summer Life orchestral suite, the
former verging on chamber character and the latter uncommonly bright and colorful.



Music Composed by Louis Glass
Played by the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz
Conducted by Daniel Raiskin

"Glass's Third Symphony was written 1900–1901 and was dedicated to Edvard Grieg. It has a programme
which was published in 1926 and reads: “My Third Symphony in D major has its origin in the changing moods
crowding into our mind when we seek solitude and allow it alone to speak to us; but this devotional exercise
of the soul is interrupted when we are reminded of the transitory nature of things and the illusory character
of all dreams of happiness. But only for a short moment – for the leafy canopy of the woods is swinging
airily and lightly under the heavenly vault. The andante is merely one more picture of precisely this peace
and the same restlessness. The third movement of the symphony depicts the woods at night. The racing
clouds, the rushing of the wind, and the rustling of the leaves; the moon, which now and then shines down
on the rotting tree stumps – they all make us believe that invisible life is stirring around us. The concluding
allegro is the most important part of the symphony. He who has become acquainted with every path no
longer feels that he is the lonely wanderer but becomes one with the solitude of nature surrounding him.
The soul is free of all cares, and he feels like a king in his realm.”

Listening through the symphony I can state that his craftsmanship is in no doubt. The structure is easy to
follow and he develops the themes conscientiously. He also knits the movements together through
recurring motifs. The latter is a device we know from C�sar Franck’s sole symphony and it is well known
that Glass was an admirer of Franck. His other great idol was Anton Bruckner and we can trace influences
from him as well. The symphony is however well worth a listen even though it isn’t an immortal masterpiece.
We don’t go to gourmet restaurants every evening either but the local tavern serves solid well-cooked
plain food that is eminently edible though the seasoning is scant.

The other work on this disc, Summer Life, almost contemporaneous with the symphony, is actually
tastier. There is more life and Danish joviality in this suite, which here gets its first recording. It is
like five picture postcards and here the scoring is more varied and quite often is highly original.
The first day of summer is jolly and optimistic, in the Forest Idyll we are sitting under an oak tree,
insects are swarming, a bird sings in the tree top. On Field and Meadow takes place at harvest time,
workers in the fields are busy – but we also hear the cows and sheep just standing there, watching …
In the Evening Twilight stillness prevails, only the little bird is still singing … The Peasant Feast is
certainly the most licentious movement. Robust, full of life and it gets wilder and wilder."
Musicweb





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No.850
Neo-Romantic

Ant�n Garc�a Abril was born in Teruel on 19 May in 1933. Between 1952 and 1955, he studied at the Madrid
Royal Conservatory of Music under Julio Gmez and Francisco Cales, and at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena under
Vito Frazzi (composition), Paul van Kempen (orchestral conducting) and Angelo Francesco Lavagnino (film music).
In 1964, he furthered his studies at the Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome under Goffredo Petrassi, on a
scholarship from the Juan March Foundation in Madrid. In the following year he won the Tormo de Plata Prize on
the occasion of the IV Cuenca religious Music Week for Cantico delle creature. With Luis de Pablo and Cristbal
Halffter, he also represented Spain at the 39th International Festival held by the International Contemporary
Music Society (SIMC) in Madrid. He became lecturer in Musical Composition and Form at the Madrid Royal
Conservatory Music in 1974. Five years later his Hispavox recording of Concierto aguediano granted him the
Ministry of Culture Prize and in 1981 the Ministry of Cultures Andr�s Segovia Composition Prize for Evocaciones
and Cross of San Jorge (St. George) awarded by the Teruel Provincial Authority.

In 1982 he became an elected member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid and in 1985
he took the Tom�s Bret�n medal from the Association of Spanish Authors and Artists. Following an international
symposium held to discuss the figure of Valle-Incl�n in 1986, Abril was commissioned by the National Institute
of Dramatic Arts and Music (INAEM) to write an opera based on Divinas palabras, to be pr�miered at the
Teatro Real in Madrid after completion of its reconversion into an opera house. Between 1988 and 1989, he
participated in the International Contemporary Music Festival, Festival of Peace, held in Leningrad, the
Ministry of Culture Board of Cultural Affairs and in the Hispano-Soviet Festival held in Georgia. In 1993 he
was awarded the Aragon Regional Authority Medal for Cultural Merit, the National Music Prize and the
Guerrero Foundation Spanish Music Prize.



Music Composed by Ant�n Garc�a Abril
Played by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
With Ernst Kovacic (violin)
Conducted by Rafael Fr�hbeck de Burgos





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No.850
Neo-Romantic

Ant�n Garc�a Abril was born in Teruel on 19 May in 1933. Between 1952 and 1955, he studied at the Madrid
Royal Conservatory of Music under Julio Gmez and Francisco Cales, and at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena under
Vito Frazzi (composition), Paul van Kempen (orchestral conducting) and Angelo Francesco Lavagnino (film music).
In 1964, he furthered his studies at the Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome under Goffredo Petrassi, on a
scholarship from the Juan March Foundation in Madrid. In the following year he won the Tormo de Plata Prize on
the occasion of the IV Cuenca religious Music Week for Cantico delle creature. With Luis de Pablo and Cristbal
Halffter, he also represented Spain at the 39th International Festival held by the International Contemporary
Music Society (SIMC) in Madrid. He became lecturer in Musical Composition and Form at the Madrid Royal
Conservatory Music in 1974. Five years later his Hispavox recording of Concierto aguediano granted him the
Ministry of Culture Prize and in 1981 the Ministry of Cultures Andr�s Segovia Composition Prize for Evocaciones
and Cross of San Jorge (St. George) awarded by the Teruel Provincial Authority.

In 1982 he became an elected member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid and in 1985
he took the Tom�s Bret�n medal from the Association of Spanish Authors and Artists. Following an international
symposium held to discuss the figure of Valle-Incl�n in 1986, Abril was commissioned by the National Institute
of Dramatic Arts and Music (INAEM) to write an opera based on Divinas palabras, to be pr�miered at the
Teatro Real in Madrid after completion of its reconversion into an opera house. Between 1988 and 1989, he
participated in the International Contemporary Music Festival, Festival of Peace, held in Leningrad, the
Ministry of Culture Board of Cultural Affairs and in the Hispano-Soviet Festival held in Georgia. In 1993 he
was awarded the Aragon Regional Authority Medal for Cultural Merit, the National Music Prize and the
Guerrero Foundation Spanish Music Prize.



Music Composed by Ant�n Garc�a Abril
Played by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
With Ernst Kovacic (violin)
Conducted by Rafael Fr�hbeck de Burgos





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many thanks,Wimpel

---------- Post added at 11:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 AM ----------





No.849
Late Romantic

After Carl Nielsen, Louis Glass surely has to be regarded as Denmark’s greatest composer
of the first half of the twentieth century. He began his career as a pianist, but when illness
forced him to retire from active concertizing, he focused all his energies on composing. His
six symphonies clearly occupy the center of his oeuvre. Early influence from Schumann, Gade
(from whom he received instruction for a time), and Grieg soon yielded to influence from
C�sar Franck, whom Glass is thought to have met in Brussels. In his six symphonies, however,
Glass also displays strong influence emanating from Bruckner, which was very unusual during
this generation and beyond the borders of German-speaking Europe. We are now beginning a new
edition of this highly interesting work complex, together with shorter symphonic compositions,
some of them in world-premiere recordings. Our Vol. 1 brings together the idyllic
"Forest Symphony" (Symphony No.3) and the Summer Life orchestral suite, the
former verging on chamber character and the latter uncommonly bright and colorful.



Music Composed by Louis Glass
Played by the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz
Conducted by Daniel Raiskin

"Glass's Third Symphony was written 1900–1901 and was dedicated to Edvard Grieg. It has a programme
which was published in 1926 and reads: “My Third Symphony in D major has its origin in the changing moods
crowding into our mind when we seek solitude and allow it alone to speak to us; but this devotional exercise
of the soul is interrupted when we are reminded of the transitory nature of things and the illusory character
of all dreams of happiness. But only for a short moment – for the leafy canopy of the woods is swinging
airily and lightly under the heavenly vault. The andante is merely one more picture of precisely this peace
and the same restlessness. The third movement of the symphony depicts the woods at night. The racing
clouds, the rushing of the wind, and the rustling of the leaves; the moon, which now and then shines down
on the rotting tree stumps – they all make us believe that invisible life is stirring around us. The concluding
allegro is the most important part of the symphony. He who has become acquainted with every path no
longer feels that he is the lonely wanderer but becomes one with the solitude of nature surrounding him.
The soul is free of all cares, and he feels like a king in his realm.”

Listening through the symphony I can state that his craftsmanship is in no doubt. The structure is easy to
follow and he develops the themes conscientiously. He also knits the movements together through
recurring motifs. The latter is a device we know from C�sar Franck’s sole symphony and it is well known
that Glass was an admirer of Franck. His other great idol was Anton Bruckner and we can trace influences
from him as well. The symphony is however well worth a listen even though it isn’t an immortal masterpiece.
We don’t go to gourmet restaurants every evening either but the local tavern serves solid well-cooked
plain food that is eminently edible though the seasoning is scant.

The other work on this disc, Summer Life, almost contemporaneous with the symphony, is actually
tastier. There is more life and Danish joviality in this suite, which here gets its first recording. It is
like five picture postcards and here the scoring is more varied and quite often is highly original.
The first day of summer is jolly and optimistic, in the Forest Idyll we are sitting under an oak tree,
insects are swarming, a bird sings in the tree top. On Field and Meadow takes place at harvest time,
workers in the fields are busy – but we also hear the cows and sheep just standing there, watching …
In the Evening Twilight stillness prevails, only the little bird is still singing … The Peasant Feast is
certainly the most licentious movement. Robust, full of life and it gets wilder and wilder."
Musicweb





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Many thanks for the Garcia Abril & Glass!

Please don't quote my entire posts, especially not on the same page! Thank you. ;)


No.851
Modern: Neo-Classical

In the pieces performed here, we find Eugene Goossens (1893-1962) emerging at the end of World War I
as a brilliant and innovative orchestrator, a modernist with a technique derived from Debussy, Ravel, and early
Stravinsky. As Director of the New South Wales Conservatorium in Sydney and Chief Conductor of the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra, he was phenomenally successful, his achievements earning him international fame.

Four Conceits, Kaleidoscope, and Two Nature Poems all began life as works for solo piano, written
during or just after World War I. All were later adapted for orchestral forces, and in steep contrast to the
excessive length and opulence of much wartime music, these works (Kaleidoscope and Four Conceits in
particular) are conspicuously brief. In fact, only one of the four Conceits exceeds two minutes.

The short tone poem Tam O’Shanter and the four-act opera Don Juan de Ma�ara were both inspired
by literary works. The former illustrates the well-known poem of the same name by Robert Burns, depicting the
drunken return from Ayr of Tam on this horse, the uncertain gait of which is heard in the music from the outset.
The libretto for Goossens’s opera had been written by Arnold Bennett after a play by Alexandre Dumas, p�re.

Also closely associated with the arts, Three Greek Dances was written for Margaret Morris whose
flowing style of dancing, inspired by Isadora Duncan, we today associate with the 1920s. The piece, in its
final form, was first performed in London by Morris and her dancers at the Faculty of Arts, Piccadilly in
January 1931. At the suggestion of their friend the critic Edwin Evans, four composers – John Ireland,
Frank Bridge, Arnold Bax, and Eugene Goossens – jointly produced a miniature set of variations on the
French folksong ‘Cadet Rousselle’, for soprano and piano. Goossens later arranged the set for
orchestra without voice, the version performed here.



Music Composed by Sir Eugene Goossens
Played by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis

"... From the first bars of the lively Kaleidoscope, Goosens’ music is obviously in the best
of hands, and the second item here, Tam O’Shanter even gives Malcolm Arnold’s celebrated
overture of the same name a run for its money (though Arnold’s is the more individual piece).
This disc marks the beginning of the partnership between the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
and its recently appointed Chief Conductor, Sir Andrew Davis, who already boasts an impressive
discography on Chandos. In the pieces here, Goossens demonstrates his mastery of orchestration
notably with Four Conceits, Kaleidoscope, and Two Nature Poems, which were initially pieces
for solo piano... Sound values are top-notch."
Classical CD Choice





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No.852
Late Romantic

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger's (1867-1942) Second Symphony is a captivating work - impulsive and exhilarating.
It conveys the sense if childhood summer mornings in the second movement. There are plenty of woodwind solos, harp idylls
and murmurous reflections. Galloping delight very similar in the middle movement to Howard Hanson (child of an
expatriate Swedish family) in his First Symphony The Nordic. The Romance is for violin and orchestra.
It proceeds at an easy lope but warms to romantic passion rather than fireworks � in this sense it is similar to the
Stenhammar romances and the Chausson Po�me. The Oriental Dance is an early work and this certainly does
show the influence of Grieg. It predates oriental efforts by Atterberg and Nielsen. The Overture to the ill-fated
and now lost cantata Sveagaldrar is a thing of Ruritanian pomp and then of waltz-time sentimentality and luxurious
dewy romance.



Music Composed by Wilhelm Peterson-Berger
Played by the Norrk�ping Symphony Orchestra
With Ulf Wallin (violin)
Conducted by Michail Jurowski

"Strindberg loved the music of Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, so it�s good to see one of the dramatist�s
paintings adorning the front of this disc. But the music of which Strindberg was so fond was the
songs and piano miniatures which still represent Peterson-Berger at his most beguiling. The
symphonies are something else besides. The somewhat featureless landscapes of the First and
Fifth have been valiantly recorded by the Swedish Royal Opera Orchestra (Sterling, 1/98); now
the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra turns to the Second.

The Journey to the South, as it�s called, is an episodic and expressively fitful dream-fantasy
voyage, written ten years before Peterson-Berger made his own obligatory Italian journey. As
the music leaves the limping rhythms of northern discontent, the melodic span broadens,
orchestration becomes livelier, if hardly more subtle � and we arrive in Greece. This provokes
a little percussive Dionysian delirium, a chaste Debussian Adagio in �The Temple of Eros�, and a
tarantella of a Platonic �Symposium�.

By the third movement it�s quite a relief that the composer has a touch of �Homesickness� and,
after a thematic recollection or two, returns north. Home to a melancholy, salonesque violin
Romance, sensitively played by Ulf Wallin, to an orchestration of a winsome little Oriental Dance,
originally for piano, and to the pomp and circumstance of the Prelude to his cantata Sveagaldrar.

A useful documentation of yet another manifestation of the cultural Zeitgeist of turn-of-
the-century Sweden.'"
Gramophone





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No.853
Modern: Neo-Romantic

The young American composer Carson P. Cooman (*1982) is one of the most active of his generation,
having written over six hundred works in many forms. This disc presents a broad overview of his music,
from orchestral to chamber and solo works. It includes the lyrical Symphony No.2, inspired by a
poem of Kathleen Wakefield about love and the desire for rain, and his Symphony No.3, which takes
as its source material the plainchant "Ave maris stella". Partita explores the baroque flute�s unique
sonic properties, and the brief Piano Concerto is filled with allusions to classical symphonic form
and style, within a contemporary context. Dedicated to the composer Peter Sculthorpe, Songlines, Sun
Dreaming is rich in native Australian imagery.



Music Composed by Carson Cooman
Played by the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic & Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestras
With Nora Skuta (piano) & Rachel Gough (violin)
Conducted by Kirk Trevor

"With over six hundred works already completed, the twenty-five-year-old American,
Carson Cooman, must be the world's most prolific composer and makes Mozart seem
dilatory by comparison. A melodic composer, who at times is sliding towards atonalism,
his music falls easily on the ear and is among the listener-friendly writers to come from
the States in recent years. The disc gives a good cross-section of his output in the four
years from 2001, most of the pieces written to specific commissions. Maybe the quiet
and at times pensive nature of the Second Symphony does not reveal the picture
suggested by its subtitle, and if I were just coming to Cooman, I would want to start
at the outgoing Piano Concerto with its catchy melodic content. It calls for a flamboyant
performance that these highly committed musicians bring to the music. The Third
Symphony is made of much more acerbic and punchy material, the plainchant input
having a vibrant quality that becomes highly charged through the second and final
movement. Songlines, Sun Dreaming reminds me of modern Australian music,
while the two works for violin and organ, Vision and the Sonata, are nicely crafted,
though the church acoustic gives and unusual and much enlarged sound to Rachel
Gough's violin. In the Partita Cooman explores the unique sound of the baroque
flute, rather emphasising the 'out of tune' part of the instrument. He could surely
never have wanted for more deeply committed accounts, the two orchestras
involved (the Bohuslav Martinu just appearing in Songlines, Sun Dreaming)
going far beyond the call of duty."
David Denton





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No.854
Pre-1945: Neo-Classical

Forced by ill-health to give up his naval career at 25, Albert Roussel's late start as a composer is well known.
Touching the preliminaries with Eug�ne Gigout, he began studies with Vincent d'Indy in 1898 at the latter's newly
founded Schola Cantorum, where he faced a dauntingly thorough course which would occupy him for a decade.
D'Indy was quick to recognize ability, appointing Roussel professor of counterpoint in 1902, and acknowledging
him as a creative artist. Composition on his Symphony No.1, subtitled "The Poem of the Forest" slowly
proceeded, and with misgivings. Soir d'�t�, completed in October 1904, was heard at one of Alfred Cortot's
lectures -- "hearings" of works by young composers given at the Nouveau-Th��tre -- on December 15. While
Roussel gained some assurance regarding the effectiveness of his orchestral writing, another symphonic
movement, Vendanges (Harvest), was rejected and destroyed after performance at the lectures on April 18,
1905. Renouveau was completed in July 1905, and For�t d'hiver in June 1906. With three movements
in hand suggesting the round of the seasons, Roussel joined For�t d'hiver and Renouveau in a single
movement -- the former as an atmospheric introduction, the latter in proper first-movement sonata form.
Soir d'�t� is a ternary adagio showing strong affinities with D'Indy's Jour d'�t� � la montagne, composed
at the same time. Throughout, the orchestral writing is evocative, pictorial, and exquisitely poetic.

At every stage of his career, Roussel's best work is masterly finished, engaging, surefire. By the mid-1920s the
skies had cleared, so to speak, and Roussel entered his final, neo-Classical, phase with the orchestral Suite in F
(1926) whose three movements -- two in Baroque dance forms -- afford a foretaste of the Symphony No.3 in
their effortless combination of energy and serenity. The Third occupied Roussel from August 1929 through
March 1930. Roussel and his wife were present for the Boston premiere, October 24, 1930, the composer remarking
that Koussevitzky had conducted "with an extraordinary care and enthusiasm," and noting the day after, "As far as
I can gauge after this hearing, it is the best thing I have done...." That, indeed, has been the consensus of critics
and listeners alike -- only the ballet Bacchus et Ariane, which followed it immediately, has rivaled it in
popularity. From the sardonic strut of the opening, the Third is immediately arresting, while its tightly coiled
argument -- compact even for the form-conscious Roussel -- compels by its melding of logic and vivacity,
sophistication and primitivism. The second movement transcends counterpoint in a miracle of passionate,
ostinato-driven polyphony, while the scherzo and final Allegro con spirito -- elegant and rumbustious by turns -
are wrought with colossal playfulness.



Music Composed by Albert Roussel
Played by the Orchestre National de France
Conducted by Charles Dutoit

"While both the Third and the Fourth Symphonies were recorded in the days of 78s�No. 3 by
Albert Wolff and the Lamoureux Orchestra (Decca-Polydor CA8199/201, 5/35) and No. 4 by
Karajan and the Philharmonia (Columbia LX1348/81, 1/51), the First has had a long time to
wait. It belongs to the glorious decade in French music in which Debussy produced La mer
and d'Indy his Jour d'ete a la montagne though, as Basil Deane puts it in his study of the
composer (London: 1961), ''in intention and achievement it is, as might be expected, closer
to d'Indy than Debussy''. All the same, there are plenty of Debussian echoes resonating in
this score. The work is sub-titled, Le poeme de la foret and each of the four movements
bears a programmatic sub-title. The third, ''Soir d'ete'', was actually the first to be written
and was performed in 1904 under Cortot, to whom the whole score was eventually dedicated.
The second, ''Renouveau'', followed in 1905 and the remaining two movements a year later.
The finale, ''Faunes et Dryades'', was also given separately at a Lamoureux concert in 1907,
and the complete score was not heard until the following year in Brussels.

I mention all this as a means of indicating that the work is relatively loosely held together,
quite unlike its successors. The first movement, ''Foret d'hiver'', is a kind of prelude, though
the winter sounds pretty gentle and warm to northern ears and the closing bars have some
of the balminess of a Mediterranean night. The most evocative movement is the third,
''Soir d'ete'', and it is in this that there are hints (two bars after fig. 36) of the Roussel of
Le festin de l'arraignee. It is an imaginative if rather sleepy piece not dissimilar in its general
impression from Le marchand de sable qui passe, written at much the same time, though
that is the more personal utterance. There are also resonances in the finale (fig. 60) of
Franck himself whose Symphony was only 20 years old. The small cuts that the late
Jean Martinon made in performance at the end of the third movement (at two before fig.
46) and in the finale (two before 80 to six before 82) which presumably had Roussel's
authority (Martinon studied with the composer) are opened out. The work has been
criticized for its undistinguished melodic lines and it is not by any means so strong a
work as the Second Symphony. However, I have much enjoyed making its acquaintance
and look forward to hearing it on Compact Disc.

If Le poeme de la foret is gloriously soft-centred, the Third is Roussel's most concentrated
and tensile symphony. It has been successfully recorded by Cluytens (HMV), Boulez
and Bernstein (both CBS), all now deleted. Munch's Erato recording comes from the
1960s and sounds somewhat strident these days. Dutoit doesn't have quite the same
drive as did Munch, but none the less his performance still generates a pretty high
voltage. As is the case with the First Symphony, he gets good playing from the
French National Orchestra and the recording is eminently acceptable. The acoustic
has warmth and the balance is well judged. My only reservation concerns the very
short pauses left between movements in the Third Symphony. A most desirable issue."
Gramophone





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Dear Wimpel,are you all right?,I�m affraid about your silence.

me too ,,,

Dear Wimpel,are you all right?,I�m affraid about your silence.

Maybe s/he's just busy with the holidays?

Dear Wimpel,are you all right?,I�m afraid about your silence.

Thanks for your concern. To tell the truth, I'm beginning to tire of this whole music sharing thingee.
I already own more music (without the one I've acquired through sharing) than I can hope ever to be
able to listen to [again] in my remaining years. It's come to a point where I don't even integrate downloaded
shared music into my collection anymore because I can't muster the energy. I'm also tiring of the attitude
of many file sharers who claim they have 20,000 albums in their collection, boasting they didn't pay for
a single one of them.


No.855
Modern: Tonal

"Landscapes" features the music of Douglas Lilburn, Ross Harris, Lyell Cresswell,
Maria Grenfell, Martin Lodge, David Hamilton and Anthony Ritchie.
The recording brings together a programme of works marked by a diversity of
expression and mood, but united in that each work reflects to some degree the
composer’s consciousness of the New Zealand landscape.

This album includes:
Douglas Lilburn - Drysdale Overture
Lyell Creswell - Dancing on a Volcano
Maria Grenfell - Stealing Tutunui
David Hamilton - Elysian Fields
Martin Lodge - Hinterland
Ross Harris - ... of memory ...
Anthony Ritchie - Yet Another Poem of Spring



Music by [see above]
Played by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Kenneth Young

"Kenneth Young is one of New Zealand’s leading conductors. He has established himself as a passionate
and skilled interpreter of the Romantic and 20th Century repertoire, and twenty five years of practical
orchestral playing enables him to establish a specialised rapport with his colleagues. Himself a composer,
he has a particular interest in post-Romantic repertoire, and has received recognition for his recordings
of New Zealand and Australian orchestral music.

Young took up the position of Principal Tuba with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 1976 and
his experience as a conductor with the NZSO dates from 1985, culminating in his appointment as the
orchestra’s Conductor in Residence early in 1993. In 2001 he resigned from the NZSO in order to pursue
his conducting and composing career fulltime.

Young has worked regularly with all the regional orchestras throughout New Zealand, and his engagements
with the NZSO and the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra have included highly acclaimed CD recordings
of the orchestral works of Douglas Lilburn, Edwin Carr, David Farquhar, Lyell Cresswell, Anthony Ritchie,
Gareth Farr and many others, along with opera excerpts recorded with the New Zealand tenor Keith
Lewis. He also regularly conducts seasons with the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Outside New Zealand, Young has worked with the Queensland Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony
Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, the
City of Osaka Sinfonia, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He has particularly enjoyed the
many opportunities to perform Australian and New Zealand repertoire side by side on both sides of
the Tasman and has received considerable praise for his recordings of Australian music.

In addition to his work as a performer and a conductor, Young has become one of New Zealand’s
leading composers. Numerous commissions from Chamber Music New Zealand, the NZSO, Australian
orchestras, BBANZ, the International Festival of the Arts, Auckland Philharmonia, Vector Wellington
Orchestra and Radio New Zealand, have been performed nationwide and also in the United States,
Europe and Australia. He recently premiered his Symphony No.2 with the NZSO and his Saffire
Concerto for Four Guitars and Orchestra with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, both to wide
critical acclaim. Since 1988 he has been a member of the music faculty of the New Zealand School
of Music at Victoria University where he lectures in conducting, orchestration and compostion.
In 2004 Young was awarded the Lilburn Trust Citation in Recognition of Outstanding Services to
New Zealand Music."





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Hello wimpel69, nice to see you back.

Here is a pic from my living room before collection goes to the basement archives.
And i pay a lot of bucks for this.

(http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php?file=171e40-1451568697.jpg)

Happy New Year.

I just put my entire collection into storage, too. Much easier just to have it on a 4TB hard drive, playing it through a media player (with a vacuum tube intermission stage).

As usual, a most original post!
Please, don`t tire!
A very happy 2016!!

Archives under construction
(http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php?file=2787db-1451570770.jpg)

(http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php?file=d08892-1451570884.jpg)
LP collection
(http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php?file=860a16-1451570924.jpg)

New stuff is on HD, using mostly Headphones and a HighRes mobile Player. New Speakers are under construction too. But i haven't enough time for all this...

That is insane!! I hope you have fire insurance for that!:)

Like Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Renzo Rossellini was a classical composer who composed for films too. But in Rossellini’s case, it was his scores for the films of his older brother, the legendary Post World War II director, Roberto Rossellini, for which he is best remembered. Rossellini was kept so busy writing music for his brother’s films between 1942 and 1952 that “VANGELO MINIMO (The Minimalist Gospel), a 30 minute Orchestral Suite with chorus in 8 movements (based on pivotal events in the life of Jesus Christ), had to be composed between film assignments. VANGELO MINIMO was recorded by RCA Italiana in 1957, and released on LP only in Italy. Unlike the original LP this download also includes remasterings of two Rossellini concert works, recorded for CBS by conductor Efrem Kurtz, “Songs from the Bay of Naples” & “Ninna Nanna”. VANGELO MINIMO is one of those “Holy Grail” LPs that seldom show up on auctions and has never been released in any other format ever. VANGELO MINIMO is a fantastically beautiful score that deserves to be heard by a larger audience and seems to be made to order for this thread. I hope you agree. Here is a link to the original FFS thread to find out:
Thread 197947

Thanks for this share. :)


No.856
Modern: Tonal

John Biggs was born in Los Angeles in 1932, the eighth of 11 children. His father was organist-composer
Richard Keys Biggs and his mother was singer-conductor Lucienne Gourdon. During his youth he received training
in acting, singing, piano, bassoon, and violin, and was a member of his father's church choir. He received his
Masters Degree in composition from the University of California at Los Angeles, with further study at the
University of Southern California and the Royal Flemish Academy in Antwerp, Belgium. His teachers were
Roy Harris, Lukas Foss, Ingolf Dahl, Flor Peeters, and Halsey Stevens. "I received a Fulbright Grant in
1964 to study composition with Flor Peeters at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp, Belgium.
I was 32, and eager to write a large work. I used October, November, and the first part of December
to write the Symphony No.1. The premiere of the work took place on May 15, 1965, with me
conducting the Antwerp Philharmonic. My Symphony No.2 was commissioned by the York Symphony
of York, Pennsylvania and premiered on April 26, 1992, with Robert Hart Baker conducting. While
attending a concert at the University of Southern California in 1958, I heard a composition by Halsey
Stevens based on the epic poem The Ballad of William Sycamore by Stephen Vincent Benet. I was
so moved by the music, and especially by the text, that I decided I would someday set the very
same poem. The opportunity came 36 years later, when I was commissioned by the New West Symphony
of Ventura County, California, to compose a piece for the opening of their inaugural season. The premiere
took place on October 6th and 7th , 1995. The conductor was Boris Brott, and the narrator was
Michael Gallup."



Music Composed by John Biggs
Played by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra
With Jonathan Dunn-Rankin (narrator)
Conducted by Paul Freeman

"Here's a disc that deserves wide circulation. John Biggs (b. 1932 in Los Angeles) has a distinguished
musical pedigree--his teachers include Roy Harris, Lukas Foss, and Ingolf Dahl, among others--and in
their neat, unpretentious way these two symphonies are quite marvelous. The First, which dates from
the early 1960s, takes as the model for its outer movements Tchaikovsky's Fourth. In the first movement
the resemblance is limited to the brass fanfare "fate" motive that begins the work and reappears at
crucial structural points; but the finale is virtually a paraphrase of Tchaikovsky's, complete with see-
sawing string and wind scales, a "folk tune" episode decorated by triangle, and a return of the "fate"
motive before the festive ending--and all of this expressed in a recognizably "American" musical
language full of zesty syncopations and bouncing rhythms. The slow movement, by contrast, is a
passacaglia whose desolation sometimes comes close to recalling a much later Russian composer:
Shostakovich.

What makes this music so interesting (to me anyway), aside from its innate charm and melodic
appeal, is the fact that such works were still being composed at a time when utter darkness reigned,
musically speaking, in a world ruled by the academic serialists who had almost exclusive access to
major orchestras, grants, and subsidies. Indeed, the equally fine Symphony No. 2 was commissioned
by the York (Pennsylvania) Symphony Orchestra in 1992, and it would make an interesting chapter
in the history of the "rebirth" of tonality and the vindication of composers such as Biggs if someone
were to document the contribution of the "second- and third-tier" ensembles in maintaining the
continuity of musical tradition in the face of the mid-20th century atonal musical monopoly. There
also was an important contribution made by the Fleisher Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia
(a participant in this ongoing series of recordings, of which this is Volume 4), the world's largest
lending library of orchestral performance material, with more than 21,000 titles in its collection-
most completely unknown and awaiting discovery.

Biggs' Second Symphony, in a Sibelian single movement, is an even finer work than the First, as
elegant formally as it is appealing melodically. Its opening idea, a winding melody for flute, is quite
haunting and Biggs uses it very skillfully to bind together the work's episodic structure. The Ballad
of William Sycamore was commissioned by the New West Symphony of Ventura County (California),
and it sets a poem by Stephen Vincent Benet for speaker and orchestra. Now I have to admit that
most such works drive me crazy; I dislike the combination of music and spoken words. But Jonathan
Dunn-Rankin reads the poem with tremendous character and infectious enthusiasm, while Biggs
smartly alternates recitation with long passages of independent music so that the result is very
enjoyable.

Paul Freeman also gets excellent results from the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Being
Czech, the players have no problems with Biggs' often syncopated style in quick movements,
and the brass (often the Achilles' heel of Eastern European orchestras) acquit themselves with
distinction. The sonics are top-notch: warm, well balanced, with a firm bass and plenty of brilliance
on top. I won't go out on a limb and say that this is "great" music that will endure forever, but it
is very enjoyable, and it deserves to be heard. More importantly, the history of 20th century
American music cannot be written until a more truly representative sample of the output of the
widest range of American composers is dusted off, played, and recorded. Thanks to Albany Records
and the Fleisher Collection, discs such as this represent an important step along the way to
finding out what was really going on musically in the latter half of the last century."
David Hurwitz, Classics Today http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q574/taliskerstorm/p10s10_zps6qvl69e2.gif



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No.857
Modern: Avantgarde

R.I.P. - Pierre Boulez (1925-2016)


Pierre Boulez, the French composer and conductor who was a dominant figure in classical
music for over half a century, died on Tuesday at his home in Baden-Baden, Germany. He was 90.

His death was confirmed by his family in a statement to the Philharmonie de Paris. �Audacity, innovation,
creativity � that is what Pierre Boulez was for French music, which he helped shine everywhere in the
world,� Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in a statement.

Mr. Boulez belonged to an extraordinary generation of European composers who, while still in their
20s, came to the forefront during the decade or so after World War II. They wanted to change
music radically, and Mr. Boulez took a leading role. His �Marteau Sans Ma�tre� (�Hammer Without
a Master�) was one of this group�s first major achievements, and it remains a central work of
modern music.

Mr. Boulez gradually came to give more attention to conducting, where his keen ear and rhythmic
incisiveness would often produce a startling clarity. (There are countless stories of him detecting,
for example, faulty intonation from the third oboe in a complex orchestral texture.)

He reached his peak as a conductor in the 1960s, when he began to appear with some of the world�s
great orchestras, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonic and the
Cleveland Orchestra. His style was unique. He never used the baton, but manipulated the orchestra
by means of his two hands simultaneously, the left indicating phrasing or, in much contemporary
music, counterrhythm.
The New York Times



Music Composed by Pierre Boulez
Played by the Orchestre de Paris
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

"Daniel Barenboim and Erato may regret having been pipped at the post by the recent reissue of Boulez's
own recording of Rituel on Sony Classical. But are they 'pipped' artistically? Barenboim has the advantage
of more up-to-date technology, and once you find the right (high) volume level at which to play the disc
the sound is impressive. Boulez's performance has a flatter perspective, with the all-important percussion
'choir' of seven gongs and seven tam-tams sounding almost as if it is at the front of the orchestra, rather
than, as specified in the score, at the back. Barenboim proves no less adept than the composer at marshalling
the various staggered entries of the eight distinct instrumental groups, and his sustained control of the work's
long final section creates the right atmosphere of solemn celebration. Even so, I found Barenboim's
performance as a whole less imposingly monumental than Boulez's. If the composer risks seeming slightly
laborious in the deliberative way he pauses between the work's various sections, Barenboim risks the
opposite, pushing on�especially in the earlier stages�with what sounds suspiciously like uncertainty as
to the music's ability to justify its existence unless an unambiguous continuity is imposed. The two
orchestras sound quite different, as you would expect, the French less hard-edged, the British almost
brazenly full-blooded; and the general effect of Barenboim's reading is to suggest that Rituel is more
refined and intimate than the composer himself would have it."
Gramophone



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Just saw the news for Boulez's passing... R.I.P.

And thanks for this post, wimpel.

Thank you for this excellent choice of classical music; you must know that, before being a fan of film scores, I am a lover of classical music. So I am very pleased to have found out similarities of tastes with you and the other participants in this blog. This is why we can all appreciate the great Hollywood film scores composers, who are inspired by classical music. I take this opportunity to ask you if you happen to possess (or you have a chance to come across) the Decca collection of the complete works of Rachmaninov in 32 CD's (complete with booklet). I am also looking for the double CD of Prokofiev, The Film Music (1990) Vox Box CDX 5021 edition, containing Ivan The Terrible, Alexander Nevsky, Lieutenant Kizheh.

Thanks a lot for your kind attention and common devotion!

No.858
Modern: Tonal (Wind Band)

The prolific and internationally admired composer Jan Van der Roost is represented here
by three compositions that are very different in style and inspiration. His much-admired tone
poem Spartacus is a homage to Ottorino Respighi, whose sense of colour and imagination
have long fascinated Van der Roost. The expressive �mountain poem� Po�me Montagnard
depicts the wonderful natural scenery of the Aosta Valley and the Sinfonietta �Suito Sketches�
consists of four contrasting movements exploring the qualities and virtuosic possibilities
of the modern wind orchestra. Based in Osaka Prefecture, Philharmonic Winds OSAKAN is
Japan�s first professional wind ensemble.



Music Composed and Conducted by Jan Van der Roost
Played by the Philharmonic Winds OSAKAN

"Jan Van der Roost was born in Duffel, Belgium, in 1956. He studied trombone, music history and musical
education at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Louvain) and continued his studies at the Royal Conservatoires
of Ghent and Antwerp, where he qualified as a conductor and a composer. Today he teaches at the
Lemmensinstituut in Leuven, and serves as guest professor at the Nagoya University of Arts and guest
professor at Senzoku Gakuen in Kawasaki. In 2013 he was appointed principal guest conductor of the
Philharmonic Winds OSAKAN (Japan). Besides being a prolific composer, he is very much in demand as an
adjudicator, lecturer, clinician and guest conductor. His increasing musical activities have taken him to more
than 45 different countries on four continents, and his compositions are performed and recorded all over the
world. In early 2001 a CD containing four of his works for chamber orchestra was released by EMI Classics,
and the Slovakian Radio Symphony Orchestra recorded three of his compositions, which were released in
early 2003 by the German label BT-Sound. In early 2004 Phaedra Records released an all-Van der Roost
album containing solo concertos for trumpet, guitar and horn. 2011 saw the release of three works by Van
der Roost: Concerto Doppio (featuring Eddy Vanoosthuyes and Neshu Neshev on clarinet) by the Sofia Soloists
on Aliud Records; the Polish Radio Choir recorded his Contemplations for Choir and Organ for Phaedra Records;
and his four-part Chemical Suite for Trombone Quartet was released by the American label Navona Records
(Parma Records) on the compilation CD Sculpting the Air. On that same label a CD containing three of his
orchestral works was released in 2013, performed by the St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra,
Vladimir Lande conducting. Van der Roost�s list of works represents a wide variety of genres and styles,
including two oratorios, a symphony and some smaller works for symphony orchestra, a Guitar Concerto
(dedicated to Joaqu�n Rodrigo whom he met in person in Madrid in 1993), a Concerto for Trumpet and
String Orchestra (dedicated to and commissioned by the Norwegian virtuoso Ole Edvard Antonsen), a
Double Concerto for Two Clarinets and String Orchestra (dedicated to Walter and Anne Boeykens), a cycle
of Lieder for baritone and chamber orchestra, a Concerto for Clarinet and Symphony Orchestra, Images
for Alto Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra, a Singspiel, Once Upon A Time � for narrator, actors, children�s
choir and wind orchestra, works for strings or chamber orchestra, chamber music, numerous brass and
wind orchestra compositions (including a three movement symphony for large wind orchestra), choral
music, and a variety of instrumental solos. Many of these compositions have been broadcast on radio
and television in various countries, and most of them have been recorded on albums by renowned
performers. Jan Van der Roost has composed works commissioned by performers from Belgium,
The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, the United States, Japan, Spain, France, Singapore, Austria,
Canada, Norway, Germany, Finland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Colombia, Croatia and the United Kingdom."





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---------- Post added at 03:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:16 PM ----------


I take this opportunity to ask you if you happen to possess (or you have a chance to come across) the Decca collection of the complete works of Rachmaninov in 32 CD's (complete with booklet). I am also looking for the double CD of Prokofiev, The Film Music (1990) Vox Box CDX 5021 edition, containing Ivan The Terrible, Alexander Nevsky, Lieutenant Kizheh.

Thanks a lot for your kind attention and common devotion!

Those "32", "40" "99" "280" complete edition CD boxes are more of a thing of "Oscar Romeo RR" [IIRC]. so you may ask him. As for Prokofiev's film music, I've posted several such scores, including the first recording of the Alexander Newsky score in its original orchestration, as well as Lieutenant Kij� and the Ivan the Terrible Concert Scenario. I assume that the VOX Box of those includes a recording by Leonard Slatkin, which I think was posted on this board some years ago as an independent album.

Thanks again wimpel69 for all your great posts. You've acquainted me with music I otherwise never would have known existed; and for that, I'm extremely grateful.

No.859
Modern: Tonal (Wind Band)

Brass bands form an essential component of New Zealand�s musical heritage, and can be
traced back to the country�s colonial roots. Before the event of recording technology
it was in the form of bass band arrangements that most New Zealanders heard contemporary
orchestral repertoire from Europe. Even today, a strong brass band culture continues to
breed young players of outstanding ability. The National Youth Brass Band commissioned
this CD to coincide with their �ANZAC� Tour of the United Kingdom in 2003 and it contains
important works from New Zealand brass band repertoire as well as new pieces by Ross Harris
and Gareth Farr.

Included are:
Philip Sparke - The Land of the Long White Cloud (Aotearoa)
Ross Harris - Aria
Gareth Farr - Waipiro
George Hespe - The Four Musketeers Suite
Dwayne Bloomfield - Behold the Narrows from the Hill
Gareth Farr - Tawhirimatea



Music by [see above]
Played by the National Youth Brass Band of New Zealand
Conducted by Nigel E. Weeks



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No.860
Modern: Tonal/Avantgarde

This is a collection of premiere recordings of contemporary (shorter) orchestral works
by American composers, part of a series of "Music from Six Continents".

Including:
Jeremy Beck (b.1960) - Spark and Flames (Ash)
Stephen Taylor (*1965) - Unapproachable Light
Jeffrey Jacob (*1948) - The Carol of the Bells
Bernard Scherr (*1963) - Victimae Paschali Laudes
Margaret Vardell Sandresky (*1922) - Song of the Nomad Flute
Theldon Myers (*1927) - Fanfare for a New Millennium
Philip Schroeder (*1956) - Fantasy for Clarinet and Orchestra



Music by [see above]
Played by The Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra
With Peter Hladik (flute) & Tamara Raatz (clarinet)
Conducted by Toshiyuki Shimada & Jiri Mikula

"Stephen Taylor�s �Unapproachable Light�, is, for me, the pick of the disc with its off-stage
trumpets and whirling polyphony. Basically polytonal it sets up a concept and works it
through to its natural climax. Equally enjoyable and quite original was Jeffrey Jacob�s �Carol
of the Bells�. It has a most arresting opening - deep piano notes with bass drum followed
by chiming bells and a ringing, angular melody in compound time. A contrasting idea in
lower strings is then developed fugally. These differing elements meet together later.

The form of a choral prelude is not dead although orchestral examples are rare. Bernard
Scherr almost conjures up an organ sound at the start of his �Victimae Paschali�, which
forms part of a panel of orchestral pieces using plainchant. The ingenious ways in which
the composer uses the theme constantly attracts the attention, although the orchestration
is unexceptional.

Of a gentler nature is the mesmeric �Song of a Nomad Flute� by the most senior composer
represented: Margaret Sandresky. Beginning with a lengthy cadenza for flute it winds
into almost a French type improvisation in exotic colours. The flautist is the elegantly
toned Petr Hladik.

The Myers Fanfare comes next and the disc ends with a rather dull or overly long
�Fantasy for Clarinet and Orchestra� by Philip Schroeder. This is the longest piece
on the disc. It seems to be too long for its material. It was especially written for
the beautifully toned Tamara Raatz."
Musicweb



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No.861
20th Century: Tonal

For over half a century at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Leo Weiner taught successive
generations of Hungary�s leading musicians, and won his country�s highest awards. As a composer
his career was comet-like in its early brilliance and his music marked by an imaginative
use of colour, masterful instrumentation and lyrical emotion. He regarded Csongor and T�nde
as his magnum opus and its incidental music was later to take independent form as a ballet,
heard here in its final 1959 version. The impressionistic Ballad, Op. 28 for viola and
orchestra derives from an earlier work for clarinet and piano.



Music Composed by Le� Weiner
Played by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra M�V
With M�t� Szűcs (viola)
And the Jubilate Girls Choir
Conducted by Val�ria Cs�nyi

"Leo Weiner was one of the leading Hungarian music educators of the first half of the twentieth
century and a skilled composer who produced a large number of very charming and conservative works.

He had his first music and piano lessons from his brother, but soon after starting, largely taught
himself. He entered the Landesakademie (or High School) of Musical art in Budapest in 1901. He
studied with J�nos Koessler and while there won numerous prizes. Among them were the Franz
Liszt Stipend, the Volkmann Prize, and the Erkel Prize, all for one composition, his Serenade,
Op 3. Another, the Haynald Prize, was for some choral pieces.

He had an interest in the well-known varieties of Hungarian folk music (at a time when the slightly
older Bart�k and Kod�ly were discovering the virtually unknown ancient true folk music of the
country). A composition for two typically Hungarian instruments, the taragato (a folk variant of
the clarinet) and the cimbalom (a hammered dulcimer or zither) called Hungarian Fantasy won
him yet another award, the Schwunda Prize. All these works and several other of his student
compositions were accepted for publication by national and international publishing companies.

He got a job as a repetiteur (i.e., one who coaches solo singers in the overall interpretation of
the opera) at the Budapest Comique Opera (Vigopera) upon graduation. He won a special prize
given in connection with the coronation of Emperor Franz Joseph, enabling him to visit and
take musical studies in Vienna, Munich, Berlin, and Paris.

He returned to the Landesakademie in 1908, now as a theory teacher. He remained a faculty
member there for the rest of his life, being appointed Professor of Composition in 1912 and
Professor of Chamber Music in 1920. In 1949 he became an emeritus professor, continuing to teach.

He was one of the great chamber music instructors. To him primarily is credited the reputation
of Hungarian musicians for their accuracy and depth of interpretation in chamber music,
qualities that carry over into their solo and orchestral concert work as well.

As a composer, the Romantics from Beethoven through Mendelssohn most strongly affected
his musical approach. Astute commentators have noted that his sense of orchestral color
seems to relate to those French composers who were not notably affected by Wagner,
especially Bizet. This solid and conservative Romantic approach formed the basis of his
style. To it was added, at about the time of the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and
subsequent full independence of Hungary, a strong interest in Hungarian folk music.

He did not research folk music, but he shared with Bart�k and Kod�ly their interest in
Hungarian nationalism and did employ both the traditional gypsy-derived "Hungarian"
folk music and some of his colleagues' discoveries, though his harmonic language was
not affected by his use of this material. As Hungarian nationalism became twisted into
an increasingly Fascist state in the late 1930s, the nationalistic element in Weiner's music
declined, reappearing to lesser extend in the 1950s.

Among Weiner's notable compositions are three string quartets, two violin sonatas,
five divertimenti for orchestra and a symphonic poem (but no symphonies), and a
quantity of other chamber and piano music.

Honors coming to him include a Coolidge Prize in 1922 for his F sharp minor String
Quartet, the Kossuth Prize (1950 and 1960), and designation as an "Eminent Artist
of the Hungarian People's Republic" in 1953.

Of a generation whose conservative composers became overlooked in music history,
his works, which tend to be bright and entertaining, showed signs of revival at the
start of the twenty-first century."





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No.862
Late Romantic

The most distinguished pianist of his generation, a brilliant pedagogue and a highly
gifted composer, Jos� Vian(n)a da Mot(t)a was a towering personality in the field
of Portuguese music. Disapproving of �modernistic� compositional trends he stopped
composing around 1910 but not before he had written his Symphony �To the Homeland�,
a brilliantly orchestrated paean to Portuguese prowess and discovery which makes
use of Portuguese folk dances and songs. Based on the dramatic life and murder of
the 14th-century noblewoman In�s de Castro, Viana da Mota�s Lisztian symphonic poem
is an early work notable for its kaleidoscopic sections full of inspiring contrasts.
This recording presents the complete orchestral works of Jos� Vian(n)a da Mot(t)a.



Music Composed by Jos� Vianna da Motta
Played by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by �lvaro Cassuto

"Jos� Vianna Da Motta will remain in history books as one of the most remarkable pianists of the late
19th century, and said to surpass Liszt in technical brilliance. He may well have also gone on to be
one of Portugal�s finest composers had the Second Viennese School never been born, for disillusioned
by all they represented, he ceased composing in 1910. A student with Liszt and Hans von B�low, his
pedigree was founded in the Romantic era, as demonstrated in the four movements of his Sinfonia,
A Patria (To the Homeland), a work completed in 1895 when he was twenty-seven. Its content is said
to reflect his admiration for those who sailed from Portugal to make contact with people living in far
distant places. After a purposeful opening, the long and yearning quality of the second slow movement,
contrasts with the vivacity of the following dance and colourfully orchestrated finale. The tone poem,
Ines de Castro, forms the central part of the disc�which contains all of his orchestral works�and
relates the story of the young Portuguese crown-prince, Pedro, who is married to a Spanish princess,
but falls in love with Ines, a young member of her retinue. The King orders her to be murdered to
bring an end to the romance, but on his coronation day Pedro has Ines body exhumed and placed
next to him on the throne. Written when Viana was eighteen, it pictures a tender love mixed with
their strong emotions towards each other. The disc concludes with four encore-length pieces in light
and very happy mood. The distinguished Portuguese conductor, �lvaro Cassuto, continues his series
that is bringing to our attention the seldom played symphonic music of his homeland. Here he has
the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in fine form, the woodwind, who play such an important
role in the Sinfonia, being particularly outstanding. The sound quality is very good."
David's Review Corner





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No.863
Modern: Neo-Classical

FonoForum wrote of Vol. 1, "With the complete recording of the orchestral works
inaugurated here, the cpo label has once again initiated a project that will
expand the musical horizon, especially with such well-versed interpretations �
The continuation is urgently to be wished!� We are now presenting our second volume
featuring orchestral works by Lars-Erik Larsson, who in today�s Sweden
continues to share the honors with Dag Wir�n as one of the most popular composers
of the modern classical period. Larsson�s Symphony No. 1 had four movements, but
his Symphony No. 2 reducing the number of movements to three clearly displays
a cyclical design. The main theme of the first movement registers its presence
beginning with the third measure; while its original shape is subject to marginal
modifications, it is identical to the ostinato theme of the finale. Just as eight
years later in his Symphony No. 3, the finale is the only movement that
Larsson did not withdraw but submitted to his publisher Carl Gehrmans, thence forth
with the title �Ostinato� derived from its structure. The Orchestral Variations
of 1962 offer exemplary documentation of the free twelve-tone style of Larsson�s
mature years, and in the late Barococo Suite of 1973, playing with historicizing
topoi with a fine sense of humor, he not only manifests an astonishingly youthful
freshness but also shows himself from his most natural and timelessly attractive
side � just as before in the Sinfonietta and the Pastoral Suite or in the Twelve
Concertini.



Music Composed by Lars-Erik Larsson
Played by the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Andrew Manze

"Larsson�s Second Symphony, written in 1937, divided critical opinion in Sweden to such an extent that
the composer decided to withdraw the piece after its premi�re. Unusually, he reworked the final movement
into a separate work called Ostinato, which he introduce at the ISCM Festival in Warsaw two years later; the
symphony had to wait for a radio broadcast in 1973 before it could be reassessed and rehabilitated. Set in
three movements Larsson's Op. 17 has a neo-classical feel, albeit with a thread of irreverence that one
would be hard-pressed to find in, say, Paul Hindemith�s works of the period.

As Christoph Schl�ren points out in his extremely detailed liner-notes Larsson lacked confidence is his
ability as a symphonist; indeed, he withdrew all three of his symphonies after their initial performances.
Listening to Manze�s account of the First and Frank�s of the Second it�s hard to believe that the composer
had so little faith in these very accomplished works. Happily he was less pernickety about his other orchestral
pieces; just as pleasing is the fact that Manze lavishes as much care and attention on these than he does on
the symphonies. One only has to sample them to realise how well crafted and rewarding they are.

The Variations for Orchestra encapsulates what Schl�ren calls �the free 12-note style of Larsson�s maturity�.
The key word here is �free�, for although the piece has a certain rigour it�s not without moments of skittish
humour. These Swedish players are certainly adept when it comes to digging out fine detail; the exposed
string figures are especially well executed and those brass interjections are as piquant as one could wish.
In fact Larsson�s Variations has a clear, unambiguous narrative that belies the work�s structural preoccupations.
Manze ensures that everyone is �on message� at all times; as for the recording it draws out all the score�s
nuances and distinctive timbres.

The wittily titled Barococo suite finds the composer at his genial. eye-twinkling best. Ditto the conductor,
who brings a gentle charm and elegance to the mix; that�s mirrored by playing of exceptional plaiancy
and character. In short, this is joyous music-making; indeed, the concluding quadrille and galop �
complete with its catchy rhythms and a raffish side-drum � sounds just like a fizzy overture by
Offenbach. It�s all great fun, and one senses that everyone is having a jolly good time. Not surprisingly
I revisited Barococo several times during the course of this review, admiring it more each time around."
Musicweb





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No.864
Modern: Tonal

Gordon Jacob (1895-1984) was the odd man out among major twentieth century British composers; initially self-taught
and later a long-term professor at the Royal College of Music, there is nothing of the "cowpat" school in Jacob's music.
Some of it is hardy and contrapuntal, but a lot of it is disarmingly simple; while it is English to the core, it shows that Jacob
also had his ears open to a wide range of other music. His handling of harmony is often rather French in orientation, and
he also picks up things from Stravinsky. Jacob was a strong proponent of melody, but made liberal use of dissonance and
was fond of harmonizing with perfect intervals; his most famous piece, the chorus "Brother James' Air," is a classic
example of that.

Jacob was so extraordinarily prolific in his 89 years that it is hard to know where to start; since his death, Jacob's choral
and band music has come to the fore and that is what he is best known for. However, Jacob has only two symphonies,
both recorded here by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Barry Wordsworth, and they are both in
some ways typical and not typical of the composer. Both are "war" symphonies; the Symphony No.1 (1929) was
dedicated to Jacob's elder brother, Anstey, who perished on the Somme at age 22, and during World War I Jacob himself
was taken prisoner. It is not a dour, mournful work; on the contrary, in the first movement it is aggressive and not a little
bombastic, but also entirely serious in intent with no saber rattling nor "heroism" in the conventional sense. The second
movement is extraordinarily beautiful, a somber meditation underpinned with a gentle ostinato that maintains a feeling
of being constantly on the move. The Scherzo is playful, but not particularly joyous, followed by a lovely Larghetto in
a lighter vein, somewhat wistful in tone, suggesting that Jacob was not only focusing on the conflict in which Anstey Jacob
died, but other parts of his life as well. The closing movement opens with a big rolling fugato, and while it is certainly
exciting.

The Symphony No.2 in C major (1945) was written at the end of World War II and, unlike the first symphony,
was first performed in 1946. By this time, Jacob's personal style was established, and interestingly in a superficial sense
it is rather similar to the first symphony except that the material is shaped entirely differently. Although it only runs
two minutes less than the first, the second symphony feels a lot more concise and has a much stronger formal scheme.
This time, Jacob follows his gut and ends with a slow movement, which he probably should have done the first time around.
Both symphonies, nevertheless, are in a singular style and are accomplished and at times moving works.



Music Composed by Gordon Jacob
Played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Barry Wordsworth

"Gordon Jacob�s First Symphony (1929) employs sizeable forces (including triple woodwind and two
harps) and has five movements: two feisty and purposeful Allegros frame the whole edifice, while its
dashing central Scherzo is flanked by two slow movements, the first of which in particular possesses
an elegiac demeanour that accords with the work�s inscription to the memory of the composer�s favourite
brother, Anstey (a victim of the Great War � Jacob, too, served in the trenches). It would make a terrific
�Guess who?� item: on a first encounter I jotted down the names of Vaughan Williams, Holst, Elgar,
Walton, Bliss, Poulenc and Stravinsky. The more you return to it, however, the more individual the voice
that emerges. Barry Wordsworth lends this powerful, criminally neglected discovery clear-headed,
fervent advocacy, and the LPO are on their toes throughout. Completed in 1945, the Second Symphony
was premiered under Boult in a May 1946 broadcast; Rudolph Schwarz gave the first public performance
two years later. Cast in the traditional four movements and described by Jacob as �a meditation on
war, suffering and victory�, it�s tautly argued, full of healthy contrapuntal vigour (I was at times
reminded of Nielsen) and concludes with a cleverly crafted passacaglia or �Ground� � perhaps
subconsciously influenced by, and yet fascinatingly different from, the finale of Vaughan Williams�s
roughly contemporaneous Fifth Symphony. Comparison with Bostock�s rival account finds these
newcomers generating the greater tonal heft and intensity (especially in the plangent slow movement);
otherwise, both teams serve this bracing music admirably. With its agreeably tangible and airy sonics
in the best Lyrita tradition, this stimulating pairing of two impressive home-grown symphonies merits
immediate investigation."
Gramophone





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No.865
Modern: Tonal

Hungarian composer Eugene Z�dor, a friend of B�la Bart�k, won renown in Vienna before
having to leave for America in 1939 where he eventually became Mikl�s R�zsa�s exclusive
orchestrator in Hollywood. His music is often redolent of his native soil as depicted in the
Variations on a Hungarian Folksong which, at times, approaches an almost Straussian
opulence. Written in Vienna in 1936, the Dance Symphony is a sunny homage to the
composer�s adopted home. The Festival Overture is a much later work of almost cinematic
brilliance. This is Volume 3 of the ongoing Naxos series of Z�dor�s orchestral works.



Music Composed by Eugene Z�dor
Played by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra M�V
Conducted by Mariusz Smolij

"The third in an ongoing series covering the orchestral works of the Hungarian-born composer,
Eugene Z�dor, who in his middle years found fame in Hollywood films. He once described himself
as a �middle of the road extremist� who was enjoying a major career when political events in
Europe of the 1930�s brought about his departure for the safety of the United States. He arrived
there with the educational backdrop of studies with Heuberger in Vienna and Reger in Leipzig,
and, unlike many other emigres, he was already known in New York, though having arrived there
he could resist the financial temptations of the West coast where he produced a deluge of
uncredited film scores. That led to years working with his compatriot, Mikl�s R�zsa, orchestrating
his piano scores for some of Hollywood�s great epic films. It was a life that allowed time to
continue working as a �serious� composer with many high profile commissions, among them
the extended Festival Overture for the 1963 opening of the new Los Angles Music Centre.
Whatever his environment he always thought of himself as Hungarian, which gave rise to the
Variations on a Hungarian Folksong, the theme preceding ten variations mainly in a light mood
and with titles including Burlesque, Foxtrot and Csardas. His eminent place during his time in
Vienna is reflected by the famous conductor, Hans Knappertsbusch, having directed the premiere
of the Third Symphony. Very much of its time�the 1930�s�it has some quirky harmonies, but,
fearing audience alienation, was not too modern in outlook. Rich in melodic invention, he let
too many idea pass without linking and expanding them, though at least the joyful finale leaves
you in a happy mood. The Budapest orchestra, under the direction of Mariusz Smolij, produce
the warm and smooth quality the work needs, and prove excellent promoters of their native
composer."
David's Review Corner





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No.866
Modern: Avantgarde http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q574/taliskerstorm/best%202_zpsapexkon4.gif http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q574/taliskerstorm/best%201_zpsttjmemra.gif

"Anyone who has enjoyed [Jerry] Goldsmith's finest soundtracks
should be quite comfortable with Ryan's music."
Musicweb

"This is some of the best new music I have reviewed in more than two decades."
American Record Guide

Jeffrey Ryan (*1962) is one of Canada�s most outstanding composers. He evokes bright, vivid colours
in his works which brim with imaginative sound worlds. The Linearity of Light is one such work and is
concerned with imagining sound itself, brilliantly realised through different pitch combinations and their
suggestions of the brightness of light. Equilateral is a triple concerto, and a spiritually complex meditation
that fuses lament with joyful affirmation. Symphony No.1: Fugitive Colours draws on the idea of colours
that fade when exposed to light, and does so with masterly orchestral virtuosity.



Music Composed by Jeffrey Ryan
Played by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
With the Gryphon Trio
Conducted by Bramwell Tovey

"This is the inaugural CD of the new Naxos 'Canadian Classics' series, and what better place to start than
with three varied orchestral works by Jeffrey Ryan. His music has appeared sporadically on disc over the
last decade or so, but this is only the second devoted entirely to it. Full marks again to Naxos scouts for
recognising an original voice. Though his language is undeniably modern, Ryan can be considered 'old
school' in that he writes for traditional forces - no electric guitars, laptops or gamelan here - using many
of the forms beloved of his European predecessors, albeit disguised by idiosyncratic titles.

The Linearity of Light is a good opener: overall reminiscent perhaps of Jerry Goldsmith, its vivid orchestration
and episodic character would stand it in good stead in a dystopian or sci-fi film score, particularly the last three
minutes, which bristle with excitement and drama. Ryan's music is angular and sometimes brash, but never
out-and-out modernistic; indeed there are occasions when he calls on minimalist devices, particularly in
Equilateral. Really there is nothing here to frighten the horses or neighbours, and anyone who has enjoyed
Goldsmith's finest soundtracks should be quite comfortable with Ryan's music. That is not to say that this
is film-grade writing - far from it. Ryan's orchestration is considerably more sophisticated, his ideas much
more original than anything by his older compatriot Howard Shore, or for that matter by John Barry or
Hans Zimmer.

Despite the title, Equilateral is not exactly a concerto, at least not in the archetypal Romantic format.
If anything, the trio's role is often fairly modest, and the 'equality' could easily refer to the orchestra's
role, which is substantial and important. At any rate, this is an impressive work that is sure to have wide
appeal. Such a pity, then, that its requirement for three gifted soloists as well as an accomplished orchestra
is likely to doom it to concert-hall neglect from the outset - but all the more reason to have this fine recording!

The Symphony is even more terrific, though wisely left to the end of the programme, as Ryan at last
turns to modernism and atonality, although only in moderation - as the work progresses, so does the
move back towards a diatonic idiom that will broaden its audience. This big, four-movement work is a
cornucopia of orchestral detail and effects that never resorts to ostentation or gimmickry - often, indeed,
the music is contemplative and gentle."
Musicweb





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Re: Lars-Erik Larsson: Symphony No.2, Barococo Suite, Variations for Orchestra ... this is a wonderful disc brimming with melody. Highly recommended. Thanks for posting this.

No.867
Modern: Tonal

Still widely regarded as one of Wilfred Josephs� most important works, his Requiem Op.39 (1963), was
written in memory of the Jews who died during the Holocaust. With this score he achieved international
success when, in December 1963, it won the first International Composition Competition of La Scala and
the City of Milan. In January 1967 Max Rudolf introduced the piece to the United States in concerts in
Cincinnati and New York and in 1972 the Chicago Symphony Orchestra programmed it three times under
Carlo Maria Giulini who referred to it as �the most important work by a living composer�.

Josephs� Variations on a Theme of Beethoven is one of a number of pieces, such as the 1965
Canzonas on a Theme of Rameau, which derive their inspiration from music of the past and
constitute a tribute to an earlier creative artist. The dedication describes the Variations as �humbly
offered� in honour of the 200th anniversary of Beethoven�s birth. It was completed in March 1969
and premiered at Carnegie Hall, New York, by the London Symphony Orchestra under Andr� Previn on
23 January 1970, the bicentenary year.

Josephs� Fifth Symphony �the Pastoral�, op.75, was begun on 11 August 1970 and the orchestration
completed on 27 February 1971. Like Beethoven before him, Wilfred Josephs uses his �Pastoral Symphony�
as a means of expressing his feelings as a city-dweller about visiting the countryside. In fact
most of the score was written in his Hampstead home rather than the cottage his family rented in
the country and some of the composer�s desire to get away from his urban surroundings to commune
with nature is reflected in the piece.



Music Composed by Wilfred Josephs
Played by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
With Robert Dawe (baritone) & The Adelaide String Quartet
And the Adelaide Chorus
Conducted by David Measham

"Wilfred Josephs was born in Newcastle in 1927 and educated at Rutherford School before his early schooling and
piano studies were interrupted by wartime evacuation. Although persuaded by his family to enrol as a medical
student, he was still able to receive musical tuition from Dr. Arthur Milner. It was as a dentist that he spent his military
service. His early obsession with composition was soon vindicated when he won a Gaudeamus Prize with a Piano Trio
during this period. He continued his studies on his return to London, where a scholarship enabled him to become a
pupil of Alfred Nieman at the Guildhall School of Music. A Leverhulme Scholarship took him to Paris for a year with Max Deutsch.

A growing reputation, based on the success of his burgeoning catalogue of works, made it possible for Josephs to
eventually devote all his time to music. Amongst the many prizes and awards won at this time was first prize for
the First International Composition Competition of La Scala and the City of Milan and the Harriet Cohen
Commonwealth Medal.

Joseph's music showed a recognizable personality from the start. Whilst his works dating from the beginning of
the 1950's clearly had their roots in an earlier English style and tradition, lessons with Max Deutsch (a distinguished
Schoenburg pupil) were to help him to assimilate the lessons of the Second Viennese School. Other stylistic
explorations further diversified his range. In the gradual shift of contemporary music back to practises once
regarded as seditious - the expressive use of tonal harmony, and particularly the writing of real tunes - it was
inevitable that Josephs' outstanding natural gift should have found himself consistently in the vanguard.

A prolific composer who nearly always wrote to commission, Josephs concert works include 12 symphonies,
22 concertos, overtures, chamber music, operas, ballets and numerous vocal works. Opera North commissioned
and performed Rebecca at the Grand Theatre, Leeds in 1983. The libretto for this acclaimed opera was by
Edward Marsh, from the novel by Daphne du Maurier. Other important works in Wilfred Josephs' catalogue
include Symphony 4 (1967), Symphony 5 "Pastoral" (1971), Symphony 10 "Circadian Rhythms" (1985),
Nightmusic (1969) and the Songs of Innocence (1971). To the impressive list of concert works must also
be added his enormously successful scores for film and television, including The Great War, I Claudius,
Swallows and Amazons, Cider with Rosie, This British Empire and All Creatures Great and Small.

Wilfred Josephs died at his home in London on November 17th 1997."





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---------- Post added at 05:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:36 PM ----------

The FLAC links for posts Nos. 811-850 have all now expired. No more requests for these, please!

Re: Jos� Vianna da Mot(t)a: Complete Orchestral Works — like the Larsson disk, this is an unexpected pleasure. It reminds me of Bizet and Massenet in their Spanish influenced music. Thank you for this gem. Highly recommended.

Thanks again, wimpel69, for introducing us to new and very interesting composers... scott

'Mega' webpage not working at present - hopefully a temporary blip! The red circle completes but then no downlooad option appears.

Worked fine for me about an hour ago - and while I'm posting, thanks once more Wimpel for all your shares.

OK - Mega required me to update my browser - fussy lot! Working OK now. Great shares, thanks wimpel69. Where would I be without you!

No.868
Modern: Tonal

The �romantic avant-gardism� of Barcelona-born Leonardo Balada pairs complex
techniques with a very direct emotional impact. These characteristics have often been
employed in exploring the impact of historical events, none more so than the wars of
the 20th century. Symphony No. 6 �Symphony of Sorrows� (Dedicated to the
Innocent Victims of the Spanish Civil War) embeds traditional melodic ideas in a
coruscating single-movement exploration of the tragedies of war. The Steel Symphony
reflects the sonorities�in an abstract, non-programmatic way�of Pittsburgh�s steel
foundries, while the Concerto for Three Cellos, inspired by Germany�s recovery
after two catastrophic world wars, combines complex techniques in a vivid work of
almost surrealistic transformations.



Music Composed by Leonardo Balada
With Hans-Jakob Eschenburg, Michael Sanderling & Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt (cellos)
Played by the Galicia & Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestras
And the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Eivind Gullberg Jensen & Jes�s L�pez-Cobos

"Every new disc of music by Leonardo Balada is a journey of discovery, not knowing
what style or content we are likely to find in this enigmatic composer. Having been
born in Barcelona in 1933, his mature education took place in the United States,
his inclination towards atonality in his younger years remaining through to his most
recent scores, including his Sixth Symphony composed in memory of those who died in
the Spanish Civil War. Juxtaposing the pleasures of childhood with the sudden blast
of fighting and turmoil, the composer states that it is not to a specific programme,
though the sections of the one-movement score are a chilling reminder of senseless
conflict. The Concerto for Three Cellos, subtitled A German Concerto, is not a
concerto in the usual sense, but a return to the same theme as the symphony, and
uses as thematic material a song brought by German volunteers who fought in the war.
As such it gives the solo trio moments of virtuosity, but their part is mainly a
concertante role. Steel Symphony is an ingenious score created from instrumental
sounds to picture a steel factory, and I can vouch for their authenticity. It must
take a great deal of rehearsal, and the Barcelona Symphony are to be congratulated
on the result. All three works come from �live� performances over the period 2007
to 2012, the sound is exemplary, and the Galicia Symphony perfectly capturing
the wide dynamic range. It provides a good starting point for those just coming
to this highly prolific composer."
David�s Review Corner





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No.869
Modern: Tonal

Komei Abe was born on 1 September 1911 in Hiroshima. He studied the cello with Heinrich Werkmeister
(1883-1936) at the Tokyo Music School (today's Music Department of Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music),
at the time the best facilities in Japan for studying Western music. Abe formed a chamber ensemble and worked
on Beethoven's music in particular.

Abe played in the Music School's orchestra under conductor/composer Klaus Pringsheim who he admired.
Pringsheim, appointed professor at the Tokyo Music School in 1931, had been a pupil of Gustav Mahler and
had conducted operas in Geneva, Prague and Bremen in the 1910s, and a cycle of Mahler's symphonies with
the Berlin Philharmonic. Abe began to study German-style harmony and counterpoint with him, and decided
he wanted to become a composer, not a cellist. Abe was strongly influenced by this teacher's view and
knowledge of the late romanticism period represented by Mahler and Richard Strauss, and neo-classicism by
Hindemith and Kurt Weill.

At the age of 34 Abe had already written some works including several orchestral pieces, four string quartets,
one flute sonata, choral pieces and film music, and had established his name as a master neo-classicist.
In 1948 he was appointed music director of the imperial orchestra, a position he held for six years.
The ensemble performed waltzes and serenades for guests from foreign countries at parties held by the
Emperor. The members of the imperial orchestra however were originally musicians of Gagaku, performing
Japanese ancient music. From them Abe learned Japanese traditional music, with which he was not very
familiar in his younger days. It broadened the horizons of his compositional style.

Abe's works in the postwar days include Symphony No. 2 (1960), Clarinet Quintet (1946) and String
Quartets Nos. 5-15 (1947-1993). He died at the age of 95 in Tokyo, in the morning of 28 December
2006. His musical language is characterized by crisp melodies, structural clarity and, in the composer�s
own words, �rhythmic ostinato by the steam locomotive�. Written during his �vintage years� of the 1950s,
the Symphony No.1 and the Sinfonietta are scored for a large orchestra, including a wide
variety of percussion.



Music Composed by Komei Abe
Played by the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra
With Aleksey Volkov (saxophone)
Conducted by Dmitry Yablonsky

"Japanese composer Komei Abe�s music is firmly rooted in the Western tradition. This premi�re recording
of the short (18 minutes) three-movement First Symphony (1957) is full of invention and vitality, neo-classical
in spirit, with a whirlwind finale which employs, as the composer put it, �rhythmic ostinato by the steam
locomotive�. The Divertimento for Alto Saxophone was written in 1951 with piano accompaniment, and
was orchestrated in 1960. It is an attractive work, again, neo-classical in spirit, and tuneful, with a
quirkiness reminiscent of Prokofiev. The Sinfonietta dates from 1964 and is scored fro triple woodwind
and a wide range of percussion instruments. It starts off in an arresting manner, with robust sections
contrasting those of a more skittish nature, in a movement based on sonata form. The second movement
uses traditional Japanese colourings to good effect, while Abe�s �steam locomotive� returns both in the
following Scherzo (sounding like an out-of-control version of Honegger�s Pacific 231) and in the ensuing
lively finale which, like the second movement, employs Japanese colourings. Excellent performances
and good sound."
Penguin Classical Guide





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No.870
Modern: Tonal

Brazilian-American Composer Miguel Kertsman (b.1965) captivates audiences internationally
with prolific compositions and critically acclaimed productions released for labels such as Sony
Classical and RCA Victor Group, spanning the boundaries of conventional music genres. Amaz�nia
is Miguel Kertsman's new album recording focusing on two of his early and younger works: ACORDA!
(Wake-up! in Portuguese), Symphonic Poem (1987), written at age 21 as a protest against the destruction
of the Amazon Rain Forest; and "Sinfonia Brasileira Concertante for Flute and Orchestra" (1988)
featuring Vienna Philharmonic Principal Flutist Wolfgang Schulz as soloist. The album is completed
with the slightly later work "Chamber Symphony No. 1" (1995) scored for a "darker orchestra"
(lower range woodwinds and strings, organ, with multiple percussionists and two female voices),
traveling from polyrhythmic contrapuntal textures and Brazilian seascapes to deep contemplative
meditation when "time stands still." Dennis Russell Davies conducts the Bruckner Orchestra Linz
on this premium sound audiophile recording.



Music Composed by Miguel Kertsman
Played by the Bruckner-Orchester Linz
With Wolfgang Schulz (flute)
Conducted by Dennis Russell Davies

"Miguel Kertsman wasn�t even a name to me before this CD arrived in preparation for our interview, but I am
very glad to have made the acquaintance of his music. Even if his approach has broadened, as he says, since he
composed these three pieces, they should still win him many new friends. The First Chamber Symphony (1995�96),
a single span of just over 11 minutes, is subtitled Acorda! , which means �Wake up!� in Portuguese, and the work
certainly will have that effect on its audience. It starts with percussion evoking the sea and sounds of people setting
about their daily business, with overlapping ideas in different parts of the orchestra (a �dark� orchestra, as the
composer explains, �without violins or higher range woodwinds�) and vocal exclamations; a string chorale suggests
that a point of repose has been reached, but instead a soprano and contralto begin a vocalise a tad reminiscent of
Villa-Lobos�s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5. It, too, soon disappears, and the chorale resurfaces, eventually reintroducing
the singers, with the music oscillating between these evocative elements until the opening material returns, and a
shout of �Acorda!� brings the work to a close. The Sinfonia Concertante Brasileira for flute and orchestra (1989) is
much more open-hearted than the First Chamber Symphony: The sly humor of the later work was preceded here
by an innocent enjoyment of the richness of orchestral sound and the first movement unfolds broad melodies in
the orchestra over chugging Brazilian rhythms, with the flute dancing merrily above it. There�s an expansiveness in
the writing and a natural dramatic touch that suggest Kertsman�s movie scores must be quite effective; a modal
flavor to the harmony contributes a dignified spaciousness. The disappearance of the flute during the more grandiose
passages comes as a reminder that this is a symphony, not a concerto. The heartwarmingly lyrical slow movement
incorporates a song Kertsman heard sung by his father, who died before the Sinfonia Concertante was composed,
and it doesn�t require too active an imagination to hear this gentle nocturne as a grateful tribute to someone special�
especially when intermittent notes from the tubular bells add another layer of suggestion. The finale is overtly comic
in tone, with big-band and jazz elements to the fore in the orchestral writing. Adrienne Lentz�s booklet essay talks
about a stubborn donkey as the central image in the movement, but it doesn�t need such specific realism�although
if you had asked me unawares to suggest the subject, I might have guessed it to be a later model of Villa-Lobos�s
�Little Train of the Caipira.� And it would likewise make an orchestral showpiece in its own right. The three movements
time in at one of 16 minutes and two of eight.

The symphonic poem Amaz�nia , which dates from 1987, is another 16-minute span. As in the opening movement
of the Sinfonia Concertante Brasileira, Kertsman paints with a broad, neoromantic brush, marrying the long-breathed
serenity of the rainforest with the dramatic violence of the threats to its existence. It thereby reminds me of another
environmental-protest piece, Rokkomborre (1967) by the Norwegian composer Ragnar S�derlind�oddly enough,
given the difference in temperature between the two worlds depicted. As the work evolves, an epic quality pushes
its way to the foreground, although the violent attacks continue their attempts to halt its progress.

The performances strike me as entirely authentic: Dennis Russell Davies�s Austrians sound convincingly Brazilian
to my Scottish ears; more importantly, given the composer�s involvement in the project, one imagines that he is
happy with the performances as well. Wolfgang Schulz is a dazzling soloist in the Sinfonia Concertante . The recorded
palette is both broad and detailed, with plenty of power in the climaxes. Lusty music, in short, lustily played."
Martin Anderson, Fanfare



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No.871
Modern: Tonal

During the remarkable and prolific period between his 72nd and 92nd birthdays, Havergal Brian (1876-1972)
wrote no fewer than 27 symphonies. Some seem to fall into groups, such as Nos. 22�24, all written within a nine-
month period between 1964 and 1965. They all share a concern for march-rhythms, changeable moods and developing
variation. No.22 is Brian�s shortest symphony and exemplifies his art in its most compressed, nocturnal form,
whereas No.23 offers a more extrovertly scored and expansive scale. No.24 provides the triumphant
rejoicing that ends the trilogy. Influenced by Tchaikovsky, the 1906 English Suite No.1 nevertheless hints at Brian�s
sonic experiments to come.



Music Composed by Havergal Brian
Played by the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Alexander Walker

"Was this part-time, self-taught composer a genius or an English eccentric? Naxos continues to offer
us the chance of discovering the works of Havergal Brian. Amid a life where he was always short of
money, and dying in abject poverty, he had become the most prolific British composer of symphonies
with thirty-four completed by his death at the age of 96. They were in shape and length ever changing,
this trio of works, written in the nine months from December 1964, lasting in total less than forty minutes,
making them difficult to programme in concerts. They were a symphonic exercise in the use of march
rhythms, at times more obvious than others. Highly charged, as in the opening of the two movements
of the Twenty-third, the Twenty-fourth is the more abrasive and illusive in its four combined movements.
Truth to tell they do not settle in your memory at first hearing, and far more commercial is the First
English Suite completed in 1906 when Brian was thirty. It was to be the work that brought him to public
attention when played the following year at a Queen�s Hall Prom concert conducted by Henry Wood. Its
six movements are highly tuneful and very attractive, rather like an English version of Charles Ives. It does
rather belie its title as being a quite extended score, and, time-wise, the major part of the disc. From the
recording schedule this is one of the most well rehearsed Brian recordings I have encountered�and it
shows, the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra proving a fine ensemble. The English conductor,
Alexander Walker, brings an idiomatic and highly committed quality to a disc recorded with the degree
of high impact the symphonies require."
David's Review Corner





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No.872
Modern: Tonal

When Francis Chagrin arrived in Britain in 1936, he had already left his native Romania, for largely
family reasons, and adopted France for political ones. However, he embraced his new found home totally,
and became very much part of the British musical scene for the rest of his life, summing up his personality
makeup as ‘Romanian by birth, British by nationality, and cosmopolitan by inclination’.

He was born Alexander Paucker in Bucharest on November 15th 1905 to wealthy Jewish parents who
expected their son to take his rightful place in the family business. Reluctantly he complied, if only initially,
by reading for an engineering degree in Zurich, while secretly putting himself through the city’s music
conservatory. After graduating in 1928 and having ‘done the right thing’ by his parents, he expected his
family to allow him to pursue his musical ambitions. When this failed to materialise, he left home and
made for Paris. Although he was already married for the first time, the move was doubly precipitated by
his wife’s infidelities. He, ever the gentleman, saw his move to Paris as grounds for his wife to divorce
him for desertion!

It was in Paris that he acquired his new name. He chose Chagrin to reflect his sadness at the divorce (!!!)
and being disinherited (although there was later some relaxation of this), but primarily to make a
clean break from his past. A student of Paul Dukas and Nadia Boulanger, Chagrin wrote prolifically for
films but composed for most genres. The two symphonies are among his most important orchestral works.
Both are dramatic, even passionate—not least in the beautiful slow movements—and full of contrasts,
both within and between movements. Undeservedly neglected, they reveal Chagrin’s mastery of form
and colour.



Music Composed by Francis Chagrin
Played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Martyn Brabbins

"Named Alexander Paucker at birth in 1905, Francis Chagrin, later described himself as
being ‘Romanian by birth, British by nationality and cosmopolitan by inclination. The disc’s
programme notes detail his colourful life that eventually brought him to Britain in 1936 where
he was to make his home, having studied with Paul Dukas and Nadia Boulanger in Paris.
Already involved in writing film scores while in France, it was in the field of television, cinema
and commercials that he wrote an abundance of music in order to give his family the
standard of living he had enjoyed with his wealthy family in Bucharest. The quantity was
quite staggering and included music for over 200 major films, and though it left him limited
time for composing concert music, he did work in most genres with two symphonies among
his most important orchestral scores. They were tonal in content, and fitted comfortable into
mainstream mid-20th century style that would, for easy comparison, be contemporary with
Walton and Malcolm Arnold. That said, I would be misleading if I gave the impression that
they leap out at you and instantly claim a place in your memory, the opening two movements
of the First symphony having an uncompromising bleakness. Completed in 1959, it then
has an invigorating scherzo leading to a final allegro that is suitably vivacious. It is a mood
that continues into the Second Symphony, a very powerful and colourful score that should
be included in the standard British repertoire. More extrovert than the first, and packing
more impact into the outer movements, this is a very major discovery on disc. The BBC
Symphony and conductor, Martyn Brabbins, play as if they too feel they have found
hidden treasure in a very fine BBC Studio recording."
David’s Review Corner





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No.873
Modern: Neo-Romantic

After being very active in the 60s pop scene, British composer John Scott (*1930) has developed
into a respected film music composer, now living in London and Hollywood. For a while he worked closely
with John Barry in The John Barry Seven, and played on Barry�s scores for Beat Girl (1959) and The Whisperers (1967),
as well as on several early James Bond movies. His growing interest in composition led him to offer his work
to mood music publishers for their recorded music libraries, for the use of radio, film and television
companies. Scott�s music was published by Keith Prowse, Peer International and Boosey & Hawkes. His score
for a 1965 promotional film Shellarama brought offers for his first feature film, A Study In Terror (1965),
which he wrote as �Patrick John Scott�. After years of making recordings with many record companies,
Scott has established his own label JOS Records to promote his own scores.

A Colchester Symphony, at 66 minutes, is an epic, programmatic work, which covers the
long and colorful history of Britain's oldest city in five symphonic tableaux.



Music Composed by John Scott
Played by The School of Music at Colchester Institute Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Christopher Phelps

"Bristol born John Scott has built an enviable reputation for himself as a composer of dramatic
and evocative scores for documentaries (as well as feature films), such as the Cousteau adventures,
so it is appropriate that he was commissioned to write this celebration of Britain's oldest recorded town.

The Colchester Symphony, at 66:30 minutes duration is huge and sprawling; and, it has to be said,
of uneven inspiration. Bold, exciting material is let down by more ponderous elements. Try as I may,
in the absence of really memorable themes, I sometimes found my attention wandering particularly
in 16 minute first movement - or first tableau as the CD booklet calls it - the work is divided into
five tableaux each with its own title and programme.

Tableau one entitled "Before Camulodunum" suggests the area of Colchester at the dawn of history:
softly focussed and distant heraldic fanfares evoking "primordial elements drifting in the ether"
and then more substantial symphonic material developing as the land forms. A sonorous celli
theme is announced which is to become the motif for Colchester and from which the whole work will
develop and proceed. For the first ten minutes or so we have music that represents the early dawn
of civilisation and it strongly reminded me of the first movement, "Danses of des Temps primitifs"
from Tournemire's Symphony No 7 , "Les Danses de la Vie" dealing with very similar subject matter.
The music proceeds slowly and ponderously and might have benefited from some judicious editing;
but at about 10:00 the rhythms grow increasingly urgent; there are softly touched cymbal strokes
as if one hears the breath of some stirring beast, saxophone wailings, percussion beats, winding
woodwinds, slithering strings, and then slight syncopations and faintly exotically Arabic inflections -
all adding interest and colour as the mysticism of the Druids is invoked.

Tableau two is called, "The Romans" and it is much more arresting. It is a powerful alla marcial
statement - a Respighi-like sound-portrait of advancing, mighty Roman legions. Proud and confident
brass fanfares call out across the sound stage and their colour is enhanced by very authentic-
sounding musical phrases evoking Latin and exotic cultures. Quieter passages suggest Celtic
resignation and the verdant landscapes around the town, before an impressive fugal section
evokes the building of the Roman temple.

Tableau three represents the uprising and temporary victory of Boudica against Roman tyranny.
The music harks back to some of the material in the opening movement to portray the less
sophisticated rebel army drawn together by the fiery female warrior. As her forces gather the
music swirls around like some swelling cloud of angry bees until at the hight of their rage they
are released to on their prey. After the climax of the conflict the music decrescendos to mourn
Boudica's many casualties.

The fourth tableaux takes us forward to the Civil War with Colchester in a state of siege with
Roundheads encircling the town and forcing depravation on the Royalists within its walls.
Desolate tonalities comment on the hardship of the citizens. Martial music underscores armed
conflict and then there is poignancy for the deaths of the Royalists who are handed over to
the Roundheads as the price of the safety of the majority.

The final movement, "Celebration", is a portrait of modern Colchester. The music has all the
sweep and pomp that goes with great civic pride. It is joyful and breezy, and both the everyday
hurry and bustle of the town, and the contrasting serenity of its leafy green spaces and quieter
paths are evoked. An attractive, Romantic, broad-flowing melody is introduced which builds up
to an imposing and sustained climax which is rather let down by an anti-climactic and rather
perfunctory ending after earlier material is briefly recapitulated.

An interesting if flawed work enthusiastically performed by the Colchester players."
Musicweb





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No.874
Modern: Avantgarde

The music recorded on this disc spans over 40 years, offering a remarkable opportunity to view the development
of Chinary Ung�s (*1942) compositional practice. While his extensive catalog consists mostly of chamber music,
Ung�s gift for instrumental color and dramatic shape makes him a particularly effective orchestral composer. It was
this capacity that first brought Ung international acclaim.

Anicca (1970) calls for a grand orchestra with, among other forces, five flutists and seven percussionists.
The piece begins with a solo oboe played from offstage. Beginning with a narrow group of pitches, the oboe tests
new territory, adding notes gradually to its repertoire. This melodic material becomes the source of a developing
harmony as new, structural pitches are doubled and sustained by strings. An oboe solo also opens Inner Voices.
There, its expressive character and modal harmonic language refer directly to the Sathukar, a traditional Khmer
piece used as an invocation before a ritual performance. In Anicca, Ung never employs these sorts of materials,
but the use of the oboe in such a prominent position evokes the function of invocation.

Grand Spiral, Antiphonal Spirals, and Water Rings were composed within a four-year period
and represent an effort by the composer to refine aspects of a musical language first developed in Inner Voices.
If that work was the stone that broke the surface of the water, these works are ripples that extend beyond it,
featuring the florid lyricism, lush harmonies, and allusions to Southeast Asian modes and instrumental practices
that are hallmarks of his mature style. The fluency and ebullience of this music belies its great cost, emerging
Phoenix-like after a ten-year compositional hiatus. The spiral metaphor also has rhetorical implications. There is
often a recursive nature to Ung�s melodies, and a tendency to recompose an idea even as it is first heard by
folding inward on itself and then restarting.

Singing Inside Aura of 2013 is part of a series of works featuring the extensive use of vocalization by
instrumental performers that began in earnest after Ung traveled to Cambodia in 2002, his first visit since
1968. The rapprochement that brought about his return allowed him to reengage with the people, places,
and, more broadly, the culture that were the sources of his inspiration. Ung determined in the works that
followed that his music should be oriented toward the Cambodian people who had suffered so much.
There is a mystical, ritualistic quality to the soloist�s part that draws the orchestra into an expanded universe,
where the string players whistle along with playing transparent harmonics and wind players play water glasses
and crotales, adding an ethereal glow.



Music Composed by Chinary Ung
Played by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project
With Susan Ung (soprano & viola)
Conducted by Gil Rose

"Cambodian-born composer Chinary Ung shows us in his latest collection of orchestral works,
Singing Inside Aura (BMOP/sound 1044), that he is a major figure on the modern music scene.
His childhood was spent absorbing the traditional music of his homeland, including the extensive
vocalizations found in a small village setting of his original home. By the time he came to the
United States to study under Chou Wen-chung, he had also thoroughly immersed himself in
the study of western music.

The title composition "Singing Inside Aura" was composed in 2013. It features Susan Ung on
viola and vocals, in a vocalization style Chinary Ung developed for her to in this case express
the dual aspects of traditional Buddhism, the enlightenment that is heard and the enlightenment
that is felt inside. It is a beautifully conceived and executed work that brilliantly combines the
traditional and the modern orchestral in thoroughly integrated and personal ways.

It is one of five works presented by the acclaimed Boston Modern Orchestra Project under
Gil Rose for this album. The works cover a vast space in time from Ung's 1970 "Anicca," the
1991 "Grand Spiral: Desert Flowers Bloom," the 1993 "Water Rings Overture," and finally the
1995 "Antiphonal Spirals." There are Cambodian scalular aspects that intertwine with modern
classical expanded tonality in ways that work brilliantly well. Throughout Maestro Ung
demonstrates vividly his strong sense of orchestral color.

The album in fact gives us a kind of mini-retrospective on the composer's development over
time, with works that show on occasion traces of a Varese influence but most importantly a
keen sense of how the dramatics of the spatial-tonal Cambodian sound worlds can fit
together with a personal modernism in contemporary orchestral composing practice.

He manages via his gifted poetic talent to so thoroughly incorporate both strains into his
own special musical inner sense as to be an absolute original. The meticulous sound staging
of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project under Gil Rose's conductorship and Susan Ung's
very effective dual soundings of voice and viola make of this album something very special.
It is a remarkable introduction to the music of a contemporary master, a one-of-a-kind
creative force at his very best.

Anyone with an interest in modern orchestral music will find this album endlessly intriguing,
I would think, as I most certainly have. Get a copy of this without fail if you can."
Classical Modern Music Blog



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No.875
20th Century: Neo-Classicism

This album with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and its artistic director,
Neeme J�rvi, features two mature works by Martinu, recorded in the splendid
acoustic of the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn.

One of the most wide-ranging composers of music for the stage, Martinu was also enthusiastic
about the theatrical possibilities of including new media in his operas. Špal�cek in
many ways belongs to this experimental tendency. Although it was published and billed at its
first performance as a ballet, it might best be described as an opera-ballet, as alongside
the many dances there are extensive roles for chorus as well as tenor, soprano, and bass
soloists. Martinu described the work on his manuscript as deriving from folk games, customs,
and fairytales.

The lyrical Rhapsody-Concerto was written in 1952, at a time when Martinu was
fighting homesickness and depression, worsened by the political situation in his native
Czechoslovakia. The work is a marked move toward a more romantic sound world. The soloist
here is Mikhail Zemtsov, principal violist of the Residentie Orchestra The Hague
since 2001 and a prize winner at the first International Viola Competition (Vienna)
and the Elisa Meyer String Competition (Hamburg).

The exploration by J�rvi and the ENSO of hidden gems from the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries has proved highly successful, their recent recording of works by
Suchon (CHAN 10849) awarded the Choc de Classica.



Music Composed by Bohuslav Martinu
Played by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
With Mikhail Zemtsov (viola)
Conducted by Neeme J�rvi

"The original version of Spalicek was for three solo voices, children's or women's choir, and small orchestra.
But during the 1930s Martinu became more and more interested in using traditional symphony orchestra. (It
has to be said that his growing fame both in Paris and in Czechoslovakia opened up established symphonies to
him.) So when a second production of Spalicek appeared possible, he made revisions to it, including making a
brilliant and colorful new orchestration.

Martinu brought with him from his neo-Classical, small orchestra style several aspects that define his mature
orchestral style: Winds are still exceptionally prominent and quite often the strings tend to be used to add
additional color to them rather than the other way round. And above all there is the presence of the piano, an
almost defining sound in Martinu's orchestral music, adding a special rhythmic crispness to the orchestration.

The ballet is two acts and runs well over an hour. While Martinu was making the new orchestration, fellow
Czech composer Milos Riha, under the composer's supervision, drew two orchestral suites from it, H. 214a
and H. 214b. These are the standard versions for concert, though other arrangements are possible, and
there was at least one recording with the two Riha suites combined, with their individual numbers put back
in the revised ballet order.

The stories involve such stalwart plots as some heroes having to get into a Magician's Palace to bring back
some McGuffin; there are some animal dances including an appearance by Puss-in-Boots, there is a fight
with a Giant (in which a Butterfly triumphs), a brave shoemaker, and a sad princess, in addition to Cinderella,
whose Palace Ball makes up one scene. At the end there is a happy Wedding Polka."





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No.876
Modern: Avantgarde

The eclecticism embraced by Michael Colgrass (*1932) and Jacob Druckman (1928-1996) as a response
to serialism led, in their case, to a sort of neo-Impressionism. While it may lack programmatic implications as specific
as those of the music of Debussy and Ravel, Druckman's and Colgrass's recent work bears striking resemblances to that
of the turn-of-the-century Impressionists in orchestration and methods of construction. Like the tone poems of the French
masters, the works on this recording are made up of brilliantly-colored sound modules arranged in purposeful sequence
. Also like that of the Impressionists, Colgrass's and Druckman's music strikes the ear as organic, not architectural, in
design. Perhaps more than anything else, it is these composers' ability to combine ear-catching surface activity with
unshakably stable musical structures that marks Michael Colgrass and Jacob Druckman as two of the leading orchestral
composers of recent years in American music.



Music by Michael Colgrass & Jacob Druckman
Played by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Leonard Slatkin & Catherine Comet





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No.877
Modern: Avantgarde

R.I.P. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016)


It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, at the age of 81.

One of the foremost composers of our time, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies made a profound contribution to
musical history in the UK and beyond through his wide-ranging and prolific output.

Recognised as a successor to the avant-garde generation of Ligeti, Lutosławski, Berio and Xenakis, as
well as a composer of a distinctly British hue, Sir Peter�s output embraces every conceivable classical
genre from symphonies and concertos to opera, music theatre, ballet, film, choral and more.

He was also an experienced conductor, holding the position of Associate Conductor/Composer at both
the BBC Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic orchestras for 10 years, and guest-conducting orchestras
such as the San Francisco Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Philharmonia. He enjoyed a particularly
close relationship with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as Composer Laureate.

Born in Salford, Lancashire on 8 September 1934, Sir Peter attended Royal Manchester College of
Music (now Royal Northern College of Music) where he was part of the so-called Manchester School
with contemporaries Harrison Birtwistle, John Ogdon, Elgar Howarth, Richard Hall and Alexander
Goehr. He later secured a Fellowship at Princeton where he studied with Roger Sessions and Milton
Babbitt. The 1960s were an especially formative decade, establishing him as a leading contemporary
musical figure.

In 1971 Sir Peter moved to the Orkney Islands, the place which would be his home for the rest of
his life. The landscape and culture had a deep impact on his music and in 1977 he founded the
St Magnus Festival, an annual event with Orkney residents at its heart.

Sir Peter had a lifelong commitment to community outreach and education, writing much music
for young people; his children�s opera The Hogboon will receive its world premiere in June 2016
with Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO at the Barbican. His keen sense of social responsibility was
threaded through many of his works, touching on major issues such as war, the environment
and politics.

Sir Peter held the post of Master of the Queen�s Music from 2004�2014. He was knighted in 1987
and made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the New Year 2014 Honours
List. In February 2016, Sir Peter was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal,
the highest accolade the society can bestow, in recognition of outstanding musicianship.

Max (to all who knew him) passed away of leukaemia on 14 March 2016 at his home in
Orkney. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this time.
Inter.Musica



This release is a tribute to his adopted home, Scotland, and particularly perhaps to Hoy and Orkney, by
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Sir Peter dons a kilt in a gamut of musical moods from the elegiac to the
boisterous, the disc including the popular Orkney Wedding and Farewell to Stromness and a
host of other attractive lesser-known works including Seven Songs Home, settings of Maxwell Davies�s
own texts depicting one hour in a child�s life from the time of leaving school until reaching home, heartrendingly
affecting and beautifully sung by the Choir of St Mary�s School, Edinburgh. �In all the best senses, this
is Davies�s �popular� music and deserves a grateful award for its sheer entertainment value.�



Music Composed and Conducted by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Played by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra

"While textbook references to Peter Maxwell Davies usually focus on his studies of dark psychological
dysfunction (most prominently the Eight Songs for a Mad King), one of his most popular works among
symphony orchestra audiences is a much more lighthearted exercise. An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise,
commissioned by John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1985, is a delightfully vivid musical
pictorial of a jubilant and rather boozy wedding party on the Orkneyan isle of Hoy, off the northern coast
of the Scottish mainland.

In fact, the musical account is rendered first-hand. Though Davies traces his ancestral roots to Scotland,
his musical roots took soil there when, beginning in 1970, he began traveling to Orkney for creative
retreats. An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise was inspired by the composer's attendance at an actual
wedding party on Hoy. The work is as extroverted as any of Davies', but joyously so -- the exaggerated
gestures reflect those of the scene's revelry, as well as the guest's increasing intoxication. The composer's
characteristic hall-of-mirrors approach to musical allusion is employed with highly comic effect as lyrical
and nostalgic (though generally not borrowed) tunes spin themselves into happy confusion, rhythms
intermittently trip forward or hiccup, and harmonies sway and swoon with the rustic and boisterous
crowd.

The work is highly pictorial, its episodic sections corresponding closely with the succession of events
witnessed by the composer. As the piece opens the guests are just arriving, the sour weather outside
contrasting the festivities inside the hall. To a processional tune passed around the woodwind section,
the guests ceremoniously greet the bride and groom. The brass enter noisily as the first round of
drinks are passed, the bouncy rhythms of the Scottish snap setting the melodic scene. The musicians
then noisily tune their instruments in preparation for the evening's dances. With each new tune the
group becomes audibly more intoxicated, the brass smearing their way through some passages and
the melody occasionally stepping out of line. The insistent oom-pahs continue, however, increasing in
tempo and rhythmic drive (while all the while slipping and sliding with increasing frequency).
The lead fiddle seems particularly well stocked; a lilting solo waxes comically rhapsodic, with
intermittent dizzy spells and moments of harmonic confusion. The dancing builds further until
the whiskey takes its full effect and the partygoers drift from the dance floor. The party has
apparently lasted all night, for as the guests leave they look across the water to see the first rays
of dawn. At this point Davies works an ingenious bit of programmatic magic: a Highland bagpiper
suddenly appears in the back of the concert hall. He passes majestically through the audience
in full Scots regalia, playing a grand march as he approaches the orchestra. The stirring music
carries a clever metaphor. The Highland pipes, not native to Orkney, represent the dawn as
viewed by the Orkney party, the sun rising across the bay over Caithness."
All Music



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/>
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No.878
20th Century: Neo-Romantic

This varied selection of tuneful but largely unfamiliar orchestral music by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs
includes the delightful suite from his collaboration with Walter de la Mare, the “fairy play” Crossings.
Gibbs’s music is very much an escapist art, full of charming tunes – as exemplified by The Enchanted Wood,
which the composer described as “a dance phantasy,” and the full orchestral version of his most popular work,
the haunting slow waltz Dusk. In a similar light music vein are the attractive The Cat and the Wedding
Cake (from the television operetta Mr. Cornelius) and Four Orchestral Dances, written for
a BBC Light Music Festival. In contrast are the Symphonic poem A Vision of Night, which reflects Gibbs’s
enthusiasm for the new music at the Diaghilev ballet, and the neo-classical Suite in A for violin and
orchestra.



Music Composed by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs
Played by the BBC Concert Orchestra
Conducted by Ronald Corp

"Ronald Corp OBE is Artistic Director of the New London Orchestra and the New London Children’s
Choir both of which he founded, respectively, in 1988 and 1991. He is also Musical Director of the
London Chorus and the Highgate Choral Society. He has worked with the BBC Singers, Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra.
Among an extensive discography are his award-winning Hyperion discs of British Light Music Classics.
His own compositions include a Symphony, a Piano Concerto and the orchestral triptych Guernsey
Postcards which are played by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on a Dutton Epoch CD;
Forever Child and other choral works are on the same label, while recent releases include The Songs
of Ronald Corp sung by Mark Stone, Dhammapada, a setting of Buddhist sayings for a chamber
choir of eight soloists, and String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2 coupled with the song-cycle Country Matters
performed by the Maggini Quartet and tenor, Mark Wilde. In July 2011 he celebrated his 60th
birthday with a concert of two large-scale choral works – And All the Trumpets Sounded (1989)
and The Wayfarer (In homage to Mahler) (2011) at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Further
recordings in 2012 took place of Songs of the Elder Sisters and Lullaby for a Lost Soul. The album
Things I didn’t say was released with a selection of accompanied anthems and a cappella choral
works in the summer of 2012. The album String, Paper, Wood came out in January 2013 featuring
String Quartet No. 3, The Yellow Wallpaper (for mezzo-soprano and string quintet) and Clarinet
Quintet ‘Crawhall’ . His textbook The Choral Singer’s Companion is now in its third edition."





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Enjoy! Don't share! Buy the original! And please click on "Reputation" button if you downloaded this album! :)

No.878
20th Century: Neo-Romantic

This varied selection of tuneful but largely unfamiliar orchestral music by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs
includes the delightful suite from his collaboration with Walter de la Mare, the �fairy play� Crossings.
Gibbs�s music is very much an escapist art, full of charming tunes � as exemplified by The Enchanted Wood,
which the composer described as �a dance phantasy,� and the full orchestral version of his most popular work,
the haunting slow waltz Dusk. In a similar light music vein are the attractive The Cat and the Wedding
Cake (from the television operetta Mr. Cornelius) and Four Orchestral Dances, written for
a BBC Light Music Festival. In contrast are the Symphonic poem A Vision of Night, which reflects Gibbs�s
enthusiasm for the new music at the Diaghilev ballet, and the neo-classical Suite in A for violin and
orchestra.




Thank you for this amazing share!

No.878
20th Century: Neo-Romantic

This varied selection of tuneful but largely unfamiliar orchestral music by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs
includes the delightful suite from his collaboration with Walter de la Mare, the �fairy play� Crossings.
Gibbs�s music is very much an escapist art, full of charming tunes � as exemplified by The Enchanted Wood,
which the composer described as �a dance phantasy,� and the full orchestral version of his most popular work,
the haunting slow waltz Dusk. In a similar light music vein are the attractive The Cat and the Wedding
Cake (from the television operetta Mr. Cornelius) and Four Orchestral Dances, written for
a BBC Light Music Festival. In contrast are the Symphonic poem A Vision of Night, which reflects Gibbs�s
enthusiasm for the new music at the Diaghilev ballet, and the neo-classical Suite in A for violin and
orchestra.



Music Composed by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs
Played by the BBC Concert Orchestra
Conducted by Ronald Corp

"Ronald Corp OBE is Artistic Director of the New London Orchestra and the New London Children�s
Choir both of which he founded, respectively, in 1988 and 1991. He is also Musical Director of the
London Chorus and the Highgate Choral Society. He has worked with the BBC Singers, Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra.
Among an extensive discography are his award-winning Hyperion discs of British Light Music Classics.
His own compositions include a Symphony, a Piano Concerto and the orchestral triptych Guernsey
Postcards which are played by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on a Dutton Epoch CD;
Forever Child and other choral works are on the same label, while recent releases include The Songs
of Ronald Corp sung by Mark Stone, Dhammapada, a setting of Buddhist sayings for a chamber
choir of eight soloists, and String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2 coupled with the song-cycle Country Matters
performed by the Maggini Quartet and tenor, Mark Wilde. In July 2011 he celebrated his 60th
birthday with a concert of two large-scale choral works � And All the Trumpets Sounded (1989)
and The Wayfarer (In homage to Mahler) (2011) at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Further
recordings in 2012 took place of Songs of the Elder Sisters and Lullaby for a Lost Soul. The album
Things I didn�t say was released with a selection of accompanied anthems and a cappella choral
works in the summer of 2012. The album String, Paper, Wood came out in January 2013 featuring
String Quartet No. 3, The Yellow Wallpaper (for mezzo-soprano and string quintet) and Clarinet
Quintet �Crawhall� . His textbook The Choral Singer�s Companion is now in its third edition."





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---------- Post added at 11:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 AM ----------

Could I please have the link MP3. Sounds interesting.
Thanks in advance.

Many thanks for the Gibbs link!

Thank you for the Gibbs link!

[/COLOR]Could I please have the link MP3. Sounds interesting.
Thanks in advance.

Please don't quote my entire posting on the very page it has appeared originally. As for getting a link, please READ.

---------- Post added at 12:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 AM ----------




No.879
20th Century: Late Romantic

Dutton Epoch’s first two volumes of music by Walter Braunfels were a revelation to many
to whom the composer was just a name. This third volume concentrates on music written between 1910 and
1946. It is surprising that the glorious four-movement Serenade is not a regular repertoire work
for it is a memorable discovery, reflecting as it does a pre-First World War innocence. Braunfels’s
opera Die V�gel (The Birds) was his first great success after the war; the interlude
Die Taubenhochzeit (The Doves’ Wedding) makes an appealing encore. The Prelude from another
of Braunfels’s operas, Don Gil von den gr�nen Hosen (Don Gil of the Green Breeches), launches this
programme in ringing Straussian terms, while the Dances and Tunes suite from the same opera is
delightfully lyrical. In 1946, Braunfels wrote the Konzertst�ck in C sharp minor for piano and
orchestra, in which pianist Piers Lane is a sparkling soloist.



Music Composed by Walter Braunfels
Played by the BBC Concert Orchestra
With Piers Lane (piano)
Conducted by Johannes Wildner

"The success of The Birds and of the Te Deum inspired Braunfels to embark upon another large-scale composition,
the opera Don Gil of the Green Trousers. The libretto is based on a comedy by Tirso de Molina in the German translation
by August L. Mayer and Johannes von Guenther which was published in Munich in 1918.

Several of de Molina’s plays focus on intelligent and clever women who put their fickle men to shame, induce them
to repent and return home. In Don Gil it is Dona Juana who exposes her unfaithful fianc� in a rather turbulent
plot which culminates in four figures dressed in green trousers confronting one another, not knowing who is hidden
behind their masks.

The first (concert) performance after 1945 took place in Munich in 2007, with David Stahl conducting the ensemble
of the G�rtnerplatztheater."





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Thank you for sharing the amazing Walter Braunfels

Oh wow a new Braunfels recording! Million thanks for this fantastic share.

Thank you for the link to Armstrong Gibbs. A very generous share.

Thanks very much for this fine share!

No.880
Modern: Tonal

Vaughan Williams never completed in full score his seven-movement suite from the opera
Sir John in Love, which had as its central character Shakespeare’s Falstaff. He left it
in two-piano score with the opera’s working title Fat Knight, and it has become, in effect, a
set of instructions for realising the orchestral suite Martin Yates has produced, incorporating
the orchestration from the completed opera. The Henry V Overture, until now only known in the
original version for band, is recorded in Martin Yates’s idiomatic orchestration, reminding us that
Vaughan Williams produced a vivid evocation of the world of Shakespeare’s play that anticipated
Walton’s more familiar film music of a decade later. Completing the programme is the orchestral
version of the Serenade to Music, composed for Sir Henry Wood’s Jubilee and brilliantly
played here by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.



Music Composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Conducted by Martin Yates

"Ralph Vaughan Williams knew from the outset that Sir John in Love would be measured against
two illustrious operatic predecessors, Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff and Otto Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber
von Windsor. He persevered, however, for Sir John in Love was close to the composer's heart, having
gestated for years, beginning with his arrangements of incidental music for various Shakespeare plays
in the repertory of the Frank Benson acting company early in the teens. Vaughan Williams used the
text of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, augmented with material from other Shakespeare
plays and contemporary Elizabethan sources, and interpolated 15 minutes of folk song material into
the opera -- he also wrote almost two hours of original music in a distinctly English folk idiom, so
skillfully that it is almost impossible to determine where the traditional and the original material
begin and end. The opera received its first performance at the Royal College of Music in 1929, and
Vaughan Williams made three important instrumental additions in 1933, but Sir John in Love had to
wait until 1946 to be picked up by a professional company. Since then it has been revived on occasion
in England, and came to America in the late 1970s in a production by the Bronx Opera Company, a
semi-professional New York ensemble. A recording conducted by Meredith Davies was released in 1975
by EMI, and in 2001 a second recording, conducted by Richard Hickox was released on Chandos.
By the end of the twentieth century, Sir John in Love had entered the repertory of numerous semi-
professional and student companies in England and America, including the British Youth Opera, the
Imperial Opera, the University of Toronto, and the Berkeley Opera. The composer assembled a cantata,
In Windsor Forest, out of the work's choral parts, although it was the Fantasia On Greensleeves,
derived from the entr'acte dividing Act IV, scenes I and II, that became the best known part of the
opera and the most popular work in Vaughan Williams' output. Although regarded by scholars as
standing in the shadow of Verdi's work, Sir John in Love has achieved respectable regard, especially
as audiences have come to appreciate its two hours of achingly beautiful melodies and its ebullient
good spirits.

The opera's plot is derived directly from Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. Ann Page has been
betrothed by her mother to Dr. Caius, an old physician whom she does not love, while her father
would prefer that she marry Slender, a foolish young gallant; she, in turn, truly loves Fenton,
a young gentleman from the court at Windsor. In the midst of these overlapping efforts at
matchmaking and romance, we find Sir John Falstaff, the aging knight and local buffoon, being
deceived by the women whose pretended love for the old reprobate leads him to a series of
comical misadventures, including an escape from a jealous rival in a basket of dirty laundry.
Eventually, the lovers, would-be and genuine, are sorted out in a midnight denouement in
Windsor Forest."





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Thank you for sharing this new Vaughan Williams

Fantastic share! Dutton Epoch is a marvelous label. Billion thanks wimpel69.

Vaughan Williams is always one of the best, thank you.

Great music, thanks for sharing this!

No.881
Modern: "Avantgarde-ish"

Gordon Chin is one of Taiwan�s leading composers, and increasingly honoured by commissions
and performances from major ensembles in North America, Asia and Europe. Featuring an array of
exotic Chinese percussion instruments, Symphony No. 3 �Taiwan� is a dramatically powerful
work cast in three movements which explore his native country�s turbulent history. Specific
literary quotations from Shakespeare, Blaise Pascal and Samuel Johnson elucidate the expressive
moods of the three-movement Cello Concerto No. 1.



Music Composed by Gordon Chin
Played by the Taiwan Philharmonic Orchestra
With Wen-Sinn Yang (cello)
Conducted by Shao-Chia L�

"Born in Taiwan in 1957, Gordon Chan has built a most impressive portfolio of works in many genres,
including four symphonies and a number of concertos. Though he has spent most of his life in his native
country, his formative years took him to Japan and North America, and it was his musical education in the
States that has shaped his stylistic qualities that sit in a modern view of tonality. Without in any way
inferring influences, I would give as a guide the world of Penderecki in his recent return to tonality. A big
and bold Cello Concerto completed in 2006 is in a three-movement structure, each prefaced with a literary
quotation used to shape the music. It is certainly a test of the soloist�s technique, just as we find in
Shostakovich first cello concerto, and is no less a challenge to the orchestra, the opening movement
reflecting Shakespeare�s words, �When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools�.
The superb soloist, Wen-Sinn Yang, was for many years the principal cellist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony
Orchestra, his big and impressive dynamic range ideal for a score that ends in poignant sadness.
The Third Symphony, which pictures the turbulent history of his birthplace, uses, according to the sleeve
note, an �array of exotic Chinese percussion instruments�� What we do have is a colourful and often
hard-hitting score that makes demands on the brass department and a battery of conventional
percussion instruments. The finale employs material from these two movements interwoven into
passages of hope and beauty. Chin is a most impressive composer; the Taiwan Philharmonic
bristling with modern virtuosity and the recording has a massive dynamic range."
� 2015 David�s Review Corner





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Braunfels and RVW just prove again that you not only have an excellent taste but also are right at the pulse of time for new discoveries.
You are truely a hero! Thanks also for the nice and neat way you present your gems here!!

The Braunfels is really beautiful. Thank you. I keep trying to 'add reputation' but it always tells me to spread it around before giving more to you, wimpel69... I try but it's a challenge!

Thanks for so many fantastic posts

wimpel69, I am metropole, reincarnated as metropole2. I am having a problem with access, my original pw being rejected for no apparent reason. Now, I don't seem to be able to pm anyone. Can I please have the link for the Fat Knight?
Many thanks!

Jennifer Higdon: City Scape, Concerto for Orchestra

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Thanks for this!

wimpel69, I am metropole, reincarnated as metropole2. I am having a problem with access, my original pw being rejected for no apparent reason. Now, I don't seem to be able to pm anyone. Can I please have the link for the Fat Knight?
Many thanks!

You must to ask reset password. Then access to your e-mail account to get the password provided by the forum's system. You could change again to a new password.
PD: It was a failure or bot attack that changed users' passwords.

Thanks, hq007bb.

Could it be possibe to have the MP3 links to download the Weiner recording?
Many thanks.
hoffmann24

wimpel69, I am metropole, reincarnated as metropole2. I am having a problem with access, my original pw being rejected for no apparent reason. Now, I don't seem to be able to pm anyone. Can I please have the link for the Fat Knight?
Many thanks!

Same here. Had to ask for a reset of my password.


No.882
Modern: "Post-Modern"

Youngish composer Mason Bates (b. 1977) has a directly visceral approach to composing
for orchestra that makes his music in-demand on concert stages throughout the world.
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project under Gil Rose has recorded an anthology of Bates'
works on the recent album Mothership. There are five works in all, written between 2006
# and 2013, and all have something worthwhile to offer. They have not been previously recorded.
The works have enjoyed a good number of performances and/or are breakthrough pieces for Bates.
Either way they make for lively listening.



Music Composed by Mason Bates
Played by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Conducted by Gil Rose

"The title work was written (2010) as an opening kind of blockbuster that has a vibrantly fanfarish
flourish, an electronica element in the sophisticated beats employed and solo parts for jazz luminary
Jason Moran on electric piano and guzheng virtuoso Su Chang. There is a deft handling of orchestral
forces in a kind of Quasi-Americana manner, a lyrical brightness that owes something to the lineage of
Aaron Copland (at least as struck my ears) but made personal and present-day.

We get an electronica beat aspect and some reworked field recordings of katydids and locusts on the
descriptively evocative "Rusty Air in Carolina" (2006) where the bright lyricism is even more pronounced.

Those two especially stay in my memory but there are treasures too in the other works to be heard
in the collection: "Sea-Blue Circuity" (2010), "Attack Decay Sustain Release" (2013), and "Desert
Transport" (2010), the latter of which combines a wonderful pastoral grandeur and depictiveness
with a bit of Pima Indian song.

You can see how contemporary audiences respond readily to his music. It is tonal and very well put-
together, it adds some ultra-contemporary popular elements in the beats to be heard, but most
importantly the music breathes with a rather extraordinary earthiness and elan.

It is music to be experienced TODAY. It pleasures without pandering. It is accessible but filled with
plenty of musical content. It is wonderfully orchestrated and it speaks a universal modern mainstream
language. Like Copland perhaps, he has his ear to the popular world and can allude to it without
directly taking it on, mostly. The anthology gives us another excellent example of what is going on
out there. You could play it for your kids and they might take to it right away. But then grandma
might find it interesting, too."



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Thanks wimpel! BMOP does good stuff.

No.883
Late Romantic

Joseph Holbrooke's charming little suite for strings, dating from the early 1900s is the forerunner of the
Ballet Suite Pierrot, Op.36b. The original Pantomime Suite is content simply to be judged as a piece of
light music divorced from the stage, portraying four stock characters out of the Italian Commedia dell’Arte. It was
performed in Bournemouth in March 1908, conducted by the composer, and won for him the Charles Lucas Medal.

La Belle Dame sans Merci, by Alexander Mackenzie, was commissioned by the Philharmonic Society for
their 1883 season. The inspiration for this tone poem is wholly literary – Keats’ ballad poem of the same name.
Mackenzie’s "Ballad" was well-received at its first performance and subsequent critics have drawn attention to its
qualities. It is a distinguished contribution to symphonic programme music, and deserves to be heard more often.

Thalassa is Arthur Somervell’s only symphony. It received its first performance in February 1913, by
the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by none other than Arthur Nikisch. The symphony is in the tradition of
the Brahms symphonies, with two large-scale outer movements flanking an extended slow movement, which may
be regarded as the emotional fulcrum of the whole work, and a short, scherzo-like third movement.



Music by [see above]
Played by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Michael Laus

"The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (Maltese: Orkestra Filarmonika Nazzjonali) is the national symphony
orchestra of Malta. It was founded in 1968 and was originally known as the Manoel Theatre Orchestra,
where it was in residence for both opera productions and orchestral concerts. In September 1997 the
orchestra became an independent body and was officially named as Malta's national orchestra.
Its current Music Director is Brian Schembri.

The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra was founded on April 1, 1968 and was originally known as the
Manoel Theatre Orchestra. It was composed of a number of musicians who had previously formed
part of a chamber orchestra in the employment of the Commander-in-Chief of the British Navy (Malta),
better known as the C-in-C Orchestra that had been disbanded one day earlier. As the orchestra in
residence at the Manoel Theatre, it regularly performed operas and symphonic concerts under the
direction of its resident conductors Joseph Sammut (1968-1992) and Michael Laus (1992-1997).

In September 1997 the orchestra became an independent body and was officially named The National
Orchestra of Malta. Its first resident conductor was Joseph Vella. Ten years later, in December 2007,
the orchestra was expanded to a full-size symphony orchestra and performed for the first time as
The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra on January 12, 2008 on the occasion of Malta's entry into the Eurozone.

Starting in January 2005, co-operation programmes with foreign orchestras were initiated. These have
led to various learning and cultural exchanges with orchestras such as the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra,
the Orchestra Sinfonica di Pesaro, Orchestra e Coro di Milano La Verdi, Orchestra e Conservatorio
della Svizzera Italiana, and others.

The orchestra toured for the first time, in its previous form as a chamber orchestra, during the
2001-02 season. In Belgium the orchestra performed at the City Hall in Brussels under the direction
of Michael Laus, who is still its resident conductor, while in Sicily it took part in a five-performance
production of Mozart's Cos� fan tutte in Palermo. In June 2003, the National Orchestra participated
in the production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide at Rome's Teatro Argentina, followed by a concert
in the ruins of the Villa Adriana in Tivoli. Further concert tours followed, namely, a joint venture
with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra in Brno in 2006, in Pesaro in 2007, and in Lugano and
Zaragoza in 2008."





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Thank you for sharing this!

No.884
Modern: Tonal

The sonic colour and distinctive rhythms enshrined in these four works provide further
evidence of the art of internationally acclaimed Puerto Rican composer, Roberto Sierra.
The award-winning Sinfon�a No. 3 ‘La Salsa’ owes its inspiration to the music of the
Spanish Caribbean and is a salsa of older and newer rhythms, intoxicatingly presented amidst
revelry and dance. The instrumentally vivid Borik�n is based on the baroque chaconne
but with a Latin twist, while El Baile invokes traditional music in a wholly distinctive
way. Beyond the Silence of Sorrow is a captivatingly lyrical song cycle.



Music Composed by Roberto Sierra
Played by the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra
With Martha Guth (soprano)
Conducted by Maximiano Vald�s

"For more than a decade the works of Roberto Sierra have been part of the repertoire of many of
the leading orchestras, ensembles and festivals in the United States and Europe. At the inaugural
concert of the 2002 world renowned Proms in London, his Fandangos was performed by the BBC Symphony
Orchestra in a concert that was broadcast by both BBC Radio and Television throughout the United Kingdom
and Europe. Sierra’s numerous commissions include works for many of the major American and European
orchestras. International ensembles that have performed his works include the orchestras of Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, Atlanta, New Mexico, Houston, Minnesota, Dallas, Detroit, San Antonio and Phoenix, as well
as the American Composers Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National
Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, the orchestras
of Madrid, Galicia, Castilla y Le�n and Barcelona, among others. Roberto Sierra is the Old Dominion
Foundation professor in the Humanities at Cornell University, and Subito Music publishes his music."





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P.S.: You know, I take those "reputation issues" seriously. Just the other day a guy sent me a PM, and how it was "a shame" I didn't make the FLAC versions more easily available, and how FLAC 16 bit was "just as good as HD" [implying that it's a shame I do not share those!]. And asked for 14 links.

How many you'd guess he got? ;)

Why do you not share your whole collection in HD sound for nothing? Be our hero ;)

Many thanks for your missionary work.

Thank you for the Vaughan Williams. Marvellous music!
And mp3 is fine for those of us with limited download connections.

Thanks for your support. Some people just don't appreciate the amount of effort and care that goes into this (and the other) thread.
When the password didn't work anymore, and first attempts to restore it failed, I was seriously considering calling it quits.


No.885
Late Romantic

Danish composer Peder Gram (1881-1956) enjoyed a prominent position in his time, not only
because of the fine craftsmanship and artistic standard of his musical works, but also because
of the many organizational duties in the musical world that made him one of his generation's
most influential Danish musical personalities. This release features the early gem Avalon for
soprano and orchestra as well as two of Peder Gram's masterful symphonies, covering the full
spectrum of large-scale expression; from the sparkling and effectful to the highly dramatic
and illustrative, festive and powerful.



Music Composed by Peder Gram
Played by the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra
With Andrea Pellegrini (mezzo-soprano)
Conducted by Matthias Aeschbacher

"The performances are excellent. A lot of time has obviously been put into the making of this
disk. I cannot praise Andrea Pellegrini too highly for her brief appearances are a real highlight
and she sings with a pure voice, free of wobble or affectation. The orchestra is on top form
and obviously relishes playing this music."
Musicweb





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No.886
Modern: Neo-Classical

Paul Ben-Haim was born in Munich in 1897 as Paul Frankenburger and died in Tel Aviv in 1984, but
behind these bare facts we find a life story rivaling the suspense of novelistic fiction. Frankenburger had
studied in Munich prior to serving as Bruno Walter�s assistant for a short time and then as the conductor
at the Augsburg Opera House. Already during these years he was a productive composer. Not too long
after the Nazis had come to power, he and many other Jewish composers left Germany for Palestine,
which was then a British mandate. Under his new Hebrew name, Ben-Haim, he soon resumed his creative
activity and became one of the pioneers of classical music in Israel � both as a composer and as an admired
composition teacher. He wrote his dramatic, rousing Symphony No.1 for the Palestine Orchestra
(today�s Israel Philharmonic) during 1939-40: "I worked with determination on my new symphony. [�]
Everything was overshadowed by the depressing war and Hitler�s first colossal successes." This is highly
personal music, and yet brimming with genuine musical spirit.



Music Composed by Paul Ben-Haim
Played by the Radio-Philharmonie Hannover des NDR
Conducted by Israel Yinon

"It's about time some enterprising label discovered the music of Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984). He was a very
fine composer, and these are outstanding works. The First symphony (of two) has three movements, some great
ideas, and a real "symphonic" impetus and feeling of growth and development. Its slow movement is particularly
gorgeous, especially just after a passionate central climax where the high solo violin is accompanied by harp,
three solo violas, and gentle rustlings in the remaining strings. It's a magical moment. Ben-Haim's style might
be compared to Hindemith with less clunky rhythms and a bit more consonant harmony.

The Symphonic Metamorphosis dates from the late 1960s and also recalls Hindemith to some extent, except
at the climax where the jubilant reprise of the Bach chorale brings to mind Respighi (glockenspiel, triangle,
and antique cymbals). Along the way, Ben-Haim offers two "recitatives", a passacaglia, and a zippy capriccio
marked "lovely" in the score, which I think ought to be "lively". Fanfare for Israel is about what you'd expect
for an occasional work of its type: brassy, vivid, colorful, but not annoyingly bombastic, and over in less than
seven minutes.

The performances under Israel Yinon are remarkably assured given the unfamiliarity of the repertoire.
The orchestra remains on its toes throughout, and this is especially impressive in the finale of the symphony,
a whirlwind presto in 12/8 time that's fully up to tempo and on point. The engineering is good, but perhaps
a bit dry and "studio-bound". This is an important release, with hopefully much more to come from this
source."
Classics Today





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No.887
Modern: Tonal

Rumon Gamba: "Having recorded symphonies and film music by Malcolm Arnold and knowing how well his
music is received by audiences around the world, I was surprised that there was no disc dedicated solely to his music for
the ballet. The four scores featured here on this disc have such strong musical ideas and dramatic narrative, to say
nothing of their sheer beauty and passion, that they come alive as pieces of music in their own right. And such contrasts
on this programme � brutality and energy (Electra), sweeping romanticism (Rinaldo and Armida) and humour
in all its guises (Sweeney Todd). I particularly enjoyed recording Rinaldo and Armida which deserves its place
in the repertoire alongside those ballet scores we hear all too often in the concert hall."

Arnold�s first ballet score, Homage to the Queen was commissioned to honour the Queen�s Coronation and
performed by the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden in 1953. The Times wrote of the 2006 Royal Ballet revival: �Malcolm
Arnold�s score is rich in majesty and filled with colour. A pleasure to hear it again.� The ballet suite begins with a
Prelude strongly reminiscent of the ceremonial idiom of William Walton�s Coronation marches. The initial success of
Homage quickly led to another ballet commission for Arnold. In 1954 he composed Rinaldo and Armida, a one-act
�dance drama�, and guest-conducted the first performance himself at the Royal Opera House on January 1955.
Rinaldo was based on an episode from Torquato Tasso�s poem Ierusalemme liberate (1581). Electra, which here
receives is premiere recording was commissioned by the Royal Ballet and first performed in 1963. This work allowed
Arnold to tap the darker side of his musical personality, as evidenced in several of his mature symphonies.



Music Composed by Malcolm Arnold
Played by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Rumon Gamba

�This welcome disc from the BBC Philharmonic and Rumon Gamba brings together for the
first time four of his ballet scores from the 1950�s and 1960�s when the composer was at the
height of his powers.� � � under Gamba, they [BBC Philharmonic]play these works with great
passion and verve and make this a disc that every lover of Arnold�s music will want to own.
The sound quality is excellent and there is an informative note in the booklet.�
Peter Marchbank





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No.888
Late Romantic

Karl Goldmark (1830-1915) was born in the Hungarian town of Keszthely in 1830, three years before
the birth of Brahms in Hamburg, and died in Vienna in 1915 four years after the death of Mahler, three years
before the death of Debussy. His career spanned a long period of great musical change, although he remained
himself firmly in the tradition of Mendelssohn, tempered by the influence of Wagner and Liszt.

Goldmark's L�ndliche Hochzeit (Rustic Wedding), a symphonic poem rather than a symphony in its
programmatic content, although it retains more or less the traditional structure of the latter form, with an
additional Intermezzo as second movement, is an attractive and approachable work. It opens with Wedding
March Variations, the simple theme, with familiar musical connotations, announced at the outset by the lower
strings, to betaken up by the wind in the first variation. The strings provide a more lyrical second variation,
leading to a cheerful outburst of sound from the brass and to a more melancholy version of the material,
replaced by a livelier contrapuntal treatment of the theme by the whole orchestra and a still rapider scherzando
variation. This is followed by a dramatic minor key version of the melody, followed by a variation with a running
string counterpoint, relaxing into gentler lyricism in the variation that follows. The ingenious treatments of the
simple material continue with a running variation for the violins, succeeded by a more ponderous return to
the minor and a version in which the woodwind has a significant part to play, with a solo violin. A brief fanfare
heralds the return of the original Wedding March and the theme is entrusted yet again to the lower strings.
The second movement Intermezzo, a bridal song, is tender and lyrical and is followed by a scherzo, a village
Serenade that has more of the spirit of the latter, whatever its structure, with its solemn dance rhythms
over a drone bass in contrast to its other material. The slow movement, Im Garten (In the Garden) suggests
more than a mere marriage of convenience, brokered by some village match-maker, and the symphonic
poem ends with a final Dance, its fugal opening combining rustic festivities with symphonic tradition,
while its reminiscences of what has passed confirm the unity of the whole work.

The Overture In Italien was issued in 1904. It starts with a burst of vivacious energy, relaxing into
a lilting dance and later into lyrical tenderness, with the help of a solo violin. This is interrupted by are turn
to the cheerful jollity of the opening and the swing of the dance. The Overture Im Fr�hling (In the Spring),
written in 1888and published the following year, opens with an evocative violin melody, to which livelier
material provides a contrast in a generally gentle celebration of the season in which the lark ascends to
the heights before a robust conclusion.



Music Composed by Karl Goldmark
Played by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland
Conducted by Stephen Gunzenhauser

"I had planned a commentary on the relative merits of the existing CDs of Goldmark's Rustic
Wedding, at least those with which I was acquainted, but that has been rendered an exercise
academic. The Naxos release is so superior to the Newport and AS&V that I'll stop comparisons
here. Maestro Gunenhauser's interpretation to this symphony is enchanting. If anyone can impart
more depth to this music I certainly cannot imagine how. The National Symphony of Ireland has
a nice "local" flavor not found in the RPO. The strings swoon and sigh in a more genuine way. The
oboe has a pungent, reedy sound. Gunzenhauser's work has you humming the tunes much like
you might from Dvoř�k's 9th!!

Finally, this is a stellar recording of the piece, too. I have written before musing where Naxos
finds the orchestras, recording halls, and what precious equipment they use. Some companies
go to pains to make sure every little extra is mentioned in the notes inserted in CD cases.
All I can say is that you would not regret having purchased this disc if you'd paid three times
the $5.00 going rate. The disc also contains Goldmark's "In the Spring" and "In Italy" Overtures."
Classical Net





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No.889
Modern: Tonal

A collection of mountain-themed orchestral works by American composers could never be without a work
by Alan Hovhaness; in fact, there are three of them! The Symphony No.15, op.199 "Silver Pilgrimage"
I previously upped in the premiere recording by the Louisville Orchestra - the two shorter works, Vision from
High Rock, op.195 and Mountain of Prophecy, op.195, are new. If you've downloaded the other
Hovhaness discs, you'll know what to expect. Also included are the tone poem Mount Takhoma by
Gregory Short and a piece called Secrets, by Michael Young - both names I hadn't
heard before (or since). This is all attractive conservative 20th century US music.



Music by Alan Hovhaness, Gregory Short & Michael Young
Played by the Northwest Symphony Orchestra of Seattle
Conducted by Anthony Spain

"Vision from High Rock refers to High Rock near Lynn in Massachusetts. It's a work that Hovhaness fanatics
may have heard in an off-air recording of the Stokowski-conducted premiere in Detroit on 17 February 1955.
It is one of the composer's finest works in his aureate-serene vein with hymnal strings, hieratic brass, woodwind
flurries or slow caprices and an argent jangle of priestly bells fading into misty eternity. It's a sensationally
affecting piece.

We know the Silver Pilgrimage from a First Edition Louisville recording. This one from Koch is richer and
more atmospheric. The work is in four movements: Mount Ravana, Marava Princess, River of Meditation
and Heroic Gates of Peace. It was commissioned by the Watumill Foundation and was written while Hovhaness
was travelling on a studying fellowship in Korea and Japan. Mount Ravana is a disturbing piece in which the
tam-tam, drums and chilly rain-pattering pizzicato slowly racks up the tension. Marava Princess uses a
curvaceous Sibelian melody which seems constantly to rotate like a mobius strip in motion. At 11:02 River
of Meditation returns to the awed threat borne high by Mount Ravana here voiced by drums, bells, tam-tam,
groaning deep strings and tentative wailing woodwind. Heroic Gates of Peace is a priestly march with rolling
brass chorales ringing in leisurely pacing around the firmament. The music sounds at times like a grand
extrapolation from the Two Veterans movement from Dona Nobis Pacem by Vaughan Williams.

Mountain of Prophecy mixes dissonance, icily awed Sibelian abstractions from the Fourth Symphony with
eerie high-cruising violins, shivering strings in Tapiola mode and the immanence of mysteries hidden
from western knowledge.

Michael Young's Secrets is the meditative middle movement of his Symphony No. 1 Mountain. It's a
work of the finest textures: very lucid, tonal, trembling with bells and the boundless sense of high places.
Young studied at the University of Washington with George McKay. He is a prolific composer and an avid
mountain climber. I would like to hear more by this composer including the whole of the First Symphony.

Gregory Short's Mount Takhoma is related in its placid smiling confidence and slow blossoming majesty to
Copland's Appalachian Spring. It is a most beautiful and succinct piece with just a touch of the Hovhaness
magic. It also possesses an uncomplicated sweetness of utterance which is amplified by the resonance
in benediction of the vibraphone. Towards the end there are intimations of terror completely in keeping
with the wildness of the mountain. The Takhoma in question is the 14,411 feet peak which can be seen
from Seattle. The city of Tacoma to the west of this, the highest of Washington state's six peaks, bears
the mountain's name."
Musicweb



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No.890
Modern: Neo-Classical

Inspired by the vast potential of the tonal foundation of music, at a time when many of his contemporaries
were embracing the twelve tone ideology, the eminent German composer Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling (1904-1985)
produced a rich, varied and highly personal body of work. The 1956 Sinfonia diatonica for small orchestra,
which here receives its world premi�re recording, is characterized by filigree craftsmanship and a lithe classicism
that are very refreshing in the context of the German post-war symphony. The 1963 Symphony in C, scored for
a much larger orchestra, including triple woodwind and brass, is notable for its inventive structure, increased
harmonic and tonal freedom, and a restless yet organic contrast of dynamism and lyricism.



Music Composed by Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling
Played by the Staatskapelle Weimar
Conducted by Jos� Serebrier

"Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling (1904-85) stubbornly maintained his allegiance to tonality throughout
the long dark night of the 20th century atonal avant-garde. It was a brave stance, especially in Germany,
but it would have counted for nothing were he not a fine composer. You might call him the German Roy
Harris. There is the same love of counterpoint, of widely spaced, �open� harmony, and the lapidary
treatment of orchestral sonority. There is also, like Harris, a touch of clunkiness to the rhythm, especially
in quick movements such as the Presto finale of the Symphony in C. Still, such is the confidence of the
writing that this comes across (as so often in Bruckner and Hindemith) as an aspect of personal style
rather than a weakness.

The Introduction and Fugue, arranged for string orchestra from an earlier string quartet, is an extremely
beautiful piece that deserves to enter the repertoire of chamber orchestras worldwide. The two symphonies
are, as you might expect, more ambitious, and quite different from each other, though both utilize a basic
three-movement form. The �diatonica� in particular is not merely diatonic in a soporific sense; there�s plenty
of contrast and dissonance, but in the same way that you find it in, say, Sibelius. These are very enjoyable,
distinctive works, and Jos� Serebrier, as so often, proves the most dependable possible guide to this offbeat
repertoire. Both the playing and the sonics are very fine. Definitely worth hearing."
Classics Today





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No.891
Late Romantic

This disc marks the sixth issue in Hyperion's trail-blazing belief in the robust romanticism and musical energies
of Granville Bantock. This is music of power and immediacy, inspiration and technical invention that have an
often epic dimension. Bantock came from an affluent background and began training as a chemical engineer, but
there was no stopping his musical talent. The Wilderness and the Solitary Place is part of one of no fewer
than ten segments of a massive Festival Symphony based on the life of Christ, a score completed in 1901
that runs to over 700 pages. The settings from The Song of Songs, constructed as a drama, were perhaps
too epic to have frequent performances, and we have world premiere recordings on this present release.



Music Composed by Sir Granville Bantock
Played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
With Elizabeth Connell (soprano) & Kim Begley (tenor)
Conducted by Vernon Handley

"Handley and his orchestra perform with absolute conviction, and it is difficult to a imagine a
more impassioned case being made for it. Hyperion offers superb notes by Lewis Foreman and
complete texts. The rich, warm recording is an added plus, with its natural perspective and
soundstage. For those who enjoy exploring the byways of Romanticism, this is highly
recommended."
Fanfare





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---------- Post added at 04:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:47 PM ----------




No.892
Modern: Stravinsky Style

Even though Irving Fine's (1914-1962) music is sometimes discounted for being derivative
of Stravinsky's brand of neo-Classicism, which was the lingua franca of American composers of
the late 1930s to the early '50s, he was among such figures as Aaron Copland, Virgil Thompson,
Leonard Bernstein, and Lukas Foss, who were also influenced by this style. Considering the
Toccata Concertante (1947), the Notturno for strings and harp (1951), the Serious
Song, A Lament for string orchestra (1955), Blue Towers (1959), and Diversions for
Orchestra (1960) as formative efforts, it seems clear that the common practice of neo-Classicism
freed up Fine to perfect his craft, giving him the practical tools and the transparent sound that
led to his final work, the mature and highly original Symphony (1962), which is widely
acknowledged to be his masterpiece.



Music Composed by Irving Fine
Played by he Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Conducted by Gil Rose

"In his too-brief career, the American composer Irving Fine (1914-1962), a star pupil of
Nadia Boulanger and a founding professor at Brandeis University, brought the spirit of
Stravinsky�s 1940s neoclassicism into several elegantly-crafted, witty, expressive, and vividly
orchestrated works. In the Toccata concertante one can hear echoes of Stravinsky�s Symphony
in Three Movements, but the assimilation into Fine�s vigorous and entirely personal style is
completely convincing. The Notturno and Serious Song are more lyrical, sometimes with bitonal
harmony, and remind one of the laid-back style of Walter Piston, with whom Fine also studied;
Blue Towers is a football march; Diversions are related to the composer�s Alice in Wonderland
settings which are very popular with choruses today; the Symphony is more chromatic and
includes the composer�s adoption of twelve-tone technique. Gil Rose�s Boston Modern Orchestra
Project, a pathbreaking Boston ensemble, brings expert and fearless excellence to all this music."
Classical Ear UK



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What super shares! Billion thanks for these rarities wimpel69.

Thanks, again, for such incredible shares :-D

I own 890 & 891 and they are SUPER. And I look forward to hearing 892, which is NEW to me !!!

Excellent post - thanks for sharing!

No.893
Modern: Tonal

Edward Gardner conducts the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in the opening volume in their
series devoted to orchestral works by Leo� Jan�cek. It features three pieces that originate in Jan�cek�s
late period, when his passionate feelings for Kamila St�sslov�, thirty-seven years his junior, inspired
an extraordinary flowering of his creative genius.

The Sinfonietta is one of Jan�cek�s most successful and popular works, famed for its opening movement,
a brazen fanfare scored for a phalanx of brass with timpani. The remaining four movements, full of
character, celebrate Jan�cek�s adopted town of Brno, blending occasional reflection with high-voltage
exuberance.

Scored unusually for left-hand piano and an ensemble of brass and flute, the Capriccio is remarkable
even among Jan�cek�s distinctive late works. Its overall effect is mercurial and capricious, in the
composer�s words: �whimsical, all wilfulness and witticisms�. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet employs his formidable
technique and interpretative flair in the solo part. The Cunning Little Vixen, Jan�cek�s opera from 1923,
was not universally well received at first.



Music Composed by Leo� Jan�cek
Played by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
With Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)
Conducted by Edward Gardner

"After Edward Gardner�s surveys of Lutoslawski and Bart�k for Chandos, he now starts on a series
of Janacek recordings in Bergen, where he takes over as music director next year. While both the
Sinfonietta and the suite, extracted from the score of The Cunning Little Vixen by Charles Mackerras
(the greatest of Janacek interpreters), receive fine performances � and in the case of the Sinfonietta�s
later movements, particularly feisty, urgent ones � it�s the account of the wonderfully quirky Capriccio
between them with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as soloist that hogs the limelight. Written in 1926 for the
Czech pianist Otakar Hollmann, who had lost the use of his right hand in the first world war, it�s one
of Janacek�s latest and strangest creations, juxtaposing the piano with an ensemble of flute, two
trumpets, three trombones and tuba in music that sometimes seems to echo Dvorak and Brahms,
and sometimes veers towards Stravinsky. Bavouzet captures that sense of dislocation very well,
if not quite finding the poetry within it that Rudolf Firkusny does on his classic Deutsche
Grammophon recording."
The Guardian (****)





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Note: This thread will come to an end with No.900, since it has become virtually impossible to check which albums I've uploaded already. Google is no longer a reliable indicator, neither is bing, and the search engine of this forum is completely and utterly useless.

If any of you can come up with another option to find older posts, I'll be listening!

Many thanks for the latest additions!
As usual, many interesting, unusual and thought-provoking works and composers.
May I recommend Leonard Bernstein's version of Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony? It's romantic in excelsis and worth listening to.

Thank you, wimpel69, for making SO much great music available (to me and most) for the first time!!!

These are treasures and gifts of human experience ... worthy of everyone's attention.

This Janacek recording is exorbitant, i'll need this SACD.

Endless thanks for your fantastic music sharing wimpel69, sad to read your statement, but i understand, the appreciation is low, it is hard to offer so much music without a big resonance.
Classical music freaks are rare in these times...take care.

Amazing shares my friend, thank you so much!

Your terrific posts have allowed me to sample music hitherto unknown to me. It's too bad it's coming to an end; but, all good things eventually do come to an end. My friend, thanks tons for all your fine work.

Dear Wimpel
Thanks a lot for your excellent works:Could i suggest a new topic "Symphony in XXI Century"?
Best

Thanks a lot for the music of Peter Boyer!

Thanks for your nice words.


No.894
Modern: Tonal/Avantgarde

The music of renowned Chinese composer Xia Guan has been received with acclaim in Moscow,
Vienna, Tokyo and New York. The solemn first movement of Earth Requiem, a commemoration
of the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake, is heard here in an orchestral version that depicts
‘the suffering people who gaze upwards’. The epic Symphony No. 2 ‘Hope’ is a reflection
upon the co-existence of good and evil in mankind, agony and hope, in music of considerable breadth
and increasing warmth. Heroic drama animates the vividly scored Symphonic Ballade, which draws
on the music of Guan’s opera Sorrowful Dawn, the story of China’s War of Liberation following
the end of World War Two.



Music Composed by Guan Xia
Played by the N�rnberger Symphoniker
Conducted by En Shao

"One of a growing number of Chinese composers who have been entirely educated in his native land,
but writing symphonic works based on Western music traditions. Xia Guan was born in 1957 and graduated
in 1985, he was quickly established both in the world concert music and TV soundtracks. He was to write
his first symphony while still a student, the Second appearing in 1999 with the subtitle ‘Hope’. In three
movements on that theme, the twenty minute ‘Expectation and Quest’ forms a highly engaging opening
introduced by a Mahlerian solo trumpet passage. As the work unfolds there is certainly an element of
Hollywood film scores in its romantic gestures. That is particularly true of the following ‘Warmth’, the
central Adagio, which acts as a foil to ‘The Light’ finale where you will find influences of Khachaturian.
All in a pure tonal mode, Guan is an orchestrator who uses a highly coloured palette employing the
resources of a large ensemble. The Earth Requiem, the first Chinese-language Requiem, was his response
to the devastating earthquake that hit the Sichuan region of the country. He later arranged the first
movement just for orchestra, which is here recorded for the first time. It is a beautifully elegiac piece
of great sadness, not untypical of 20th century British music in that mode. The only piece from the
21st century is the final Symphonic Ballad, Sorrowful Dawn, though that is a reworking of music
from his earlier opera of that name, its message being one of heroic deeds, the story being of the
emancipation of China after the Second World War. Chinese-born conductor, En Shao, obtains high
impact and equally highly committed playing from the German orchestra in very good sound quality."
David’s Review Corner





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No.895
Modern: Americana

In an essay in the program booklet called Revelry's Ringmaster Ray Bono writes: "The gift of creating
music that is immediately likable, that brings a smile to the listener's face on first gearing, is a gift not
bestowed on all composers, not even all the great ones. But in 19th - century Europe such congeniality
did shimmer in the works of composers like Offenbach, von Suppe and the Strausses. In 20th -century
America, their counterparts included individuals who frequently alternated between the concert hall and
the pop-culture domains of Broadway, Hollywood, radio and television - individuals ranging in renown
from Gershwin and Bernstein to John Williams, Leroy Anderson, Ferde Grofe and Don Gillis.

Donald Eugene Gillis was born in Cameron, Missouri and studied trumpet and trombone in school and
by his early teen years was composing dance-band music. His family moved to Texas, where he earned
his degrees at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and North Texas University in Denton. Before moving
to Manhattan in 1944 to serve as producer, scriptwriter and commentator for NBC radio programs (including
those of the famed NBC Symphony Orchestra under Toscanini), the multitalented young man had already
worked as a jazz musician, a band and symphony orchestra organizer, an arranger, a conductor and -
for station WBAP in Fort Worth and then NBC in Chicago - a radio production director. Amid all this
and while raising a family, he pursued an energetic composing career. His early works already point
to Gillis's most memorable characteristic of all: an untrammeled love of the lighthearted, laced with
a dislike for pomposity. As he himself put it, speaking of his household's musical preferences: 'We hate
stuffed-shirtism in musicians, and phony artistry, and anything but the fact that music is a normal function
of people's living. Gillis thrived during his New York decade with NBC. Following the 1954 retirement of
his much-admired Toscanini (who called him 'Jeelee'), he went to Michigan where from 1958 to 1961,
he was vice-president of the Interlochen Music Camp. He then assumed a succession of academic
chairmanships at Southern Methodist University in 1967, the Dallas Baptist College in 1968, and in
1973, the University of South Carolina in Columbia. The composer appears to have been as unaffected
and good-humored as the music he wrote. 'I am convinced,' Don Gillis once said about music 'that it
is the heart which must speak - and not the brain alone.'"

This says everything there is to say about the music on this disc, which will make a perfect gift
for the music lover on your list for whom you have no idea what to get for Christmas. This is
music which is well crafted and enjoyable. The gifted English pianist and conductor plays this
music as if he has lived with it all his life. This is the first time the Symphony No.4 has ever
been performed, let alone recorded. There will be more of Gillis's music appearing in 2005.



Music Composed by Don Gillis
Played by the Sinfonia Varsovia
With Ian Hobson (piano)
Conducted by Ian Hobson

"I love this guy! These two world premieres demonstrate that Don Gillis was as adept at writing
larger, more serious works (relatively speaking) as he was in the lighter and shorter symphonies
and orchestral pieces for which he�s best known. The Fourth Symphony lasts nearly half an hour,
the Second Piano Concerto closer to 40 minutes, and both are receiving world-premiere recordings
direct from the composer�s manuscripts. It says something for the wrong turn that music took after
World War II that this delightful, immaculately crafted, life-enhancing music has been completely
ignored in favor of so much ugly, academic, and otherwise trendily avant-garde crap foisted on
long-suffering audiences by the legions of the tenured but talentless. What a crime that our arts
organizations and institutions of (theoretically) higher learning support such nonsense.

The Fourth Symphony, subtitled �The Pioneers�, has three colorfully scored and tuneful movements
that reveal Gillis� talent at constructing larger structures from catchy themes and pointed rhythmic
gestures that never turn simplistic or risk monotony. For example, after a slow introduction, its
first movement alternates bright fanfares for brass and percussion with swift, �action music� for
strings and winds. Its 11 minutes breeze by in a flash, while the ensuing slow movement and
finale effortlessly sustain the listener�s interest. The piano concerto (composed in 1966) is even
more interestingly structured, a bit like Saint-Sa�ns� Second, in that it speeds up as it goes.
It begins with a solemn prelude, moves on to a beautifully fluid and evocative waltz, and
concludes in the highest of high spirits with a really grand finale that has more tunes than
a Schoenbergian row has tones. What fun this would be to hear in concert!

It says something for Gillis� ability that Albany need have no fear of recording music never
previously committed to disc (or in the case of Fourth Symphony, played at all). This is what it
means to be a craftsman, with a truly individual voice. As in its previous Gillis release, Ian Hobson
and the Sinfonia Varsovia deliver exceptionally lively, vivid performances, not quite as rhythmically
razor-sharp as Gillis� own performances, but with a touch of old world warmth to the string tone
that�s not a bit out of place. As both soloist and conductor in the Piano Concerto, Hobson does
himself proud, particularly in the lengthy and tiring finale, where his energy never flags. Albany�s
sonics are extremely natural and realistic, with resonant bass, plenty of the necessary brilliance
on top, and an amplitude that never precludes rhythmic clarity. Tired of the usual tiresomely
anonymous �modernity�? Then you owe it to yourself to hear this."
Classics Today http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q574/taliskerstorm/p10s10_zpstwjggygu.gif



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Thank you for sharing this!

No.896
Modern: Tonal

Jack Gallagher (*1947) continues his association with the London Symphony Orchestra
conducted by JoAnn Falletta with Symphony No. 2 ‘Ascendant,’ a robust, colorful work
of dramatic contrasts and expansive architecture that seeks to express the aspirations and strivings
of the human spirit. Quiet Reflections is a calm, serenely lyrical meditation which evokes a sense
of longing for past tranquility. Gallagher’s previous Naxos release Orchestral Music (8.559652)
with the LSO conducted by JoAnn Falletta was awarded five stars by BBC Music Magazine and hailed
as “fresh and exuberant” and for “its explosions of sound and colour” by Gramophone.



Music Composed by Jack Gallagher
Played by the London Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by JoAnn Falletta

"It’s hard not to be won over by the prodigious energy, long-term thinking and melodic fecundity
of Gallagher’s exuberant inspiration, to say nothing of the breathtaking skill and swaggering confidence
with which he handles his forces. JoAnn Falletta directs with contagious dedication and encourages
the LSO to give of its considerable best; indeed, these players would appear to be having a ball,
with standout contributions from the flute and horn principals in particular. Phil Rowlands, too,
can be proud of the splendiferously sumptuous, detailed and wide-ranging sound he has achieved
within the helpful acoustic of Blackheath Concert Halls. In other words, if you like the sound of all
of this, don’t hesitate for a moment."
Gramophone





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Thanks for another interesting share. Mega is asking for a deccryption key?

Thanks for another interesting share. Mega is asking for a deccryption key?

Fixed. :)

Excellent, thanks. I will miss this thread when you stop. So many interesting suggestions.

Amazing Shares . . . PM(s) sent and Thanks for your great Knowledge of Music!!!

Thanks. I've read the reviews and this promises to be a real discovery!

Thank you for sharing this!

Note: This thread will come to an end with No.900, since it has become virtually impossible to check which albums I've uploaded already. Google is no longer a reliable indicator, neither is bing, and the search engine of this forum is completely and utterly useless.

If any of you can come up with another option to find older posts, I'll be listening!

I could do a list with every post number and main title. Then if wimpel accept, I could create a new post to find the list or just post here the list for wimpel to check.
May be, this voluntary job could do wimpel give us some old forgoten post revival with the flac music to share.

Sorry for not private this idea. Thanks wimpel

I'd like to take up on that offer, hg007bb. That would be a big help! :)


No.897
Modern: Neo-Classicism

The revelatory Naxos Alfredo Casella series continues with two powerful works that grew from
the tragedy of two World Wars. Searingly dissonant and �profoundly human�, the Elegia eroica (�Heroic
Elegy�) is Casella�s memorial to Italian soldiers killed in World War I. His Third Symphony, a commission
for the fiftieth birthday of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, assimilates the influences and experiences of a
lifetime into an exhilaratingly melodic, emotionally wide-ranging and truly organic whole. This third disc in
the series completes the world premi�re recording of all three Casella symphonies. Francesco La Vecchia
and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma �have Casella in their bloodstream� (MusicWeb International).



Music Composed by Alfredo Casella
Played by the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma
Conducted by Francesco La Vecchia

"As presented here, Alfredo Casella�s musical language is imposing, his structures formidable and,
in the case of the enormously exciting march-threnody Elegia eroica, �to the memory of a soldier killed
in the [First] war�, both powerful and, towards its close, deeply contemplative. But the principal work
is the broad-shouldered, 46-minute Third Symphony that Casella started composing in 1939, a commission
from Frederick Stock for the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and truly representative
of the conflicts and contradictions that were at the cold heart of Mussolini�s Italy�and of Casella�s attitude
to it, as David Gallagher�s perceptive note makes abundantly clear. Here was a man who, although married
to a Jewish woman, aligned his thinking with Il Duce and his minions; and, while he did eventually see the
error of his thoughts, they took their time changing.

The added irony is that years earlier Casella had been commissioned by Mahler (Jewish, of course) to
arrange his Seventh Symphony for piano duet, and you can indeed hear echoes of Mahler�s Seventh
Symphony at around 7�28� into Casella�s sizeable finale. The Scherzo is at times a dead ringer for the
Scherzo of Mahler�s Sixth or of Shostakovich�s Fifth but even more surprising are the striking premonitions
of Prokofiev�s Sixth Symphony at around 6�24� into the often beautiful second movement (similarly
Casella�s use of the piano). Honegger is another stylistic point of reference, so what we have here is
a sort of musical temperature gauge, a gauge that simultaneously clocks the overall mood of the period."
Grampohone





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I'd like to take up on that offer, hg007bb. That would be a big help! :)


The list that I'm doing it's paused in the post #381, page=30. The main searching way will be with composer's last name without accents, some main titles in generics CDs (too much composers or so) and some conductors to know what recording version is. The format, I hope it could fit, will be page link, post link, post #number and then Composer: Works / Conductor -or- Title of the Disc

With this task I found many CDs that could be unavailable for many years. I hope those CDs with Symphonies could been shared in the years to come again. Thanks wimpel

And thank you hg007bb to kindly offer to help wimpel continue sharing music ! It's great news that this thread will live on !

If some members can volunteer may be we can split lots of 50 or 100 posts - 9 to 18 members and make excel [or any other format] lists !?! @hg007bb can you share the format you are following so we can pitch in?

And thank you hg007bb to kindly offer to help wimpel continue sharing music ! It's great news that this thread will live on !

thanks. I found many CDs in this legendary theme post that I bought from 2002 to 2011 (money and available CDs times) but there are much more Symphonies that only could bought by international shipping. wimpel's Classical Corner is one of those mega blogs with hundred of fantastic music that bring hope to our lives... if I could share like wimpel and many other bloggers (but not to many) but I can't, no one of the CDs I bought are not shared somewhere in the web.

Now the list is by page no.51, CD post #610. One more day, then I will check accents and try to create a post referred to this one.

Note: This thread will come to an end with No.900, since it has become virtually impossible to check which albums I've uploaded already. Google is no longer a reliable indicator, neither is bing, and the search engine of this forum is completely and utterly useless.

If any of you can come up with another option to find older posts, I'll be listening!

For all the great music you've introduced to me and others, there are no real words other than THANKS. The breadth of your collection is mind-boggling and I'm so thrilled that you shared that with us.

Thread 205188

At last, the complete list to look each CD posted since 2012 by wimpel. Many thanks and congratulations.

Thanks a lot hg007bb for that list! :)


No.898
Modern: Tonal

Anthony Burgess, celebrated author of A Clockwork Orange, memorably filmed by Stanley
Kubrick, once said, “I wish people would think of me as a musician who writes novels, instead
of a novelist who writes music on the side.” Initially thwarted in his desire for a
professional musical career, Burgess returned to composition in the mid-1970s, writing
prolifically in many genres. His music is mostly tonal but sometimes dissonant, a hybrid
of Holst and Hindemith. Mr W.S. is an imaginative evocation of the Elizabethan era
while Mr Burgess’s Almanack is a variegated work of ingenuity and charm with a nod
towards modernism. This is the first recording of Burgess’s orchestral music.



Music Composed by Anthony Burgess
Played by the Brown University Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Paul Phillips

"‘I wish people would think of me as a musician who writes novels, instead of a novelist who writes music
on the side,’ wrote the famous author, Anthony Burgess. Born in the industrial heart of northern England in
1917, he studied at Manchester University before embarking on a career as a school teacher, changing his
name from John Burgess Wilson when his early novels were published. Though his reputation as a writer was
steadily growing, it was the film version of A Clockwork Orange that brought him international acclaim, and
the financial stability that allowed him to dedicate much of his last eighteen years in creating a portfolio of
‘serious’ music, his first wife having persuaded him that no good would come of dabbling in his love of composing.
In that Indian Summer he wrote in all genres, the ballet, Mr W. S., starting life as music for a film based on his
book, Nothing Like the Sun, a novel on the life of William Shakespeare. Lasting thirty-five minutes, and in nine
dances, it draws on a pastiche of music from the time of Shakespeare, as seen through the eyes of the Hollywood
film industry. Ten years later, in 1989, he marked the bicentenary of the French Revolution with a Marche pour
une revolution that could well have come from Eric Coates. Finally, to stake his credentials as a classical
composer, Mr Burgess’s Almanack, takes its title from the fact that the number of notes in a chromatic scale
is the same as the number of months in the year. Scored for a chamber orchestra without strings, it toys
with influences passed down from the Second Viennese School, its twelve short sections framed by an opening
Exordium and final Postlude. The horns have intonation quirks in Mr W. S., but other than that, the orchestra
of the Brown University, directed by Paul Phillips, play with much enthusiasm in good sound quality."
David’s Review Corner





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---------- Post added at 05:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:44 PM ----------




No.899
Modern: Tonal

The Utah Symphony, celebrating its 75th anniversary in the 2015-16 season, is one of America's major
symphony orchestras and a leading cultural organization in the Intermountain West. It is recognized internationally
for its distinctive performances, commitment to music education programs, and recording legacy. Reference
Recordings joins Utah Symphony in thanks to their 75th Anniversary Signature Sponsor, the George S.
and Dolores Doria Eccles Foundation, for making this recording possible.

Founded in 1940, the Utah Symphony became recognized as a leading American ensemble largely through the
efforts of Maurice Abravanel, Music Director from 1947 to 1979. During his tenure, the orchestra undertook
four international tours, released numerous recordings and developed an extensive music education program.
DAWN TO DUST furthers the tradition of outstanding contemporary American music from the Utah Symphony,
and is the second in an ongoing Utah Symphony series from Reference Recordings.

Live recordings of three significant and adventurous works by leading composers Augusta Read Thomas,
Nico Muhly, and Andrew Norman. World-renowned percussionist Colin Currie performs on
Andrew Norman's Switch.



Music by Augusta Read Thomas, Nico Muhly & Andrew Norman
Played by the Utah Symphony Orchestra
With Colin Currie (percussion)
Conducted by Thierry Fischer

"This is essential listening for fans of new American orchestral music. The triptych gives a fascinating
cross-section of current trends, and RR's "Fresh!" moniker is an incredibly accurate description of the
results. The notes on the pieces are by the composers themselves, and it is interesting to see how the
prose and musical writing mirror each other...Recorded sound is demonstration quality. Highly
recommended!"
Concertonet



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No.900
Modern: Neo-Romantic

Florida-born Lewis Spratlan (*1940) has been among the few composers trained in
the 1960s academy to have survived the transition to more accessible music. He won the
Pulitzer Prize for composition in 2000 and hasn't slowed down at all; the first two
works on the album date from his seventh decade, after the prize, and the title piece,
composed in 1987, has continued to receive performances. His music combines a high level
of technical accomplishment, especially in the realm of orchestration, with readily
graspable structures, and, although essentially atonal in orientation, it does not
foreclose lyrical, tonal melody as an expressive device.



Music Composed by Lewis Spratlan
Played by the Boson Modern Orchestra Project
With Eliot Gattegno (saxophone)
Conducted by Gi Rose

"Lewis Spratlan (b. 1940) was a surprise winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2000. A professor of composition
at Amherst College, I suspect many in the field didn�t know of him, and even fewer his music. And
afterwards (and for quite a while) his winning piece, the opera Life is a Dream (which had received
only a concert performance) languished�it was finally premiered in Santa Fe in 2010. All this is not
to elicit pity or skepticism, but just to point on that the composer has been in it from the outset for
the long haul, and has a Job-like persistence and patience. I did not know his music until now, and
I am so happy I now do, because this is something of substance to celebrate.

The program quickly announces Spratlan�s range in its opening work, A Summer�s Day , which is also
its most recent (2008). A simple and affecting pseudo-Celtic flute tune is suddenly interrupted by a
fearsome clangor; indeed I thought at first a fire truck had arrived outside my house, and I jumped
up with a start. Since the work is a tone poem about a �day in the life� and the initial image is of
slumber interrupted by nightmares, this is entirely appropriate. And it highlights an essential aspect
of Spratlan�s practice, i.e., that it is stylistically and expressively eclectic. But its contrasts don�t
seem forced to me. Rather, they always seem necessary and organic to the emotional meaning the
composer wants to convey. There�s great tenderness and humor in this piece. For the latter,
a pick-up basketball game and work at the computer keyboard find obvious yet ingenious sonic realization.

The 2006 Saxophone Concerto is clever in that its solo part is written for soprano and tenor saxophone,
and not alto: Soprano in the first movement, tenor the second, both are used in the third. The first is
full of fast and angular gestures, much in a �traditional Modernist� idiom, and as such I reserved
judgment. But the second movement is a full-throated, smoky jazz ballad that won me over entirely.
I know it�s a clich� for a �classical� composer to make this move, but it feels absolutely right here.
Indeed, it defines the character of the piece in my memory, and that memory is a strong one.

Finally, the 1987 Apollo and Daphne Variations , after a lengthy introduction, presents a theme that�s
a heartbreaking little waltz. The variations are consistently inventive, brilliantly orchestrated, and
push all sorts of envelopes without departing from a deeply traditional aesthetic. I can�t help feel a
kinship with Richard Strauss throughout. It�s music that is part of a grand lineage and yet could
only be written at this time.

From what I�ve described you might peg Spratlan�s music as �Postmodern,� and, yes, you would
not be far off the mark, at least in the way it is eclectic, unafraid of past models, and largely tonal.
But at the same time, it�s not drenched in irony, nor does it get its frisson from superficial pastiche.
If there is a composer with whom I feel Spratlan resonates, it�s George Rochberg, himself yet one
generation earlier. But Spratlan never writes music that�s a direct �rewriting� of another historical
composer or style; it�s more integrated and less collage than Rochberg�s most famous efforts.

In short, this is music that�s extremely personal and sincere. It�s authentic in its expressive intent.
There are places where I kept expecting it to fall on its face, and it didn�t. There�s a basic strength
and wisdom of vision here.

Performances by Rose and his band are, as usual, excellent. I actually met the composer around
1980 when I was a �wet-behind-the-ears� composer interviewing for a job at Amherst (which I didn�t
get). He wouldn�t remember me, but I do him, and his gentle good nature left a positive imprint.
Based on the evidence of this disc, I wish I�d been able to sustain contact, because I suspect I�d
have learned a few things."
Robert Karl, Fanfare



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No.901
Late Romantic

George Butterworth’s Fantasia dates from the year of his death, 1916. Before being
sent to fight in France he destroyed several manuscripts, but left intact some 93 bars of full
score of the Fantasia from which conductor Martin Yates has realised and completed
this lyrical and deeply moving performing edition. Aleksei Kiseliov is eloquent in his
championship of Cyril Scott’s The Melodist and the Nightingales, an atmospheric
cello reverie, while Arnold Bax’s earliest orchestral work, Variations for Orchestra
(Improvisations), unheard for over a hundred years, is a gorgeously melodic score showing the
young composer to be remarkably skillful in his handling of the orchestra.



Music by George Butterworth, Cyril Scott & Arnold Bax
Played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
With Aleksei Kiseliov (cello)
Conducted by Martin Yates

"‘Eccentric very!’ commented Edward German upon reading the manuscript score of Arnold Bax’s Variations
for orchestra. Completed in June 1904 when Bax was still a student at the RAM, it was submitted by his teacher
Frederick Corder for the RCM’s Patron Fund rehearsal in May 1905. Lewis Foreman’s booklet-note quotes Bax’s
hilarious description of this event (taken from his autobiography, Farewell, My Youth), to which he turned up in
the nick of time, only to discover – to his utter dread – that he was expected to conduct the piece himself! ‘Ye look
warm, young man,’ observed Stanford at the end of some ‘45 minutes of mental and physical misery’, after which
the 20-year-old vowed never to pick up a baton again. It’s an engaging offering, full of youthful confidence and
displaying no little inventive flair, culminating in an extended finale which incorporates a stirring melody with a
subtly Irish flavour.

Among the papers left by George Butterworth was a manuscript containing 93 fully scored bars of an unnamed
orchestral work. We can now experience that material for ourselves thanks to the efforts of conductor Martin
Yates, who has fashioned a highly effective 16-minute Fantasia for orchestra that attempts to place Butterworth’s
final thoughts in a meaningful context. The very end, in which two trumpets play the last notes that appear in
the composer’s hand before fading to nothing, is a particularly touching inspiration.

There’s also plenty to warm the cockles in Cyril Scott’s Poem for cello and orchestra The Melodist and the
Nightingales. Dedicated to Beatrice Harrison (who gave the June 1929 premiere at London’s Queen’s Hall with
Beecham conducting), it’s a gorgeously sultry, delectably fragrant evocation. Suffice to say, RSNO principal
cellist Aleksei Kiseliov makes a lovely job of the solo part, and here as elsewhere Yates secures impressively
secure results, all captured with conspicuous realism by the Dutton microphones."
Gramophone





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Wonderful music, thank so much for sharing!

Thank you!

Thank you for another GREAT share . . . PM sent :-D

Fantastic share, Dutton Epoch live for ever. Biggest thanks.

What a treasure trove of fine music! These past few shares have been terrific! I cannot thank you enough for all of your great posts...

Oh, I liked Martin Yates. And when I heard for the first time his more than remarkable Bax Symphony... he became a musical soulmate. And the truth is, so are you.

Please can someone re-upload 284 John Foulds?

Many thanks.

Please can someone re-upload 284 John Foulds?

Many thanks.

I have re-upped the album. In the future, if you find a broken link, please PM me so I can replace it.

Thanks for the Bax/Butterworth/Scott link in my inbox!

No.902
Modern: Atonal

These symphonies by Israeli composer Josef Tal (1910-2008) were composed in 1985 and in 1991 (5 & 6).
In contrast to the Hindemith-ian nature of Tal's First Symphony (see No.484 (Thread 121898)) (he was, after all,
a student of Hindemith's), these three late symphonies are all atonal in style. However, the Jewish
subjects that characterized his earlier works seem to permeate these, too: Take the opening wall of sound
which greets you at the start of the Fourth Symphony; surely a cry to Heaven via the human emotion of fear.
This 'cry' takes up a large portion of the symphony and its complex polyphony takes some concentration. Only slowly
does this nightmare fade. The Fifth Symphony is likewise tense, beginning just with a timpani roll and tremolandi
almost as if it does not want to be noticed. Once in motion it cranks up into a frantic peal of sound. About two-thirds of
the way through, just as you thought that there would be no end to this tumult, an immensely quiet section appears.
This is called up by that most pastoral of instruments, the oboe, before being buried in another thunderstorm of sound.
The Sixth Symphony could almost be described as a 'Concerto for Orchestra'; not only is each orchestral family
featured but there is also a role for individual instruments within that family. This even extends to the chromatic timpani
and marimba. The work begins with mooning horns soon joined by the trumpets. After a few minutes the woodwind add
a polyphonic colour and after a while a solo cello descants around them. Soon the full string section enters with a
passionate threnody. You are well on in the work before a wide variety of percussion enters. They have their own vast
cadenza leading to the re-entry of the horns and the whole process is gone through again with modifications one of
which is a curtailing and tightening of the material. The work ends as it began with the horns. This is a piece unique
in form yet truly symphonic.



Music Composed by Josef Tal
Played by the Radio-Philharmonie Hannover des NDR
Conducted by Israel Yinon

"Any listener will find these works challenging. Many will find them all too easy to dismiss as
'uncommunicative' or 'of their time'. I have to say that they are worthy of the effort. There is
music between and beyond the notes, as it were, yet I feel that despite the many thousands
of them none are wasted.

The photograph of the composer in the booklet sees a crouched and bowed old man listening
deeply to Israel Yinon and the producer Burkhard Schmilgun in discussion. It is their inspiration
and determination that have allowed us a chance to at least attempt to grasp something of
these symphonies. Tal may be bowed but he has not been beaten by the circumstances of the
world he has lived through. The music speaks of tragedy and passion. It is challenging and
difficult but not as difficult as the life the composer himself may have experienced."
Musicweb





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No.903
Late Romantic

Walter Braunfels was applauded as a pioneering representative of New Music. Leading conductors such
as Hans Pfitzner, Ernst von Schuch, Bruno Walter, Arthur Nikisch and Wilhelm Furtw�ngler performed his
orchestral works in major cities. But following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, as a 'half-Jew', even
Braunfels lost all of his positions and was banned from either performing or having his works performed;
his name was systematically deleted from musical literature and reference works. Written in a classicromantic
style, Braunfels' 7-movement phantasmagoria “Don Juan” incorporates variations on themes and motifs
from Mozart's opera “Don Giovanni”, which was premi�red in 1787. He thus deliberately placed himself in the
German classical-romantic traditions, which he sought to transfer to his 20th-century resources in
compositional style. The work was premi�red in 1924, conducted by Wilhelm Furtw�ngler.



Music Composed by Walter Braunfels
Played by the Philharmonisches Orchester Altenburg-Gera
Conducted by Markus L. Frank

"It’s never easy to judge the calibre of a performance when the music is previously unknown. However,
I’ve listened to this disc several times and the playing of the Philharmonisches Orchester Altenberg-Gera
seems assured, skilful and committed. I find the performances under Markus L Frank convincing.

The fact that the performances were recorded in one day and in association with Deutschlandradio Kultur
may suggest that they were recorded as live though there’s no evidence of the presence of an audience.
The sound is good; it has plenty of body and you can hear lots of detail. There are useful notes by
Felix Eckerle.

These are interesting pieces which are very well worth hearing, especially Don Juan. I doubt we shall
get another recording in the foreseeable future so it’s good to report that Braunfels has been well served
here. Admirers of his music will certainly want this CD but it would also make quite a good starting
point for anyone who wants to investigate him for the first time."
Musicweb





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No.904
Modern: Americana/Avantgarde

In this second volume, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor
Sir Andrew Davis play some of the most characteristic pieces of Charles Ives,
an insurance salesman by trade and one of the most precociously original of all American composers.

Three Places in New England � composed between 1912 and 1916 and revised several times,
as most of Ives�s pieces were � was one of Ives�s first major works to receive long overdue
attention. It is performed here in its fully orchestrated version, as Ives conceived it at an
early stage. The first movement, characteristically, features a superimposition of various
thematic fragments of popular melodies accompanied by a simple march beat of timpani and
lower strings.

The album also features A Symphony: New England Holidays, its four constituent movements
(marking national holidays) forming a chronological sequence of the seasons. They can perfectly
well be performed in isolation however, which is why Ives chose not to include the work amongst
his numbered symphonies.

Central Park in the Dark and The Unanswered Question are shorter, companion pieces,
the essential light-heartedness of the former pointedly contrasting with the more serious
metaphysics of the latter.



Music Composed by Charles Edward Ives
Played by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis

"Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony began their Ives survey with the first two symphonies,
both composed around the turn of the 20th century. But this second disc goes right to the core of
Ives�s achievement. The four independent pieces that make up his Holidays Symphony, and the Three
Places in New England, contain some of his most radical experiments in orchestral layering, exceeded
only by the Fourth Symphony. The haunted soundscapes of Central Park in the Dark and The Unanswered
Question, intended as companion pieces but rarely performed as such, are almost as striking. In a sleeve
note, Davis discusses the problems involved in realising some of the effects that Ives sought to achieve
and the ways in which he, the orchestra and the Chandos engineers have tried to solve them. What they
have achieved seems remarkably successful; it�s rare to hear a recording in which so much of the detail
in these teeming scores has been captured. One might can quibble over some passages � there are a
moments that do seem too contained and civilised, when a bit more untidiness and wildness might have
been appropriate � but overall it is a wonderfully realised collection of some of the most remarkable
American music of the 20th century."
Andrew Clements, The Guardian





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Wonderful new Braunfels CD, what a surprise, biggest thanks for this.

No.905
British Light Music

Percy Whitlock (1903- 1946) was a graduate of the Royal College of Music. He later became
Assistant Organist at Rochester Cathedral where he had previously been a chorister. It is thanks
to this background that he produced such a skilfully crafted collection of compositions for the
church in both the organ and choral spheres. In 1932 he became the Borough Organist at Bournemouth
and established his reputation as a recitalist of distinction, despite his badly deformed right
hand thumb. Percy Whitlock's early death came about after a long fight against tuberculosis.



Music Composed by Percy Whitlock
Played by the RT� Concert Orchestra
Conducted by Gavin Sutherland

"Every so often a recording is released which reveals a totally different side to a composer's character.
For most music listeners the name of Percy Whitlock is firmly associated with the organ loft. However
the pieces presented here are from the other side of this versatile composer's output. They are a superb
addition to the great and largely underrated corpus of British Light Music.

...A big tune, interesting fanfares and 'minuet' section and of course fine orchestration. It lies somewhere
between P & C No. 4 and Crown Imperial, as yet unwritten by Walton. If this piece were written by
either of the two mentioned masters it would regularly feature in the Proms or on Classic FM. It needs
and deserves to be better known...

It is certainly a good overture, if a little diffuse in places. It is very much in the style of Elgar's In
the South. There are three moods presented in this piece - Festivity, Love and Religious feeling.
The score is fine with many attractive moments.

The Wessex Suite is an excellent example of music evoking holidays by the seaside. It has three
movements ...[Those] are delightful movements, the first being a waltz in the best of English
traditions complete with a 'modern' trio. The slow movement is to my ears the loveliest thing
on this CD. It opens with a short upward phrase for saxophone followed by the inevitable cadenza
for solo violin. There is a rocking motion accompaniment, and then the truly gorgeous tune is
given to the saxophones. There is some variation and a change in tempo before the main theme
returns, complete with slightly out of tune violins - a lovely touch that evokes many pier end
concerts before slot machines took over from Palm Court Music.

The movement ends with a quiet chord on the vibraphone. It is a perfect picture of lazy days
by the seaside. Lovers walking hand in hand without a care in the world...

The other pieces of music which derive from the music to the 'Day Dream Family' is the
delightful Mendelssonian 'Ballet of the Wood Creatures.' This is so short, at only three and
half minutes. What a pity Whitlock never composed a full-scale ballet score. Yet this is gem.
We cannot help imagining these woodland animals talking. The Balloon Ballet is an attractive
tune with a 'spinning wheel' quality to it; well orchestrated with just the right amount of
diversity for short movement.

This is great CD. One which all enthusiasts for light music will appreciate... Certainly the
Overture and the Dignity & Impudence March could take their places along side most
English music of the period. They are fine, competent pieces.

Light music should be tuneful, well wrought and approachable. Whitlock's works are all
these things and more.

The sound recording is excellent, as we expect for Marco Polo. The programme notes
could be more fulsome - but no doubt all Whitlock enthusiasts will own the fine biography
by Malcolm Riley and published by Thames (1998)..."
Musicweb





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No.906
Modern: Tonal

Composed during 2009, Symphony No.5 is dedicated to Christopher Gunning's
sister who passed away during its composition. The work is loosely based on one's
journey from birth to death. The Symphony is a much larger work than
Christopher's previous symphonies, scored for large orchestra in four movements.
The String Quartet played by The Juno String Quartet was composed in
1999 and revised in 2006.



Music Composed and Conducted by Christopher Gunning
Played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
And by The Juno String Quartet

"Christopher Gunning's music is known to millions through his Bafta-winning scores for,
among others, Middlemarch and Poirot, but perhaps less well known is his portfolio of concert
works which includes seven symphonies and several concertos. His fifth symphony, dedicated
to the memory of his sister, is an epic piece, conceived in four movements, encapsulating a
life from birth to death. Full of highly charged, agitated figurations, the work pulses with
infectious energy; the writing for brass particularly impressive. An extraordinary tribute to
the memory of a loved one. His string quartet No 1 is equally serious in intent. Using a
simple three-note motif, Gunning manages to convey some very human emotions: stress,
joy and poetic intimacy, all bracingly portrayed by the Juno Quartet."
Stephen Pritchard, The Guardian



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No.907
Late Romantic/Light Music

Rumon Gamba and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales present the second volume in their exploration of
rarely heard overtures from the British Isles. [Well, actually, some of them aren't that rare anymore!]

Introducing these neglected works, the conductor explains: ‘All the overtures on this disc belong to the period
between 1890 and 1945. In this present selection, however, we see perhaps even more clearly the evolution
of musical style, and in particular the use of harmony, in the armoury of the British composer.’

He adds: ‘Rather by accident it seems that we have a nautical theme running through the disc (‘Rule, Britannia!’
makes an appearance in two of the overtures!), perhaps the most familiar work being Walton’s Portsmouth Point.
I was surprised to find out that there are relatively few recordings of this little masterpiece. Likewise I was amazed
to learn that the BBC National Orchestra of Wales had not played the piece for many years. So it made a perfect
maritime choice alongside Britannia, The Boatswain’s Mate, Plymouth Hoe, and Tom Bowlin.’



Music by [various]
Played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Conducted by Rumon Gamba

"Rumon Gamba is a highly promising British conductor who began to gain gained fame quickly
at the age of twenty-five. He is particularly known for his interest in new music, twentieth-century
classics, and classic film music.

He studied music at Durham University in England and then went to the Royal Academy of Music
in London. His main conducting teacher was Colin Metters. He also had regular classes with
Sir Colin Davis and George Hurst, and further lessons with Martyn Brabbins, Mark Wigglesworth,
and others.

He was the first conducting student to be awarded the DipRAM (the Royal Academy of Music
performer's diploma). He also won the Henry Wood Scholarship and the Bob Harding Bursary.
This recognition led to his being appointed Assistant Conductor of the Havant Symphony
Orchestra and the British Youth Opera.

He appeared as conductor at the Newbury, Ashover, Lichfield, and Wraysbury Festivals. He
was chosen to be the British representative at the International Masterclass for Conductors
in 1997, and was appointed conductor of the Ipswich Orchestral Society.

His breakthrough year was 1998. He won the Lloyds Bank BBC Young Musicians '98 Conductors
Workshop in Manchester. This victory carried with him the appointment as Lloyds Bank
BBC Philharmonic Assistant Conductor. In that capacity, he has led touring concerts of
the orchestra in smaller cities in the UK, as well as the children's concerts (called Blue
Peter Family Concerts) at Royal Albert Hall in England.

He has also appeared as guest conductor with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the
Manchester Camerata, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. From 2002 to 2010,
Gamba was chief conductor and music director for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra."





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Thanks for the Whitlock ... I;m always impressed by the quality of what is often dismissed as bonbons

A super sampler, Overtures from the British Isles 2. Gamba on Chandos is always a winning team. Big thanks wimpel69.

The Bowen and Smyth Overtures are real jewels! Thanks for this!!

BTW: I myself am looking for this album:

WALTER PISTON: THE INCREDIBEL FLUTIST - LOUISVILLE FIRST EDITION

It's the only(!) complete version of this ballet.

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B003LX97DO?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&ref_=nosim&tag=asin0-21

Old CD: http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist_Gottschalk_000000000026903/item_Cakewalk-Ballet-Akira-Endo-Louisville-o-piston-The-Incredible-Flutist_1777179

Anyone?

Sorry, no chance from me.

Never mind. At least I found it in mp3 format. I had that CD in my hands twenty years ago at a local shop, and I let that one get away. :(


No.908
Modern: Tonal

Frank Martin (1890-1974) was a Swiss composer, who lived a large part of his life in the Netherlands. Respecting his parents'
wishes, he studied mathematics and physics for two years at Geneva University, but all the time he was also working at his
composition and studying the piano, composition and harmony with his first music teacher Joseph Lauber (1864�1953), a Geneva
composer and by that time a leading light of the city's musical scene. In the 1920s, Martin worked closely for a time with �mile
Jaques-Dalcroze from whom he learned much about rhythm and musical theory. Between 1918 and 1926 Martin lived successively
in Zurich, Rome and Paris. Compositions of the period show him searching for an authentic musical voice of his own.

The four movement Symphony for Large Orchestra (1937) is a work dating from two years before the outbreak
of the Second World War. It has something in common with the Second Symphony of Kurt Weill though being less gawky
and, at one level, a more tranquil work. The premiere was given in Martin's native Geneva under the baton of Ernest Ansermet
but rapidly dropped out of the picture so far as concert-hall attention was concerned. The work is inflected by a user-friendly
brand of serialism but the inflection is pretty gentle. The saxophone rises from time to time out of the aural fabric as also do
the two pianos. Voice spotting: along the way splashes of Stravinsky and Ravel but nothing to tempt you to slate the piece
as hollowly derivative. The Largo is cool, candid, subtle, of great emotive moment, reflective and providing a secure
centre of gravity for the work. The music grows noticeably brighter (more candle-power) as it proceeds. The rush and
scrimmage of the scherzo still finds room for the lyrical side illumined by vibraphone. The finale's opening shudder
and piano display recalls Martinu's Concerto for piano and double string orchestra.

The much more famous Symphonie Concertante is a product of 1945 and yet another Paul Sacher commission.
The present recording is of the version for large orchestra - a version prepared in 1946 from the Petite Symphonie.
This work with its almost surreptitious lyrical stance, its Bachian twists, and a string-band tread redolent of Roy Harris,
serious mien, its climax-building using qualities familiar from Khachaturian and Grace Williams. There is a snappy Ravelian
crackle and spit in the contrasting Allegretto.

The Passacaglia has the same serious set to the jaw. Its relationship to Bach is patent (4.48). Slatey and reticent
lyrically speaking it is a work of great concentration and unity. Something of Edmund Rubbra's reserve hangs over its
pages. Its little rippling motivic springs and slow string band flourishes (especially the latter) take us deep into the
pages of Rubbra Fourth Symphony and even into Franz Schmidt's Second and Fourth Symphonies.



Music Composed by Frank Martin
Played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Matthias Bamert

"Frank Martin's Symphonie concertante is a transcription of the Petite symphonie concertante for harp,
harpsichord, piano and double string orchestras. It was made in 1945�6, a year after the original, and
premiered at Lucerne under Ansermet the following summer. The scoring is for triple woodwind, brass,
timpani, percussion strings, harp and piano, though the latter two are used for colouristic and not the
soloistic and motivic roles they play in the original work. As one would expect from so imaginative a
master, the orchestration is characteristically resourceful and intelligent. Melodic ideas, previously associated
with the three soloists, are generally assigned to the wind and effective use is made of muted trumpets.
Successful though it is, one can understand why it has not supplanted its predecessor, whose sonorities
are so subtle and original.

The Symphonie is a great rarity, and I cannot recall hearing it before. Even Frank Martin�Un compositeur
medite sur son art (Neuchatel: 1977) gives its length incorrectly�17 as opposed to nearly 32 minutes
(We are still impatiently awaiting Harry Halbreich's promised volume on the composer.) It pre-dates the
First Part of Le vin herbe, being composed in 1936�7 and first given the following year in Lausanne�again
under Ansermet. The scoring is Martin at his most mercurial and inventive, and includes parts for two
pianos celeste, saxophone and a wide range of percussion. Although scored for large orchestra, the
instrumentation is of consistent lightness and delicacy, almost chamber-like in its subtlety. The slow
movement is suffused with the muted colours and moonlit landscapes of some shadowy Pelleas country.
This is the most haunting movement of the four, and I have fallen completely under its spell.
At first the overall structure of the symphony seems somewhat amorphous, but the logic of Martin's
thought processes emerges as one immerses oneself in the piece, though after three hearings I am still
unconvinced by its abrupt ending. Be this as it may, this luminous and beautiful b score deserves a warm
welcome and is well served by the LPO under Matthias Bamert, and the Chandos team. The recording is
truthfully balanced and has a natural concert-hall perspective.

Both these are first recordings and the Passacaglia, too, is a first modern recording. The composer's
own 1963 version with the Berlin Philharmonic is the only alternative. Richard Langham Smith
(inadvertently no doubt) gives the impression that the Passacaglia in its present form was composed
in 1944 whereas, of course, it was written for organ, transcribed for strings in 1952 for Munchinger,
and scored for full orchestra ten years later for the 1963 Berlin concert. An invaluable and
rewarding issue.'"
Gramophone





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No.909
Modern: Neo-Romantic

In her book "Unsung: A History of Women in American Music," Christine Ammer notes that Elinor Remick Warren
stands as "the only woman among the group of prominent American neo-Romanticists that include Howard Hanson,
Samuel Barber, and Gian Carlo Menotti." Warren never chose to set herself apart from the musical mainstream as a
"woman" composer and frequently repeated her belief that "there is no gender in music." However, in the early years
of her career she stood, along with Amy Beach, as one of the few significant American women composers in a field
almost entirely dominated by men.

Beginning in 1932, after years of composing songs and accompanying singers at the piano, Warren moved into the
larger orchestral forms with The Harp Weaver, a work for women's chorus, orchestra, and baritone soloist,
set to a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, which had won the Pulitzer Prize in 1922. The work's New York premiere in
1936 brought Warren critical praise, and dual interests in orchestral and vocal music dominated her output from
then on. Warren was one of the few Americans to compose extensively in the choral-orchestral medium.
Her catalogue contains more than 90 works for chorus, including a significant number with orchestra.



Music Composed by Elinor Remick Warren
Played by the Polish Radio Orchestra of Cracow
With Thomas Hampson (baritone) & Maria Venuti (mezzo-soprano)
And the Polish Radio Chorus of Carcow

"The Harp Weaver is Bantockian and some of the rhymes are wince-making ('lap' with 'nap')
but then this is a feature of Warren's addiction to sentimentality. If the section at 9.08 reminds
me of the Victorian parlour (it ends with a reference to a set of clothes 'just my size'!) this is not
to condemn a piece that is despite its unpromising style deeply affecting.

The Sleeping Beauty's Beethovenian introduction is rather drab but things improve. Straussian
intoxication (9.05), Bantockian jollity, bluff Graingeresque singing (10.09) and some really over
the top Mephistophelean laughter (12.04) finally give way to Delian swoonery straight out of the
high hills. This mood is very well sustained in ecstasy (14.07) even if rhymes like kiss and this
may seem discouraging. By the way the well illustrated booklet contains complete texts as well
as an excellent introduction to Warren's life and music.

Abram in Egypt is filmic at first seeming to have been influenced by Rozsa. This music is far
less sentimental than the other works on the disc. What we have is a sombre dream partaking
of Bax, Rozsa and some RVW. There is some strongly delineated work for the mixed chorus and
as ever Hampson's trencherman voice is a great pleasure. You must hear this work if you at all
enjoy Bliss's Morning Heroes, Peter Racine Fricker's Vision of Judgement or Schmidt's Book
of the Seven Seals."
Musicweb


With Marilyn Horne.



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No.910
Modern: Americana/Neo-Romantic

An assortment of shorter orchestral works, plus the song cycle Sacred Songs for Pantheists, by American
neo-Romantic composer Robert Ward (1917-2013). Ward won a Pulitzer Prize for his opera The Crucible,
based on the play by Arthur Miller. His style is mostly uncomplicated with free-flowing melody, and his least
pretentious works are usually the most appealing (like the Prairie Overture here) - they have won Ward a
surprisingly loyal following. Several all-Ward CDs appeared on Bay Cities in the late 80s and early 90s - a clear
indication that he was a personal favorite of the producers'.



Music Composed by Robert Ward
Played by the Polish Radio & The Louisville Orchestras
With Sylvia Stahlman (soprano)
Conducted by Bohdan Wodiczko, William Strickland & Robert Whitney

"Robert Ward, an American composer whose best-known work, an operatic setting of Arthur Miller’s
drama “The Crucible,” won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for music, died on Wednesday at his home in Durham,
N.C. He was 95. An opera in three acts with a libretto by Bernard Stambler, Mr. Ward’s “Crucible” was an
adaptation of Mr. Miller’s Tony Award-winning stage play of 1953, an allegory about the McCarthy witch
hunts set amid the historical witch hunts of colonial New England.

Musically, Mr. Ward was an unapologetic traditionalist, writing lyrical, melodic and accessible scores
that pushed against midcentury’s prevailing atonal tide. Many of his compositions — he wrote seven
other operas, as well as orchestral, choral and chamber works — bore a distinctly American stamp,
suffused with the influence of folk songs and jazz.

He became the president of the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem (now the University
of North Carolina School of the Arts) in 1967 and was later its chancellor. Mr. Ward also taught at Juilliard,
Duke University and elsewhere; in the 1950s he was the music director of the Third Street Music School
Settlement in New York. In 2011, Mr. Ward was a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts
Opera Honors award.

Though Mr. Ward composed seven symphonies, and concertos for various instruments, he remained best
known for his operatic works. “Opera is the most eclectic of the arts, but with the right kind of eclecticism
you can make immediate characterizations,” he told The New York Times in 1961. “You can do it in
instrumental music, too, but it’s a lot more trouble.”
from the New York Times obituary



Source: Bay Cities Records CD (my rip!)
Formats: FLAC(RAR), DDD Stereo, mp3(320)
File Sizes: 259 MB / 110 MB

Download Link - [Add to my reputation and send me a PM requesting the FLAC link!]
mp3 version - https://mega.nz/#!B0UH0bLI!ih8-M_WNWheqa9vwXSjTzeCrm49E8Hy2uXrlApMsr-g
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