August 2008 Archives

Franz Schreker
(1878-1934)

Chamber Symphony for 23 Solo Instruments (1916) ¹
Prelude to a Drama (1913) ¹
Valse Lente for Orchestra (c1908) ²
Night Interlude (1903) ²

¹ Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Michael Gielen
² Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Karl Anton Rickenbacher

Koch Schwann Musica Mundi CD11618 58:32

There have been a number of recordings of Schreker's music in recent years, including operas and orchestral music. The chamber symphony immediately reminds one of Ravel's Rapsodie Espagnol but there are soon echoes of Richard Strauss, the predominant apparent influence on the other works on the CD, although you might find traces of Szymanowski or Mahler. Chandos has also released two CDs of other Schreker orchestral music, CHAN9751 and CHAN9797, in which his lush scoring is well demonstrated.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Joaquin Turina
(1882-1949)

Piano Music I
Danzas fantásticas, Op. 22
Danzas andaluzas, Op. 8
Danzas gitanas, Op. 55
Danzas gitanas, Op. 84
Bailete, Op. 79
Danzas sobre temas populares españoles, Op. 41

Jordi Masó, Piano
Naxos 8.557150

Turina was encouraged by his teacher, Albéniz, to turn to Spanish folk music for inspiration.

The music on this Naxos disc draws on the Andalusian and Spanish Gypsy dances and melodies, but with virtuoso pianistic flair. There is excitement in the rhythms and colors of this music, and it is played with sensitivity and clarity by Jordi Masó. Naxos has brought out four volumes of the piano music of Turina as part of their excellent series of "Spanish Classics".

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Vasily Kalinnikov
(1866-1901)

Suite (1891-2)
The Cedar and the Palm (1897-8)
Bylina Overture (1892)

USSR Symphony Orchestra/Yevgeny Svetlanov
Melodiya MELCD1000169 63:28

The most substantial work here is the 39-minute Suite. About half an hour of that is taken up with an andante and an adagio, but with tempo fluctuations within. The atmosphere of Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia is prominent. The other two works are also immediately appealing. Those who have already been seduced by Kalinnikov's two symphonies will need no further recommendation.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Francis Poulenc
(1899-1963)

Les Animaux Modèles (1940-42)
Concert Champêtre ¹ (1927-8)
Improvisations #13, #15 (Hommage à Edith Piaf) ¹ (1958-9)

¹ Stefano Bollani, piano
Filarmonica '900 del Teatro Regio di Torino/Jan Latham-Koenig
Avie AV2135 74:03

Les Animaux Modèles is the least-known of Poulenc's ballets, but has just as much charm and wit as his other works in the genre. Concert Champêtre is familiar in its intended guise as a harpsichord concerto, but sounds equally fine with a piano soloist : Poulenc himself played it in this form. The two solo improvisations complement a most tempting program.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Johan Wagenaar
(1862-1941)

Sinfonietta, Op. 32
Aveux de Phèdre, Op. 41 ¹
Symphonic Poem "Levenszomer", Op. 21
Symphonic Poem "Elverhöi", Op. 48
Overture "De Philosophische Prinses", Op. 39
Larghetto for Oboe & Orchestra, Op. 40 ²

¹ Janny Zommer, soprano
² Ingrid Nissen, oboe
Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra/Eri Klas
Etcetera KTC1326 74:32

A varied program of music by a Dutch composer who wrote in many forms in loosely late Romantic style. Some may know Elverhöi (Elf Hill) from music by several other composers, notably Gade. All the music, written 1903-1939, is played with considerable panache. A byway well worth exploring.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Paul Juon
(1872-1940)

Piano Quartet, Op. 50
Piano Quartet "Rhapsodie", Op. 37

Oliver Triendl, piano
Daniel Gaede, violin
Hariolf Schlichtig, viola
Peter Bruns, violoncello
CPO 777278-2

Born in Moscow of Swiss descent, taught by Arensky and S. Taneyev, and called by an unknown critic "the missing link between Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky" (see the International Juon Society website), Paul Juon had a unique voice, a synthesis of many styles and national elements from Schumann to Sibelius. This is emotion-rich Romantic music but it is never saccharine. There is always an edge to even the most dramatic music, especially the most somber Adagio lamentoso of the Op. 50 Piano Quartet. The more popular (and more often recorded) Rhapsodie is lighter and more accessible, and both works are worth repeated hearings.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Parts for the Rhapsodie can be found at Edition Silvertrust ]

Andreas Jakob Romberg
(1767-1821)
Clarinet Quintet, Op. 57

Robert Fuchs
(1847-1927)
Clarinet Quintet in E Flat minor, Op 102

Charles Villiers Stanford
(1852-1924)
Fantasy for Clarinet & String Quartet #1 in G minor
Fantasy for Clarinet & String Quartet #2 in F Major

Thea King, clarinet
Britten String Quartet
Hyperion Helios CDH55076

For lovers of the magnificent Brahms Clarinet Quintet, this recording of the Fuchs Clarinet Quintet will be a special treat.

Robert Fuchs was known during his lifetime primarily as a teacher: some of his students were Mahler, Schreker, Sibelius, and Zemlinsky. He was also known for writing easily accessible and popular Serenades, and his nickname was "Serenading Fox", a pun on his name.

The Fuchs Clarinet Quintet has memorable melodies, wonderful string and clarinet writing, and it is a pleasure from beginning to end. Special mention must be made of the catchy and charming second movement scherzo.

Once you fall under the spell of Fuchs, you might want to seek out his other orchestral and chamber music. Thorofon has recorded much of his chamber music and two volumes of orchestral works and MD&G have also recorded String Quartets by Fuchs.

The other pieces on this Helios disc are also beautifully performed by King and the Britten Quartet (Peter Manning, violin; Keith Pascoe, violin/viola; Peter Lale, viola; Andrew Shulman, cello) and will provide hours of delight.

I am very grateful to the late Thea King (1925-2007) not only for her expressive musicianship and extensive contributions to the recorded clarinet literature, but also for her exploration of lesser-known composers of the 19^th and 20^th century and support via commissions for contemporary composers.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by Fuchs: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com
  Sheet music by Romberg: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com
  Sheet music by Stanford: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Siegfried Wagner
(1869-1930)

Symphony in C Major (1925)
Later version of the second movement (1927)
Eklogue (after Liszt)

Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz/Werner Andreas Albert
CPO 999531-2 59:08

Although written in 1925, the symphony is firmly late-Romantic in style and orchestration, sounding occasionally like such composers as Suk and with the odd nod to father Richard: it runs about 46 minutes. The Eklogue, an orchestration of #7 from Book 1 of the Années de Pèlerinage, is a short makeweight.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Hugo Wolf
(1860-1903)

String Quartet in D minor
Italian Serenade

Fine arts Quartet
Hänssler Classic CD93.024

The String Quartet in D minor (1878-1884) is subtitled "Entbehren sollst du, sollst entbehren" – "Thou shalt forego, shalt do without," a quote from Goethe's Faust.

In spite of terrible emotional problems, Hugo Wolf managed to be a prolific and significant composer, best known for his many lieder, and his often-heard delightful Italian Serenade.

The far less popular String Quartet, however, is well-worth careful audition, especially if you are emotionally touched by the late Beethoven String Quartets. Wolf's strange rhythms and abrupt key-center shifts are more readily understood in the context of those Beethoven works.

The score I referred to while listening, from an out-of-print Dover Publications book (Seven String Quartets: 0-486-26891-8), gives the second and third movements in reverse order, but Wolf switched them later (and more appropriately). The Third Movement, Langsam, is the emotional center of this work, and can stand by itself as a passionate outpouring of deepest feelings.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com

Parts available from Merton Music ]

Gustav Holst
(1874-1934)
Quintet in A Minor for Piano & Winds, Op. 3
Wind Quintet in A Flat Major, Op. 14

Gordon Jacob
(1895-1984)
Sextet in B Flat Major for Piano & Winds, Op. 6

Anthony Goldstone, piano
Elysian Wind Quintet
Chandos CHAN9077 53:08

Holst wrote in a number of genres, but is too often regarded as a one-hit wonder because of the popularity of The Planets. The two works on this CD are early pieces in which he is still finding his way, but they are interesting in rounding out our perception of a composer better known for his orchestral writing; already there are folksong elements appearing.

Jacob is better known as an arranger of other people's music. This sextet, written many years after the Holst works, sounds a little like Hindemith and the piano writing very much like Prokofiev. A whole CD of Jacob's chamber music on Dutton Epoch CDLX7177 is well worth investigating.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan ]

[ Sheet music by Holst: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com
Sheet music by Jacob: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Felix Draeseke
(1835-1913)

Volume I
String Quartet #1 in C minor, Op. 27
String Quartet #2 in E minor, Op. 36

Volume II
String Quartet #3 in C Sharp minor
Suite in F Sharp minor for 2 Violins Op. 86

Hölderlin String Quartet
AK Coberg DR0011 & DR0012

The complete quartets of Felix Draeseke have just been released. These string quartets are richly scored, and are excellent examples of Late German Romantic chamber music, with beautiful flowing melodies, highly satisfying emotional content, and engaging part-writing. The second quartet will most likely become the most popular, although all three are very enthusiastically recommended!

The Hölderlin String Quartet (Rebecca Martin, Christian Friedrich, violins; Andres Mehne, viola; Teemu Myöhänen, violoncello) was founded in 2005. They sound absolutely terrific, with a wide range of expression, vitality, and sensitive ensemble playing.

[ CDs may be purchased from the International Draeseke Society,
also a fine resource for more detailed information about Draeseke. ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

[ Parts for the string quartets purchased from Merton Press ]

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
(1897-1957)

Symphony in F Sharp Major, Op. 40 (1952)
Six Simple Songs

Barbara Hendricks, soprano
The Philadelphia Orchestra/Franz Welser -Möst
EMI Encore 86101

Dedicated to the memory of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Korngold's Symphony Op. 40 is a link in a musical chain reaching from Richard Strauss and Mahler to the film music of John Williams.

In listening to Op. 40, the film buff might notice quotes from Korngold's scores to the films "Juarez", (second movement); "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex", "Captain Blood", "Anthony Adverse," (third movement); and in the fourth movement – themes from King's Row. The music is exciting and spacious, and the Philadelphia Orchestra is in top form.

The songs will greatly please people who enjoy the lieder of Mahler and R. Strauss. Barbara Hendricks has a clean, strong voice particularly well-suited to this beautiful material.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Georges Onslow
(1784-1853)

String Quartet in G minor, Op. 9/1
String Quartet in F minor, Op. 9/3
String Quartet in C Major, Op. 47

Mandelring Quartet
CPO 999060-2 70:25

The French composer Onslow wrote 37 string quartets. This CD combines two of his youthful quartets with one from his maturity. Some of the themes recall Schubert, harmonically Schumann appears, but neither of these great composers overshadows the music. Three of the quartet's members are siblings and Onslow is one of their specialities: the first violinist in particular negotiates some tricky writing with great skill.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]