Symphony 4 / 7 Pcs for Large Orchestra

On this CD:

1. Pieces (7) for large orchestra, Op. 63
Composed by Maurice Karkoff

Conducted by Stig Westerberg

2. Chinese Impressions (6) for voice & ensemble, Op. 116
Composed by Maurice Karkoff
Performed by Dorothy Dorow, Roland Johansson, Torleif Lannerholm, Torleif Lannerholm
Conducted by Daniel Bell

3. Vision, for orchestra, Op. 79
Composed by Maurice Karkoff

Conducted by Stig Westerberg

4. Serious Songs (6), for voice & orchestra, Op. 14 Den långa vägen (The Long Road)
Composed by Maurice Karkoff
Performed by Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra with Kerstin Meyer
Conducted by Sixten Ehrling

5. Serious Songs (6), for voice & orchestra, Op. 14 Resa i ljusår (Journey in Light-Year)
Composed by Maurice Karkoff
Performed by Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra with Kerstin Meyer
Conducted by Sixten Ehrling

6. Serious Songs (6), for voice & orchestra, Op. 14 Skymning (Twilight)
Composed by Maurice Karkoff
Performed by Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra with Kerstin Meyer
Conducted by Sixten Ehrling

7. Symphony No. 4, Op. 69
Composed by Maurice Karkoff

Conducted by Stig Westerberg

Tracks:

Overture: Atmospheres - The Sudwesfunk Orchestra, Ernest Bour
Main Title: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) - The Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert Von Karajan
Requiem For Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Two Mixed Choirs & Orchestra - The Bavarian Radio Orchetra, Francis Travis
The Blue Danube (Excerpt) - The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert Von Karajan
Lux Aeterna - The Stuttgart Schola Cantorum, Clytus Gottwold
Gayane Ballet Suite (Adagio) - The Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Gennadi Rezhdestvensky
Jupiter And Beyond - The Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Francis Travis, The Sudwesfunk Orchestra, Ernest Bour, Internationale.
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
The Blue Danube (Reprise) - The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert Von Karajan
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) - Sudwesfunk Orchestra
Lux Aeterna - The Stuttgart Schola Cantorum, Clytus Gottwold
Adventures (Unaltered) - Internationale Musikinstitut, Gyorgy Ligeti
HAL 9000 - Dialog Montage

Amazon.com

This commemorative reissue of music from 2001: A Space Odyssey combines the Also sprach Zarathustra theme, various Johann and Richard Strauss segments, and a ballet suite by Aram Khachaturian--all of which prove how much Stanley Kubrick's film attempts to avoid the soundtrack clichés of most science-fiction movies. Instead of the expected sci-fi effects, there is a more ironic application of music that would be otherwise incongruous to the celestial settings. Here, "The Blue Danube" complements scenes involving weightlessness and descending spacecraft, while Gyorgy Ligeti's creepy "monolith" music connotes Armageddon more than interplanetary exploration. The tracks play as they had appeared on the original soundtrack release back in the '60s, but there is also previously unreleased supplemental material and a dialogue montage entitled "HAL 9000." --Joseph Lanza

Customer Reviews:

great music, great reissue.......2007-04-16

This is a great collection of music and I love the great mastering job that was done with this. The inclusion of the tracks from the original MGM soundtrack release are a great bonus. The liner notes include interpretations of the film and the music that are insightful.

I noticed that the music in the movie is mixed in surround sound, it would be great if they could release this on DVD-Audio or SACD surround. I'd buy it again!

fantastic.......2007-03-11

I have the old lp release of this music, what an incredible array of classical music, topped off by my personal favorite piece of music in the world, the blue danube waltz. Let yourself be carried away in deep space by this incredible score.

whoa........2006-09-04

"Atmospheres" was enough to make me buy this album. just try to imagine what eternity might sound like. okay, now you know exactly what Atmospheres is. wow. who else could having captured the feelings that are in this score? this is above talented. this is above genius. this is above avand garde. this is too good to be labeled as anything at all.

Great Music for Halloween, very creepy.......2006-03-17

I bought this CD to use for a haunted house program, the music will creep you out.

Bleakest of Futures..........2005-10-08

The atonal, unsettling atmosphere of much of the music of Ligeti is fitting to the bleak vision of a human future reigned by nothing but cold technology and of humans drained of emotions except for the deepest animalist fear originating from our inner reptilian brainparts which have not changed for over millions of years. The incongruity of Johann Strauss' lovely 'An der schönen blauen Donau' with the cold technicality of spacefaring as depicted here could not be more complete, but what a perfect find on Stanley Kubrick's part! It makes the uneasiness and confusion even greater. And then, to top it of, the complete and flabbergasting irony of using Richard Strauss' Fanfare for the 'rise of Man' in his 'Also Sprach Zarathustra': what a great destiny for 'Man' indeed, this bleakest of bleak visions of the future!
As a soundtrack for '2001: A Space Odyssey' this music together on one album is just great.
And besides, this soundtrack has indeed, like so many others I guess, made me aware of the genius of Ligeti, which otherwise might have gone unnoticed for me.

Average customer rating:

Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material!
Beginner or Expert
Very Informative and Enjoyable
Frank's view
Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra

Instruments of the Orchestra
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00006O0NT
Release Date: 2002-12-03

Tracks:

Overture To 'Tannhauser'
Domna, Pos Vos Ay Chausida
We Don't Merely Use Instruments, We Play On Them. And They Play On Us.
Hungarian Dance No.7
The Violin Is One Of The Most Tender And Beautiful Instruments Ever Invented.
Violin Concerto In D Major (Adagio)
But For A Long Time It Was Seen As The Instrument Of The Devil.
The Soldier's Tale: Triumphal March Of The Devil
The Manipulative Seductiveness Of The Gypsy Violin.
Csardas Music
The Violin And The Initiation Of Nature
The Four Seasons (Spring, Mvt 1)
Birds Are Again Evoked In The Second Concerto, Especially Music's Natural Favourite.
The Four Seasons (Summer, Mvt 1)
Like The Devil, The Violin Is A Master Of Disguise.
Old Viennese Dance No.3 'Schon Rosmarin'
The Menacing Sensuality Of Ravel's Tzigane: A Very Different Side Of The Violin:
Tzigane
Do We Now Have The True Measure Of This Instrument? Not Just Yet.
Caprice No.24
The Many Effects Of The String Tremolando: Brandenburg Concerto No.4 (Last Mvt)/From Joy To Fright/Quartettsatz In C Minor/The String Tremolo Practically Spells The World Agitato.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No.7)
Prokofiev's Tremolo In Romeo And Juliet Should Not Be Heard Just Before Bedtime.
Romeo And Juliet: Act IV
Vivaldi Use It To Illustrate The Shivering Of Travellers Crossing The Ice.
The Four Seasons (Winter, Mvt 1)
The Violin Muted
Clair De Lune
The Gentleness Of Muted Strings Persists Even When A Whole Orchestra Plays.
Piano Concerto No.21 In C Major, K.467 (Slow Mvt)
The Pizzicato Violin
Pizzicato Polka
In Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, The Accompaniment Is Pizzicato.
Violin Concerto No.2 In G Minor (Slow Mvt)
Varieties Of Pizzicato: Colas Breugnon (The People's Feast)/Now A Drier, Leaner, Hungrier Pizzicato. There's Not A Lot Of Comfort Here./Capriol Suite (Tordion)/The Use Of Pizzicato As 'Percussion'/Romeo And Juliet (Act I)/Mahler Used Pizzicato...
The Planets (Mars - The Bringer Of War)
The Technique Of Double-Stopping Enables The Violin To Play Duets With Itself./Sonata No.3 In C Major For Unaccompanied Violin (Fugue)/Now A Later Example Of The Same Technique
Hungarian Dance No.4
Double-Stopping Is A Standard Feature Of A Lot Of Folk Music.
The Four Seasons (Autumn, Mvt 1)
Now The Same Technique, But The Sound Might Have Come From Another World.
Bolero
Double-Stopping Can Only Approximate The Sound Of A Real Violin Duet.
Cadenza To The Violin Concerto By Brahms
Now Compare That With A Real Violin Duet.
Forty-Four Duos (No. 1: Teasing Song)
Another Duo By Bartok, Demonstrating The Violin's Rich Lower Register
Forty-Four Duos (No.2: Maypole Dance)
And Now What May Be The Most Beautiful Accompanied Violin Duet In History
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
The Soul Of The Violin Is In Song; But What About This Weird Passage?
Violin Concerto No.1 In D Major (Mvt 2)
The Use Of Harmonies In The Orchestra Can Be Both Magical And Unsettling.
Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 1, Opening)
Tchaikovsky's Use Of Harmonics In The Sleeping Beauty Is Both Strange And Darling.
The Sleeping Beauty (Act II, No.15: Entr'Acte)
Ravel's Harmonics In Mother Goose Effect A Magical Transformation.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
Stravinsky's Harmonics In The Firebird Transport Us Almost Into Another World./The Firebird (Introduction)
The Natural Upper Notes Of The Violins Have A Unique Emotional 'Grab'.
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Of The Afterworldsmen)
Still In Their Upper Register, The Violins Unleash The Energy Of A Young Colt.
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (No. 4)
Elsewhere, Britten Uses The Same High Register To Create A Very Different Mood.
Four Sea Interludes (Dawn) From 'Peter Grimes'
To End This Outing With The Violins, A Charming Little Elfin Dance
Elfenreigen

Tracks:

Introduction To The Viola
Viola Concerto (Mvt 1)
Khatchaturian Gets A Very Different Sound From It: Fuller, Fruitier, More Exotic.
Gayane Suite No.1 (Armen's Solo)
Very Nearly The Whole Of The Violin's Upper Register Is Also Available To The Viola.
Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'
The Viola Can Bring A Special, Rich Twanginess To Pizzicato That The Violins Lack./Don Quixote/Berlioz Drew Sounds From It That Retain Their Metallic Strangeness Even Today.
Harold In Italy (Mvt 4)
The Muted Viola: Intimate, Gentle, Poignant In Dvork
Cypresses (No.9)
The Massed Violas Of The Modern Symphony Orchestra In Mahler
Symphony No.4 (Mvt 3)
The 'Period' Viola In Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No.6 (Last Mvt)
The Cello: A Voice Of Unique Nobility
Suite No.1 For Unaccompanied Cello (Prelude)
Brahms And The 'Soul' Of The Cello
Piano Concerto No.2 In B Flat Major (Mvt 3)
Most Orchestral Composers Tend To Emphasize The Cello's Lower Register.
Cantata 'Herz Und Mund Und Tat Und Leben', BWV 147 (Soprana Aria: Bereite Dir, Jesu)
In The Time Of Beethoven The Cello Remained As Fundamental As Ever.
Symphony No.3 'Eroica' (Finale)
But The Cello Is Not Condemned To Spend Its Life In The Basement.
Elfentanz, Op.39
Not Only In Recital Showpieces Like That Is The Cello Is Used In Its Highest Register.
The Protecting Veil (Opening)
A Cello With An Identity-Crisis: The Pizzicato Flamencan
Flamenco
Double-Stopping In The Lower Reaches Of The Cello's Range
Solo Suiet For Cello And Piano (Sardana)
It's In The Middle Register That The Cello Really Comes Into Its Own.
Oriental Dance, Op.2 No.2
It Was To The Cellos That Beethoven Gave Two Of His Most Famous Themes./Symphony No.5 (Mvt 2)/Still More Famous Than That Theme Is This One From The Ninth Symphony.
Symphony No.9 (Finale)
Introduction To The Double-Bass
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Elephant)
But The Double-Bass Can Be Intensely Expressive And Graceful.
Elegy No.1 In D Major
The Range Of The Double-Bass Is The Greatest Of All The String Instruments/Allegro Di Concerto, 'Alla Mendelssohn'/And It's Also Capable Of Very Considerable Virtuosity.
Capriccio Di Bravura
Double-Bass Solos In Orchestral Scores Are Rare But Often Memorable./Symphony No.1 'Titan' (Mvt 3)/In His Third Symphony Mahler Makes A Very Different Use Of The Instrument./Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1)
The Double-Bass Muted In Prokofiev/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Kije's Wedding)/In Another Work Prokofiev Uses The Double-Bass To Enhance The Winds./Romeo And Juliet (Act III)/And He Combines The Bass Clarinet With A Shivering Tremolo From The Double-Basses....
Symphony No.5 (Mvt 3)/So Much For The Strings/On Now To The Winds

Tracks:

The Antiquity And Magic Of The Flute
Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune
The Versatility And Agility Of The Flute
Orchestral Suite No.2 In B Minor (Badinerie)
The Flute In Fifteenth-Century Spain
Sa'Dawi
Other Flutes: The Bass And Alto
Chamber Music No.II
The Piccolo - Aptly Named
La Naissance D'Osiris (Mvt 6)
From A Piccolo Of The Eighteenth Century To One Of Its Descendants In The Twentieth
Suite No.1 For Small Orchestra (Valse)
A Variety Of Techniques
Chamber Music No.II
Flutter-Tonguing. But Tchaikovsky Got There Eighty Years Before.
The Nutcracker (Act II, No.2: Scene)
From The Transverse To The Vertical: The Baroque Recorder
Recorded Suite In A Minor (Menuet II)
An Unfamiliar, Early Vision Of The Instrument
Naelden, Naelden
The Bachian Oboe
Cantata 'Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott', BWV 80 (No.7: Duetto)
Introduction To The Cor Anglais Or 'English Born'
Symphony No.9 'From The New World' (Mvt 2)
The Loneliness Of The Cor Anglais
The Swan Of Tuonela
The Cor Anglais Joins The French Horn In Haydn.
Symphony No.22 'The Philosopher' (Opening)
Introduction To The Oboe D'Amore, Beloved Of Bach - But Also Of Ravel
Bolero
The Clarinet Family: Boxing The Compass, From The Depths Of The Bass Clarinet.../The Egyptian (Violence)/...To The Raucous And Squealy.../Taras Bulba (The Death Of Ostap)/...To The Shrill And Complaining...
Petrushka (No.8: Peasant With Bear)/...To The High Sprits Of A Playful Puppy./Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)/And To The Downright Jazzy/Romeo And Juliet (Act II)
As The High Clarinets Tend To Be Loud, So The Bass Tends To Be Soft:
Gayane Suite No. 1 (Mvt 5)
The Bass Clarinet Is Used By Most Composers Mainly As A Colouring Agent.../Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/...But It Does Occasionally Get A Whole Tune To Itself./Iberia (Almeria).
The Range Of The Normal Clarinet Parts Goes Quite High...
The Snow Maiden (Scene 5: Melodrama)
...And Quite Low.
Peter And The Wolf (The Cat)
The Clarinet As Concerto Soloist
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
But That's Not The Instrument Mozart Wrote It For; This Is:
Clarinet Concerto In A Major (Rondo)
Introduction To The Saxophone
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 4)
The Soprano Saxophone Has Quite A Different Feel To It.
L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 (Minuet)
The Little Sopranino Sax Goes Even Higher.
Bolero
The Most Famous Use Of The Saxophone Is In An Orchestration By Ravel.
Pictures At An Exhibition (The Old Castle)
The Saxophone Can Be Quite Contagiously Good-Humoured.
Sax-O-Phun
The Puffa-Puffa Image Of The Bassoon
Peter And The Wolf (Grandfather)
The Bachian Bassoon, In Accompanimental Mode
Cantata 'Weichet Nur, Betrubte Schatten' ('Wedding Cantata'), BWV 202 (Aria No.1)
Bizet Leaves The Puffa-Puffa Image Out, Allowing The Bassoon To Sing./Carmen Suite No.1 (Les Dragons D'Alcala)
And Ravel, Also In Spanish Mode, Does Likewise.
Bolero
The Bassoon As A Voice Of High Seriousness, Indeed Desolate Loneliness
Symphony No.3 (Opening)
The Eerie Bassoon In Its Highest Register
The Rite Of Spring (Opening)
Stravinsky Now Draws On Its Lowest Register, Lonely And Melancholy.
The Firebird Suite (1919, Berceuse)
The Bassoon As Concerto Soloist, Avoiding All Exaggeration
Bassoon Concerto In G Minor (Finale)
The Deep-Voiced Contra-Bassoon, As A Fairy-Tale Beast
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Beauty And The Beast)
The French Horn Under Its Woodwind Hat
Wind Quintet, Op.43 (Last Mvt)
Now A More Prominent Role, In A Woodwind Quintet From An Earlier Era
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Mvt 2)
The Horn In Harmonious Blend With Strings In Another Quintet
Horn Quintet, K.407 (Finale)

Tracks:

The Trumpet As Virtuoso Soloist
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Last Mvt)
The Special Brillance Of Paired Trumpets
Concerto In C For Two Trumpets, RV537 (Mvt 1)
The Ceremonial Trumpet
Fanfare For The Common Man
Trumpets And Drums - An Incomparable Alliance
Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)
The Versatility Of The Trumpet, From The Most Public To The Most Lonely
Piano Concerto In F (Slow Mvt)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of The City/An American In Paris/The Trumpet As Recruitment Officer/The Soldier's Tale (The March)/The Trumpet As Swaggerer
Carmen Suite No.2 (Habanera)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of Strength And Courage
Carmet Suite No.2 (Toreador's Song)
The Trumpet Muted/Petrushka (No.4: The Blackamoor)/Lieutenant Kije Suite (Opening)/The Trumpet As The Voice Of Weariness
Billy The Kid
The Trumpet As Character Actor
Pictures At An Exhibition (No.6)
The Trumpet As The Voice Of God
Mass In B Minor ('Et Exspecto')
The Birth Of The Trombone
Aenmerckt Nu Hier
The Birth Of The Brass As A Family
Canzon 12 In Double Echo
The Trombone In The Eighteenth Century
Trombone Concerto In B Flat Major (Finale)
The Tone Of The Tenor Trombone/Romance For Trombone And Organ/The Memorable Voice Of The Bass Trombone/Requiem (Mvt 2)/But The Bass Trombone Is More Than An Instrumental Bullfrog.
Hosannah
The Trombones Become Part Of The Orchestra.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
The Wagnerian Trombone:/Overture To 'Tannhauser'
The Trombone As Caricaturist
Pulcinella (No.19: Vivo)
The Trombone As Raspberry/Concerto For Orchestra (Intermezzo)
The Horn And The Hunt
Horn Concerto No.4 In E Flat, K.495 (Finale)
The Challenging Horn Of The Baroque
Abaris Ou Les Boreades (Menuet)
The Scarcity Of First-Rate Players In Handel's Time
Walter Music (Minuet 1)
The Horn As Magician/The Firebird Suite (1919, Finale)
Horns And The Sound Of Nobility
Overture To 'Tannhauser' (Opening)
The Special Sound Of The Horn In Its Higher Register
Mass In B Minor ('Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus')
The Trumpet-Like Sound Of Massed Horns
Symphony No.3 (Mvt 1, Opening)
The Tuba - Unfairly Maligned?
Symphony No.6 (Mvt 3)
The Tuba Perfectly Cast By Ravel
Pictures At An Exhibition (Bydlo)

Tracks:

Introduction. And We Begin With A Bang.
Fanfare For The Common Man/The Bass Drum On The Battlefields/Wellington's Victory, Op.91 (Opening)
At The Opposite Extreme Is The Triangle.
Piano Concerto No.1 In E Flat (Scherzo)
Categories Of Percussion: Tuned And Untuned. The Side Drum
Overture To 'La Gazza Ladra' - The Thieving Magpie (Opening)
The Side Drum In An Effective But Unexpected Role/Clarinet Concerto (Mvt 1)
The Tambourine. One Of The Oldest Instruments In The World
Den Hoboecken Dans
Even Older Is The Originally Oriental Gong.
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
No Single Instrument Can Match The Gong In Evoking The Breaking Of Waves./Passacaglia, Op.33b From 'Peter Grimes'/But Gongs Don't Have To Be Struck To Be Effective.
Gymnopedie No.2
The Cymbals Are Generally Discovered Early In Life./The Sanguine Fan/And They Do More Than Clash Together Loudly. They Can Be Clashed Together Softly./Studio Example: But They Needn't Be Clashed Together At All/Studio Example: They Can Be Lightly...
Other Untuned Percussion Instruments Include The Whip.: Piano Concerto In G Major (Opening)/And Here Are No Fewer Than Twenty, Cracked By Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Act I, Scene 5)
More Versatile Than The Whip Are The Wood Blocks.../Studio Example/...Which Crop Up All Over The Place In Twentieth-Century American Music.
Rodeo (Hoe-Down)
Related To The Wood Blocks, By Sound, Are The Castanets./Jota Aragonesa/But The Castanets Were Also Used By Monteverdi Back In The Seventeenth Century.
Scherzi Musicali (Damigella Tutta Belle)
A Still Earlier Example From Fifteenth-Century Spain
Yo M'Enamori D'Un Aire
The Birth Of The Bongo
Symphonic Dances From 'West Side Story'
From The Streets Of New York To The Blacksmith's Shop/Il Trovatore ('Anvil Chorus')
Desert-Island Decibels: Grand Canyon Suite (On The Trail)/Arcana
From One Vegetable To Another: The Humble Squash, Or Marrow/Huapango
Onwards To The Tuned Percussion. First, The Timpani
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Introduction)
But The Drum Roll Can Be More Effectively Frightening Than The Big Bang.: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (Mvt 3)
Not One Drum Roll, But Many/Grand Canyon Suite (Sunrise)/Symphonie Fantastique (Last Mvt)
Taking Advantage Of Tunability
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Mvt 2)
The Russian Composer Rodion Shchedrin Takes A Downward Turn./Carmen Suite (Changing Of The Guard)/Tuned, Yes; But For The Truly Melodic We Must Look Elsewhere.
Introducing The Glockenspiel/Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Saint-Saens And The Xylophone
The Carnival Of The Animals (Fossils)
Ravel And The Xylophone
Ma Mere L'Oye - Mother Goose (Laideronette)
Introducing The Marimba/Carmen Suite (First Intermezzo)
Introducing The Vibraphone
The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Narange Dolce)
The Vibraphone Goes Russian.../Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)/...And Is Joined By The Marimba./Carmen Suite (Carmen's Entrance And Habanera)
Introducing The Hungarian Cimbalom
Folk Dances
The Cimbalom And The Symphony Orchestra
Hary Janos Suite (Mvt 3)
Introducing The Tubular Bells
Hary Janos Suite (Viennese Musical Clock)
A More 'Up-Front' Approach From Rodion Shchedrin
Carmen Suite (Introduction)
But The Bells Can Also Make The Sinister Even More Sinister./Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Introducing The Celeste
The Nutcracker (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
Magic, In The Use Of Collective Percussion
Miroirs (La Vallee Des Cloches)
Plucked Instruments: The 'Undercover Percussion'/Carmen Suite (Scene)
A Prime Case In Point Is The Harp, Irresistible To The Romantics./The Nutcracker (Act II, No.1: Scene)/The Non-Solo Harp As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Hungarian Rhapsody No.1
The Traditionally Subservient Role Of The Harpsichord In The Baroque Orchestra
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 (Slow Mvt)
The Piano: King Of The Tuned Percussion/Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Mvt 3)/And A Quarter Of A Century After That:
Petrushka (Russian Dance)
The Anti-Romantic Piano As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celeste (Last Mvt)

Tracks:

Keyboard Instruments In The Orchestra - The Most Powerful Of Them All:
Symphony No.3 'Organ' (Finale)
But Things In Handel's Day Were Very Different.
Organ Concerto In B Flat, Op.4 No.3 (Last Mvt)
The Organ Is Difficult To Classify.
An Unexpected, Organ-related Guest
Concerto Pour Zampogna (Last Mvt)
Peasant-Fancying... And A Touch Of The Roaming Cowboy
Les Miserables (Drink With Me)
Outside Artefacts And The Power Of Association
Mahler's Sleighbells
Symphony No.4 (Opening)
A Roll-Call Of Some Unusual Guests/The Typewriter/Parade
Chains, And More/Integrales/An American In Paris/Sandpaper Ballet
Purpose-Built Oddities: Wind Machines/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Opening)
Don Quixote (Variation VIII)
National Calling Cards: The Guitar For Spain/Concierto De Aranjuez (Finale)
And The Guitar's Poor American Relative, The Banjo/Washington Breakdown
And Poorer Still, The Mouth Organ/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (Packing Up)
The Balalaika For Russia/Romeo And Juliet (Act II: No.14)
The Maracas For Mexico/The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (El Desayuno)
The Bongos And Congas And A Whole Wealth Of Other Drums For Africa And Central America/Studio Example
The Sitar Of India/Evening Raga: Bhapoli
The Accordion For France (Especially Paris)/Paris Canaille
The Zither For Vienna/The Third Man (Theme)
The Cimbalom For Hungary/Folk Dances
The Guitar As An Integral Part Of The Orchestra/Rondena
There Are Whole Orchestras Of Balalaikas./Sveit Mesiats
The Effect Of The Wordless Human Voice, Used Purely As An Instrument/Symphony No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica' (Mvt 1)
Nocturnes
Instruments And the Imitation Of Nature. The Clarinet As Cuckoo
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Cuckoo)
The Flute As An All-purpose Aviary
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aviary)
The Oboe As Duck
Peter And The Wolf (The Duck)
The Recording Of Reality. Does It Work As Well?
The Pines Of Rome (The Pines Of The Janiculum)
The Recording Of Reality Electronically Reborn In New Guises
Cantus Articus - Concerto For Birds And Orchesra (Mvt 2)
Beethoven Turns Avian: Cuckoo, Nightingale, And Quail
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral' (Andante Molto Mosso)
Some Improbable Casting: The Violin As Braying Donkey
The Carnival Of The Animals (Persons With Long Ears)
A Truly Orchestral Hee-haw To Be Reckoned With
Overture To 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
A Thunderstorm In A Million
Symphony No.6 'Pastoral (Allegro-Allegretto)
the Instrumental Depiction Of A Silent World
The Carnival Of The Animals (The Aquarium)
Saint-Saens' Menagerie Takes A Curtain Call.
The Carnival Of The Animals (Finale)

Tracks:

The Grouping Of Instrumental Families. An Additive Approach. First, Two Violins
Forty-Four Duos (No.4)
A Great Contrast, Of Both Pitch And Character: Violin And Viola
Duo For Violin And Viola In B Flat Major, K.424 (Finale, Vars 1 & 2)/Studio Example
Arrival Of The Standard String Trio: Violin, Viola, And Cello
String Trio In B Flat (Menuetto)
The String Quartet: Two Violins, Viola, And Cello
String Quartet In F, Op.18 No.1 (Mvt 3)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Viola
String Quartet No.5 In D, K.593 (Adagio)
The String Quintet - When The Extra Instrument Is A Second Cello
String Quintet In C (Mvt 3)
The String Sextet: Two Violins, Two Violas, And Two Cellos
String Sextet In B Flat (Mvt 2)
The String Octet: The Standard String Quaret Times Two
Octet In E Flat, Op.20 (Mvt 1)
Double The String Octet: A Fully Fledged String Orchestra
String Symphony No.2 (Finale)
The Massed Strings Of A Symphony Orchestra
Fantasia On A Theme Of Thomas Tallis
Contrasts Of Pitch And Instrumental 'Colour' In The Woodwind Section
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Op.100 No.5 (Theme)
In The First Variation It's The Horn That Gets The Lion's Share.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 1
In Variation Two The Torch Is Handed To The Bassoon.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 2
In Variation Three The Oboe Leads.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 3
Variation Four: Conversation Before Returning To A Solo-dominated Texture
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 4
And Variation Five is Dominated By The Clarinet.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 5
The Next To Be Featured Is The Virtuoso Flute.
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 6
Individual Farewells And A Closing Chorus
Wind Quintet In A Minor, Variation 7
A Mixed Group: Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, String Quartet, And Double-Bass
Octet In F (Mvt 3)
The Early Classical Symphony Orchestra Of Haydn And Mozart
Symphony No.29 In A, K.201 (Finale)
Strings, Wind, But No Brass. What Haydn And Mozart Never Knew
Canzon 28
Beethoven's Fifth: Two Horns, Two Trumpets, And Three Trombones Join The Team.
Symphony No.5 (Finale)
From Beethoven To The Massive Orchestras Of Berlioz, Wagner, And Mahler
Beethoven Changed The Face Of The Symphony And The Orchestra Forever
Symphoy No.6 'Tragic' (Mvt 1)
The Cult Of Orchestral Elephantiasis Reaches Its Peak.
Symphony No.1 'Gothic' (VI: Te Ergo Quaesumus)
When Large Doesn't Necessarily Mean Loud: Debussy
Images (Gigues)
A Crisis Of Confidence; The Orchestra's Survival Hangs In The Balance, But It Still Develops. The Ondes Martenot:
Turangalila Symphony (Chant D'amour 1)
The Advent Of The 'Early Music' Movement Brings A New Vitality And Freshness.
Balle De Xerxes (Gavotte En Rondeau)
Computer And Synthesiser: Friends Or Foes?
Concerto In D Minor For Two Violins (Largo)
A Speculative Look Ahead/Mass In B Minor ('Dona Nobis Pacem')

Customer Reviews:

Instruments of the Orchestra - Great Reference Material!.......2007-04-04

This set lends itself to greatly enhancing one's knowledge of the orchestra, instruments in it, and their usage. I am a huge music buff, and I still picked up a great deal I previously did not know. I highly recommend this for all who wish to understand the origin of music, as well as the processes that are employed to create music!

Beginner or Expert.......2007-03-12

This CD is excellent for the beginner or expert! To be able to haear the instrumets separately and then together really provides a good education. and/or refresher. The book thaty comes with the CD is alomost worth the price by itself!

Very Informative and Enjoyable.......2006-11-20

Whether you're a music novice or pro, "The instruments of the Orchestra" is a very worthwhile purchase. The 7 CDs, with a total of 8 hours, are expertly narrated by Jeremy Siepmann. He's a great speaker, very much like the late Leonard Bernstein was. Mr. Siepmann takes you on an unforgetable musical journey covering the origins and use of the various orchestral instruments throughout musical history. The balance between his narration and a wealth of musical examples, which range from snippets to entire movements, is superb. The comprehensive enclosed booklet is excellent and faithfully follows the 7 CDs in content. Even with my 40+ years of music training I still learned new things from this wonderful collection. Considering the excellence of the content, and a cost that translates to about $5 per disc, this collection is a great value. Grab it, you won't regret that you did. Five solid stars!

Frank's view.......2006-08-19

This boxed set of CD's with booklet achieved all I had hoped that it would. There are good samples of individual instruments and well done commentary on each. The only drawback was that some of the samples were too brief and could have been longer, hoiwever I guess this fits in with time constraints of the medium. It has given me a lot of clues as to future purchases of CD's for listening to individual instruments. Altogeth a satisfactory purchase and a welcome addition to my collection.

Excellent Intro for Those Not Familiar with the Orchestra.......2003-11-08

I've listened to classical music for years and am interested in composition. I bought this CD set to learn how an orchestra and its instruments work. I thought the CDs would be a nice but boring lecture. They aren't! Not only are they FUN but they are informative as well. I learned a huge amount from each CD and couldn't wait to listen to the next one.

The narrator and writer is a great speaker and holds your attention well. He is definitely knowledgeable. He provides musical examples for each point he makes, so you get to "hear" what he just talked about. I'd say the CDs are about 65% music and 35% narration. You'll learn about the range of instruments, some history, different ways to play them, how they sound, and how they are used in the orchestra. This CD set was a great learning experience and is sold at such a low price!

I recommend this CD for those who want to learn about classical music and those who know about it but are interested in learning more about the inner workings of an orchestra. You'll learn much useful information. For instance, the Rite of Spring (with that eerie start) is written for bassoon! I never knew a bassoon could sound like that but now I do.

Tracks:

Benvenuto Cellini: Overture
Love Scene
Minuet Of The Will-O'-The-Wisps
Dance Of The Sylphs
Rakoczy March
Le Corsaire Overture
Les Troyens: Trojan March
Royal Hunt & Storm
La Marseillaise

Customer Reviews:

All This Music Is Better Served Elsewhere.......2006-05-04

On paper at least, this seems like an attractive sampler. And it is, as far as the music is concerned. These bits and pieces are some of the most inspired music from Berlioz's long masterworks for voices and orchestra such as Damnation de Faust, Romeo et Juliette, Les Troyens, and Benvenuto Cellini. In sterling performances, they're really enlivening music. Here, for a variety of reasons, they don't make the impact they usually do. First of all, Zinman, whom I usually admire, doesn't seem to warm up to the music. Maybe it's not his cup of tea--more of a Beethoven-and-contemporary music man, based on the stuff I've heard that he does really well. Also, as recorded here, the Baltimore Symphony doesn't seem to have the heft for Berlioz's dazzling orchestral display. Next to, say, the Montreal Symphony, which has done a lot of this music very successfully on disc, the Baltimore is lacking.

Then, as I suggest, a large part of the problem is the recording. Telarc's legendary recording technique don't seem to translate well to the Meyerhoff Hall, at least not in this recording; there's even some distortion in thickly scored passages. Argo/Decca got the measure of the hall better in their later and far more successful recordings from Baltimore.

So I say, shop around. You'll do far better with Dutoit, Davis, Nagano, Plasson, Nelson, et al.

The production of a music genius.......2005-08-06

Really really terrific!
I prefer to do not say more... terrific!

Wake up music.......2001-03-18

This is a good CD but not a great one. Mr. Zinman gives a decent rendition of some of the French "classics" and the Baltimore symphony is up to the task. In the defense of Mr. Zinman one must recognize that there is probably no real good way to play Berlioz. But the real value of this CD is to introduce one to Berlioz who still today does not rate as high as one would like; not to mention its status of "only one opus composer" that the Symphonie Fantastique seems to give him sometimes. The inclusion of Berlioz transcription of the Marseillaise is a curious touch. Berlioz tried to dignify what was after all a soldiers motivational anthem to go and kill into a more respectable piece suitable for a serious country. Nice try. However it is still an interesting and hyperactive piece and if we must listen to it on occasion we might as well do it here. In sum, here we have a nice mix that can be played as background music when we need to be energized.

A middle of the pack offering--nothing magic, nothing tragic.......2001-02-17

If you've heard Toscanini's snappy Rakozcy March, then the lumbering version on this disc will just leave you frustrated. The Marseillaise here is pretty turgid, too. Not much else leaves even that much of a lasting impression. Okay if you can get it budget-priced.

Average customer rating:

Best Comprehensive Survey of Canadian Music Available

Introduction to Canadian Music

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Percussion | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000014C7
Release Date: 2006-03-01

Tracks:

Marche Indienne - Hannaford Street Silver Band
Fiesta: Vif Et Bien Rythme - Neil Chotem
The Contented House - Mario Bernardi
Carnival Overture - Kazuhiro Koizumi
Fall Fair - Uri Mayer
Harbours - Nimmons 'N' Nine Plus Six
Andante Allegro - Orford Quartet
Fast And Frenzied - Robert Aitken
Mont-aux-Sources - Mario Bernardi
Allegro - Robert Silverman
Allegro Vivace - Lento - Franco Mannino
Giocoso (With A Touch Of The Absurd) - Janina Fialkowska
Thunder Dragon - Espirit Orchestra
Romance For Brass Band - Steven Chenette
Akasha (Sky) - Bramwell Tovey
Elan - Walter Boudreau

Tracks:

Magnus Dominus - Patrick Wedd
Hodie, Christus Natus Est - Elmer Iseler Singers
Feller From Fortune - Elmer Iseler
Soleils Couchants - Patrick Wedd
Ave, Verum Corpus - Vancouver Chamber Choir
Notre Seigneur En Pauvre - Saint John String Quartet
Pemoengkah - Robert Aitken
Quarks - Judy Loman
Toccata For Flute And Soprano - Robert Aitken
No.2 - Valerie Tryon
African Funeral Song - Nexus
Chanson Du Matin - David Kent
Six Themes-Solaires - No.1 - Piano Soleil - Richard Raymond
Le Jeu De Telephone - Ensemble Koln
Alma Chillin - Mark Duggan
Dripsody - Hugh Le Caine
Big Bang II - Marcelle Deschenes
Nadir - Douglas Perry

Customer Reviews:

Best Comprehensive Survey of Canadian Music Available.......1999-01-19

This anthology of three Centuries(!) of Canadian music was assembled by a former producer from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation who now works for Naxos Canada. This producer is also active in the Canadian music world, so he knows whereof he speaks (or selects, as in this case). Liscensing the best performances available from major Canadian and International labels, this is the best collection of, and introudction to, the entire Canadian music scene that I have ever come across. The booklet is informative and is as enjoyable a read as is the 2 CD set is to listen. I doubt there will ever be anything quite like it again. If only NAXOS would now start recording Canadian music on top of the Canadian artists they already record, than they will truly have one of the finest and most comprehensive classical catalogues in the world. As for now, don't pass this one up.

Joseph Marx: Alt-Wiener Serenaden; Partita in Modo Antico; Sinfonia in Modo Classico

Average customer rating:

Three Marx Works That Evoke Music Past
Outstanding homage to the classics of music

Joseph Marx: Alt-Wiener Serenaden; Partita in Modo Antico; Sinfonia in Modo Classico

Manufacturer: Asv Living Era
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Joseph Marx: Nature Trilogy
Joseph Marx: The Piano Concertos
Joseph Marx: Orchestral Songs
Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek: Der Sieger
Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek: Schlemihl; Raskolnikoff

ASIN: B00064WSL4
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Tracks:

Allegro Moderato Ma Deciso (Intrada)
Andante Appassionata (Aria)
Tempo Di Menuetto
Scherzo Con Marcia (Presto)
Allegro Poco Moderato
Presto
Adagio Molto
Vivace
Allegro Con Brio
Adagio Ma Non Troppo
Tempo Di Minuetto
Poco Presto

Customer Reviews:

Three Marx Works That Evoke Music Past.......2005-03-16

Joseph Marx (1882-1964) was considered a conservative throwback toward the end of his life because much of his music was written in a combination of late Romantic and Impressionistic styles. But when he came to write the three late works presented here he became even more conservative in the sense that he reverted to even older styles, those of the Renaissance polyphonists or the symphonists and quartet writers of the Classical period, Haydn in particular. There certainly was precedent for that sort of homage to the styles of earlier masters, and it is no surprise that Marx, whose knowledge of the old masters was profound, should do the same.

The first of these works is 'Alt-Wiener Serenaden' ('Old Viennese Serenades'), a four movement work for large orchestra that invokes the music of his beloved city and of some of the music associated with it. The first movement, 'Intrada,' immediately strikes one with its charm and evocation of times past, gemütlichheit and courtly manners combined. 'Aria' is a dreamy song featuring wind solos. The 'Minuet' is really more of a Ländler, that forerunner of the waltz entirely fitting in a Viennese suite; it quotes Haydn directly. The 'Scherzo con marcia (Presto)' is a lightly scored contrapuntal romp.

Marx wrote three string quartets. In the 1940s he orchestrated the Second and Third for string orchestra. The string quartet versions have already been recorded on ASV by the Lyric Quartet. The versions for string orchestra do not appreciably change the musical materials of the quartets, but the sound of the full ensemble is richer.

'Quartetto in Modo Antico,' arranged from the Second Quartet, comprises four movements in, in order, the Mixolydian, Dorian, Phrygian, and again Mixolydian modes. Written in homage to the contrapuntal music of such composers as Palestrina, Lassus and Tallis, there is the medieval feeling associated with this harmonic language. Most striking is the slow movement, in Phrygian mode [the scale one hears by playing the white keys from E to e]; at times one is reminded some of the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and then one realizes it is because we associate this mode with his 'Variations on a Theme of Thomas Tallis' in that mode and as well as RVW's use of contrapuntal string writing. The last movement is a marvelous double fugue.

'Quartetto in Modo Classico,' the orchestrated Third Quartet, is written in neoclassic form but also in part in late Beethovenian harmonic language. His is clearly an homage to the music of Classic Period, at least in the forms used, but Marx cannot resist some added-note harmonies and a smidgen of chromaticism, although extremely mild compared to the First Quartet. The homage is absolutely genuine and heartfelt; there is none of the irony implicit in, say, Prokofiev's 'Classical Symphony' or Harold Shapero's 'Symphony for Classical Orchestra.' Perhaps, among modern composers, the feeling comes closest to that magnificent late-Beethovenian slow movement in George Rochberg's Third Quartet. The Adagio is serenely beautiful; the first time I heard it I had to go back immediately and hear it again two times. The third movement, Tempo di Menuetto, is a particularly gracious specimen that ventures occasionally into more chromatic harmonies, but its Trio reverts to a musette-like rustic drone, a charming touch, before it returns to the main theme. The Finale is a masterfully crafted contrapuntal 6/8 romp (with a 3/4 middle episode). The return of the A section incorporates the opening section of the quartet's first movement, a subtle rounding-out of the entire work.

We have the previous Amazon reviewer, Berkant Haydin, to thank for this renaissance of the music of Joseph Marx; he has been more or less single-handedly responsible for spearheading it. His booklet notes for this release are excellent. He maintains a Joseph Marx website that contains all manner of additional information about the composer. (You can find it at joseph-marx.org) The playing of the Bochum Symphony Orchestra under Steven Sloan, on this and the previous orchestral releases, is simply wonderful. We are waiting for recordings from them of the two piano concerti, which I understand have already been recorded but not yet released, and the magnificent 'Herbst-Symphonie' ('Autumn Symphony'). The growing number of Marx enthusiasts are waiting eagerly.

Scott Morrison

Outstanding homage to the classics of music.......2005-01-28

When Wilhelm Furtwaengler in 1952 called Joseph Marx (1882-1964) the 'leading force of Austrian
music', Marx's 50-year-old career as a composer was already over; but as one of the most
dazzling and important personalities in 20th-century Austrian music, he had already left his
mark on whole generations of musicians. Highly revered by the great majority of his Austrian contemporaries, Marx also enjoyed within the
international community an undisputed reputation as a remarkable composer and teacher.

As an impressionist who nonetheless called himself a 'Romantic', Joseph Marx never tried to
conceal his deep admiration for the founding fathers of music - such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Robert Schumann, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert. Thus it was that he
sometimes used in his own works variations of old tunes, as for example in his Alt-Wiener Serenaden, in
which he quotes themes from the works of Karl Michael Ziehrer and Joseph Haydn, or in his works for
string orchestra such as Partita in modo antico and Sinfonia in modo classico, in which Marx paid most
impressive homage to his musical models. But why did Marx, towards the end of his composing life (from
approx. 1935-45), turn away from his impressionistic and late Romantic style to devote himself for the most part to chamber-like music in the early Romantic and classicising manner?

We are dealing here with a period in which Central Europe, under the influence of National
Socialism, became increasingly involved in political conflict, and in which art (according to Joseph Marx
one of the most basic possessions of human culture) was gradually losing its importance - something
that Marx had seen coming. The 'new' style that he favoured in his late music was therefore not merely a
riposte to avant-garde music and an instructive guideline for young composers; by adopting such a style
Marx had hoped to protect the important spiritual values that he associated with this classical style, and
to rescue them 'for better times'. And his efforts were certainly not without success. The compositions
from this late period earned him the same high recognition that he had received for his early songs, which
had made him famous.

The Alt-Wiener Serenaden ('Old Vienna Serenades') brought together much that is regarded to be
'Austrian' in music. Written in 1941/42, they were given their first performance on 14 April 1942 by Karl
Boehm and the Vienna Philharmonic, to which the composer dedicated this work in celebration of the
orchestra's centenary.

The most atypical work of Joseph Marx is probably the Partita in modo antico for string orchestra
(originally written for string quartet in 1937/38, arranged for string orchestra in 1945). Atypical, because
there is a complete absence of chromaticism and irregular dissonances - and this from a composer who,
until the early 1930s, had wallowed in colourfully Romantic lusciousness.

The Sinfonia in modo classico (originally composed for string quartet in 1940/41 and arranged for
string orchestra in 1944) once again takes the listener through a journey of Viennese music history.
Though the form once again has the classical clarity of a Haydn, the musical language is nearer to that of
the late Romantic style.

The expressions 'modo classico' and 'modo antico' certainly do not correspond to any traditional
musical terminology. As has already been mentioned, these expressions that seem to indicate key, are an
attempt to infuse these new works with the values and ideals of classical and ancient music and thus to
formulate a cultural message. But the deeper meaning of these expressions goes much further, for Marx
never ceased, even in his late works, to express his deep admiration for the classical and ancient music
of Southern Europe, which seemed to remain for him eternally young. Thus it was that Joseph Marx
remained surprisingly progressive in this period too, for the way in which he fused the old and the new, in
order to create truly timeless art, is worthy of the highest admiration. The great cellist Pablo Casals
summed up Marx's contribution to Central European music with the following words: "Joseph Marx is
absolutely indispensable for the preservation of the music of the future".

Average customer rating:

Immaculate and Soulful Performances of Hindemith by Brett Dean
perfect trauermusik
great music...great performances
Excellent recording, well worth buying!
the Hindemith Experience

Hindemith: Viola Concertos

Manufacturer: Cpo Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Bartok: Viola Concertos
Hindemith: Sonatas for viola/piano & viola alone
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Carl Stamitz: Sinfonias concertante in C & in D; Viola concertos in A & in D

ASIN: B00003Q081
Release Date: 2000-01-25

Tracks:

Kammermusic No.5, Op.36/4: Schnelle Halbe
Kammermusic No.5, Op.36/4: Langsam
Kammermusic No.5, Op.36/4: Massig Schnell
Kammermusic No.5, Op.36/4: Var Eines Militarmarsches
Konzertmusic, Op.48: Lebhaft
Konzertmusic, Op.48: Ruhig Gehend
Konzertmusic, Op.48: Lebhaft
Konzertmusic, Op.48: Leicht Bewegt
Konzertmusic, Op.48: Sehr Lebhaft
Der Schwanendreher: Zwischen Berg Und Tiefem Tal
Der Schwanendreher: Nun Laube, Lindlein Laube. Fugato. Der Gutzgauch Auf Dem Zaune Sass
Der Schwanendreher: Vars: Seid Ihr Nicht Der Schwanendreher?
Trauermusik: Langsam
Trauermusik: Ruhig Und Bewegt
Trauermusik: Lebhaft
Trauermusik: Choral: Vor Deinen Thron Tret Ich Hiermit

Customer Reviews:

Immaculate and Soulful Performances of Hindemith by Brett Dean.......2006-10-17

Brett Dean (born 1961 in Brisbane, Australia) is beginning to be a much talked about name in the music world. Long established as a fine violist (he was a violist with the Berlin Philharmonic for fifteen years) both as an ensemble member and soloist, Dean is spending more time composing these days than playing. His recent appearance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic joined the two ventures as soloist/composer with his own Viola Concerto, a work of stunning beauty that hopefully will find its way onto a CD soon.

Meanwhile this recording of music by Paul Hindemith is one of the more satisfying collections of works for any instrument but for the viola in particular. Dean is joined by the Brisbane Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Werner Andreas Albert in four of Hindemith's most beautiful compositions: 'Kammermusik No.5, for viola & orchestra', 'Konzertmusik for viola & large chamber orchestra', 'Der Schwanendreher, concerto for viola & small orchestra', and the extraordinarily moving 'Trauermusik for viola and string orchestra. Dean's liquid technique serves him well in both the treacherous passages of these works as well as the languid portions, making the viola sound more like a small cello.

For a collection of works too infrequently heard this is a recording that will please listeners whose spectrum of appreciation for many music periods is large. Brett Dean is a fine musician, in every sense of the term. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, October 06

perfect trauermusik.......2005-12-03

This was an amazing recording!!! Mr. Dean tone is flawless, and the recording of Trauermusik is incredible!!! Such rich, emotional playing! I have never heard better.

Now, to Allan whatshisface "zallan":
when you review a CD, you are supposed to comment on the record quality, and the artists playing. NOT what you think about the composer and contemporary music. If you don't like it, don't review it! People who are looking at the CD are probably looking at the CD because they LIKE the composer's music. Let the people who like it give a REAL critique! And if you think that the Op. 36 sounds like screaching, then it's time for you to have a hearing check.

great music...great performances.......2005-05-25

This is interesting, arresting, intelligent and exciting music.
It may not be to everyone's tastes, but what music is?.
In response to Mr. Allan "zallan" (who quotes Heifetz - who cares what Heifetz thinks? Sure, he was a great violinist, but so what? What did he compose? That horrible, tasteless cadenza in the Brahms Concerto recording with Reiner proves that he wasn't that great at it!) I'd like to quote Charles Ives (whom I'm sure Allan HATES):
"Stand up before this fine, strong music and use your ears like a man!"

Excellent recording, well worth buying!.......2005-05-08

I can't agre at all with the reviewer from Philadelphia who panned this recording and the music contained therein. First, unless he is a prolific and successful composer, I don't think he has any authoity to come off sounding so elitist.

I am a former violist and composer, and I can tell you it is HARD to compose a symphonic piece (as opposed, say, to the electric guitar, when all you really have to do is come up with the chords)of music. Anyone can spin off "She Loves You" or that sort of thing, but it is quite an accomplishment to write a cohesive piece of music for a classical instrument like the viola. I have played all of Hindemith's pieces with varying degrees of mediocrity, but I can tell you that it is quite beautiful to listen to when the violist gets it right (and I rarely did). My teacher at the time, Alfredo Baldassarri, brought Hindemith's music to life, and managed to play this Germanic music with an intensity and feeling that I could never have matched, and through the music of Hindemith (and Stravinsky), I fell in love with the dissonant, modern sound of the music on this CD. To hear it played cleanly and non-mechanically is wonderful, and Mr. Dean pulls it off magnificently. I don't hear one unintended string being played, not one hint of "sawing" that is so common with Hindemith's pieces (because they are, after all, somewhat abrasive to play). Mr. Dean's technique is flawless, and he doesn't allow the listener, for even a second, to put the CD on "pause" to go do something...

I liked his playing of the op.36. It is not Mozart, that is true, but nobody else was except for Mozart. Op. 36 is difficult to play, and Mr. Dean does a great job.

I am especially fond of Mr. Dean's interpretation of "Der Schwanendreher", and in particular the opening section. It is played cleanly, with feeling, and a tenderness that can only come from true understanding of the piece.

All in all, this is a superb recording, and every viola player should own it. I enthusiastically and unqualifiedly give it five stars.

the Hindemith Experience.......2000-06-18

A violist myself, I have often considered Hindemith my favorite composer for the viola. I am completely satisfied with my purchase of this cd; Dean's musicality and interpretation and Queensland Symphony's sensitivity to the unique viola timbre were an aural delight. I am always excited when modern day classical violists emerge; they rejuvenate the time-worn repertoire and lend a fresh, clear vision to the future of viola playing. This cd is a must-have for any violist (or musician for that matter) who wants a fresh, modern perspective on Hindemith.

Average customer rating:

A fine bargain-basement performance of a Suk work, but...

Suk: A Summer's Tale; A Winter's Tale

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Tracks:

A Summer's Tale, Op.29: Voices Of Life And Consolation
A Summer's Tale, Op.29: Midday
A Summer's Tale, Op.29: Intermezzo - Blind Musicians
A Summer's Tale, Op.29: In The Power Of Phantooms
A Summer's Tale, Op.29: Night
A Winter's Tale, Op.9

Customer Reviews:

A fine bargain-basement performance of a Suk work, but..........1999-10-20

This is the first that Naxos seems to have ventured into the work of the Czech composer Josef Suk, and I must say that they deserve praise for filling in the budget side of the catalogue when it comes to his works. Unfortunately, not everything is perfect with this recording. The op. 29 fares much better -- but I can't decide if that's because it's a bit more tightly organized than Suk's much earlier work, the Winter's Tale. In any case, Mogrelia's op. 29 has some wonderful moments, but many times he seems to let Suk's fragile masterpiece fall apart, lingering too long in spots. Libor Pesek's version on Virgin is probably the one to have of the Summer's Tale, unless you don't wish to pay more, in which case this performance will be good enough. I am not as familiar with the op. 9 work, and I think this is the first modern recording of it. Unfortunately, the music itself is a curious let-down, especially if you're expecting the melodic richness of, say, the Asrael Symphony (a must-listen, incidentally). Apparently Suk's usually burgeoning creativity was burning a little lower when he wrote this one. The recording itself is wonderful, rich and full, with no overload at the heavily scored climaxes of the Summer's Tale and clarity in the finely scored opening lines of the op. 9.

Average customer rating:

Don't fall for hype: entertaining the first time, clearly deserving 1-star afterward
New Music Can be Fun
Ades lives up to the hype ...

Thomas Adès: America: A Prophecy
Thomas Ades , and City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
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Ades: Asyla, These Premises Are Alarmed, etc. / Rattle, et al
Thomas Adès: Living Toys
Ades: Catch/Darknesse Visible/Still Sorrowing/Under Hamelin Hill/Five Eliot Landscapes/Traced OVerhead/Life Story
Adès: Piano Quintet; Schubert: "Trout Quintet"
Osvaldo Golijov: Ainadamar

ASIN: B0000C17Q8
Release Date: 2004-02-24

Tracks:

Part I - City Of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Part II - City Of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
The Fayrfax - Hugh Webb
Movement I - Christopher Bowers-Broadbent
Movement II - Christopher Bowers-Broadbent
January Writ - Christopher Bowers-Broadbent
Oh Thou, Who Didst With Pitfall And With Gin, Op.3a - Hugh Webb
Iam Nocet Frigus Teneris - Robin Blaze
Nec Limpha Caret Alveus - Robin Blaze
Modo Frigescit Quidquid Est - Robin Blaze
Nutritur Ignis Osculo - Robin Blaze
Life Story, Op.8 - Claron McFadden
Cardiac Arrest - Thomas Ades
Les Baricades Misterieuses - Thomas Ades
Brahms, Op.21 - Christopher Maltman

Customer Reviews:

Don't fall for hype: entertaining the first time, clearly deserving 1-star afterward.......2006-10-29

In the 1990s, Thomas Ades benefitted from one of the largest hype machines the classical music world had ever seen. This young composer, born in 1971, was the great hope of British music, the next great master after Britten (somehow Benjamin, Harvey, and Birtwistle were pushed aside), and just the man to bring classical music to the masses. That's a tall order, and one's disappointment in Ades' music deepens all the more because of the glory one was lead to expect. Some of his earlier work, such as "Asyla" and "These Premises are Alarmed", showed him a decent orchestrator, but the man's work has many weaknesses. These continue in this 2004 EMI disc, collecting ten of his pieces.

"America: A Prophecy" (1999) is the largest work here in terms of length and proportions. It was written for mezzo-soprano, chorus, and orchestra for the New York Philharmonic's "Messages for the Millennium" project. Ades sought to contrast the comfort of New York at the time with the bloody way in which the Americas were conquered, so he paired Mayan prophecies from the Chilam Balam with conquistador songs of bravado. Lines like "They will come from the East" and "They will burn your cities" made the piece especially poignant after September 11, 2001. Though the work is entertaining on the first listen or two, especially due to the odd vibrato-less mezzo-soprano, it gets old real soon. There's no subtlety here, Ades either bangs it out with massive orchestral and choral bombast with no economy, like Sandstrom's awful "High Mass", or keeps it real quiet. At both extremes, we get generally the same sonorities of "Asyla", which were cute before but now just seem sappy. I first heard "America: A Prophecy" over a year ago, it's taken me this long to tame my annoyance enough to review it, it's that bad.

Several chamber works primarily for voice follow, setting ancient or medieval texts. These are all quite lightweight, some of them even lack opus numbers, making one wonder how much work the composer put into them. "January Writ", for chorus and organ, seems fairly easy and might prove a hit with regional choruses. The others, however, are dull. "Life Story", here in an arrangement for soprano and a chamber ensemble of string bass and two bass clarinets, is just as unimpressive as the first time it appeared on disc for soprano and piano: if all you do is have your soprano sing like Billy Holliday, it's not all that exciting.

One reason "Asyla" got so much attention was because of its third movement, titled "Ecstasio". In 4/4 time, it evoked the bass/hi-hat alteration of house music and imitated the trippy synths of trace with woodwinds. Trying to follow in that success, this disc contains Ades' chamber setting of a 1982 ska rock hit by Madness, "Cardiac Arrest". Unlike Olga Neuwirth's "Hommage a Klaus Nomi" which supplements the arrangement with a strong dramatic spectacle, Ades' arrangement of "Cardiac Arrest" just sounds gimmicky. So an ensemble can imitate a rock song, so what? This is followed by Ades' arrangement of a Couperin harpsichord piece, where yet again any insight is lacking.

If you're interested in contemporary music from Britain, look for anything by George Benjamin or Julian Anderson, two composers whose music has some substance behind the surface glitter. Considering how far Ades' career had moved along by the last works here, it's appalling that he still hasn't shown anything underivative and rigourous.

New Music Can be Fun.......2006-10-06

The two-year-old review by Mr. Hamilton describes the contents of this disk very amply and cogently. No two pieces resemble each other in any but technical matters of harmony. Ades is at times as spiritual as Arvo Part, at times as whimsical as Ives or Couperin, whose "Mysterious Barricades" he recomposes. These little pieces are, for me, more enjoyable than the larger compositions of Ades that I've heard. Perhaps there is room in contemporary music for a brilliant miniaturist. I rather hope so.

Ades lives up to the hype ..........2004-08-08

After hearing the recording of Asyla, which I consider one of the most exciting works on the modern classical scene, I have tended to give at least some initial respect to anything with the name Thomas Ades printed on it. Perhaps only this respect could persuade me to purchase a CD which juxtaposes Mayan texts, a sermon of John Donne, a poem by Omar Khayyam, and arrangements of a ska classic and a Rameau harpsichord piece. As it turns out, I was not wrong in my hopes that Ades would be able to pull off such a feat of eclecticism.

Of course, the main attraction here is the title work, America: A Prophecy. This big piece for orchestra, soloist, and chorus was written in 1999 as part of the New York Philharmonic's millenium commision. With lines like "They will come from the east ... they will burn all the land ... your cities will fall," the piece gained a rather terrifying new meaning after the September 11th attacks. It is possible that in light of this, the CD was slapped together quickly, blanks filled in by random unreleased Ades juvenilia. I doubt it, since the CD was released a full three years after 9/11; at any rate, Ades is such a diverse composer that an eclectic collection of his music actually makes perfect sense. His very unusual harmonies are audible in all the pieces, even the very early ones; thus the disc is musically unified, even if the themes are quite disparate.

America: A Prophecy is the second-newest work recorded here, and it falls easily into the same category as Asyla. The same utterly unique, very dense orchestrations (from a composer with ambivalence toward Brahms!) are all there. The alternation of this style with a ghostly, vibrato-less mezzo, however, is a new thing, and I find it quite effective -- though the odd singing style took a few listens to grow on me. The climax of the first movement is arresting in the same way Asyla's fourth movement is: the glorious diatonic chords manage to be at once genuinely triumphant but also wry and self-conscious; after all, this sort of outburst has been essentially illegal since the death of Gustav Mahler. I find the piece very effective.

Following this are a few choral works, all different but coming out of the same basic sound-world. The Fayrfax Carol is probably the most traditional, "archaic" sounding of them, a somewhat medieval sound complementing the passion-play-style lyrics. Fool's Rhymes contains some excellent percussive effects that just echo the work of Gallic moderns like Messiaen and Boulez. Ades, however, always remains closer to the diatonic scale. January Writ and O Thou, who didst with pitfall and with gin are just as effective as the preceeding works.

The Lover in Winter, a song-cycle for piano and countertenor, is the earliest work on the CD, but you wouldn't be able to tell for sure just by listening. It is perhaps less distinctive than the newer works, but not less well-crafted. I also hear some echoes of French modern works in the piano writing. As a Latinist, I was thrilled to find some good Latin lyrics also! I wish I could have written music like this when I was seventeen ...

Next up is a much talked-about Ades work, Life Story. It was released a few years ago in a piano-voice arrangement, and famously insructs the soprano to imitate the vocal style of jazz singer Billie Holiday. I've never heard the piano version, but I find it hard to imagine arranging the accompaniment for piano alone; here it is played by two bass clarinets and string bass. I'm not sure that I like the piece especially well; the accompaniment is somewhat Stravinskian and detached, and seems not to fit in with the jazzy vocalizations. Perhaps I would just expect something a little warmer and more sultry for a setting of this Tennessee Williams poem; the whole thing seems a trifle cold. Not bad by any means, just less effective than many other works from Ades.

Two wildly disparate transcriptions follow: the first is of a "ska rock classic" by Christopher Foreman and Cathal Smyth called Cardiac Arrest. It is an odd little piece, very energetic and well-orchestrated. A pleasant surprise for me. Second is Les Barricades misterieuses by Couperin, originally for harpsichord. Rather innocuous, this is also given a good -- and somehwat "mysterious" -- arrangement.

The last piece on the CD, "Brahms," is also the latest-written. It sets a German poem by eminent pianist Alfred Brendel and was written for his birthday. It would seem that neither Ades (judging by previous statements) nor Brendel are terribly enthusiastic about Brahms' work, but at least Ades seems to be more paying an homage to the late-romantic patriarch than anything; the music is certainly not a pastiche, but it does come dangerously close to quotation a couple times -- though I believe the themes are all original. It is recognizeable as the work of Thomas Ades, but his usual frenetic orchestrations, with their percussive effects and extreme contrasts between low and high instruments are replaced with a very Brahmsian low-lying and homogeneous density. The German poem is set extremely well, making for an absolutely wonderful album close, at once humorous and serious.

It is a rare thing for a young, modern-classical composer to rise to swift stardom and become a household name before the age of thirty-five, and surely it would be easy for Mr Ades to get lost in all the hype. Yes, many people will probably buy this recording simply because of the eerie timing and message of the title work, or because Ades is a "hip" composer. But I think there is far more to this recording, and to Thomas Ades, than mere trendiness. He is a remarkable young composer with amazing technique and bursting with (sometimes too many!) ideas. He may not have fully found his voice yet, but his music can hardly fail to be recognized as his own. America: A Prophecy rates five stars, and comes highly recommended.

Cyril Scott: Symphony No. 3 "The Muses"; Piano Concerto No. 2; Neptune

Average customer rating:

Wow!
A jewel amid the junk
This brought me out of 'retirement'!

Cyril Scott: Symphony No. 3 "The Muses"; Piano Concerto No. 2; Neptune
Cyril Scott , Shelley , Brabbins , and BBC Philharmonic
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Cyril Scott: Piano Concerto No. 1; Symphony No. 4; Early One Morning
Richard Arnell: Symphony No. 3; The New Age - Overture
Ludwig Thuille: Symphony; Piano Concerto
Cyril Scott: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 2 - Complete Piano Sonatas
Cyril Scott: Violin Concerto; Festival Overture; Aubade; Three Symphonic Dances

ASIN: B0001XLVXQ
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Tracks:

I Melpomene: Muse Of Epic Petry And Tragedy. Andante Sostenuto-Molto Maestos-Tempo Tranquillo-Molto Maestoso-Tranquillo-Andante
II Thalia:Muse Of Comedy And Merry Verse. Allegro Con Spirito
III Erato: Muse Of Love And Poetry. Molto Tranquillo-Adagio Con Gran Espressione
IV Terpsichore: Muse Of Dance And Song. Molto Moderato E Ritmico
I Con Moto-Meno Mosso- Vigoroso-Tempo I-Andante Non Troppo-Mobilemente Tranquillo-Maestoso
II Tranquillo Pastoral - Adagio- Tempo I Quasi Tempo II-Poco Plu Mosso
III Energico- Grazioso-Moderato-Tempo I
Andante-Molto Maestoso
Con Moto-Largo-
Tempo Di Valse-Molto Cantabile-Wistfully-Molto Cantabile E Sonoro-Plu Tranquillo- Doppio Movimento-
Allegro Agitato
Adagio Molto-Tristamente- Molto Idealmente-Tranquillo Poco A Poco

Customer Reviews:

Wow!.......2007-06-03

The "Muses" symphony is written on a huge canvas, and is hugely effective. It's the best work on this disk. I'm not as enamored with the "Nautilus" -- almost wish the program notes hadn't told us about the original story line (the sinking of the Titanic). In any case, Martyn Brabbins and his orchestra are stupendous. Kudos to them and to Chandos for beginning their Cyril Scott series with this release. (BTW, the next two in the series have been released as of June 2007, and they are equally good. The Piano Concerto #1 with Howard Shelley on Volume 2 is particularly arresting.) You won't be disappointed in this CD ... and if you like composers like Szymanowski, Scriabin, Charles Griffes or Sorabji, you owe it to yourself to get to know the sound-world of Cyril Scott as well.

A jewel amid the junk.......2004-11-11

Cyril Scott (1879-1970) had the misfortune of too easy success early in his career and mounting neglect for the rest of his life. From as early as 1930 he was being written off as an imitator of Debussy who had nothing more worth saying. Does this adventurous CD confirm or refute this view? Though a lifelong lover of his music, I have to confess that `The Muses', Scott's first mature symphony, is like the curate's egg, good in parts but unacceptable as a whole. It starts well with a sinister and brooding opening movement, but the middle movements are underdeveloped and the choral finale is a watered down version of the General Dance at the end of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe.
The Second Piano Concerto of 1958 is representative of the far more individual idiom that Scott developed when he returned to composing in the late 1940s. The harmony has an acrid complexity, the phrases are brief, and there is none of the effortless note-spinning that led Colin Matthews to dismiss his earlier music as `vapid'. Unfortunately, the work never establishes a convincing relationship between the soloist and the orchestra, and is full of striking gestures that lead nowhere. The recently recorded Second String Quartet (played by Archaeus Quartet on the Dutton label) is a far more attractive example of his late style.
That leaves `Neptune', which is a revised version of `Disaster at Sea', a long tone poem depicting the sinking of the Titanic that was written in the late 1910s. There was a tardy first performance in 1933, when the critics panned the work as mere film music. Scott responded by removing the more crudely programmatic parts of the score in a revised and renamed version of the work, which was published in 1935 but has gone unperformed till now. I am happy to hail it as a masterpiece. The tragic atmosphere is sustained throughout, and the writing is beautifully diaphanous and full of highly original orchestral effects, which evoke the surge and the spray and the careering bulk of the doomed ship with uncanny vividness; there is nothing finer in Scott than the bleak epilogue depicting the bare and icy ocean as night sets in. In the wake of the famous film, and with the original title restored, could not this work achieve a belated popularity? Certainly this skilfully crafted and richly sonorous recording makes the strongest possible case. It joins John Ogdon and the LPO's version of the First Piano Concerto (sadly unavailable on CD) and the recent Dutton recording of his first two string quartets as the most important Scott recordings to date.

This brought me out of 'retirement'!.......2004-10-21

I have not written a review of a CD for a few years now, largely due to work commitments but also due to the fact that I have not felt moved to say anything about any new CDs coming on stream. However, this CD deserves a strong recommendation to anyone who appreciates the English Musical Renaissance or who has an intesest in 20th century musical developments. The Symphony No 3 is a wonderful work, extremely hard to bring off, I should imagine, with its huge demands on technique and balance on the players, conductor and sound engineers. Chandos as ever does not fail and gives us over an hour of sound magic. There are sounds here that I have never heard before except from synthesizers and modern electronic devices. There is a dash of Ravel of Dapnis et Chloe with the whirling textures BUT it is a nocturnal depiction, the wordless chorus provides some Scriabinesque flavoring but the air of mystery is totally unlike the Russian master. The second piano concerto is very welcome but lower key than the rest; I do my customary moan at this point (what chuzpah!) that I would love to see Scott's masterpiece, the First Piano Concerto in a CD form. The music is adventurous and dynamic and worth the biggest recommendation I can give. Totally brilliant stuff.

Frank Martin: Symphonie, for Large Orchestra / Symphonie Concertante, for Large Orchestra / Passacaglia, for Large Orchestra - Matthias Bamert

Average customer rating:

Martin Rarities, Excellent Performances

Frank Martin: Symphonie, for Large Orchestra / Symphonie Concertante, for Large Orchestra / Passacaglia, for Large Orchestra - Matthias Bamert
Frank Martin , Matthias Bamert , and The London Philharmonic
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Frank Martin: Complete Music for Piano & Orchestra
Martin: Ballades
Frank Martin: 4 Sonnets à Cassandre; Piano Quintet; Violin Sonata
Frank Martin: Concerto for 7 Wind Instruments, Percussion & Strings / Studies for String Orchestra / Erasmi monumentum - Matthias Bamert
Frank Martin: Les Quatre Elements (The Four Elements)/In Terra Pax

ASIN: B000000AVH
Release Date: 1994-11-29

Tracks:

Symphonie: I. Allegro molto agitato - Poco piu mosso ma tranquillo - Piu mosso - Allegro
Symphonie: II. Largo
Symphonie: III. Scherzo. Allegro molto - Trio. Meno mosso
Symphonie: IV. Finale. Largo - Allegro ritmico - Largo
Symphonie Concertante: I. Adagio - Allegro moderato
Symphonie Concertante: II. Adagio -
Symphonie Concertante: Allegretto alla Marcia - Vivace
Passacaglia: Allegro

Amazon.com

A word of explanation is in order here. The Symphonie Concertante is nothing less than an arrangement for full orchestra of the lovely Petite Symphonie Concertante for Harp, Harpsichord, Piano and Double String Orchestra--probably the composer's most popular piece in its original form. But because of its unusual instrumental requirements, and the difficulty of balancing them in live performance, Frank Martin made this arrangement for standard forces, which here receives its recorded premier. The music is as fine as ever, and set alongside the moody, almost bluesy Symphonie for large orchestra and the stately Passacaglia, it completes an excellent Martin CD. - -David Hurwitz

Amazon.com

Frank Martin (1890-1974) employs a number of diverse styles from the 20th century--serialism, extended tonality, and free atonality. He also isn't afraid of the occasional melodic sequence. Symphonie (1937) makes use of a loose serialism, opening with the motive on the lower strings, using the twelve notes of the chromatic scale. But his harmonies are his key invention. You don't expect them, but they're there. Symphonie Concertante (1945) has a weaker allegiance to serialism even though twelve-tone ideas are still present. The Passacaglia (1944) is a quieter work with its own tight internal logic. Recommended. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Martin Rarities, Excellent Performances.......2000-06-21

3 rarities make up this superbly played program. The Symphony (1936-7) comes from the period when Frank Martin was consciously assimilating 12-tone theory - though not Schoenberg's aesthetic - into his compositional vocabulary, a process which led in 1938 to the achievement of his mature style in the first part of Le vin herbe. Like the First Piano Concerto (1933-4) [ASV CD DCE 1082], the Symphony is a large-scale piece overflowing with beautiful things, & will be of great interest to anyone who already knows & loves Martin's music. As noted above, Martin transcribed his Petite Symphonie Concertante (1944/5) for conventional symphony orchestra even before its premiere, concerned that the original's odd scoring of harp, harpsichord & piano with double string orchestra would discourage performance. (As he later admitted, the "easier" version went virtually unperformed, while the original made his international name.) While one may miss the extraordinary sonorities of the original, this version is eminently satisfying on its own, & shows the strength & richness of Martin's melodic, harmonic & rhythmic ideas. Finally, the Passacaglia for Orchestra (1962) is another transcription, of the 1944 Passacaglia for organ [Hyperion CDA67017], already adapted once for string orchestra (1952)[London 448 264-2]. This majestic piece is glorious in any of its versions; here Martin plays Stokowski to his own Bach, using the expanded timbral resources to add color & clarify counterpoint. A radio broadcast of the world premiere, with the composer conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, has been issued [Jecklin JD 645-2, with 1970 concert performances of the Petite Symphonie Concertante & the Maria Triptychon], but that's in somewhat constricted mono, & this piece above all benefits from the rich, full sound of this Chandos disc.

Music Track:

Music Track

music track

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