Camargo Guarnieri
Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4
CAMARGO GUARNIERI (1907-1993): Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 4 "Brasília", Abertura Festiva. It doesn't seem like 17 months since the first disc of Guarnieri's symphonies were released but, sure enough, they were in our May 2002 catalogue! The First Symphony (1944) shares the stylistic world of the first CD's Obertura Concertante from the same period - dedicated to Koussevitzky, it was begun while the Guarnieri was living in New York and is brazen, optimistic and very American-sounding in its outer movements (the forthright swagger is comparable to material of the same period coming from Copland and Harris) while the slow movement's still pool of calm which works its way into a much louder, tense and march-like atmosphere before returning to its opening has something of a "War Symphony" quality to it. The Fourth (1963), motivated by the competition for the founding of the Brazilian capital, is dedicated to Leonard Bernstein and is in a stripped-down (18 minutes as opposed to 33) style where every note counts, while the rhythmic energy of the outer movements and the quiet-crescendo-decrescendo-quiet of the contrasting slow one (here marked Lento e tragico) mirror its earlier sibling. The "Festive Overture" of 1971 is a short (7-minute) but wild ride with loads of percussion, as demanded by its commission. São Paolo Symphony Orchestra; John Neschling. BIS CD-1290 (Sweden) 10F001 $17.98
Regarding the Czech import situation:
Our supplier in Prague reports that many of the titles we offered last month (especially the Popper Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 and the three Reicha discs) are likely to be out-of-print. We may get more copies in but there may not be enough to fill all back-orders (many small Czech labels apparently do not remanufacture CDs when they run out of their initial runs). The Popper 3 & 4 should not be a problem since this is a new release. We knew that many of these items were almost 10 years old but not that supply would be a problem!
On stock availablity:
Almost all U.S. distributors are bringing in as few units of new release titles as possible. You'll see the effects of this in this catalogue and, probably, in future ones too: Three Chandos titles arrived too late for inclusion in the September catalogue so they reside here in October. But Chandos' distributor is already out of them and we have, accordingly, been back-ordered. They will most likely arrive sometime during the month, meaning that some of you will be back-ordered on them and others will not.
ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD (1897-1957): Der Sturm for Chorus and Orchestra, Cello Concerto in C, Op. 37, March and Prayer from Die Kathrin, Op. 28, 3 Excerpts from Much Ado About Nothing, Op. 11, Waltz from Der Scheemann, Kanns heut nicht fassen - Aria from Der Ring des Polykrates, Op. 7, Introduction to Act I, Prelude to Act II and Aria Ich ging zu ihm from Das Wunder der Heliane, Op. 20. This Korngoldian grab-back of arias, choral pieces and other short works, fourth in an ongoing series from this source, contains two world premiere recordings: the five-minute Heine setting for chorus and orchestra Der Sturm from 1913 (not only never recorded but never before performed!) and three more excerpts from the Vienna stage production in 1920 of Much Ado About Nothing. German-English texts. Wendy Nielsen (soprano), Zuill Bailey (cello), Konzerverinigung Linzer Theaterchor, Bruckner Orchestra Linz; Caspar Richter. ASV DCA 1146 (England) 10F002 $16.98
RUDOLF ESCHER (1912-1980): Sinfonia per dieci strumenti, Nostalgies for Tenor and Small Orchestra, ESCHER/DEBUSSY: 6 épigraphes antiques. The main work here is the 32-minute symphony (for wind quintet, string quartet and double bass) from 1973-76 . Technically, this is in a type of serial style although the frequency of melodies and melodic cells would almost never lead one to guess that (there are even striking imitations of Mahlerian melodies in the winds in the first movement!). Collectors who value the approachability of, say, Benjamin Frankel will find this equally appealing. The songs, from 1951 (although revised twice - 1961 and 1977) use dance rhythms from various European and South American locations as bearers of their nostalgic evocations while the 1975-77 orchestration of the Debussy is a masterful homage to a composer who was most important to him in his youth. French texts. Marcel Reijans (tenor), Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra; Ed Spanjaard. Donemus/Composers' Voice Classics CV 104 (Netherlands) 10F003 $18.98
QUNIHICO HASHIMOTO (1904-1949): Symphony No. 1 in D, Symphonic Suite: Heanvenly Maiden and Fisherman. Hashimoto was mostly an autodidact, making it all the more astonishing that he produced music in Impressionistic, Romantic, Nationalistic and avant-garde styles, as well as many popular songs, jazz songs, music for radio commercials and films. The notes also suggest that he had in common with Shostakovich and other Soviet composers of the time the necessity of producing music for a totalitatian government which controlled his manner and style of composition. The symphony (1940) was written for the 2600th anniversary of the coronation of Japan's first emperor (remember Richard Strauss' Japanese Festmusik and Ibert's Ouverture de Fête? - same occasion). A large-scale piece of three movements and over 46 minutes, the predominant influence in its first movement is French Impressionism while the second reflects various southern Japanese folk music styles and the third - a 19-minute theme-variations-and-fugue - is based on material derived from Gagaku ceremonial song. The companion suite (1933) is culled from a ballet whose music combines ancient Japanese songs with, again, French Impressionism. Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra; Ryusuke Numajiri. Naxos Japanese Classics 8.555881 (New Zealand) 10F004 $6.98
DAVID DIAMOND (b.1915): Complete String Quartets, Vol. 3 - Quartets Nos. 1, 5 & 6. Purchasers of the first two volumes in this invaluable series will know what to expect and will get plenty more of it here. Endlessly inventive in his writing for the four voices whether using the classical theme-development-recapitulation or deriving forms of his own from tradition, there is always a breathing ebb and flow of tension and relaxation with sections that can be melodic and serene juxtaposed with music of greater energy and harmonic spikiness. The final volume of this series will complete a cycle which will have to be recognized among the finest of its genre in the 20th century. Potomac String Quartet. Albany TROY 613 (U.S.A.) 10F005 $16.98
WILHELM KEMPFF (1895-1991): Fränkisches Bilderbuch, Op. 48, Meerespsalm in D Minor, Op. 9, Argentinisches Ständchen, Sonata in G Minor, Op. 47, Choral (from first version of op. 47 sonata), KEMPFF/GLUCK: Orpheus' Klage & Reigen seliger Geister from Orpheus und Eurydike. As owners of the Koch Schwann Kempff orchestral disc will know, the great pianist, who specialized in classical and romantic repertoire never went beyond those styles in his compositions either. The "Franconian Picture-Book", composed around the end of World War II, is a set of vivid character pictures in true Schumann form if somewhat updated in style and the sonata of 1947 is also late Romantic in nature (the Choral was originally the third movement of the sonata, removed by Kempff since he felt the sonata was more taut without it). Truly Romantic in every way is the very early 14-minute "Sea Psalm" (subtitled "Fantasie") of 1919. Rüdiger Steinfatt (piano). Dontrie D 0607 (Germany) 10F006 $17.98 >
DANE RUDHYAR (1895-1985): Tetragram No. 8 "Primavera", Tetragram No. 3 "Rebirth", Lamento, Cortège funèbre, ERIK SATIE (1866-1925): Uspud: Ballet Chrétien for Narrator and Piano. The first Rudhyar to appear since the CRI reissue of William Masselos' piano disc back in the 80s! Anyone interested in the circle of composers influenced by Scriabin, astrology and various types of mysticism will want to have these two Tetragrams (1927 and 1928), relatively short, four-movement works in which the sonorities of the piano are as important as the darkly luminous, highly chromatic music itself. The Lamento and funeral march are earlier pieces, dating from the composer's years in his native Paris (1913 and 1914), but his mature personality already is evident. One of the most unjustly forgotten composers in the history of the American avant-garde! Satie's "Christian ballet" dates from 1892, at the end of his brief involvement as "official composer" to the Ordre de la Rose-Croix. Lasting 34 minutes in this performance, it is, as one would expect, slow, serene and, then, slower and more serene (a quote in the notes - apparently from a Boston Globe review of a 1996 performance by these artists - can't be passed up: "neo-medieval, proto-minimalist dadaism"!). French-English texts. Richard Cameron-Wolfe (piano), Kathryn Philip (narrator). Furious Artisans FACD 6807 (U.S.A.) 10F007 $16.98
EGON WELLESZ (1885-1974): Symphony No. 2, Op. 65 "The English", Symphony No. 9, Op. 111. As pointed out regarding Wellesz's symphonies at the beginning of this cycle eight months ago (02E059), although atonality or "free tonality" is present to one extent or another in all the symphonies, the first five are mainly in the Mahler/Bruckner tradition while the later four are more personal in character, all in three movements, slow-fast-slow with a greater economy of instrumentation, thin textures broad intervals and an expressive compositional style. This is exactly what we get here: the second symphony (1947-48) is the longest of the cycle (42 minutes in four movements) and, in many ways, the most easily approachable since Wellesz went out of his way to make it easy for his adopted countrymen in England to understand it (one critic described its slow movement as being received by the audience "as if it had proceeded from an English folk song"). The Ninth is the work of an 86-year-old and its three movements, as usual slow-fast-slow, are constructed with a Webernian spareness and rigor, the whole work intensely expressive and distilled from a lifetime of experience. Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; Gottfried Rabl. CPO 999 997 (Germany) 10F008 $15.98
HARALD SÆVERUD (1897-1992): Volume 6 - Symphony No. 5 "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 16, Oboe Concerto, Op. 15, Entrata regale, Op. 41, Sonata Giubilata, Op. 47. The Fifth is the first of three "War Symphonies" and its given subtitle at the time was changed after the war to its actual one "Symphony of Resistance". Premiered in March 1941, it is a 24-minute work in a single-movement, actually in sonata form with four contrasting sections. The style is neo-classical, the content not openly nationalistic or patriotic (since even the Nazis would have figured that out) but emotionally and passionately committed. The concerto dates from three years earlier and generally concentrates on the oboe's pastoral qualities. Closing out the disc are the "Royal Entry" of 1960, a grand march for the Norwegian king upon his opening of that year's Bergen Festival and the 1969 Sonata Giubilata (exactly what its title claims - a 10-minute orchestral sonata) was written for the 900th anniversary of the city of Bergen the following year. Stavanger Symphony Orchestra; Ole Kristian Ruud. BIS CD-1162 (Sweden) 10F009 $17.98
ERNST TOCH (1887-1964): String Quartet No. 7, Op. 15, String Quartet No. 10, Op. 28, Dedication. The fourth volume in this series brings us the last of Toch's youthful quartets - the seventh - composed around 1907 by the young autodidact after much study of Mozart's quartets. Take Mozart's clarity, add Brahmsian melody and the tonality of dying Romanticism, and you have the young Toch. The tenth quartet dates from 1921 and is wholly, and quite uniquely, formed from anagrams of the composer's cousin's name (Bass). The paucity of material makes all the more remarkable Toch's ingenuity in producing themes and motifs for four movements while his selection of pitches and structure of intervals lend the music a somewhat dissonant aspect. Rounding off the release is a short work Toch wrote for his daughter's wedding in 1948. Buchberger Quartet. CPO 999 775 (Germany) 10F010 $15.98
Bohuslav Martinu° (1890-1959): Overture for Orchestra, Rhapsody for Large Orchestra, Sinfonia concertante for 2 Orchestras, Concerto grosso for Chamber Orchestra, The Parables for Large Orchestra. Containing a significant number of the composer's orchestral pieces from 1929 (the Rhapsody which is not unlike its immediate predecessors Half-time and La Bagarre in its attitude) to 1957 (the Parables, continuing the idiom of his Symphony No. 6) which are not titled "Symphony", this collection of late 1980s digital recordings demonstrates the continuing attraction of the baroque concerto grosso style for Martinu as everything here but the Parables has elements of concerto and ripieno in it. Mid-price. Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; JiÞí Belohlávek. Supraphon SU 3743-2 (Czech Republic) 10F011 $10.98
ARAM KHACHATURIAN (1903-1978): Funeral Ode in Memory of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Ode of Joy, Selections from Spartacus. We offer this new release for its brand-new recordings of two rather rare occasional works: the funeral ode (purely orchestral) is a wonderfully structured piece with a noble melody that could have come from any of his ballet scores and, while the Ode (for soprano, chorus and orchestra) could be seen as a tub-thumping, mandatory composition to the order of the State, it could also be argued that it has a genuine sense of light-hearted joy in the music behind the trite texts. Russian-English texts. Marina Domashenko (soprano), Spiritual Revival Choir of Russia, Philharmonia of Russia; Constantine Orbelian. Delos DE 3328 (U.S.A.) 10F012 $16.98
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958): Symphony No. 6 in E Minor, Symphony No. 8 in D Minor, Nocturne for Baritone and Orchestra. For collectors of this new cycle... and, for those who are interested in world premiere Vaughan Williams, here is the 1908 Nocturne - a setting of Whitman's "Whispers of Heavenly Death" - which was only discovered in 2000 amongst the papers of baritone Frederic Austin's son and which is another piece of the puzzle connecting the composer's youth to the early maturity of the London Symphony. Texts included. Roderick Williams (baritone), London Symphony Orchestra; Richard Hickox. Chandos 10103 (England) 10F013 $16.98
SERGEI RACHMANINOV (1873-1943): The Rock, Op. 7, Prince Rostislav, Scherzo in D Minor, Caprice bohémien, Op. 12, The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29. Nothing terribly unusual here, of course, but some of you are collecting Polyansky's burgeoning series of Russian orchestral music and it's nice to have all three of Rachmaninov's very early works here (the Mendelssohian scherzo of 1888, the Tchaikovskian tone-poem Prince Rostislav [1891] and the 1893 fantasy The Rock, based on a Chekhov short story) while the fairly long Caprice (1892-4) is hardly over-recorded as well. Russian State Symphony Orchestra; Valeri Polyansky. Chandos 10104 (England) 10F014 $16.98
Early Music from Leipzig
SETH CALVISIUS (1556-1615): Freut euch und jubliert for 5 Voices and Continuo, JACOB WECKMANN (c.1650-1680): Ein Tag in deinen Vorhöfen for Soprano, Alto, Bass, 2 Violins, Bassoon and Continuo, JOHANN SCHELLE (1648-1701): Barmherzig und gnädig ist der Herr for 2 Sopranos, Alto, Tenor, Bass, 2 Violins, Bassoon and Continuo, JOHANN HERMANN SCHEIN (1586-1630): Christ unser Herr, zum Jordan kam for 2 Vocal and Instrumental Voices and Continuo, JOHANN ROSENMÜLLER (c.1619-1684): Welt ade, ich bin dein müde for 5 Voices, O nomen Jesu, nomen dulce for 4 Voices and Continuo, TOBIAS MICHAEL (1592-1657): Siehe der Gerechte kömpt umb for 6 Voices and Continuo, WERNER FABRICIUS (1633-1679): Paduana 17 for 5 Voices, SEBASTIAN KNÜPFER (1633-1676): Herr, strafe mich nicht in denem Zorn for 2 Sopranos, Alto, Tenor, Bass, 3 Viols, Violone, Bassoon and Continuo, Paduana No. 43 for 5 Voices, HEINRICH ISAAC (c.1450-1517): Ecce dilectus meus for 4 Voices, GRADUAL OF THE THOMASKIRCHE (14th cen.): Proprium-Stücke zum Epiphaniasfest. A collection of sacred concertos, choral concertos, and motets from the Leipzig archives of the 14th to the 17th centuries, with a funeral aria, a lament and a few instrumental interludes - all of which attest to the high level of accomplishment in this cultural center well before the "big names" started to appear in the late 17th century. German texts. Vocal soloists, Ensemble Alte Musik Dresden; Norbert Schuster. Raum Klang RK 9904 (Germany) 10F015 $17.98
CHIARA MARGARITA COZZOLANI (1602-c.1677): Marian Vespers from Salme a 8 covie concertati and Concerti sacri. Cozzolani was a nun at the convent of S. Radegonda in Milan, one of the most famous sources of sacred music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Quite up-to-date with contemporary musical currents, these pieces are distinguished by florid vocal lines, driving and repetitive continuo parts and recurrent refrains and passages. 2 CDs. Orlando di Lasso Ensemble; Detlef Bratschke. Thorofon CTH 2461/2 (Germany) 10F016 $35.98
JOHANN CASPAR FERNDINAND FISCHER (1656-1746): Musicalisches Blumen-Büschlein - Suites No. 1 in D Minor, No. 4 in D, No. 5 in E Minor and No. 8 in G, Musicalischer Parnassus - Calliope in G, Erato in E Minor, Euterpe in F, Uranie in D Minor. Fischer was important in the transmission of Lullian styles to Germany both in his set of orchestral suites and in his two large collections of keyboard suites, excerpts of which latter are heard here. Unlike the Germanic style exemplified by Froberger (allemande-courante-sarabande-gigue), Fischer uses all kinds of French dances such as the bourée, gavotte and passepied and the number of movements varies widely from suite to suite. Gerald Hambitzer (harpsichord). Verlag Dohr DCD 006 (Germany) 10F017 $17.98 >
GEORG BÖHM (1661-1733): 11 Suites for Harpsichord, Prelude, Fugue and Postlude in G Minor. And, speaking of Frobergian style, here it is in strength in Böhm's eleven keyboard suites, all in the four-movement sequence described in the blurb above. The Prelude, Fugue and Postlude combines French grace and charm with German intensity of feeling. 2CDs. Mitzi Meyerson (harpsichord). Glossa GCD 921801 (Spain) 10F018 $37.98
FRANCESCO ANTONIO BONPORTI (1672-1749): Complete Works, Vol. 4 - 10 Inventioni for Violin and Continuo, Op. 10, 10 Sonate da Camera for Violin and Continuo. Bonporti's language is based on Corelli but his main concern, expressed in often extravagantly dense writing, seems to have been melody. (Three of his op. 10 Inventioni were attributed to Bach until 1911.) 2 CDs. Accademia I Filarmonici; Alberto Martini. Dynamic CDS 424/1-2 (Italy) 10F019 $35.98
ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI (1660-1725): Griselda. Dating from 1721, this was Scarlatti's last opera and, in its balanced synthesis of comic and tragic, heroic and pastoral, action and reflection, psychologically complex recitatives and broadly emotional arias, it appears as if the composer meant it as a model of what could be constructed from the various streams of operatic material of his time. Each of its roles has its own tonality and the orchestration is the richest of any of Scarlatti's operas, with flutes, oboes and horns joining the strings. 3 CDs. Italian-English libretto. Dorothea Röschmann, Veronica Cangemi (sopranos), Bernard Fink, Silvia Tro Santafé (mezzos), Lawrence Zazzo (countertenor), Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin; René Jacobs. Harmonia Mundi HMC 901805.07 (France) 10F020 $53.98
ANTONIO DE LITERES (1673-1747): Júpiter y Semele. One of four extant zarzuelas by Literes, this work dates from 1718 and is based on an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The early zarzuelas better demonstrate the combination of Italian opera influences and the native Spanish stage plays for which music provided coherent structure (in this piece, Semele never sings and is portrayed by an actress). Choruses introduce the acts and emphazise particular situations while striking set-pieces (fire, shipwreck and war) are given vivid musical portrayals. 2 CDs. Spanish-English libretto. Marta Almajano, Soledad Cardoso (sopranos), Lola Casariego, Marina Pardo (mezzos), Al Ayre Español; Eduardo López Banzo. Harmonia Mundi Iberica HMI 987036.37 (Spain) 10F021 $35.98
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN (1681-1767): Ouverture in G for 2 Oboes, Violin Concertante and Strings, Burlesque de Quixotte in G, Ouverture in B Minor for 2 Oboes, 2 Solo Violins, 2 Bassoons and Strings, Concerto in D for 2 Violins, Bassoons and Strings. After a slight dearth in the welcome recent Telemann onslaught, we have this new disc from Chandos which offers the thoroughly enjoyable Don Quixote suite which offers literal musical depictions of seven scenes from the novel. No dates are provided in the notes for this or any of the other pieces - two more of the 130 suites Telemann composed, whose mixture of French and German styles may only narrow their provenance to about 30 years, and a modest concerto which is probably earlier rather than later. Collegium Musicum 90; Simon Standage. Chandos Chaconne 0700 (England) 10F022 $16.98
FRANCISCO ANTÓNIO DE ALMEIDA (c.1702-1755): La Giuditta. Dating from 1726, this sacred oratorio was performed just before the Portuguese composer returned home and is completely traditional - two parts, four characters, each with a string of arias and recitatives and each ending in a duet. Although Almeida probably never heard the music of Handel, his music calls that German master to mind which, since Handel spent some time in Rome some twenty years before, speaks for the homogeneity of the stylistic currents running through the composers who were patronized by Cardinal Ottoboni and Prince Ruspoli. 2 CDs. Budget-price. Italian libretto. Lena Lootens, Francesca Congiu (sopranos), Martyn Hill (tenor), Axel Köhler (countertenor), Concerto Köln; René Jacobs. Original 1992 Harmonia Mundi release. Harmonia Mundi HMX 2901411.12 (France) 10F023 $18.98
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK (1714-1787): 7 Trio Sonatas. Gluck wrote only these chamber pieces (there are 18 symphonies listed in Grove!) aside from his operatic repertoire but they are fascinating works in the empfindsamkeit style of the period (they were published in London in 1746). Asymmetric themes, bizarre melodic lines, moments of extreme sentimentality and other galant stylistic traits all combine to produce strikingly original compositions. A rich continuo of archlute, baroque guitar, harpsichord and organ contribute to a really satisfying aural feast. Aura Musicale. Hungaroton HCD 32158 (Hungary) 10F024 $17.98
CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH (1714-1788): The Solo Keyboard Music, Vol. 10 - Sonatas in F, W.62/9, in G, W.65/26, in G Minor, W.65/27 and in D, W.62/13, Suite in E Minor, W.62/12. All of these pieces, in the galant style, date from 1749-52, a time of peace and prosperity in Prussia, and apparently were written for amateurs or pupils of the composer. They are light and pleasant with simple homophonic textures and uncomplicated accompaniments. Miklós Spányi (clavichord). BIS CD-1189 (Sweden) 10F025 $17.98
FRANZ ANTON HOFFMEISTER (1754-1812): String Quartets in F, B Flat & in D Minor, Op. 14. Much of what has been recorded by Hoffmeister has involved the flute - an important instrument for a composer/publisher who wished to make money in late 18th century Vienna - so it's good to have this set of quartets which combine the conversational style of Haydn with the translucent scoring and easy melodiousness of Mozart. Two are rather light and carefree while the minor key third has premonitions of Schubert in its troubled slow movement. Aviv Quartet. Naxos 8.555952 (New Zealand) 10F026 $6.98
JOSEPH MARTIN KRAUS (1756-1792): Sonata in E Flat, Sonata in E, Rondo in F, Scherzo con variazioni, Larghetto, Swedish Dance, 2 neue kuriose Minuetten. Kraus' complete piano works, led by the strikingly dark and forward-looking E major sonata of 1788 whose first movement foreshadows Beethoven in sweep and grandeur. The earlier sonata (1785) is more Classical in style, balancing lyricism and virtuosity while the remainder are short, occasional works (except for the nine-minute Rondo - the earliest piece here - with its echoes of C.P.E. Bach) distinguished by their freshness and charm. Jacques Després (piano). Naxos 8.555771 (New Zealand) 10F027 $6.98
JOHANN CHRISTIAN HEINRICH RINCK (1770-1846): Piano Works, Vol. 1 - 8 Variations on "Brüder, lagert euch im Kreise", Op. 44, 12 Exercices from 30 Exercices à deux parties dans tous les tons, Op. 67, 6 Variations on "Das Vögelchen", Op. 61, 8 Variations on "Freut euch des Lebens", Op. 39, 8 Variations on "Zu Steffen sprach im Traume", Op. 62, 8 Variations on "Zieht ihr Krieger, zieht von dannen", Op. 51. Rinck was one of those rare birds - a brilliant organist, composer and excellent teacher who died a rich man. He wrote far less for the piano than he did for the organ and this disc contains half of that uvre: salon-style variations on popular melodies of the time are interspersed with trios of exercises from his Well-Tempered Clavier-like set which continues Bach's model into the early Romantic period. Oliver Drechsel (fortepiano). Verlag Dohr DCD 018 (Germany) 10F028 $17.98 >
MARIA SZYMANOWSKA (1789-1831): 24 Mazurkas, Contradanse in A Flat, Mazurka in C, 4 Valses for Piano 4 Hands. Renowned throughout Europe as a concert pianist, dedicatee of Goethe's Aussöhnung and First Pianist to the Russian court, Szymanowska also composed around 100 piano pieces, of which the 24 mazurkas (published in 1826) constitite one of the most important sources for the genre before Chopin. Paule van Parys (piano), Wilhelm Kemper (second piano). Verlag Dohr DCD 002 (Germany) 10F029 $17.98 >
Jan Václav Hugo VoÞiek (1791-1825): 12 Rhapsodies, Op. 1, Le désir, Op. 3, Le plaisir, Op. 4, 6 Impromptus, Op. 7, Sonata in B Flat Minor, Op. 20, Variations in B Flat, Op. 19, Albumleaf, Eclogue in C, 2 Rondos, Op. 18, Impromptus in F & in B Flat. Collectors who own the two VoÞiek discs on the defunct Collins Classics label will want to know that there are six pieces here which are not on those two discs. Also, whether a matter of repeats or of interpretation, Kvapil uses 102 minutes for material for the Rhapsodies, Le désir and Le plaisir which make up only one CD on Collins. Otherwise, collectors of late Classical piano music should be delighted to have three hours of music which looks ahead to the Romantic period (VoÞiek was the first composer to use the title Eclogue) even if it is not as Beethovenian-sounding as the composer's wonderful symphony. 3 CDs. Mid-price. 1974-75 recordings. Radoslav Kvapil (piano). Supraphon SU 3747-2 (Czech Republic) 10F030 $32.98
ALFREDO PIATTI (1822-1901): 12 Capricci for Solo Cello, Op. 25, Capriccio sopra un tema della "Niobe" di Pacini for Solo Cello, Op. 21, Remembranze del "Trovatore" di Verdi for Cello and Piano, Op. 20. Two examples of the output which would have been expected of a 19th-century instrumental virtuoso (and Piatti was one of that century's most eminent cellists): a series of virtuoso solo pieces to stretch the limits of every cellist, and a pair of equally virtuosic paraphrases on currently popular opera tunes. Mid-price. Wen Sinn-Yang (cello), Chifuyu Yada (piano). Arts 47639-2 (Germany) 10F031 $9.98
Violin Concertos for Children, Vol. 2
FRIEDRICH SEITZ (1848-1918): School Concerto in G Minor, Op. 12/3, Part I, GUSTAV HOLLÄNDER (1855-1915): School Concerto in A Minor, Op. 62, Part I, RENÉ ORTMANS (1863-1949): Concertino in A Minor, Op. 12, CHARLES DE BÉRIOT (1802-1870): Concerto No. 9 in A Minor, Op. 104, Concerto No. 7 in G, Op. 76, Part I, GIOVANNI BATTISTA VIOTTI (1753-1825): Concerto No. 22 in A Minor, Part I, JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809): Concerto No. 2 in G, Part I, ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741): Concerto in G, RV 310, WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791): Concerto in D, "Adelaide", K 294a, Part I. The second volume which these Polish violinists have recorded of concertos written to help develop and test the skills of young violinists and though an orchestral accompaniment was too expensive, the piano accompaniment is arguably that much more "authentic" when dealing with day-to-day realities in teaching institutions. Krzysztof Podejko, Bartlomiej Niziol (violins), Elzbieta Jarszewska-Kordykiewicz, Ella Susmanek (pianos). Dux 0169 (Poland) 10F032 $16.98
ADOLPH VON HENSELT (1814-1889): Introduktion und Variationen über ein Thema von Gaetano Donizetti, Op. 1, Scherzo in B Minor, Op. 9, Toccatina in C Minor, Op. 25, Ballade in B Flat, Op. 31, Valse Melancholique, Op. 36, L'aurore boréale, Op. 30, Impromptus in C Minor, Op. 7, in F Minor, Op. 17, in B Flat Minor, Op. 34 & in B Minor, Op. 37, Pensée fugitive, Op. 8, Rondo serioso. Now that the Schwann label has vanished into the gaping maw of Universal Classics, it is most likely that only a few items which performers had rights to will ever see the light of day again - such as this late 80s release (long deleted even before Schwann's death) of character and incidental piano pieces by the virtuoso pianist/composer Henselt. (The Dontrie label is owned by pianist Steinfatt.) Rüdiger Steinfatt (piano). Original 1988 Koch Schwann release. Dontrie D 0405 (Germany) 10F033 $17.98 >
ADOLPH VON HENSELT (1814-1889): 8 Études Caractéristiques de Concert from Op. 2, 12 Études de Salon, Op. 5. Like the above title, these recordings were part of 2 LPs worth of Henselt made in 1984 and 1988 but, apparently, the etudes did not make it to CD (at least in the U.S.). Dating from 1837-8, these works all carry titles (the op. 2 in extravagant French are dedicated to King Ludwig I of Bavaria, the op. 5 in short, to-the-point German are for Queen Marie of Saxony) which describe the content. Combining exquisite virtuosity with the charm and expression associated with the salon these pieces are perfect examples of Henselt's art at a time when Schumann considered him the greatest German composer of the time. Rüdiger Steinfatt (piano). Dontrie D 0408 (Germany) 10F034 $17.98 >
FRIEDRICH KIEL (1821-1885): Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 - Grosse Polonaise, Op. 14, 3 Humoresken, Op. 59, Tarantelle, Op. 27, 11 Melodien, Op. 15, Fantasie in A Flat, Op. 68, 2 Capricen, Op. 26, 2 Nocturnos, WoO. This is the first in what will be a complete series of both two and four-hand piano music by Kiel (like Wergo, Dohr is the publisher of the music it records) which will be appearing over the next few years (volume two is scheduled for sometime this autumn). Kiel never wrote a sonata (or any symphonies although there is the one piano concerto): his piano pieces are either short dance forms or character pieces like the main work here, the Melodien (which runs for some 28 minutes). In them, one finds stylistic elements which range from the neo-baroque to the Schumannian Romantic and technical demands which move from students and amateurs to professional concert pianists. Olvier Drechsel (1868 Stöcker concert piano). Verlag Dohr DCD 009 (Germany) 10F035 $17.98 >
GEORGES BIZET (1838-1875): Don Procopio. Finished in 1859, this two-act opera buffa has similarities to Donizetti's Don Pasquale but infuses a familiar genre with striking originality in its harmonies and orchestration. A march here was borrowed from the Symphony in C and other pieces were later reused in Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth. Italian-English libretto. Gabriela Kaminska (soprano), Olivier Heyte (tenor), Pierre-Yves Pruvot (baritone), Orchestra and Chorus of the Warsaw Chamber Opera; Didier Talpain. Dynamic CDS 415 (Italy) 10F036 $17.98
JOACHIM RAFF (1822-1882): Symphony No. 6 in D Minor, Op. 189, Suite No. 2 in F, Op. 194 "In Ungarischer Weise". Raff's sixth symphony (1873) comes with a program note that describes the life and death of a struggling artist. "Lived: strove, suffered, fought; - Died - Recognized" go the headings for the four movements ("Lived" covers the first movement and the scherzo) but the music is in the characteristic vein running from Schumann and Mendelssohn. More important is the first CD recording of the following year's "Hungarian Suite". At 36 minutes, it's three minutes longer than the symphony and its five movements provide all the Hungarian flavor one could have expected from the period: a shepherd's song in the lassu/friss alternation, a military march (of the volunteer army - the Honvéd), a pastoral folksong with variations and a csardas finale, all in the colorful orchestral clothing one comes to expect from this composer. Bamberg Symphony; Hans Stadlmair. Tudor 7108 (Switzerland) 10F037 $16.98 >
JOACHIM RAFF (1822-1882): Grand Quintuor in A Minor for Piano and String Quartet, Op. 107, String Sextet in G Minor, Op. 178. The formal command, brilliantly planned themes and contrapuntal complexity of the writing in the 1862 piano quintet led Hans von Bülow to describe it seven years later as "the most important work in the field of chamber music since Beethoven". Written ten years later, the string sextet (obviously influenced as regards genre by Brahms' two sextets) is often densely composed, with a turbulent first movement, Hungarian-flavored scherzo, a varied theme-and-variations slow movement and a motivically dominated finale. Ensemble Villa Musica. MD&G 304 1181-2 (Germany) 10F038 $17.98
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856): Songs, Vol. 8 - Liederkreis, Op. 24, Sehnsucht, Die Weinende, Der Fischer, Im Herbste, Kurzes Erwachen, An Anna I, Gesanges Erwachen, An Anna II, Der Wanderer, Der Wanderer in der Sägemühle, Erinnerung, Hirten-knabe, Schlusslied des Narren, Dem roten Röslein gleicht mein Lieb, Der frohe Wandersmann, Die rote Hanne, Die nächtliche Heerschau, Nur ein lächelnder Blick, Ein Gedanke, Der Reiter und der Bodensee, Trost im Gesang, Der deutscher Rhein. At least ten of the early songs here (from 1827-28) are almost certainly unavailable as recordings and another six were recorded only by Fischer-Dieskau and Eschenbach in the mid 70s, making this sandwich (in which Liederkreis is the meat) a delectable morsel for collectors. German-English texts (amongst 90 pages of English-only notes). Mark Padmore (tenor), Christopher Maltman, Jonathan Lemalu (baritones), Graham Johnson (piano), Members of Ex Cathedra Consort. Hyperion CDJ 33108 (England) 10F039 $17.98
ALEXANDER BORODIN (1833-1887): String Quartets No. 1 in A & No. 2 in D, String Sextet in D Minor. Although there are several other recordings of Borodin's two tune-packed quartets, the very early sextet, published in Moscow only in 1946 and in two movements which both pay tribute to Mendelssohn and contain pseudo-Russian motifs, is rather rare and the release should appeal to collectors of this now venerable English quartet. The Lindsays. ASV DCA 1143 (England) 10F040 $16.98
GIACOMO PUCCINI (1858-1924): Le Villi. This was Puccini's first stage work, premiering in 1884. A story rather than a drama, there is no conflict or any real action until the ghosts of the title dance the unfaithful lover to his death. Influences from Catalani and Ponchielli to Gounod and Bizet can be found in this pleasant, unusual little work. Italian-English libretto. Mélanie Diener (soprano), Aquiles Machado (tenor), Ludovic Tézier (baritone), Chur de Radio France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Marco Guidarini. Naïve V 4958 (France) 10F041 $16.98
GIACOMO PUCCINI (1858-1924): Edgar. Puccini's first full-length opera was a failure at its 1889 premiere and the revised version dates from 1905. Although there is little dramatic coherence, Puccini's mature voice can be heard in many places and collectors of early Pucciniana will hear material here from such works as the Messa di Gloria, Capriccio sinfonico and other such pieces. 2 CDs. Italian-English libretto. Julia Varady, Mary Ann McCormick (sopranos), Carl Tanner (tenor), Dalibor Jenis (baritone), Carlo Cigni (bass), Maitrise de Radio France, Chur de Radio France, Orchestre National de France; Yoel Levi. Naïve V 4957 (France) 10F042 $27.98
WILHELM MIDDELSCHULTE (1863-1943): Organ Works, Vol. 2 - Passacaglia, MIDDELSCHULTE/ FERRUCCIO BUSONI (1866-1924): Fantasia Contrappuntistica, MIDDELSCHULTE/ERMANNO WOLF-FERARRI (1876-1948): Intermezzo & Prayer from The Jewels of the Madonna. Organ (and Busoni) collectors will want to hear this transcription of Busoni's masterpiece (Busoni both heard the composer play it and approved of it), along with two lighter transcriptions and his own Passacaglia - the composer's first organ piece. Jürgen Sonnentheil (Woehl organ of St. Michaelis, Hildesheim). CPO 999 962 (Germany) 10F043 $15.98
SIEGFRIED WAGNER (1869-1930): Die heilige Linde, Op. 15. Impenetrable layers of allegory, symbolism, fairy-tale and the "German soul" are combined with music of gorgeous lyricism to produce yet another unique Siegfried Wagner opera, this one, from 1924, his antepenultimate. 3 CDs. Special price. German-English libretto. Dagmar Schellenberger, Ksenija Lukic (sopranos), Mechthild Georg (mezzo), John Wegner (baritone), Cologne Radio Choir and Symphony Orchestra; Werner Andreas Albert. CPO 999 844 (Germany) 10F044 $26.98
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)/LEOPOLD GODOWSKY (1870-1938): Piano Music, Vol. 6 - Passacaglia on Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, Ballet Music from Rosamunde, Moment Musical, Op. 94/3, Song Transcriptions: Trockne Blumen, Ungeduld, Gute Nacht, Das Wandern, Heiden-röslein, Am Meer, Liebesbotschaft, An Mignon, Morgengruss, Die Forelle, Wiegenlied, Wohin?, Die junge Nonne, Litanei. The Passacaglia (also recorded by Hamelin on Hyperion) is a tour-de-force but only a little ahead of some of the pianistic action on view in the 12 Schubert Songs published in 1927. Konstantin Scherbakov (piano). Marco Polo 8.225187 (New Zealand) 10F045 $15.98
JOSEPH ACHRON (1886-1943): Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 60, Suite from The Golem, 2 Tableaux from the Theatre Music to Belshazzar. The 1925 concerto consists of a long (25 minutes) first movement based entirely upon the musical substance of 15 authentic Hebrew biblical cantillations while its 11-minute second is a series of improvisations on two secular Yemeni Jewish themes, offering a dramatic sacred-secular diptych. The musical exoticism continues in the five pieces from incidental music to productions of The Golem (1931) and the two for Belshazzar in 1924. Richly scored, exalted, ecstatic and mystical! Elmar Oliveira (violin), Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra; Joseph Silverstein, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Barcelona and National Catalonia Orchestra; Gerard Schwarz. Naxos American Classics Milken Archive 8.559408 (U.S.A.) 10F046 $6.98
Christmas Symphonies
VICTOR HELY-HUTCHINSON (1901-1947): A Carol Symphony, PATRIC STANDFORD (b.1939): A Christmas Carol Symphony, BRYAN KELLY (b.1934): Improvisations on Christmas Carols, PHILIP LANE (b.1950): Wassail Dances, PETER WARLOCK (1894-1930): Bethlehem Down (arr. P. Lane). It's very good to have a new recording of Hely-Hutchinson's lovely symphony from 1927, based on traditional carols as well as disc companions which have apparently not been on CD before. Standford's symphony (1978) uses 12 carols (sharing only Adeste fideles with H-H) in a four-movement work in the style of a late Classical symphony. Kelley's five improvisations last a mere 12 minutes but are fine disc companions while the indefatigable Lane provides three unhackneyed drinking-songs from Somerset, Yorkshire and Gloucestershire. City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra; Gavin Sutherland. Naxos 8.557099 (New Zealand) 10F047 $6.98
More E.J. Collins (Composer of last month's cover item) !
EDWARD JOSEPH COLLINS (1886-1951): Volume 4 - Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Flat, Hibernia (Irish Rhapsody), Lil' David Play on Yo' Harp, Lament and Jig. No one who enjoyed last month's cover CD will want to be without this (shockingly immediate!) follow-up which offers a 1929 rhapsody of nearly 20 minutes, which, in invention, orchestral color and full range of emotions - from brilliance and gaiety to somber melancholy - stacks up well against Stanford's many essays in the genre. The 1925 concerto is redolent of the late Romantic Germany (its finale is subtitled "All' Americana" for no apparent reason other than, perhaps, its many syncopations) where, like many other Americans, Collins went to study. Orchestrations of a Negro spiritual and an old Illinois pioneer recruitment song from 1940 and 1941 round off another delightful disc. William Wolfram (piano), Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Marin Alsop. Albany TROY 630 (U.S.A.) 10F048 $16.98
GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924): La Naissance de Vénus for Solo Voices, Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 29, Cantique de Jean Racine for Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 11, Pavane for Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 50, Requiem, Op. 48. Dating from 1882, "The Birth of Venus" is a 23-minute scène mythologique which sets a banal text with a variety of fascinating music which ranges from watery tone-painting at the beginning to a Franckian, Wagnerian depiction of the goddess' underwater birth which is as ardent as Fauré gets, to a downright English-sentimental style (almost Sullivanesque) towards the peroration. Add to that Elgarian harmonies around Jupiter's mid-oratorio speech which seem to prefigure Sea Pictures, and there is plenty here for collectors to wrap their ears around. The choral version of the Pavane is a happy addition to the more standard rest of the program. French-English texts. Libby Crabtree, Mary Plazas (sopranos), Pamela Helen Stephen (mezzo), Timothy Robinson (tenor), James Rutherford (bass), City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, BBC Philharmonic; Yan Pascal Tortelier. Chandos 10113 (England) 10F049 $16.98
JEAN SIBELIUS (1865-1957): Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 1 - Trio in G for 2 Violins and Piano, [Menuetto] in D Minor, Menuetto in F for 2 Violins and Piano, [Andante] - Adagio - Allegro maestoso, Piano Trios in A Minor & in A Minor "Hafträsk", [Moderato] in A Minor, [Allegro] in C, Allegro in D, [Andantino] in A. After two volumes each of "Complete Youth Production" for Piano and for Violin and Piano, we now have even more "youth production" in this first volume of music for piano trio. The ten-minute G major work for two violins and piano is Sibelius' first multi-movement work (1883); two full-length trios (all the other works are for the standard trio instrumentation except for the Menuetto in F) are included (21 and 22 minutes, respectively). The earlier one (1884) has Haydn as its overriding influence and the later one (1886) Beethoven. Seven fragments dating from 1882-86 make up the rest of the program. Jaakko Kuusisto (violin), Satu Vänskä (second violin), Marko Ylönen (cello), Folke Gräsbeck (piano). BIS CD-1282 (Sweden) 10F050 $17.98
CARL NIELSEN (1865-1931): Violin Sonata in A, Op. 9, Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 35, Prelude, Theme and Variations for Solo Violin, Op. 48, Prelude and Presto for Solo Violin, Op. 52. Two rarely-heard, rarely-recorded and, in fact, rarely-played works make this new release worth investigating for violin collectors. The two solo pieces (1923 and 1928) were written for Emil Telmányi, who (except for one occasion) was the only violinist to perform either of them in Nielsen's lifetime since they were considered too difficult (the former) and too modern (the latter). The op. 48 is a fairly conservative work whose theme is simple and whose variations are characteristically rich in imagination while the Prelude and Presto employs a free tonality which dispensed with bar-lines and may have indicated a new direction for the composer had he lived longer. Georgios Demrtzis (violin), Maria Asteriadou (piano). BIS CD-1284 (Sweden) 10F051 $17.98
Vítezslav Novák (1870-1949): 6 Sonatinas, Op. 54: No. 1 in C "Spring", No. 2 in A Minor "From Childrens' Lives", No. 3 in F "Holiday Time", No. 4 in E Minor "Fairy-Tale", No. 5 in D Minor, "Brigand" & No. 6 in C "Christmas", Sonata eroica, Op. 24, Pan, Op. 43, Bagatelles, Op. 5, My May, Op. 20, Songs on Winter Nights, Op. 30, 12 Pieces from Youth, Op. 55. This bonanza of late Romantic Czech piano music includes several items never released on CD, the most important of which are the six Sonatinas of 1919-20. Taking up one full disc, they were written with young people in mind and make much use of folk motifs but have also been performed by professionals. Half of the Youth cycle appears also, these pieces actually intended only for young pianists but no less charming for that. My May is a lovely, sylvan pastoral set of four pieces from 1899 and while the Bagatelles of the same year are in the salon style. The Sonata eroica (1900) is a monumental work of Slovak patriotism and the 54-minute tone-poem Pan is known to collectors both from its orchestral version and from a previous piano recording. 3 CDs. Mid-price. Recorded 1969-76 and 1957 (Songs on Winter Nights). Frantiek Rauch (piano). Supraphon SU 3744-2 (Czech Republic) 10F052 $32.98
ROGER QUILTER (1877-1953): Songs for Soprano and Piano: How should I your true love know?, Op. 30/3, Ca' the yowes to the knowes, Charlie is my darling, Ye banks and braes, Muisc when soft voices die, Op. 25/5, Spring is at the door, Op. 18/4, Autumn evening, Op. 14/1, A last year's rose, Op. 14/3, Amaryllis at the fountain, Op. 15/2, Now sleeps the crimson petal, Op. 3/2, Songs for Tenor and Piano: Take, O take those lips away, Op. 23/4, O mistress mine, Op. 6/2, Orpheus with his lute, Op. 32/1, Hark! Hark! the lark, I arise from dreams of thee, Op. 29, Love's philosophy, Op. 3/1, Passing dreams, Op. 10/2, An old carol, Op. 25/3, Go lovely rose, Op. 24/3, I dare not ask a kiss, Op. 28/3, Songs for Soprano, Tenor and Piano: It was a lover and his lass, Op. 23/3, 3 Pastoral Songs, Op. 22, Love calls through the summer night, Songs for Tenor and String Quartet: To Julia. Examples from 40 years of composition, with texts ranging from anonymous 14th century to the present day. Texts included. Lisa Milne (soprano), Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Graham Johnson (piano), The Duke Quartet. Original 1998 Collins Classics release. Naxos The English Song Series 8.557116 (England) 10F053 $6.98
JOSEPH JONGEN (1873-1953): Triptyque for Orchestra, Op. 103, 2 Mélodies, Op. 25, 2 Mélodies, Op. 45, 5 Mélodies, Op. 57. The three song cycles, performed from manuscript (Jongen's orchestrations were never published), take up two-thirds of this new release. Opulent and impressionistic, the op. 25 and 45 songs' subjects range from the dreamy to the chilling while the first three poems of op. 57, setting in 1918 war-time texts by Franz Hellens, are much more expressionistic, the orchestral color more spare and sometimes brutal. The Triptych (1938) returns to Impressionism, transforming Debussy and Ravel (with a notable quote from the latter's Daphnis et Chloe in its third movement) into a personal language all Jongen's own. French texts. Mariette Kemmer (soprano), Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra; Pierre Bartholomée. Cyprès CYP1634 (Belgium) 10F054 $17.98
WILLIAM HURLSTONE (1876-1906): Violin Sonata in D Minor, PERCY TURNBULL (1902-1976): Violin Sonata in E Minor, EUGENE GOOSSENS (1893-1962): Violin Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 21. World premiere recordings of Hurlstone's 1897 sonata whose modal inflections and combination of diatonicism and chromaticism in a composition juxtaposing lyrical with more dance-like material are the fingerprints of his later chamber and orchestral works. Turnbull, whom even Grove ignores, wrote his sonata in 1925 - his only extended instrumental piece, as it turns out! Its rich harmonies are reminiscent of Debussy and Ravel and, sometimes, his teacher, Ireland. Goossens' 1918 sonata, not readily available anymore, shows similar affinities as Turnbull's but with added echoes of Richard Strauss and, in the first movement perhaps, Bax. Madeleine Mitchell (violin), Andrew Ball (piano). SOMM Recordings CD031 (England) 10F055 $17.98
ILDEBRANDO PIZZETTI (1880-1968): Cello Sonata in F, 3 canti for Cello and Piano. The 1921 sonata is a work strongly influenced by the death of Pizzetti's first wife. In three movements, lasting over 36 minutes, the piece expresses the pain and sadness of loss and separation in its 15-minute Adagio first movement (predominantly calm, numb with pain, with lovely lyrical melodies recalling happier times). The second movement (Molto concitato e angosciosso) rebels against destiny in its agitated outer sections while sinking back into nostalgia in its center while the finale, another Largo, seeks and achieves peace in an atmosphere of luminous mysticism. The Canti, shorter pieces from 1924, also express the sorrow of separation - this time the departure from his house of his daughter who was married that year - but end up in lively fashion with an affirmation of life. Seeli Toivio (cello), Ivo Varbanov (piano). Gega CD 275 (Bulgaria) 10F056 $16.98 >
JOSEF MATTHIAS HAUER (1883-1959): Atonale Musik, Op. 20 - Volumes I and II. This was one of the first works composed by Hauer using his new system which took all 479,001,600 possible twelve-tone rows and divided them into halves which yielded 44 categories or, as he called them, tropes. Unlike Schoenberg, Hauer did not proceed from tone-rows in a fixed order although the compressed notes (or, possibly, their translation) makes it very difficult to understand what must be a very complex compositional method. The pianist has quite a lot to say about dynamics and tempo since only the tones themselves are notated although the composer provides the artist with a philosophical prelude discussing the manner in which he should approach these. Steffen Schleiermacher (piano). MD&G 613 1180-2 (Germany) 10F057 $17.98
EMIL VON SAUER (1862-1942): Suite moderne, Aus lichten Tagen, 3 Konzertetüden, Galop de Concert in E Flat Minor. World premiere recordings of the Suite moderne (published in 1906 but portions of which were written as early as 1899) with is typical echoes of Schumann and Mendelssohn but also with much Russian flavor (early Scriabin in one piece and Glazunov in another) and of the 1911 Galop de Concert, whose Lisztian outer sections made it a regular for Sauer's concert appearances through 1925. The Concert Etudes (1910) are etudes in the true sense of the word (his other 29 Concert Etudes - making up the first two volumes of this series - were more salon-like pieces) while the five-movement suite "From the Good Old Days" (date unknown) is back in pure salon style. Oleg Marshev (piano). Danacord DACOCD 595 (Denmark) 10F058 $16.98
FELIKS NOWOWIEJSKI (1877-1946): Piano Works, Vol. 2 - 7 Easy Classical and Contemporary Dances for Children, Album Leaf, Kashubian Dance, Ballade No. 2 in A, Op. 20/2, Slavonic Picture, Mazurkas Nos. 3-5, Threnody, Op. 20/3, Gontyna in Arkona, Poem of Old Krakow, Praetorian's March from Quo Vadis. As in the first volume of this new series (12E048), the vast majority of the pieces here are in dance form, Classical as well as in the Polish Chopin-Szymanowski tradition while the Ballade and the Threnody pay homage to the German Romantic tradition. Another highly attractive release for Romantic piano collectors. Magdalena Adamek (piano). Acte Préalable AP0086 (Poland) 10F059 $16.98 >
JOSEPH BONNET (1884-1944): Variations de concert, Op. 1, 12 pièces nouvelles, Op. 7, 2 Pieces from 12 pièces, Op. 10. One of the less celebrated French organist/composers, Bonnet was a student of Guilmant who produced his entire compositional uvre before turning 30. The Variations de concert (1908) remain a favorite of organists but, in addition, we have another full hour of lesser-known music, full of color and imagination, which will appeal to any collector of late Romantic French organ music. Harold Britton (organ of Notre Dame de France, London). ASV DCA 1142 (England) 10F060 $16.98
CHARLES IVES (1874-1954): Emerson Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Symphony No. 1. Dating from 1907 and completed here by David G. Porter from a draft left unfinished, the Emerson Concerto is a 25-minute work of craggy, dissonant and heroic splendor. The piano represents the philosopher and the orchestra the immensity of the world whose secrets he was trying to uncover. Themes endlessly develop and nothing repeats in this startlingly avant-garde work which surely would have caused much consternation had it been performed at that time! Alan Feinberg (piano), National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland; James Sinclair. Naxos American Classics 8.559175 (U.S.A.) 10F061 $6.98
EDWARD GREGSON (b.1945): Blazon for Orchestra, Clarinet Concerto, Violin Concerto, Stepping Out for String Orchestra. Blazon (1992) is the sort of brassy, brazen work often produced on commission as a curtain-raiser for modern symphony orchestras, brilliantly orchestrated using a large ensemble and with an ear razor-sharp for color and texture. Stepping Out was written for a college string orchestra's Barbican Centre debut and was described by the composer as "John Adams meets Shostakovich, with a bit of Gregson thrown in". In the two concertos, Gregson shows that this keen sense of orchestral color and texture can be expanded for "full-length" pieces as well with the clarinet concerto (1994) quite a bit more unbuttoned and improvisational in style than the 1999 violin concerto, which is almost neo-romantic with its first movement waltz motifs and final movement Irish reel material. Michael Collins (clarinet), Olivier Charlier (violin), BBC Philharmonic; Martyn Brabbins. Chandos 10105 (England) 10F062 $16.98
JACQUES LEDUC (b.1932): Fantaisie sur un thème de Mozart, Op. 73, Hommage à Debussy, Op. 46, Exercices en forme de sonates pour célébre Scarlatti, Op. 69, Quelques danses anciennes, Op. 36, 4 miniatures, Op. 67, 6 pièces faciles, Op. 53, Scherzino, Op. 72, Contrastes, Op. 24, Fileuse, Op. 55, Apostrophes, Op. 35, Prélude, Variations et Fugato, Op. 19, 4 pièces brèves, Op. 18, Pochades, Op. 58, Impressions for 2 Pianos, Op. 51, 3 Impromptus for Diatonic Harp, Op. 16. Some years back we offered a disc of orchestralpieces by this Belgian composer whose style remained based on tradition and rejected the avant-garde. His piano pieces suggest a pan-European 20th century knowledge with a gamut running from Impressionism to Roussel to Prokofiev. Many are contest pieces in which Leduc manages to inject much attractive and ingenious material into the required technical hurdles. Most are quite short, often in groups, often with dance items which suggest, (but don't always deliver) a neo-baroque atmosphere while the longest piece here, the Prelude, Variations et Fugato (also one of the earliest - from 1965) might be viewed as a bright, brittle and "modernist" (to use the term very loosely) take on the Franco-Flemish tradition of the genre. 2 CDs. Special price. Olivier de Spiegeleir (piano), Duo Dürrüoglu-Demiriz/Martens (piano duo), Francette Bartholomée (harp). Cyprès CYP4618 (Belgium) 10F063 $29.98
KENNETH LEIGHTON (1929-1988): Fantasia on the Name BACH for Viola and Piano, Op. 29, 5 Preludes for Piano, Contrasts and Variants for Piano Quartet, Op. 63. Leighton's lyrical approach to twelve-tone composition is beautifully evident in his relatively early (1955) Fantasia, a highly imaginative, tautly organized work which could also be said about the 1971 Contrasts and Variants. The piano preludes are all that Leighton managed to compose (from a planned set of 24) at the time he died and were provided to the artists to record by his widow and they have a predominantly melancholy, valedictory tone about them which may owe something to the fact that they were inspired by a small upright piano in the country cottage where the composer spent his final summer. The Phillips Academy Chamber Ensemble. Afka SK-556 (U.S.A.) 10F064 $16.98
RENÉ GERBER (b.1908): Piano Trio, FRANK MARTIN (1890-1974): Piano Trio on Irish Folk-Songs, ASTOR PIAZZOLLA (1921-1992): The Four Seasons (arr. José Bragato). This is almost a perfect recital as far as programming goes, which is part of the reason we offer it even though the main reason - the Gerber trio - is not the longest piece on the disc. Dating from 1944, Gerber's work embodies his characteristic traits: engaging dance rhythms (often suggesting the baroque), modal harmonies and clearly defined harmonies, all in an appealing neo-classical package. Martin's very early 1925 work is all rhythm and melody with very few of the polyphonic and harmonic demands of his mature style while Piazzolla's moody, dreamy transfiguration of the seasons of the year into the language of the tango works particularly well in noted Argentinian cellist/arranger/composer José Bragato's arrangement (six years Piazzolla's senior, he had much to do with the history of the tango in the 20th century himself and will turn 88 this month). Trio Artemis. Gall CD-1120 (Switzerland) 10F065 $18.98
NAJI HAKIM (b.1955): Rhapsody for Organ Duet, Mariales, JEAN LANGLAIS (1907-1991): Mosaïques Vol. 1, Op. 190/3, Mosaïques Vol. 2, Op. 196/6, GASTON LITAIZE (1909-1991): Sonate à deux for Organ Four Hands, JEHAN ALAIN (1911-1940): 2 danses à Agni Yavishta. The main work here in this unusual recital of French organ music for four-hands is Litaize's 20-minute sonata completed just months before his death which takes themes from Easter propers and works them through the organist/composer's characteristic bitonality, polytonality and dance rhythms. The two Langlais duets are Fantaisies in his typical polymodal, Gregorian-influenced style. Hakim is the only composer who was not a student of Dupré but he was a student of Langlais and his Rhapsody uses an English Angelus, a French Christmas carol and danse and the spiritual Go Tell it on the Mountain for its five movements while Mariales is based on various Gregorian melodies associated with Marian texts. Jan Lehtola, Markku Mäkinen (organ of Lapua Cathedral, Finland). Alba ABCD 169 (Finland) 10F066 $16.98
PETER MAXWELL DAVIES (b.1934): Quartet Movement, 5 Pieces for Piano, Op. 2, Clarinet Sonata, String Quartet, Hymnos for Clarinet and Piano, The 7 Brightnesses for Solo Clarinet, Little Quartets Nos. 1 & 2. There is much unfamiliar music here in this collection of mostly early chamber works (from a 1952 quartet movement to the 1980 Little Quartet No. 1) and the styles present range from extended tonal writing through serial-based works into the language characteristic of the Symphony No. 3 and related works of the 1980s. The notes include comments by the clarinettist and a member of the Kreutzer Quartet which help to identify traits in these pieces which were to become hallmarks of Davies' later style. Kreutzer Quartet, Guy Cowley (clarinet), Ian Pace (piano). Metier MSV CD92055 (England) 10F067 $16.98
HANS WERNER HENZE (b.1926): Piano Concerto No. 1, Antifone for 11 Solo Strings, Winds and Percussion, Scorribanda sinfonica sopra la tomba di una maratona for Orchestra. This second volume in an untitled series of Henze's orchestral works brings us two world premiere recordings: the 1950 piano concerto and the 2001 Scorribanda (whose title roughly translates as "Bandit Raid on the Tomb of a Maratona" where Maratona is the title of a dance theatre piece for jazz combo and orchestra written for Luchino Visconti in 1955-56. Most of the jazz influences have disappeared, leaving an 11-minute symphonic impression of the Rome of forty years ago, composed in Henze's recent, highly approachable style. The concerto is quite approachable too, an 18-minute, three-movement piece whose headings suggest the dance also ("Entrée", "Pas de deux" and "Coda") and which, as the composer freely admits in the notes, was strongly influenced by Schoenberg's piano concerto and Survivor from Warsaw. Antifone (1960) uses rather strict serial methods for pitch, duration and dynamics - rather surprising for a work only two years after the tuneful Nachtstücke und Arien (which appeared on the first volume of this series) but which Henze explains as a result of his desire to "practice his craft, sharpen his knives" in a return to strict techniques as he occasionally did throughout his career. Christopher Tainton (piano), North German Radio Orchestra; Peter Ruzicka. Wergo WER 6657-2 (Germany) 10F068 $19.98
HANS WERNER HENZE (b.1926): Cantata della fiaba estrema for Soprano, Chorus and Orchestra, Novae de infinito laudes for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra. These two vocal/orchestral works are rather different but both will appeal to 20th century collectors. The cantata of 1975 is an often ethereally beautiful setting of imaginative and evocative texts which uses baroque forms in a modern (but still approachable) language with a brilliant vocal part (the young Gruberova is ravishing) highlighted by transparent choral writing and chamber-like orchestral scoring. The much larger-scale Novae (47 minutes) of 1971 uses larger forces and rather more "avant-garde" techniques (nothing much beyond, say, the Ligeti of the same period) in an expressive traversal of texts by a 16th century Italian humanist concerning the universe, earth and the perpetual laws of life. Live stereo recordings from the Salzburg Festival. Italian-English texts Edita Gruberova (soprano - Cantata), Edda Moser (soprano), Ingrid Mayr (alto), Werner Krenn (tenor), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Austrian Radio Choir Vienna & Salzburg, Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Leif Segerstam (Cantata), Milan Horvat. Orfeo d'Or C 609 031 B (Germany) 10F069 $16.98
DOMINICK ARGENTO (b.1927): Casa Guidi for Mezzo-Soprano and Orchestra, In Praise of Music for Orchestra, Capriccio for Clarinet and Orchestra. It's ironic that we suddenly get two recordings of the Capriccio in two months, but this new release also offers another 55 minutes of unrecorded Argento. Casa Guidi (1983) is the house in Florence in which Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her husband lived and Argento chose passages from her letters to create a five-song cycle which ranges from gentle, lyrical intimacy to grandiose, almost Mahlerian outbursts of emotion. In Praise of Music was commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the Minnesota Orchestra and its recording here pays tribute to its centenary. Choosing poetic texts ranging from the Old Testament to Edgar Allen Poe, the composer takes short musical fragments from all around the world (Hebrew chant, Gregorian chant, Japanese popular music, Arabian street song...) and uses them as starting points for seven pieces which celebrate the large, virtuoso symphony orchestra. Texts included. Frederica von Stade (mezzo), Burt Hara (clarinet), Minnesota Orchestra; Eiji Oue. Reference Recordings RR-100CD (U.S.A.) 10F070 $17.98
ARVO PÄRT (b.1935): Chorus: Triodion, I am the true vine, Dopo la vittoria, Nunc dimittis, ...which was the Son of..., Chorus and Organ: Littlemore Tractus, Salve Regina, My heart's in the Highlands for Counter-tenor, Chorus and Organ. Hyperion's first Pärt collection dealt with a new, more complex, exotic harmonic vocabulary but, in these works from 1996-2002, Pärt returns to the pure triadic-dominated sound (less of the tintinnabuli but more of the older austerity of structure and harmony) which marked his work for most of the late 80s and the 90s. Five are world premiere recordings and set a broad variety of texts: an extract from an old Russian music encyclopedia, a 160-year-old English sermon, a bleak Scottish poem, two passages from the Gospels of Luke and John and three pieces from the Orthodox prayer book. Texts included. David James (countertenor), Christopher Bowers-Broadbent (organ), Polyphony; Stephen Layton. Hyperion CDA 67375 (England) 10F071 $17.98
JOHN TAVENER (b.1945): Ikon of Eros. One of Tavener's newest works, this huge piece for violin, chorus and orchestra (including exotic Tibetan percussion) inhabits much the same contemplative and ecstatic world which one would expect. But its second movement also incorporates a more secular ecstasy with its Indian-flavored drumming and dancing style and the third movement contains Sanskrit chant in addition to the Greek chant heard elsewhere (the line addresses Soma, the hallucinagenic plant celebrated in the Rig-Veda and long searched-after by mortals after a new trip...). Rounding off the hour's worth of music is a 10-minute conversation with the composer taken from a Minnesota Public Radio broadcast. Recorded in the large, resonant space of the Cathedral of St. Paul in the Twin Cities, for which it was written and where it was premiered late last year. Jorja Fleezanis (violin), Patricia Rozario (soprano), Tim Krol (baritone), Minnesota Chorale, Minnesota Orchestra; Paul Goodwin. Reference Recordings RR-102CD (U.S.A.) 10F072 $17.98
PHILIP GLASS (b.1937): Candyman Suite, 6 Pieces from Candyman II: Farewell to the Flesh. The score for the creepy, more than usually disturbing 1993 horror film Candyman, set in and around the blight and devastation of Chicago's Cabrini Green housing project, used chorus and pipe organ only for its effects (no artists are credited in the pop-style "liner notes" to this release). Glass contributed four new cues to the film's sequel while Don Christiansen, who writes what notes there are, remixed and manipulated the original film's score for the rest of the soundtrack. Whether you saw the films or not, the music should have a decided effect. Orange Mountain Music OMM 0003 (U.S.A.) 10F073 $17.98
ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK (1914-1991): Sinfonia elegiaca, Nocturne, Rhapsody. One of the most useful of these re-issues brings us music which (as far as we know) is unavailable on CD. The symphony (Panufnik's second) dates from 1957 and is a refashioning of a 1951 choral Symphony of Peace. In three unbroken sections, this is a cry of anguish for the victims of World War II and its slow-fast-slow structure, in which grief is followed by anger which is followed again by the hymn-like material of the opening, allows the listener to understand that, while opening with lament for the victims of the Nazis, the symphony closes with an equal lament for people and artists crushed under the fist of Communism. This mono 1961 recording predates another revision made by the composer in 1966. The other two works were recorded in stereo: the 1947 Nocturne is a 14-minute piece which itself has associations with post-war suffering, Panufnik describing it as a dream-like escape from reality while the 1956 Rhapsody, the first work composed after the escape to England, looks back with fondness to Polish folk music structures. Louisville Orchestra; Robert Whitney. First Edition FECD-0017 (U.S.A.) 10F074 $17.98
HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959): Erosão, Dawn in a Tropical Forest, Danses Africaines, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4. While nothing here does not exist in one or more digital recordings, collectors will still be interested in these recordings for their historical value. "Erosion - The Origin of the Amazon River" to translate the work's full title was recorded on Jan. 13, 1952, less than 10 weeks after its world premiere performance by this orchestra; Dawn was world-premiered by Louisville on Jan. 23, 1954 and the recording was made the next month. The African dances (1929) were recorded on May 7, 1969 and appear to have only the Marco Polo recording as competition (at least for the orchestral version). Whitney conducts the first two, Mester the last two. Louisville Orchestra; Robert Whitney, Jorge Mester. First Edition FECD-0016 (U.S.A.) 10F075 $17.98
WILLIAM SCHUMAN (1910-1992): Symphony No. 4, Prayer in Time of War, Judith. More fodder for collectors, especially since we just offered a brand-new recording of the symphony on Albany (04E002), for which see that catalogue (this one was recorded Nov. 21, 1968). Judith, a 1949 Louisville commission for Martha Graham's dance company has been recorded by Delos in stereo but this mono recording (1959) has historical value. The Prayer (1943, this stereo recording from 1972) is a 15-minute work which can be seen as a "short-version war-symphony" with all of the expected quality and feeling from this source. Louisville Orchestra; Robert Whitney, Jorge Mester. First Edition FECD-0011 (U.S.A.) 10F076 $17.98
ROMAN BERGER (b.1930): Adagio I for Violin and Piano, Adagio II "Penance" for Violin and Piano, Exodus for Organ. Exodus, at 85 minutes in length, joins the limited ranks of huge solo organ works of the 20th century which extend both organ technique and the religious or philosophical implications of music for an instrument which has been associated with the church for centuries. Less patterned, more structurally free than the Messiaen works that one immediately evokes for comparison, it nonetheless shares something of their rich harmonic language. A better comparison might be the First Organ Symphony of Sorabji, though the extended open-textured meditative passages in Berger's work would not have appealed to Sorabji, one feels; at least they are too dissonant to fall into the realm of 'slow minimalism' of which we have probably had enough by this point in history to satisfy our desire for religious contemplation. Berger's use of chorale themes and the BACH motif root the work firmly in the church organ tradition leading back to Bach, but it sounds more like a dramatic concert work than this might suggest. The coupling of this piece with the two Adagios for violin and piano is a surprising one, but it makes sense; the second, lasting a full half hour, begins with a simple, slow chorale and builds to something evocative of religious ecstasy, which, as in the organ work, suggests a level of both religious and musical involvement at odds with the theoretical and formal preoccupations of much contemporary music. 2 CDs. Pavel Bogacz (violin), Dana ·ainová-Saturyová, Daniela Varínska (piano), Ján Vladimír Michalko (organ). Acte Préalable AP0091-92 (Poland) 10F077 $33.98 >
EUGÈNE BOZZA (1905-1991): Ballade, PAUL BONNEAU (1918-1995): Capriccio, JEAN-MICHEL DEFAYE (b.1932): Mouvement, ROGER BOUTRY (b.1932): Concerto, Trombonera, JACQUES CASTÉRÈDE (b.1926): Sonatine, HENRY DUTILLEUX (b.1916): Choral, Cadence et Fugato. This well-chosen French trombone recital consists entirely of pieces composed for the Concours at the French National Conservatory. This guarantees demands on every aspect of technical virtuosity but, being French, these composers also provide much to enjoy otherwise with many of the pieces having more or less of a jazz/blues aspect to them in keeping with the influence that idiom has had in the 20th century. Castérède (1958) is the most conservative and traditional, Bozza (1944) the most lyrical, Defaye (1972) the most nakedly virtuosic and Dutilleux (1950) the most unlike anyone else but everything here is calculated to please collectors of 20th century brass music, especially considering how many of these composers have no current representation in the recorded catalogues. Thomas Horch (trombone), Fritz Walther (piano). Audite 97.479 (Germany) 10F078 $16.98 >
JETT HITT (b.1967): Yellowstone for Violin and Orchestra. The only composer we know who works as a guide giving horseback tours in Yellowstone National Park, Hitt wrote his three-movement Yellowstone as a reaction to the majestic beauty which dazzled him on his first visit to the place. There is no effort at literal tone-painting; the music is inspired by feelings and emotions and, as might be expected, there is much grandeur and full-throated orchestral splendor. Hitt admits to being inspired partly by Sibelius' violin concerto but direct echoes are remote, the overriding style evoking the inspirational quality of rugged nature and the Big Sky country in a romantic style which, in places, could be a film score for an imaginary large-budget American Western. Frantiek Novotn (violin), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra; Kirk Trevor. Yellowstone Wilderness Publishing [no number] (U.S.A.) 10F079 $14.98 >
MIKIS THEODORAKIS (b.1925): Carnaval - Ballet for Orchestra, Raven for Mezzo-Soprano, Flute, 2 Harps and Strings. Dating from 1947-53, much of which time the composer was a political prisoner in Greece (which accounts for his difficulty in completing it), Carnaval began with a folk song sung by his fellow prisoners. This became the first part of an eight-part ballet - all dances with one Intermezzo and a Finale - which is conservative in style, colorful in orchestration, utterly enjoyable (and has a couple of hints of the Prokofiev of Romeo and Juliet in places). A much later work (1970), Raven, setting an eponymous poem by Giorgos Seferis which speaks of dislocation and depression (written while he was stuck in a small Albanian town as Greek vice-consul in 1927), was also written in prison (different right-wing, authoritarian government, same result) and was dedicated to the memory of a composer-friend who had just died in a car accident. The version heard here dates from 1993-4 and is equally approachable and only slightly more "modern" in style and technique. English translation. Alexandra Gravas (mezzo), St. Petersburg State Academic Capella Symphony Orchestra; Mikis Theodorakis. Intuition Classics INT 3348 2 (Germany) 10F080 $17.98
LEV ABELIOVICH (1912-1985): Piano Concerto, Piano Trio, Aria for Viola and Piano, 10 Tyutchev Romances. The three works on this disc serve further to confirm Abeliovich's status as one of the most inexplicably neglected major composers of the Soviet era, following the solo piano disc we offered in July 2002. If anything, these pieces have an even more direct appeal, while being no less original or inventive. Abeliovich's voice is very much his own, and if (in common with most 20th century Russians) the shadow of Shostakovich is frequently perceptible, it is less remarkable that the music sometimes sounds like Shostakovich than that it sounds like rather good Shostakovich, and is not embarrassd by the comparison. The sprightly and energetic concerto, concentrated and concise at just under 20 minutes, contains the composer's trademark quicksilver changes of meter and full-blooded harmony overlaid with a leavening astringent dissonance. The songs, to Tyutchev's wonderfully evocative texts, epitomise "Mother Russia" in the sense in which the best of Mussorgsky and Shostakovich's 13th Symphony do; the trio, an extended work in four movements of conventional design, resolutely tonal and following the tradition of Tchaikovsky Op. 50 and Shostakovich, especially the Piano Quintet, is one of Abeliovich's most satisfying works to have emerged to date. The lovely Aria for viola and piano, an extended singing melodic line throughout its 8-minute duration, puts the finishing touch to a most desirable disc. Alexander Tutunov (piano), Corvallis-OSU Symphony Orchestra; Marlan Carlson, Kathryn Lucktenberg (violin, viola), Steven Pologe (cello), James Wood (bass-baritone). English translations. Altarus AIR-CD-9058 (U.S.A.) 10F081 $18.98
JOAQUÍN RODRIGO (1901-1999): Complete Orchestral Works, Vol. 7 - Retablo de Navidad for Soprano, Bass, Chorus and Orchestra, Himnos de los neófitos de Qumrán for 3 Sopranos, Male Chorus and Chamber Orchestra, Música para un códice salmantino for Bass, Mixed Chorus and Orchestra, Cántico de San Francisco de Asis for Chorus and Orchestra. The Retablo is a 1952 collection of eight Christmas carols and songs, mostly to texts by Rodrigo's wife, very simple pieces rooted firmly in folksong. The remaining three works first appeared on a Spanish EMI CD which we offered in January 2002 and which quickly went out-of-print. Música (1953) sets excerpts of Unamuno's "Ode to Salamanca" for the 700th anniversary of that city's university. Himnos (1965/74) sets poetic adaptations by Rodrigo's wife of the Dead Sea Scrolls with music of mystic serenity, evoking the austere pre-Christian world of Qumran while the St. Francis work (1982) has a spiritual kinship to the former through its profound serenity and significant silences. Spanish-English texts. Raquel Lojendio, Maria Jesús Prieto, Victoria Marchante, Ada Allende (sopranos), David Rubiera (baritone), Orchestra and Chorus of the Communidad de Madrid; Jose Ramón Encinar. Naxos Spanish Classics 8.557223 (New Zealand) 10F082 $6.98
LUKAS FOSS (b.1922): 3 American Pieces for Violin and Piano, Central Park Reel for Violin and Piano, 5 Selections from Griffelkin for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano, Solo for Piano, Fantasy Rondo for Piano. This is not the Lukas Foss of Time Cycle; it is the Foss of the easily approachable opera Griffelkin (the complete recording of which we offered in our June catalogue) - folksy, bluesy, jazzy in the American Pieces (1945) and Fantasy Rondo (1944), on the edge of minimalism in the 1981 Solo and celebrating Irish and rustic American dance in Central Park Reel (1987). Philippe Quint (violin), Rosemary Alvino (mezzo), Lukas Foss (piano). Elysium GRK 724 (U.S.A.) 10F083 $17.98
EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA (b.1928): Piano Conceto No. 2, Piano Concerto No. 3 "Gift of Dreams", Isle of Bliss. The second concerto (1989) postdates the first by twenty years and found the composer adding more traditional elements to his serial procedures while the third, from 1998 and in a very approachable style, has an austere beauty which recalls Bartók's Third. Filling out the disc is 1995's Isle of Bliss, a 12-minute tone poem with much of the feel of Sibelius and Rachmaninov in its emotional ebb and flow. Laura Mikkola (piano), Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra; Eri Klas. Naxos 8.557009 (New Zealand) 10F084 $6.98
EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA (b.1928): Dream World, 3 Sonnets of Shakespeare, In My Lover's Garden, God's Way, Sacred Feasts, 5 Sonette an Orpheus, Die Liebenden, The Trip. This recital covers most of Rautavaara's composing career, from the Britten-inspired Shakespeare Sonnets of 1952 to the 1987 Swedish settings of In My Lover's Garden. His own poetry, The Trip, provides a harsh, nightmarish four-song sequence inspired, in part, by a visit to the Bowery (still a hellish place at that time!); the two sets of German songs are to Rilke texts and are in the central European lied tradition while austere religious mysticism informs the Finnish Sacred Feasts of 1953. Finnish-English, Swedish-English and German-English texts. Jyrki Korhonen (basso profundo), Ilkka Paananen (piano). BIS CD-1141 (Sweden) 10F085 $17.98
WOLFGANG HUFSCHMIDT (b.1934): Meissner Te Deum for Soprano, Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra. This large-scale work uses both the traditional liturgical text and additional material by Günter Grass, set in musical styles which are rooted in the traditions of antiphonal church music, but also incorporate many of the developments of the 20th century, including a tape part and serial techniques, as well as original and striking spatial effects. The overall impression, though, is of a coherent piece of devotional music, to which the stylistic eclecticism is a coloristic adjunct, but not a point-proving distraction. Altogether a powerful and involving work of considerable drama and containing many incidental beauties, especially in the choral writing. In an interesting use of the dual-layer SACD medium, this disc contains a 1997 performance in stereo (playable on all CD players); those who actually own a dedicated SACD player can access a multi-channel version of the 1997 recording and what seems to be a private recording of a 1968 performance given the day after the actual première. German texts. Antje Bitterlich (soprano), Martin Lucaß (baritone), Chorus and Orchestra of the Folkwang-Hochschule Essen; Hartmut Haenchen. Cybele SACD 860.201 (Germany) 10F086 $16.98
JORDI CERVELLÓ (b.1935): Concerto Grosso, Concertino for Violin and Strings, 2 Movimentos for Strings, Gemini for Violin, Cello and Strings. These works for string orchestra were written between 1965 and 1998 but all are in the same approachable style. The only quasi-atonality (mostly just chromaticism) present appears mostly in the earliest work, the two Movimentos, which has a tense, anguished quality which may owe something to the spirit of the times. The Concerto Grosso is a lovely neo-classical work and both it and the Concertino have moments reminiscent of the great 20th century English string serenades (although the composer is Catalan, there is no marked Iberian presence in the music). Sergey Malov (violin), Ilia Ioff (violin), Alexei Massarski (cello), Hermitage Orchestra-Camerata St. Petersburg; Alexis Soriano. Ensayo ENY-CD-2003 (Spain) 10F087 $16.98
WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI (1913-1994): Orchestral Works, Vol. 8 - Dance Preludes for Clarinet and Orchestra, Double Concerto for Oboe, Harp and Chamber Orchestra, Grave for Cello and String Orchestra, Chain I for 14 Performers, 2 Children's Songs for Voice and Chamber Orchestra, 6 Children's Songs for Voice and Instruments. Music from three different periods in the composer's career, including the rarely-heard early period in which he responded to the demands for Socialist Realism with sets of childrens' songs in the 1950s. The Dance Preludes (1955) also come from this folk-music based period while the concerto and Grave are part of a sequence of orchestral pieces which culminated in the 1983 Third Symphony and the Chain began a new period of experimentation in creating extended forms. Zbigniew Kaleta (clarinet), Arkadiusz Krupa (oboe), Nicolas Tulliez (harp), Rafal Kwiatkowski (cello), Urszula Kryger (soprano), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra; Antoni Wit. Naxos 8.555763 (New Zealand) 10F088 $6.98
NIGEL OSBORNE (b.1948): I am Goya for Bass-Baritone, Flute, Oboe, Violin and Cello, Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra, Remembering Esenin for Cello and Piano, The Sickle for Soprano and Orchestra. NMC continues its valuable work in reissuing vintage recordings of British 20th century music. These ensemble pieces are typical of Osborne's best music, incorporating icy clusters and microtones in a matrix of surprisingly lush harmony (just listen to the gorgeous, glowing slow movement of the concerto), and vividly evocative imagery, highlighting the extramusical associations of the Voznesensky, Esenin and Mayakovsky texts. All these pieces have a strong theatrical element, as one might expect of a composer closely associated with music theatre; the interplay of poetic imagery and colorful setting is especially strong in the powerful and disturbing I am Goya, but even in the instrumental works one senses a narrative thread running through the musical argument. Texts included. Stephen Varcoe (baritone), Duke Dobing (flute), Jane Manning (soprano), Florian Kitt (cello), Peter Hill (piano), City of London Sinfonia; Richard Hickox. Original 1983 Unicorn-Kanchana release. NMC Ancora D087 (England) 10F089 $15.98
KEIKO HARADA (b.1968): Heavy Wood for Violin, Guitar, Bass Clarinet, Double Bass and Piano, Labyrinth VIII for Cello and Piano, Sonora Distancia II for Guitar and 11 Instruments, Bone + for Accordion, Bone # for Violin, Kalimba and Live Electronics, Bone for Piano, Abyss for Clarinet, Violin and Cello. These ensemble pieces come closer to th world of free jazz than most written-out concert music, and this despite the academically rigorous techniques employed by the composer. Very little here sounds explicitly Japanese, or in any sense ethnically identifiable; microtonal tunings seem to suggest an improvisatory quality rather than the non-semitonal scales of 'Eastern' musics. A student of Ferneyhough, Harada has clearly absorbed the many possibilities opened up by the European avant-garde, but in her use of accordion, suggesting Piazolla-esque tangos, and dancing rhythms of almost gypsy-like vitality, she avoids any suggestion of 'difficult' complexity, producing instead evocative imaginary landscapes of surprising accessibility. Ictus. Cyprès CYP5605 (Belgium) 10F090 $17.98
YOSHIHISA TAÏRA (b.1937): Sonomorphie I, CELSO GARRIDO-LECCA (b.1926): Prelude and Toccata, EDUARDO CÁCERES (b.1955): Fantasía Araucánica, ANDRÉS ALCALDE (b.1952): Opiniones, Bell for 2 Pianos, ALEJANDRO GUARELLO (b.1951): Pour klavier, PABLO ARANDA (b.1960): Alé, CIRILO VILA (b.1937): Rapsodia chilensis: Una primavera para el profeta, ALICIA TERZIÁN: Atmósferas for 2 Pianos. A curious Chilean-Japanese collaboration, this disc (featuring seven Chilean and one Japanese composer, and a Chilean pianist joined by a Japanese one in two works for two pianos) contains works most of which broadly speaking fall into a somewhat pointillistic category, with little in the way of grand piano romanticism, but much emphasis on the resonance of the instrument and the building of dense, rich sonorities. The exceptions to this are Garrido-Lecca's Toccata and Vila's brief but highly entertaining gloss on various familiar works of Lizst (the Sonata, the 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody, the Faust Symphony, the piano concerti). An oddity, but an appealing one. Maria Paz Santibáñez (piano), Remi Matsunaga (second piano). No label name. PPCD 001 (Chile) 10F091 $16.98 >
KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN (b.1928): Tierkreis for Bass Clarinet, Trombone, Accordion, Percussion, Cello, Bass and Music Boxes, Tierkreis for 6 Improvisers, Music Boxes and Tape. The two versions of Tierkreis presented here were assembled by trombonist Mike Svoboda from Stockhausen's mid-1970s scores which already existed in Graingeresque elastic-scored versions by the composer. The musical material is taken from the 12 music-box melodies, one for each sign of the zodiac, composed by Stockhausen for custom music boxes and incorporated in his 1974 composition Musik in Bauch for percussionists and music boxes. The way in which the melodies were treated by the ensemble incorporated aleatoric elements and improvisation; these current versions, produced for this recording, extend the composer's elaborations further, using different instrumentation and incorporating a tape part in the second version. This is the sort of thing that made Stockhausen such a compellingly original force in the 1970s avant-garde, and it is good to hear that his legacy continues in a fresh and vital manner through contemporary interpretation. Wolfgang Fernow (double bass), Stefan Hussong (accordion), Michael Kiedaisch (drums, vibraphone), Michael Riessler (bass clarinet), Scott Roller (cello), Mike Svoboda (trombone, music boxes, musical direction.) Wergo WER 6659 2 (Germany) 10F092 $19.98
WOLFGANG RIHM (b.1953): String Quartets, Vol. 1 - Quartets No. 1, Op. 2, No. 2, Op. 10, No. 3 "Im Innersten" & No. 4. Rihm collectors will find much to enjoy in this first volume of his string quartets. Although the first two, dating from 1970 don't last more than nine minutes each, they and their longer successors (1976 and 1979-81 respectively) demonstrate the same sharp intellect engaging with the 250-year-old tradition of the genre while speaking in a modern, avant-garde language which should appeal to all collectors of contemporary string music. Plus, there's a great photo of the composer in a backwards-facing brimmed cap which makes him look like a comedian from a 1920s silent! Minguet Quartet. col legno WWE 1CD 20211 (Germany) 10F093 $19.98
GIACINTO SCELSI (1905-1988): 4 Illustrazioni on the Metamorphosis of Vishnu, 5 Incantesimi, Suite No. 8 "Bot-Ba". If it seems strange to you Scelsi collectors out there that there are now at least four recordings of Bot-Ba (making you ask, "If this is Suite No. 8, what about the rest of the suites?")... well, we're with you. We have no explanation. At least the other two pieces here are much less well-known and are also from Scelsi's early period (both from 1953) where sound has a ritual, incantatory purpose and all the resources of a modern piano are used, often, but not always, to violent effect. Markus Hinterhäuser (piano). col legno WWE 1CD 20068 (Germany) 10F094 $19.98
MEYER KUPFERMAN (b.1926): Tuba Concerto, Into the Breach for Saxophone and Orchestra, Percussion Symphony ("...On Tibet and Tienanmen Square..."), Structures for Ensemble, Going Home '94 For Guitar Quartet. The endlessly prolific Kupferman continues to delight with his original yet familiar-sounding æsthetic, and this 2-disc set contains a very pleasing cross-section of recent works. The composer's usual references to big-band jazz (Ellington, Suesse and Bernstein) are here, happily grafted onto a harmonic language which lies somewhere between Sibelius and Vaughan Williams. An eclectic mix, then, but a decidedly appealing one. Into the Breach is, effectively, a symphony, even though the composer has resolved not to call it one; its boldness of gesture and chromatic counterpoint will be familiar to admirers of Kupferman's many earlier symphonies. There is also much to enjoy in the tuba concerto, a welcome addition to the repertoire for this self-evidently soloistic instrument which has never been taken quite as seriously as it deserves. A worthy addition to your Soundspells collection, or a good place to start one if you have yet to do so. 2 CDs. Edwin Diefes (tuba), Jiri Kulisev (sax), Czech National Symphon Orchestra; Paul Freeman, Oregon Percussion Ensemble; Charles Dowd, Stony Brook Contemporary Players; Matt Ward, Roberto Limón, William Anderson, Oren Fader, Marc Wolf (guitars). Soundspells Productions CD 135 (U.S.A.) 10F095 $33.98
ALVIN LUCIER (b.1931): Small Waves for String Quartet, Trombone,Piano and 2 Water Pourers, Navigations for Strings for String Quartet. A composer whose career and reputation has largely rested on the application of 'found' acoustic phenomena - room acoustics, resonances and overtones outside the usual scope of 'musical' sounds, Lucier was perhaps unsurprisingly drawn to these associations in these two extended works based around the string quartet - specifically the unique Ardittis. Navigations is based on transcriptions of atmospheric radio-frequency phenomena, and consists of slowly mutating overlapping strands of sound, frequently in very small and subtle intervallic relationships. Small Waves takes its source material from the resonances set up in vessels containing water, amplified and induced to electronic feedback, from which the instrumentalists take their pitch-cues. Both works set up a meditative, hypnotic drone, much more acoustically fascinating than musically developed, of course, but with their own inexorable sense of progression as through the close observation of some immensely slow and organic natural process, astronomical or geological in origin, perhaps. Hildegard Kleeb (piano), Roland Dahinden (trombone), The Arditti Quartet. Mode 124 (U.S.A.) 10F096 $17.98
IRWIN BAZELON (1922-1995): Junctures for Orchestra, Spirits of the Night for Orchestra, Sinday Silence for Piano, Concatenations for Percussion Quartet and Viola. Elements of big-band jazz occur throughout Bazelon's music, providing an accessible counterpoint to the rather free dodecaphonic language that he made his own. A skilled and prolific composer of film and theatre music, he never lost touch with the widest audience, despite a musical vocabulary that was far from unsophisticated. The two orchrestral works are dramatic and colorful, vivdly orchestrated and full of bold gestures and rhythmic vitality. Concatenations is even more theatrical, contrasting the lyrical voice of a solo viola with the visceral impact of a large percussion battery, again hinting at the improvisatory world of free jazz (without ever attempting any kind of facile 'crossover'. The result in every case is music of great impact with broad general appeal, in spite of the modern idiom. Orchestra of Sofia; Harold Farberman, Scott Dunn (piano) and other artists. Albany TROY 602 (U.S.A.) 10F097 $16.98
British Light Music Discoveries, Vol. 5
PETER HOPE (b.1930): Kaleidoscope, JOHN FOX (b.1926): A Pastoral Reflection, PAUL LEWIS (b.1943): Inauguration, DAVID LYON (b.1938): Adagio serioso, Rondoletta, BRIAN DOUGLAS (b.1944): Music for Strings, GAVIN SUTHERLAND (b.1972): Capriol Overture, GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685-1759)/JOHN BARBIROLLI (1899-1970): Clarinet Concerto, GEOFFREY TOYE (1889-1942): Waltz from The Haunted Ballroom, THOMAS PITFIELD (1903-1999): Overture on North-Country Tunes. Some collectors will be familiar with Barbirolli's concoction of an oboe concerto for his wife from the music of Corelli but may not know his clarinet concerto made up of music from Handel (a solo violin piece movement, an aria from Belshazzar, a movement from an organ concerto and one from a trio sonata) which dates from 1951. It anchors another disc of typically light, folksy, pastoral light music with a few slower, more reflective and poignant pieces thrown in for contrast. Verity Butler (clarinet), City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra; Gavin Sutherland. ASV White Line WHL 2144 (England) 10F098 $11.98
GORDON LANGFORD (b.1930): Fanfare and Ceremonial Prelude, Concertino for Trumpet and String Orchestra, 4 Movements for String Orchestra, A Song for All Seasons for Piano and Orchestra, First Suite of Dances, Greenways, Spirit of London, The Hippodrome Waltz, Pastorale and March from Colour Suite. Langford is known primarily for his arrangements and orchestrations of film scores and stage musicals and as composer for BBC programming while also writing quite a bit of highly popular works for concert and brass bands. But his orchestal works have gone unrecorded, so Chandos offers this 79-minute collection of high quality "light music" in the finest tradition of the genre (with many of the pieces using much larger forces than many other examples of its type). Crispian Steele-Perkins (trumpet), William Stephenson (piano), BBC Concert Orchestra; Rumon Gamba. Chandos 10115 (England) 10F099 $16.98
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA (1921-1992): Aconcagua - Concerto for Bandonéon, String Orchestra and Percussion, 3 Tangos, Oblivion, La Muerte del Angel, Romance del Diablo, Tanguedia, Milonga del Angel, Vayamos al Diablo. All of these works have been arranged for classical accordion (an instrument which dates from the 1950s and is much broader in its tonal capabilities than the traditional accordion of oompah-band fame) by the performer here. Along with the three extremely famous tangos, several lesser-known ones are included while the major work is the 1979 concerto in traditional classical form. James Crabb (classical accordion), Benjamin Martin (piano), Australian Chamber Orchestra; Richard Tognetti. Chandos 10163 (England) 10F100 $16.98
JOHANN STRAUSS I (1804-1849): Edition, Vol. 2 - Walzer (à la Paganini), Op. 11, Krapfen-Waldel-Walzer, Op. 12, Die beliebten Trompetenwalzer, Op. 13, Gesellschafts-Galoppe, Op. 17, Champagne-Walzer, Op. 14, Chinese-Galoppe, Op. 20, Die so sehr beliebten Erinnerungs-Ländler, Op. 15, Carolinen-Galoppe, Op. 21a, Fort nacheinander!, Op. 16, Kettenbrücke-Galoppe, Op. 21b, Lust-Lager-Walzer, Op. 18, Erinnerungs-Galoppe, Op. 27 (Navariner-Galopp), Second version of Kettenbrücke-Walzer, Op. 19. The second volume of this new series has a new orchestra and, unlike its predecessor whose recordings dated from 1996, these are from last year. These are intimate, chamber-like compositions, a far cry from the massed drums and cymbals and large orchestras of the younger Strauss' heyday. Schubert was still alive when the earliest of these pieces were written and they have the same naive, comfortable air of that master's light music (the German dances, quadrilles, etc.). Slovak Sinfonietta Zilina; Christian Pollack. Marco Polo 8.225252 (New Zealand) 10F101 $15.98
DANIELE AMFITHEATROF (1901-1983): Major Dundee - Original Soundtrack. The original Columbia Masterworks recording of the soundtrack to this 1965 Sam Peckinpah western, including a previously unreleased track (one of three in which Miller and his chorus participate). Mitch Miller and the Gang, Orchestra conducted by Daniele Amfitheatrof. DRG Movies 19056 (U.S.A.) 10F102 $14.98