Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Beethoven: Symphonie No. 6, 'Pastorale' - Valente: six to mi

Very few people gathered at Braunschweig Central Cementary in early 1922 to bury "the old man from the Gaussberg district" - Hans Sommer, a composer who died at the age of 84 and had obviously almost passed into oblivion. For decades it remained thus: apart from a monograph published in 1939 and a Braunschweig street christened in his name, only a brief mention of his life and works can be found in the most comprehensive reference works. Since no one makes a fuss over this musical figure, we would assume that he is not worth the trouble. But we start to wonder: why did major German composers of the day make an effort to send their condolences, albeit from afar - luminaries such as Richard Strauss, Hans Pfitzner, Eugen d'Albert or Max von Schillings? We take a closer look and find that a day truly existed when this musician, whose full name was "Hans Friedrich August Zincken aka. Sommer" - a man of the same generation as Brahms, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky - secured himself an excellent reputation as a composer of Lieder. Several of his ten operas earned him a name all across Europe while, alongside his longtime friend Richard Strauss, he served as Chairman of the Genossenschaft Deutscher Komponisten, which represented the financial interests of a great number of renowned German and Austrian composers around the turn of the century. It is difficult to categorize a man such as Hans Sommer: after having written certain major works for the desk drawer, he stepped into the spotlight as a composer relatively late in an exceptionally long lifespan and only started publishing works on a large scale in the early 1880's, when he was already in his mid-40's. Thus he had to complete with a considerably younger generation of composers born around 1860, major figures such as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. And over the next two or three decades he admirably succeeded in establishing himself as a progressive composer thanks to his Lieder, which are "immediately prior to Hugo Wolff" in terms of style.

I was truly relieved to learn that you seem to be not entirely unsatisfied with my arrangement of your sextets. Indeed I put much work into them, but it is always a delicate matter when one senses the author's fine nose lurking in the background. You went through the proofs meticulously, as it seems, and it will thus be hard for me to find further printing errors. There are quite a few in the score (of the sextets)! Ah, well, even fools should find some enjoyment when they deal with them one hundred years from now. In my opinion, trio players will regard these two works as a welcome gift. That last 'prophetic' sentence by Theodor Kirchner - in an 1883 letter thanking Brahms for having praised his arrangements of his sextets - was unfortunately not fulfilled: these trio arrangements of all kinds: according ot general opinion, they are at odds with the current demand for 'historical authenticity'. Anyone who sets out to arrange a musical masterpiece is undoubtedly assuming an immense artistic responsibility. In the best of cases, an arrangement should not only permit other instruments to perform the original in a new setting, but it should illuminate certain aspects in a way the original could not. A truly well-achieved arrangement is thus also an act of interpretation that transforms its model to a certain extent. We, the two string players in the Jean Paul Trio, obviously knew an dloved Brahms's two string sextets from practical experience, having performed them frequently in their original scoring - how much greater was our surprise and fascination when all three of us discovered Theodor Kirchner's arrangements for piano trio! Not mere adaptations for a Hausmusik setting, they represent so much more: in our opinion, these are thoroughly ingenious elucidations of Brahms's string sextets..."

V15: EDITION RUHR PIANO FESTIV

Katharina Konradi and Catriona Morison are counting as one of the young, fresh and international well reputated top female vocalists. Ammiel Bushakevitz has established himself in the top league of the piano partner for singers. On the market there basically no recordings of the special genre of duets for Lieder. They are regared as especially lovely music.

The recording of this CD�stood entirely under the motto of Richard Wagner, reflecting our desire to put on several of his works in arrangements for chamber music ensemble. Thus, with this Wagner Project, we present several rarities along with a world premiere.�For one, we are thrilled to introduce Engelbert Humperdinck's almost entirely unknown arrangement of the prelude to Tristan und Isolde.�We also have the particular pleasure of presenting Wagner's Siegfried Idyll in the composer's own chamber music arrangement, a particularly gratifying piece for small ensemble.

John Cage (1912-1992) holds his own special place amidst this stylistic pluralism. Although Cage did not specifically write a trio for horn, violin, and piano, his work Music For (1984) can be easily fleshed out in this instrumental lineup. Music For is a bundle of 17 parts that can be randomly associated with one another. Each possible combination represents an entirely valid version of the piece – ranging from a solo performance to piano duet, string quartet, or ensemble with voice. The version for horn trio is called Music For Three.

A late discovery of a most important female composer from France for the musical world. Mélanie Hélène Bonis, known by her artistic pseudonym Mel Bonis (21 January 1858 – 18 March 1937), was a Romantic composer in the late years of the 19 c. and first half of the 20c.. Sheila Arnold and Sandrine Cantoreggi initiated this album and discovered not only a piece - Soir - never played or was registered before, but kept her choice also mainly to their own instruments Violin and Fortepiano (on a Bluethner Fortepiano 1871). Two Trios (one with Cello, the other with flute) embrace the program of small short pieces for Violin and Fortepiano, highlighting in particular the larger Violin Sonata, Op. 112.