Martinu: Concerto de camera - Concertino - Steinmetz: Solo u

FLUTES WITHOUT BORDERS

A collection of anthems of (former) socialist countries. Some of them changed the anthem after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact with the result that they changed the political system.

Due to an overload of the right hand and the resulting epicondylitis (golfer's elbow), Nicola Stock was initially no longer able to play the guitar normally. Inspired by Lars Wuller's "Left Hand Guitar Challenge" and due to the fact that guitar works for the left hand alone had hardly existed up to that point - unlike in the piano world, where numerous pieces by well-known composers such as Scriabin or Ravel already exist - the idea arose together with Professor Gerhard Reichenbach to commission new pieces from various composers and thus create a repertoire for the left hand alone that combines innovative ideas and old and new playing techniques. Nicola Yasmin Stock (*1998) is a multiple prizewinner in international guitar competitions. As a soloist, she regularly performs at festivals in Asia, Europe and South America and gives master classes. She studied classical guitar with Professor Gerhard Reichenbach at the University of Music and Dance Cologne/Wuppertal and has also taken part in numerous master classes with renowned artists such as Margarita Escarpa, Pavel Steidl, Judicael Perroy and many others. In addition to her current studies in musicology at the Robert Schumann University in Dusseldorf, Nicola Yasmin Stock is the artistic director of the Rotenburg Guitar Week and an instrumental teacher at the Bergische Music School. She is involved in a variety of chamber music formations and orchestras, including as conductor of the Dortmund Guitar and Mandolin Orchestra. Because of her special commitment to the largely unknown guitar repertoire of female composers, she was awarded a scholarship for female guitarists by the Equal Opportunities Commission at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. She is also involved in cross-disciplinary projects, such as the interdisciplinary annual project of the College of Music and Art in Montepulciano/IT.

After their very successful album with duos by Franz Alexander Possinger (Musicaphon M56996), Katja Gruttner and Christian Goosses now turn their attention to another master of the Viennese scene, Franz Anton Hoffmeister. He is one of the most productive of Viennese composers; the diversity of his oeuvre reads like a kaleidoscope of musical genres known at the time. He wrote sacred works as well as the German-language magic operas that were so popular at the time. In addition, there is talk of no fewer than 70 symphonies (44 of which are confirmed), 15 string quartets and an incredible 34 string quintets - more than the output of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven combined!

The "Eleven Choral Preludes for Organ" op. 122 were completed by Johannes Brahms between May and June 1896. It was not until later, in 1902, that op. 122 was published posthumously. At the same time, Brahms' op. 122 did not escape the attention of the Italian composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni, who decided to transcribe six of the eleven choral preludes for piano. Over the course of his life, he transcribed numerous works by various composers for piano, including those by Bach that were intended for organ, harpsichord or violin. It is little known that Max Reger, in addition to his importance as a composer, was also one of the most important arrangers of the works of great colleagues. He arranged works by almost all the great masters, from Mozart to Richard Strauss. Reger always admired the compact form and the almost ascetic compositional discipline of Johannes Brahms. His admiration for the great North German is confirmed by the elaborate transcriptions of the "Five Slow Movements" from his four symphonies. Reger does not write them in a typically pianistic style, but rather he summarizes the entire melodic and harmonic richness in a kind of symphonic script. These transcriptions are the work of a brilliant musical mind who was able to grasp the music as a whole and, based on a complete understanding of the compositions, to present them in a new guise. The arrangements are extremely demanding for the pianist. It is not only a matter of master- ing the sometimes considerable and often far-reaching mass of notes, but also of allowing the themes woven into them to emerge, as is the case in the orchestra through the characteristics of the individual instruments. Brahms' well-known preference for the so-called "conflict rhythms" makes the task even more difficult. The rarities, so rich and demanding in sound and structure, are appearing on recording for the first time and should inspire many friends of the works of these two composers to take a closer look at them.

Schmelzer, J.H.: Intrada di Polcinelli

The Thuringian composer Christoph F�rster was born on 30 November 1693 in Bibra. He received his first musical training from the local organist Pitzler. Starting in 1710 he had instruction with Johann David Heinichen in Weissenfels and subsequently with Georg Friedrich Kaufmann in Merseburg, where he soon was also active as concertmaster in the court chapel. Journeys to Leipzig and Dresden are documented in 1719. In 1723 F�rster traveled to Prague for the coronation of Charles VII of Bohemia and met important musical personalities including Johann Joseph Fux, Antonio Caldara, and Francesco Conti. After the death of the Duke of Saxony-Merseburg, he applied for the position of Vice-Kapellmeister in Rudolstadt in 1743 - in the absence of a vacancy, however, without pay - which he held until his untimely death on 6 December 1745. According to a roster from 1743, the Rudolstadt court chapel, with twenty-five musicians, was a rather large ensemble and, aside from strings and keyboard instruments, had at it's disposal flutes, oboes, bassoon, trumpets, timpani, and horns, as well as choirboys. F�rster's oeuvre encompasses numerous church cantatas, psalm- and Sanctus-settings, a Mass, and copious instrumental music, including orchestral works, such as overtures and symphonies, instrumental concertos, and small-scale chamber pieces. F�rster's instrumental compositions are already strongly influenced by the gallant and sensitive style and point the way from the late Baroque to the early Classical periods. The change in style is clearly perceptible in the individual works. His compositions were well known during his lifetime and recognized by the musical world. Thus, Marpurg, in his Legende einiger Musikheiligen (1786), placed him "among the best melodists of his time." In 1730 F�rster subscribed to Georg Philipp Telemann's Tafelmusik and Parisian Quartets.

WIND CHAMBER MUSIC BY THE GRAU

Chopin is said to have played in time (the metronome was always on the instrument), his left hand relentlessly keeping the tempo. Students also reported that he never played a piece in the same way, and that each performance produced a different result. And yet the composer's rubato playing was by no means as free as it is today. There are no reports of Chopin's playing of Bach in particular, but his admiration for the composer is certain. We therefore put the legend that he himself—according to his own statement—played only Bach for fourteen days before a concert into perspective and simply imagine that he worked intensively on "Bach" before his already rare performances. We can assume that the preludes and fugues of the "Well-Tempered Clavier," some of which are also heard in this project, were the focus of his interest.

A closer look at Chopin’s works, especially those of a smaller dimension, repeatedly catches the eye of modules that we think we already know from Bach. Individual bars of the Préludes op. 28 (1836-1839) and Études (op. 10 no. 4) (1833/1837) could be retransformed into a nucleus in Bach’s character with just a few “hand movements.” Chopin’s veneration of Bach preserved these highly condensed musical tools of the Baroque composer well into the Romantic century. He still used them in his late works, such as his last Nocturne in E major, which in a sense takes stock of “Bach.”

This recording, which feels entirely experimental, aims to create a unique musical experience through the direct connection of tonal, for example key, variations. The sound of some structurally related works clearly shows how much Chopin was influenced by Bach's work, whose formal stability with its geometric structures often prevented him from sowing too much "tinsel, trinkets, and pearls," something Robert Schumann once had the courage to accuse his rival of. The aim of this project tempted us to play "Chopin like Bach" here and there and to achieve the greatest possible transparency with extremely economical use of the pedal. Above all, to breathe Chopin's breath into Bach's melodic beauties with a "romantic" touch. The approximately 40-year-old Steinway B grand piano was chosen because of its slim bass section.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music