Gordon Chin is one of Taiwan’s leading composers, and increasingly honored by commissions and performances from major ensembles in North America, Asia and Europe. Featuring an array of exotic Chinese percussion instruments, Symphony No. 3 ‘Taiwan’ is a dramatically powerful work cast in three movements that explore his native country’s turbulent history. Specific literary quotations from Shakespeare, Blaise Pascal and Samuel Johnson elucidate the expressive moods of the three-movement Cello Concerto No. 1.

A skilled harpsichordist as well as a great organist, Johann Sebstian Bach wrote a large quantity of keyboard music of considerable variety and in every known form of the time. The programme on this disc ranges widely from the masterful German contrapuntal.

Music played an important role in the Renaissance theatre and Shakespeare brought new subtlety to it's use. In a theatre without lights and sets, it fell to music to underline mood, whether for magic, comedy, feasting or pathos.

TomAs Bret n, a native of Salamanca, rose from relatively humble circumstances to become a leading figure in Spanish music, director of the Madrid Conservatory and an important conductor.

Charles Wood made an important contribution to Anglican church music, with liturgical settings that remain part of cathedral choral repertoire.

Beck' symphonies have long been regarded as among the most striking works of their kind from the mid-18th century. Remarkable for their dramatic flair, rich harmonic language and fluid, inventive part writing, Beck' Op. 3 Symphonies display a rare le.

Brothers Franz and Karl Doppler were both accomplished flautists. Their compositions, sometimes written together, reflect the tastes of the period, making great use of Hungarian themes.

Gesualdos Second Book of Madrigals, performed on this recording by male voices only, is an even more radical study of the themes explored in Volume 1 (8.570548), a continuation as it were of the same work. Like Book 1, it was published in 1594 in Ferrara during the preparations for Gesualdos second wedding, and demonstrates his ability to treat the poetic word as a source of musical ideas. The last two tracks present Gesualdos only two instrumental compositions.

William Alwyn composed some fifty works for the orchestra, including five symphonies, a sinfonietta, concertos for flute, oboe, violin, piano, harp, three concerti grossi, and many other descriptive shorter pieces.

The bass trombone has a wonderfully rich tone and sonorous depth yet is rarely featured as a solo instrument. The four remarkable works on this disc, all but one composed for Yves Bauer, bass trombone soloist of the Lille National Orchestra, explore.

Deqing Wen’s compositional style is heavily influenced by Chinese art and culture. The music that results is emotive, accessible, and vivid. This album contains five of his works: Shanghai Prelude (2015), The Fantasia of Peony Pavilion (2013), Variation of a Rose (2000), Nostalgia (2014), Love Song and River Chant (2010). Bruno Weinmeister is the featured cellist for the cello concerto, Shanghai Prelude. This album is recorded by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gottfried Rabl.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Soloist: Vladimir Cosma.

With worldwide acclaim and numerous awards, Xu Shuya is one of the leading composers to emerge from the Chinese 'New Wave'. His fascination with his Chinese heritage is eloquently expressed in pieces such as Insolation, inspired by the heroic myth of Kaufu Chasing the Sun, and Yun, which unites the famous 'Purple Bamboo Melody' with symphonic textures and gestures. Cristal au Soleil Couchant expresses the intensity of light and colours at sundown, while Echos du Vieux Champ conjures nostalgic memories of the composer's homeland. Shaped by spiritual concepts and the Tibetan landscape, Nirvana evokes the 'bittersweet pleasure' of 'faint distant melodies, like tunes from heaven'.

Magnus Lindberg is one of Finland' most important living composers. The differences between his piano works from the late 1970s and early 1980s and those composed in the early years of the 21st century, following a break of 12 years, can seem quite s.

Widely regarded as one of China's leading composers, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Zhou Long writes music that is consistently compelling. The Rhyme of Taigu revives the spirit of Chinese court music from the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD), drawing on traditional percussion instruments. Symphony 'Humen 1839', co-composed with Chen Yi, vividly commemorates the public burning of over 1000 tons of opium, an event that was to lead to the First Opium War between Great Britain and China. All three works, written in the first decade of the 21st c., receive here their world premiere recordings. Conducting the New Zealand Symphony is the young, fast rising Singapore-born, Russian and American trained Darrell Ang, who has gained widespread attention for his compelling podium authority and authoritative readings of the core symphonic repertoire - especially the great masterpieces by French and Russian composers, in addition to being one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary Asian symphonic music.