Although Giorgio Federico Ghedini's proud independence and lack of adherence to any particular school brought him into conflict with the avant-garde, he is now increasingly recognized as one of the finest Italian composers of the 20th century. Marking the 50th anniversary of Ghedini's death, this recording reveals an aspect of his repertoire yet to be fully appreciated and is a significant addition to the repertoire. Contemporary with those of Respighi, Pizzetti and Alfano, the Violin Sonatas display a real sense of creative freedom and are notable for their structural originality, beautiful harmonies and tonal and rhythmic invention. Ghedini's complete piano works can be heard on Naxos 8.572329 and 8.572330.

Edvard Grieg and his librettist Bjurnstjerne Bjurnson were both fascinated by a great period in Norway's past: The Viking Age, whose sagas, and fierce conflicts between Christianity and the old Norse religion, inspired all three of Grieg's works recorded here. Landkjenning depicts the moment when Olav Trygvason (960s-1000) and his men sight the Norwegian coast for the first time on their voyage from England to Norway. As King from 995 to 1000, Olav worked single-mindedly to Christianize Norway. Conceived as a true Norwegian national opera, but left unfinished, the three scenes from Olav Trygvason explore pagan rituals and tributes to the Norse gods in anticipation of King Olav's entrance into the pagan temple. Includes the world premiere recording of Edmund Neupert's Resignation orchestrated by Grieg.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s second child, Wilhelm Friedemann, composed at a time of changing tastes as the baroque period moved into the classical. +His innovative sonatas are characterized by harmonic boldness, romantic expressiveness and virtuosity. +The Sonata in G major in particular reveals his commanding imagination in its contrasts, improvisatory character, and highly refined language. +Julia Brown has been dubbed a ‘strong and sensitive interpreter of this intricate music’ (American Record Guide, Volume 4, Naxos 8.573027). DDD

Ira Hearshen is one of America's most popular and successful orchestrators and arrangers. He has written for many Hollywood films, such as Toy Story and The Scorpion King. He has also written for the concert stage, especially wind band, notably his Pulitzer Prize-nominated Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa, which is adventurously constructed, richly melodic and colorfully scored. His unique takes on Strike Up The Band and There's No Business Like Show Business provide moments of rich humor whilst the Divertimento for Band mines the American Jazz vernacular with true rhythmic verve.

Hindemith's music for cello closely follows his evolution as a composer. With elements that look back to Schumann, Three Pieces, Op. 8 is among his earliest published works, while the solo Sonata, Op. 25 is indebted to Bach's Cello Suites and is one of the most intense and demanding of his chamber works. The ingenious variations on a frog he went a-courting are lighter in nature, contrasting with the weighty depths of the Sonata for Cello and Piano. Sebastien Hurtaud was first prize winner at the Adam International Cello Competition in 2009.

Masao Ohki' Symphony No. 5, introduced to world-wide audiences by Arvid Janson's and Leopold Stokowski, was one of the first of many Japanese works to be dedicated to the tragedy of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945.

Franz Anton Hoffmeister was a formative figure in the musical life of his time and highly regarded as a publisher of famous contemporaries such as Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. The variety and appeal of his own works also made him a popular and renowned composer. As for volume 1 of this series (8.572738), flautist Bruno Meier created new editions of these previously unknown works. With elegant and catchy themes, substantial proportions, intriguing major/minor contrasts of key and virtuoso solo writing, Hoffmeister satisfied the tastes of his time, finding a perfect balance between grace and artistry.

Bavarian-born Simon Mayr spent much of his life in Italy where he promoted Viennese classical composition but also absorbed much from his studies in Bergamo and Venice. Though he was one of the most admired operatic composers of his day - he taught Donizetti, who revered him - he was particularly noted for his sacred oratorios. His characteristically vibrant musical palette marks Jacob's Flight from Laban, with important writing for Wind instruments, operatically-based arias and confidently-handled ensembles and choruses. Franz Hauk is Mayr's leading interpreter and acclaimed for his many recordings. 'The music, performances, and recording are all first rate; unconditionally recommended.'

The Naxos Deutsche Schubert-Lied-Edition: Schubert set the poetry of over 115 writers to music. He selected poems from classical Greece, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, from eighteenthcentury German authors, early Romantics and Biedermeier poets.

Solo piano transcriptions of music from the operas of composer Giacomo Meyerbeer form the focus of Vol. 40 in the Naxos Complete Piano Music of Franz Liszt project. Sergio Gallo takes on the herculean task of playing the three-part Illustrations du Prophète, S414/R223, a work lasting nearly three-quarters of an hour, in addition to the 20-minute plus Illustrations de L’Africaine, S415/R224 and two briefer examples of Lisztian transcription fireworks embedded between these two knuckle busters. Mr. Gallo currently teaches at two US institutions, one being Georgia State University in Atlanta.

Converging Cultures: Music for Wind Band

Bob Chilcott is one of Britain’s most popular and respected composers and his choral music is performed worldwide. He has always embraced a broad stylistic palette and his writing for voice combined with jazz instrumentation gives these works a sense of vitality and energy. Performed by leading jazz soloists and Commotio, the distinguished promoters of contemporary repertoire, this sequence of brilliant villanelles, folk song arrangements and witty settings reveals once again the breadth of Chilcott’s musical imagination. Chilcott has enjoyed a lifelong association with choral music, as a composer, conductor, and singer. He was a chorister and choral scholar in the choir of King’s College, Cambridge and for twelve years was a member of the vocal group The King’s Singers. In 1997 he became a full time composer. A Little Jazz Mass, Requiem, and St. John Passion are among a number of works from his prolific output which are performed worldwide. He has written large-scale works, including The Angry Planet, community-based projects, pieces for children, and a significant amount of music for the church. In 2017 Chilcott was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of The Royal School of Church Music.

Franz Hauk and the Simon Mayr Chorus and Ensemble have spearheaded the revival of themusic of Johann Simon Mayr who was born in Bavaria but lived in Italy. In the latestinstalment of their critically acclaimed recordings they turn to Il sogno di Partenope, anallegorical staged cantata composed to mark the rebuilding of the Teatro San Carlo in Naplesfollowing a fire in February 1816. Mayr’s significance as an intermediary between the operaseria of the late eighteenth-century and the melodrama of the early-nineteenth is reflected inthis important work, a unique kind of ‘cantata opera’ of which only the second act survives.

The English composer Benjamin Dale's compositions are relatively few in number but of great distinction. In particular it was his friendship with Lionel Tertis, the father of modern viola playing, which inspired a series of outstanding works for the instrument. The Suite for Viola and Piano in D major, Op.2 is large in scale, brilliant in execution, and youthful in feeling, whilst the Phantasy for Viola and Piano, Op.4 is a single span studded with sublime melodies. Written for Tertis and his pupils, the Introduction and Andante for Six Violas, Op.5 is a unique contribution to the repertoire.

Joseph Achron was a child prodigy as a violinist, and despite great success as a composer he considered himself a performer for most of his life. + His most famous composition is the intense and dramatic Hebrew Melody, but the riches in this program range from the deeply passionate early Prelude, the spirit of dance in Les Sylphides, the various moods of the Stimmungen and the theatrical Stempenyu, speculated to be the inspiration for Marc Chagall’s famous painting of a fiddler on the roof. + Achron’s remarkable music fell into obscurity, but its recent revival includes a recording of his First Violin Concerto available on Naxos 8.559408.