The sixth volume in this series features three fine examples of Paul Wranitzky’s incidental music for Vienna’s court theatres, with these world premiere recordings fully demonstrating his compositional diversity. These often symphonically conceived works feature battle music, solemn polyphonic elements and the popular Turkish style with its characteristic janissary percussion. (Vol. 5: 8.574399, Vol. 4: 8.574290, Vol. 3: 8.574289, Vol. 2: 8.574255, Vol. 1: 8.574227.)

Joachim Raff’s symphonies present a synthesis of pure music and the programmatic elements of the neo-German school. His eighth symphony, 'Frühlingsklänge' ('Sounds of Spring'), was followed shortly by his ninth, Im Sommer ('In Summer'), forming a celebration of spring and summer that are part of a set that make up the four seasons. Previously released instalments include: Symphony No. 1, 'An das Vaterland' ('To the Fatherland') can be heard on 8555411 and Nos. 3, 'Im Walde' ('In the Forest') and 10, 'Zur Herbstzeit' ('In Autumn') on 8555491.

Schumann’s studies into counterpoint during 1845 climaxed in what he described as a ‘Fugenpassion’, with the resulting character pieces becoming a significant cornerstone of the organ repertoire. They are performed here by Tom Winpenny, who has also written the booklet notes, on the historic and recently restored Furtwängler organ in Gronau, Germany.

From the virtuoso Essercizi (K.12 and 15) to the touching cantabile eloquence of the Sonata in G major, K.144, most of the repertoire on this album consists of lesser-known works incorporating elements of dance forms from Spain and Portugal, with the Sonata (Fuga) in D minor heard here in its world premiere recording.

This recording focuses on Claudio Santoro’s output from the 1960s – a significant decade in the composer’s ever-eventful life. It features world premiere recordings of his charged Cello Concerto, fuelled by his experiences in East Berlin, the dramatic Eighth Symphony and the encore piece One Minute Play, alongside Três Abstrações and Interações Assintóticas, Santoro’s only work to use quarter-tone tuning.

Learn more about this title on the Naxos Classical Spotlight podcast!

REVIEW:

I knew nothing of Santoro’s music until I began listening to these releases in the Naxos Music of Brazil series. Recently a number of his Symphonies and other works have been released and here No 8, from 1963, is placed alongside the slightly earlier Cello Concerto and three other works from the same decade. Another informative and enjoyable production.

-- Lark Reviews

Fabrice Bollon’s unique arrangement of The Cunning Little Vixen for chamber forces was developed during the COVID lockdown when the use of large orchestras was unsafe. Bollon also compressed Šarka into a duo and wrote Twelve Lillies for Leoš, a colourfully scored tribute employing reminiscences from Janácek’s works. All works are heard here in world premiere recordings.

This latest release in the Great Composers in Words and Music series portrays Antonín  Dvořák as a complex and wide-ranging composer, and explores the creation and performance of his music as well as its reception on both sides of the Atlantic, tracing his art in all its richness and variety. Musical excerpts include the Cello Concerto, the ‘New World’ Symphony and the Slavonic Dances, as well as selected chamber pieces, songs, opera excerpts and more.

This selection of transcriptions celebrates childhood in a variety of ways, featuring popular works – Schubert’s Erlkönig, Granados’s atmospheric Tales of Youth, Mozart’s elegant Sonata facile, Schumann’s Scenes of Childhood and Debussy’s Children’s Corner – presented in a totally natural and idiomatic manner within the guitar’s distinctly expressive soundworld.

This album features eight world premiere recordings, five new pieces written for Madeleine Mitchell and four works recorded by Mitchell with the composers as pianists. The music ranges from Alan Rawsthorne’s quicksilver Violin Sonata, and Thea Musgrave’s vivid Colloquy, in its only available recording, to contemporary works by leading composers.

Les Synthétistes, a collective formed in Brussels in September 1925, sought to distinguish themselves from late-Romantic style by connecting with contemporary music, and the group created a unique canon of original, modern music for wind band. A sample of these unjustly forgotten works are heard here in their world premiere recordings, performed by the Royal Band of the Belgian Air Force, appearing in its Naxos debut. Marcel Poot's Seven Symphonies can be heard on 8.574292-93.

Providing an overview of almost a century, this album reflects the aspirations of Polish nationalism through the works of three pivotal figures: Karol Kurpinski, whose Fantasy for String Quartet is both serious and ingenious in design, Zygmunt Noskowski, whose witty piece on a theme of Viotti includes the use of a polacca, and Stanislaw Moniuszko, whose quartets balance the hymnal with the rustic.

Napoléon Coste was the most eminent French guitarist of the 19th century and a creative innovator. Fantaisie symphonique shows the range of his ambition with its quasi-orchestral textures, swift mood changes and virtuoso flourishes. Le Départ is one his most popular extended pieces, full of liquid transitions. Volumes 1–5 can be heard on 8.554192, 8.554194 and 8.554353-55.

This world premiere recording of British composer Nigel Clarke’s symphony for violin and orchestra The Prophecies of Merlin is inspired by the 12th-century text De gestis Britonum by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and it casts the soloist as the maddened Merlin, in a score brimming with rhythmic drive and bravura orchestration. Clarke's music can aso be heard on 8.570429 (Samurai • Black Fire • The Miraculous Violin) and 8.574097 (Mysteries of the Horizon).

Francesco Durante’s psalm settings stand out for their astoundingly modern contrapuntal tensions and expressive nuance. Coupled with Giovanni Salvatore’s uniquely inventive organ works, these world premiere recordings revive sacred works by a composer considered in his day to be ‘the greatest master of harmony in Italy’.

This world premiere recording of Wladyslaw Zelenski’s opera Janek draws on local atmosphere and traditional music but also makes use of the emotive Italian verismo style. This concert performance of Janek was part of a series of events in Lublin that celebrated Zelenski’s music, marking the 100th anniversary of his death.