PENTATONE
Britten: Frank Bridge Variations; Bartók, Hartmann
$21.99
Only 3 left
Details
- Composer
- BRITTEN HARTMANN BARTOK
- Artist
- Leader
- Format
- SACD
- Label
- PENTATONE
- Released
- Jul 19, 2005
- Catalog #
- PTC5186056
- UPC
- 827949005664
About
All the elements for a great recording are present here. Each of the three works is a masterpiece by one of the great composers of the 20th century. Each exploits the potential of a virtuoso string orchestra, and each includes brilliant solo- as well as ensemble-writing. Gordan Nikoli?, violin virtuoso and conductor, and the excellent Netherlands Chamber Orchestra are powerful interpreters of these scores, and PentaTone has delivered their performances in rich, resonant, and, where appropriate, biting surround sound. Thanks to the two-channel layer on the disc, those with conventional CD players can also find sound and performances of the highest quality.
All three composers were working under the gathering shadows of the century’s greatest catastrophe. Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), the youngest of this trio, composed his Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge in 1937, in time for its performance by the Boyd Neel String Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival. As Austria had not yet fallen to the Nazis, there is no political significance to this; Bela Bartók (1881–1945) composed his Divertimento on commission from the Swiss conductor Paul Sacher in the summer of 1939. This also was free of political inspiration; yet both Britten and Bartók would soon sail to the United States, escaping a Europe suddenly torn by war. By contrast, Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905–1962) had withdrawn from the musical life of Germany after the Nazis took power in 1933. He sent his haunting Concerto funèbre for solo violin and string orchestra (1939) abroad, as a musical protest against the cynical division of Czechoslovakia accomplished in Munich, his hometown, in 1938.
Britten’s masterpiece shows amazing skill and originality in orchestration. His variations encompass several styles and periods of music, but each also is charged with original musical thought and observation—there is no mere imitation here. One becomes aware of a certain debt to Stravinsky, but perhaps most of all to Frank Bridge himself, a complex and gifted composer and teacher. Bartók’s piece is considerably more profound and complex than the name divertimento implies. The outer movements both begin in a folksy, cheerful way, but both contain more serious passages, unexpected dynamic shifts, and moments of considerable profundity. The Adagio begins in a veiled, mysterious fashion, and goes on to be an altogether serious and perhaps tragic statement. One might more properly think of this work as Bartók’s Concerto for String Orchestra. Finally, Hartmann’s work is written in (for him) a rather conservative musical language, while remaining uniquely original in its effect. The composer’s penchant for atonal or trans-tonal composition is present, if at all, in the angry third movement. But even there, firm tonal foundations are almost always evident. The brief introduction, the following Adagio, and the final Chorale/Slow March are deeply sorrowful, but also quite lovely, and the music ends with a full chord in D Major, as if to say that truth and beauty, however derailed in the turmoil of the time, would someday prevail.
Robert McColley, FANFARE
All three composers were working under the gathering shadows of the century’s greatest catastrophe. Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), the youngest of this trio, composed his Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge in 1937, in time for its performance by the Boyd Neel String Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival. As Austria had not yet fallen to the Nazis, there is no political significance to this; Bela Bartók (1881–1945) composed his Divertimento on commission from the Swiss conductor Paul Sacher in the summer of 1939. This also was free of political inspiration; yet both Britten and Bartók would soon sail to the United States, escaping a Europe suddenly torn by war. By contrast, Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905–1962) had withdrawn from the musical life of Germany after the Nazis took power in 1933. He sent his haunting Concerto funèbre for solo violin and string orchestra (1939) abroad, as a musical protest against the cynical division of Czechoslovakia accomplished in Munich, his hometown, in 1938.
Britten’s masterpiece shows amazing skill and originality in orchestration. His variations encompass several styles and periods of music, but each also is charged with original musical thought and observation—there is no mere imitation here. One becomes aware of a certain debt to Stravinsky, but perhaps most of all to Frank Bridge himself, a complex and gifted composer and teacher. Bartók’s piece is considerably more profound and complex than the name divertimento implies. The outer movements both begin in a folksy, cheerful way, but both contain more serious passages, unexpected dynamic shifts, and moments of considerable profundity. The Adagio begins in a veiled, mysterious fashion, and goes on to be an altogether serious and perhaps tragic statement. One might more properly think of this work as Bartók’s Concerto for String Orchestra. Finally, Hartmann’s work is written in (for him) a rather conservative musical language, while remaining uniquely original in its effect. The composer’s penchant for atonal or trans-tonal composition is present, if at all, in the angry third movement. But even there, firm tonal foundations are almost always evident. The brief introduction, the following Adagio, and the final Chorale/Slow March are deeply sorrowful, but also quite lovely, and the music ends with a full chord in D Major, as if to say that truth and beauty, however derailed in the turmoil of the time, would someday prevail.
Robert McColley, FANFARE
Tracklist 18 tracks
-
1 Introduction and Theme: Lento Maestoso - Allegretto poco lento 02:00
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Introduction and Theme: Lento Maestoso - Allegretto poco lento
- Duration
- 02:00
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
2 Variation 1: Adagio 02:29
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Variation 1: Adagio
- Duration
- 02:29
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
3 Variation 2: March: Presto alla marcia 01:01
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Variation 2: March: Presto alla marcia
- Duration
- 01:01
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
4 Variation 3: Romance: Allegretto grazioso 01:25
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Variation 3: Romance: Allegretto grazioso
- Duration
- 01:25
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
5 Variation 4: Aria italiana: Allegro brillante 01:13
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Variation 4: Aria italiana: Allegro brillante
- Duration
- 01:13
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
6 Variation 5: Bouree Classique: Allegro e pesante 01:16
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Variation 5: Bouree Classique: Allegro e pesante
- Duration
- 01:16
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
7 Variation 6: Wiener Walzer. Lento. Vivace 02:43
- Track
- 7
- Title
- Variation 6: Wiener Walzer. Lento. Vivace
- Duration
- 02:43
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
8 Variation 7: Moto Perpetuo: Allegro molto 01:05
- Track
- 8
- Title
- Variation 7: Moto Perpetuo: Allegro molto
- Duration
- 01:05
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
9 Variation 8: Funeral March: Andante ritmico 03:44
- Track
- 9
- Title
- Variation 8: Funeral March: Andante ritmico
- Duration
- 03:44
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
10 Variation 9: Chant: Lento 01:44
- Track
- 10
- Title
- Variation 9: Chant: Lento
- Duration
- 01:44
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
11 Variation 10: Fugue and Finale: Allegro molto vivace - Molto animato - Lento e solenne 07:31
- Track
- 11
- Title
- Variation 10: Fugue and Finale: Allegro molto vivace - Molto animato - Lento e solenne
- Duration
- 07:31
- Composer
- Benjamin Britten
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
12 I. Introduction: Largo 01:16
- Track
- 12
- Title
- I. Introduction: Largo
- Duration
- 01:16
- Composer
- Karl Amadeus Hartmann
- Performer
- Anonymous
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
13 II. Adagio 06:58
- Track
- 13
- Title
- II. Adagio
- Duration
- 06:58
- Composer
- Karl Amadeus Hartmann
- Performer
- Anonymous
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
14 III. Allegro di molto 08:27
- Track
- 14
- Title
- III. Allegro di molto
- Duration
- 08:27
- Composer
- Karl Amadeus Hartmann
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
15 IV. Choral: Langsamer Marsch 03:50
- Track
- 15
- Title
- IV. Choral: Langsamer Marsch
- Duration
- 03:50
- Composer
- Karl Amadeus Hartmann
- Performer
- Anonymous
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
16 I. Allegro non troppo 08:48
- Track
- 16
- Title
- I. Allegro non troppo
- Duration
- 08:48
- Composer
- Béla Bartók
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
17 II. Molto adagio 09:10
- Track
- 17
- Title
- II. Molto adagio
- Duration
- 09:10
- Composer
- Béla Bartók
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić
-
18 III. Allegro assai 07:12
- Track
- 18
- Title
- III. Allegro assai
- Duration
- 07:12
- Composer
- Béla Bartók
- Ensemble
- Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor
- Gordan Nikolić