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Nimbus

Hindemith, Ligeti, Nielsen: Wind Quintets / Vienna Quintet

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Details

Composer
NIELSEN HINDEMITH LIGETI
Artist
Quintett Wien
Format
CD
Label
Nimbus
Released
Feb 01, 2004
Catalog #
NI5728
UPC
710357572821

About

Let me say it right off the bat: I absolutely loved this CD, and I’m betting that you will, too. I have been enthralled with Hindemith’s Kammermusik ever since I acquired the complete set of works collected under that title in Riccardo Chailly’s 1992 two-disc Decca release. Seven works in all make up the series. Six are essentially chamber concertos, each featuring a different solo instrument: piano in the op. 36/1, cello in the op. 36/2, violin in the op. 36/3, viola in the op. 36/4, viola d’amore in the op. 46/1, and organ in the op. 46/2. The seventh, op. 24/1, is for 12 solo instruments. That leaves the op. 24/2 for five wind instruments heard here, to which Hindemith gave the title Kleine Kammermusik. Technically speaking, it falls outside the set of seven the composer designated Kammermusik, but in style it shares much in common with its siblings. Written in 1922, it is a delightful thing, peppy, perky, and playful, with just enough of those Hindemithian sour notes thrown in to give the piece a lemony zest. The Six Bagatelles by György Ligeti (b. 1923) is a fairly early piece written between 1951 and 1953, while the composer was still living in Hungary. The work is based on six movements from Ligeti’s Musica ricercata, and is clearly indebted to neo-Classical models, particularly Bartók and Stravinsky. Do not expect anything like the later spatial and spectral tone-cluster music that made Ligeti famous in the West.

I am of two minds when it comes to Carl Nielsen (1865–1931). Hearing his name so often in hyphenation with Sibelius (like Debussy and Ravel), I could not imagine how or why anyone would pair these two composers who sounded to me so utterly different in style and musical speech. Moreover, I was (and still am) a Sibelian to the core, and I was mystified that Nielsen, who seemed quite the inferior of the two, could be held up as an equal. Well, that was a long time ago, and before I really applied myself to learning Nielsen’s music. I still believe that Sibelius was the greater of the two composers, but they are so different from one another that comparisons are not very instructive. I have long since come to appreciate Nielsen for the individual and special voice that was his.

His Wind Quintet, op. 43, from 1922, is testament to that unique voice. At nearly 25 minutes, it is a substantive and masterful work. The concluding Theme and Variations movement, especially, is not only a brilliant display of wind-writing technique, but really beautiful and moving music.

What can I say about the Quintett Wien? These five musicians are more than masters of their craft; they come together as a perfectly blended ensemble that breathes as a single living organism. Truly magnificent. Nimbus captures them in an acoustic that is open and radiant, but not reverberant. I know that I will be playing this CD many times over.

Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

Tracklist 14 tracks

  1. 1 I. Lustig: Massig schnelle Viertel 03:02
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Lustig: Massig schnelle Viertel
    Duration
    03:02
    Composer
    Paul Hindemith
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  2. 2 II. Walzer: Durchweg sehr leise 02:00
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Walzer: Durchweg sehr leise
    Duration
    02:00
    Composer
    Paul Hindemith
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  3. 3 III. Ruhig und einfach. Achtel 04:43
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Ruhig und einfach. Achtel
    Duration
    04:43
    Composer
    Paul Hindemith
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  4. 4 IV. Schnelle Viertel 00:52
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Schnelle Viertel
    Duration
    00:52
    Composer
    Paul Hindemith
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  5. 5 V. Sehr lebhaft 03:08
    Track
    5
    Title
    V. Sehr lebhaft
    Duration
    03:08
    Composer
    Paul Hindemith
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  6. 6 No. 1. Allegro con spirito 01:13
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 1. Allegro con spirito
    Duration
    01:13
    Composer
    György Ligeti
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  7. 7 No. 2. Rubato - Lamentoso 02:59
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 2. Rubato - Lamentoso
    Duration
    02:59
    Composer
    György Ligeti
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  8. 8 No. 3. Allegro grazioso 02:29
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 3. Allegro grazioso
    Duration
    02:29
    Composer
    György Ligeti
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  9. 9 No. 4. Presto ruvido 01:05
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 4. Presto ruvido
    Duration
    01:05
    Composer
    György Ligeti
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  10. 10 No. 5. Adagio - Mesto (Bela Bartok in memoriam) 02:24
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 5. Adagio - Mesto (Bela Bartok in memoriam)
    Duration
    02:24
    Composer
    György Ligeti
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  11. 11 No. 6. Molto vivace - Capriccioso 01:40
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 6. Molto vivace - Capriccioso
    Duration
    01:40
    Composer
    György Ligeti
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  12. 12 I. Allegro ben moderato 08:25
    Track
    12
    Title
    I. Allegro ben moderato
    Duration
    08:25
    Composer
    Carl Nielsen
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  13. 13 II. Menuetto 04:31
    Track
    13
    Title
    II. Menuetto
    Duration
    04:31
    Composer
    Carl Nielsen
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien
  14. 14 III. Praeludium - Tema con variazioni 11:32
    Track
    14
    Title
    III. Praeludium - Tema con variazioni
    Duration
    11:32
    Composer
    Carl Nielsen
    Ensemble
    Quintett Wien