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Concertos

Carl Ruggles
(1876-1971)

Sun-treader (1926-31)

William Schuman
(1910-1992)

Violin Concerto (1959) ¹

Walter Piston
(1894-1976)

Symphony #2 (1943)

¹ Paul Zukofsky, violin
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Michael Tilson Thomas
Deutshe Grammophon 429860-2 74:43

Ruggles' music is not easy to love but even if you find it not to your taste, the rest of the CD will more than make up for it. The Schuman Violin Concerto is variously anguished, calm, strident, lyrical, violent, and similar in many ways to the first Shostakovich Violin Concerto. There are other recordings if you can't find this one. Less often recorded is the Piston symphony, in three movements, at whose heart is an adagio which is unmistakably American. For my money, it's Piston's best symphony. The performances are exemplary.

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George Dyson
(1883-1964)

Violin Concerto
Children's Suite after Walter De La Mare

Lydia Mordkovich, violin
City of London Sinfonia/Richard Hickox
Chandos CHAN9369 62:23

Although written in 1942, this beautiful violin concerto would make lovers of Elgar and Stanford very happy with its lyrical style and noble spirit. Dyson's concerto has four movements, instead of the usual three. It opens with a very introspective first movement that seems initially like a symphony with violin accompaniment. The second movement is a jolly jig, followed by a very somber third movement, song-like in its orchestral introduction and carried through in the solo part. The last movement is a joyous, lighthearted dance. It leaves the listener in good spirits.

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  Reissued as part of CHAN10337: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe]

[ Sheet music by Dyson: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Joseph Wölfl
(1773-1812)

Piano Concerto #1, Op. 20 (after 1801)
Piano Concerto #5 "Grand Military", Op. 43 (1799)
Piano Concerto #6 "The Cuckoo", Op. 49 (before 1810)
Piano Concerto #4 "The Calm", Op. 36, (before 1807): Andante

Yorck Kronenberg, piano
SWR Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern/Johannes Moesus
CPO 777374-2 76:06

Sounding much like late Mozart and, occasionally, early Beethoven, these exuberant concertos are immediately attractive. What makes them different from their apparent models is much greater use of trumpets and drums, thus giving an air of celebration to the music. Yet again CPO has recorded, apparently for the first time, music that did not deserve its long neglect.

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Francis Poulenc
(1899-1963)

Les Animaux Modèles (1940-42)
Concert Champêtre ¹ (1927-8)
Improvisations #13, #15 (Hommage à Edith Piaf) ¹ (1958-9)

¹ Stefano Bollani, piano
Filarmonica '900 del Teatro Regio di Torino/Jan Latham-Koenig
Avie AV2135 74:03

Les Animaux Modèles is the least-known of Poulenc's ballets, but has just as much charm and wit as his other works in the genre. Concert Champêtre is familiar in its intended guise as a harpsichord concerto, but sounds equally fine with a piano soloist : Poulenc himself played it in this form. The two solo improvisations complement a most tempting program.

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[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Eric Ewazen
(b. 1954)

Concerto for Violin & Strings (2000) ¹
Concerto for Oboe & Strings "Down a River of Time" (1999) ²
Sinfonia for Strings (2001)

¹ Adele Anthony, violin
² Linda Strommen, oboe
International Sejong Soloists/Hyo Kang
Albany TROY577 64:27

Listening to this as a blindfold test, you might consider Vaughan Williams or a less well-known English composer such as Howells or Rubbra, or occasionally John Adams, or even Thomas Newman. Ewazen was born in Cleveland and on the evidence of this CD, writes extremely approachable music with passages of great beauty, which is a good enough reason for checking this out.

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[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Howard Blake
(b. 1938)

Violin Concerto, "The Leeds" (1992)
A Month in the Country-Suite for Strings (1986/1993)
Sinfonietta for Ten Brass Instruments (1981)

Christiane Edinger, violin
English Northern Philharmonia/Paul Daniel
Academy Sound & Vision CDDCA905 62:40

The violin concerto is an immediately likeable work with some exhilarating violin writing and orchestration. A Month in the Country uses material from a film score and there are echoes of Vaughan Williams in Tallis Fantasia mode and Britten's Frank Bridge Variations. The sinfonietta is edgier music, giving plenty of opportunity for the individual players.

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Ilja Hurnik (b.1922)
Four Seasons-Chamber Suite (1952)
Ondráš-Ballet Music (1951)

Jan Kapr (1914-1988)
In the Soviet Country-Cantata (1950) ³

Julius Kalaš (1902-1967)
The Nightingale and the Rose (1956)

Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006)
Violin Concerto #1 (1958-59) ⁴

Jan Seidel (1908-1998)
Oboe Concerto #2 (1955) ⁵

Ivan Jirko (1926-1978)
Piano Concerto #3 (1958) ⁶

Petr Eben (1929-2007)
Piano Concerto (1961) ⁷

Pavel Bořkovec (1894-1972)
Symphony #2 (1955)

Václav Dobiáš (1909-1978)
Build Up Your Country to Reinforce the Peace-Cantata (1947) ²

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1946) ¹

¹ Eric Schilling, narrator
² Jan Soumar, baritone
⁴ Václav Snítil, violin
⁵ Josef Shejbal, oboe
⁶ Viktorie Švihlíková, piano
⁷ František Rauch, piano
² Prague Philharmonic Choir
² Kühn Children's Choir
³ Prague Radio Choir
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/Karel Ančerl
Supraphon SU3944-2 4CDs 258:17

Volume 43 of the Karel Ančerl Gold Edition apparently collects a number of short works left over from the mainly single-CD releases which make up the rest of the series. Apart from the Britten, the remaining works are by composers of what was then Czechoslovakia, Ančerl having left his homeland for Canada in 1968, the year of the Soviet suppression of the Prague Spring. This set gives an interesting insight into the sort of music being written during the fifteen or so years after the war.

Most of the music is upbeat, some even jaunty. The two vocal works remind me of such pieces as Prokofiev's Summer Day, but the words are best avoided! Of the concertos, the standout for me is the Kalabis, but all are worth getting to know. Some of the recordings are in mono but the transfers have been very well done. The set is attractively priced. Recommended for those who like to explore the byways of the byways.

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Isaac Albéniz
(1860-1909)
Rapsodie española, Op. 70 (arr. Halffter) ¹

Joaquín Turina
(1882-1949)
Rapsodia sinfónica, Op. 66

Xavier Montsalvatge
(1912-2002)
Concerto Breve for Piano & Orchestra (1953)

Carlos Surinach
(1915-1997)
Piano Concerto (1973)

Alicia de Larrocha, piano
¹ London Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Decca Eloquence 4762971 75:35

The Albéniz and Turina works are short entrées to the two longer concertos. Despite its title, Montsalvatge's Concerto Breve runs about 25 minutes and is a very genial affair that wears its Spanishness lightly. The Surinach is more dramatic and fiery. The sound for all four works is as you'd expect from Decca originals.

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Antonín Dvořák
(1841-1904)

Mazurka for Violin & Orchestra
Rondo for Cello & Orchestra
Seven Interludes for Small Orchestra
Silent Woods for Cello & Orchestra
Polonaise in E Flat Major
Nocturne in B Major
American Suite
Five Prague Waltzes
Polka in B Flat Major

Dmitry Yablonsky, cello
Alexander Trostianski, violin
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra/Dmitry Yablonsky
Naxos 8.557352 78:42

This is a generous collection of some of Dvořák's shorter pieces, some of which do not lack other recordings. The American Suite is not as well-known as the Czech Suite, but certainly deserves to be. The real rarity is the Seven Interludes, which run about 23 minutes, and give some pointers towards his early symphonies. A very useful compendium.

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[ Sheet music by this composer: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968)

Suite "La Pisanella" ¹
Concerto dell'estate ¹

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)

Trittico Botticelliano ²

Nino Rota (1911-1979)

Concerto per archi ³

¹ L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Lamberto Gardelli
² Argo Chamber Orchestra/Laszlo Heltay
³ I Musici
Decca Eloquence 4769766 77:58

Respighi's Botticelli Triptych shows the composer in less flamboyant mood and does not lack recordings. Rota's short Concerto for Strings is reminiscent of Kurt Weill. The CD's main interest is in the Pizzetti works, especially the Summer Concerto, whose only recording this is. Running about 30 minutes and in three movements, it sounds very like the Respighi of the Roman trilogy but with a degree more restraint. La Pisanella makes a good contrast in mood with the concerto. This release is on the budget Australian Eloquence label, as distinct from its UK counterpart.

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[ Sheet music by Pizzetti: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com
   Sheet music by Respighi: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com
   Sheet music by Rota: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]