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Classical Sheet Music

The Classical Explorer

Unknown Piano Works

   November 19, 2009 12:00 AM |
CPO 999256

Anton Bruckner
(1824-1896)

Lancer-Quadrille (c. 1850)
Steiermärker (c. 1850)
Quadrille for Piano Four Hands (c. 1854)
Three Little Pieces for Piano Four Hands
Klavierstück in E Flat Major (c. 1856)
Sonata Movement in G Minor (1862)
Silent Meditation on an Autumn Evening (1863)
Fantasie (1868)
Reminiscence (c.1868)

Wolfgang Brunner, Michael Schopper, pianos
CPO 999256 47:21

o put this music into context, all but the last two pieces were written before the F Minor (Study) Symphony, his first completed work in that form. It's interesting to hear the composer's early efforts. There is very little in the piano music to hint at what was to come. Much of it sounds like very early Schubert or one of the Viennese composers of lighter music such as Lanner. This CD makes an excellent source of music for fooling your friends!

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

Neo-Classical Italian

   November 17, 2009 12:00 AM |
CPO 777265

Alfredo Casella
(1883-1947)

Symphony #3, Op. 63 (1939-40)
Italia-Rhapsody for Large Orchestra, Op. 11 (1909)

WDR Symphony Orchestra, Köln/Alun Francis
CPO 777265 66:28

Casella's third symphony shows a number of influences, not least of them Mahler and Soviet composers of the time. Part of the last movement sounds remarkably like Piston's 6th symphony, but was written about fifteen years earlier – at least it's a point of comparison. Italia is, as you might think, a much more lighthearted affair, and contains some of the expected themes.

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

Russian String Trios

   November 12, 2009 12:00 AM |
Hyperion CDA67573

Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev
(1856-1915)

String Trio in E Flat Major, Op. 31 (1910-11)
String Trio in B Minor (1913)
String Trio in D Major (1879-80)

Leopold String Trio
Hyperion CDA67573 67:29

Taneyev was initially a very conservative composer with little time for the efforts of other composers working in Russia at the time, thus the D Major trio sounds like Haydn. The other two, written in the later part of his career, show clear evidence of his having been more accepting of the work of his contemporaries. The Leopold String Trio is Isabelle Van Keulen (violin), Lawrence Power (viola), and Kate Gould (cello).

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

Yet Another Franck

   November 10, 2009 12:00 AM |
Audite 20.034

Eduard Franck
(1817-1893)

Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 57 (1860)
Symphony in B Flat Major, Op. 52 (1856)

Christiane Edinger, violin
Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra/Hans-Peter Frank
Audite 20.034 60:04

Eduard Franck was a German composer who was unrelated to the Belgian César Franck. The concerto has many similarities to Beethoven's, and the symphony has more than a trace of Mendelssohn and Schumann. Both works make an enjoyable change from some perhaps too familiar works of the period. The same artists perform the Violin Concerto, Op. 30, and the Symphony in A Major, Op. 47, on a Fermate CD (FER20025) which appears to have been deleted but which some web searching might find.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic ]

Little-Known Elgar

   October 22, 2009 12:00 AM |
Naxos 8.570166

Edward Elgar
(1857-1934)

Sonatina in G Major (1887, rev. 1930)
Dream Children, Op. 43 (1902)
Une Idylle, Op. 4 #1 (1884)
Carissima (1913)
May Song (1901)
Rosemary (1883)
Sérénade Mauresque, Op. 10 #2 (1899)
Enigma Variations, Op. 36 (1899)
The Sanguine Fan: Echo's Dance, Op. 81 #7 (1917)

Ashley Wass, piano
Naxos 8.570166 66:58

This CD mostly represents some of Elgar's lighter music, either written originally for the piano or arranged from orchestral or chamber works. Apart from the shorter pieces, it's useful to have a piano version of the Enigma Variations which highlights details the listener may not have noticed from the more familiar orchestral version. Ashley Wass has also recorded for Naxos quite a lot of music by such English composers as Alwyn, Bridge and Bax.

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

English Music Revivalist

   October 20, 2009 12:00 AM |
Lyrita SRCD.252

Geoffrey Bush
(1920-1998)

Overture "Yorick" (1949) 1
Music for Orchestra (1967) 2
Symphony #1 (1954) 3
Symphony #2 "The Guildford" (1957) 4

1 New Philharmonia Orchestra/Vernon Handley
2 London Philharmonic Orchestra/Vernon Handley
3 London Symphony Orchestra/Nicholas Braithwaite
4 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Barry Wordsworth
Lyrita SRCD.252 79:07

This CD of works by the English composer Geoffrey Bush, not to be confused with Alan Bush or William Busch, contains his only two symphonies. There are strong similarities to the music of Walton in terms of rhythm, and there are also traces of Elgar and Arnold. Music for Orchestra has more austere orchestration. The disc demonstrates the excellent engineering that is typical of the label.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

Entartete Musik

   October 15, 2009 12:00 AM |
Capriccio 10539

Erwin Schulhoff
(1894-1942)

String Quartet in G Major, Op. 25 (1918) 1
Sonata for Solo Violin (1927) 2
Duo for Violin and Cello (1925) 3
String Sextet (1924) 4

1,2,4 Conrad Muck, violin
1,3,4 Gerhard Süssmuth, violin
1,4 Friedemann Weigle, viola
1,3,4 Hans-Jaokob Eschenburg, cello
4 Rainer Johannes Kimstedt, viola
4 Michael Sanderling, cello
Petersen Quartet
Capriccio 10539 76:45

The Czech composer Schulhoff's compositions show a variety of styles, sometimes within the one work. His early influences were Dvořák, Brahms and Schumann, evident in the string quartet. Later he turned to the influences of the Second Viennese School, to folk elements and jazz. He tried to emigrate to flee the developing World War II but was arrested, and succumbed to tuberculosis in a German concentration camp. His other music for string quartet has been recorded by the Petersen Quartet on another Capriccio CD.

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

An Englishman in Florida

   October 13, 2009 12:00 AM |
Naxos 8.553535

Frederick Delius
(1862-1934)

Florida Suite (1887-89)
Over the Hills and Far Away (1895-7)
Idylle de Printemps (1889)
La Quadroöne (1889)
Scherzo (1890)
Final Scene from Koanga (1895-7) 1

1 Susannah Glanville, Susan Lees & Irene Evans, sopranos
1 Sandra Francis, Sue Pearce & Shirley Thomas, mezzo-sopranos
English Northern Philarmonia/David Lloyd-Jones
Naxos 8.553535 79:05

The first two works on this CD are well enough known but these may well be the only recordings of most of the others. The Florida Suite was inspired by Delius' experience with an orange plantation. None of the latter works runs more than about ten minutes but all are worth hearing, especially on a budget-priced and well-filled CD.

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

On Sjoland’s Fair Plains

   October 8, 2009 12:00 AM |
BIS CD-339

Niels Gade
(1817-1890)

Symphony #1 "Paa Sjølunds fagre sletter" in C Minor, Op. 5 (1844)
Symphony #8 in B Minor, Op. 47 (1869-71)

Stockholm Sinfonietta/Neeme Järvi
BIS CD-339 58:08

The Danish composer Gade's eight symphonies have quite a lot in common with those of Mendelssohn. Despite the fact that they were written over a period of 25 years, they are stylistically very similar. All have been recorded for BIS, and there are other versions on Da Capo and Chandos.

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

Not That Franck

   October 6, 2009 12:00 AM |
Audite 97.487

Richard Franck
(1858-1938)

Piano Trio in B Minor, Op. 20 (1893)
Piano Trio in E Flat Major, Op. 32 (1900)

Christoph Schickedanz, violin
Thomas Blees, cello
Bernhard Fograscher, piano
Audite 97.487 62:57

Franck is one of a German musical family which boasts several interesting composers, including his father, Eduard. Despite their late nineteenth-century dates, these trios are strongly influenced by Schumann.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]
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