Symphonic Poems: January 2009 Archives

Eugen d'Albert
(1864-1932)

Esther Overture, Op. 8 (1888)

Frederic Lamond
(1868-1948)

Symphony in A Major, Op. 3 (1893)
From the Scottish Highlands – Overture, Op. 4
Sword Dance

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins
Hyperion CDA67387 59:51

The connection here is that both composers were born in Glasgow and both were influenced by Brahms. D'Albert, who was German, is known for his opera Tiefland and a couple of piano concertos; Lamond is hardly known at all. Good, solid nineteenth-century music and well-played by the BBC Scottish Symphony, which is used to learning forgotten scores.

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

[ Sheet music by d'Albert: Sheet Music Plus - Musicnotes.com ]

Ildebrando Pizzetti
(1880-1968)

Rondo Veneziano (1929) 23:32
Preludio a un altro giorno (1952) 11:34
La Pisanella (1917) 22:40
Tre Preludii Sinfonici per L'Edipo Re (1903) 17:40

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä
Hyperion CDA67084 (CDH55329) 76:03

In Italy, Pizzetti was known much more for his operas, vocal works and theater pieces than for his symphonic and chamber music. He was a conservative composer, although he was one of the founders of the journal "Dissonanza" in 1914. Pizzetti was not only a composer but a writer and music critic.

Pizzetti's strong lifelong interest in the theater carries over to these instrumental pieces. If you are pleased by orchestral Debussy, Respighi, and tone poems of Richard Strauss, you will enjoy these works. The first piece, Rondo Veneziano, makes use of Italian folk-like material. La Pisanella is set in Venetian-controlled Cyprus, and the modality is characteristic of that location. These works are exciting and they are all brilliantly orchestrated.

Marco Polo issued two volumes of Pizzetti's chamber music that unfortunately have been discontinued. They are worth looking for.

[ Available on CD: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan
   Reissued as Hyperion Helios CDH55329: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan - ArkivMusic - CD Universe ]

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