Johann Baptist Vanhal - Two Symphonies; Cello Concerto

"Johann Baptist Vanhal [...] numbers among the most productive composers of the eighteenth century. According to the current count, he composed at least seventy-seven symphonies, some sixty solo concertos, several hundred works for chamber ensembles and just as many works for piano, and in the category of liturgical music fifty-one masses and many more than a hundred shorter sacred vocal works. According to the Vanhal scholar Paul Bryan's tentative estimate, the total number of his works is to be reckoned at 1,377. If one can believe what early witnesses stated about the extent of his overall oeuvre, then some works exceeding this number must have been lost. The lexicographer Gottfried Johann Dlabacẑ (who knew Vanhal personally), for example, spoke of the existence of a hundred symphonies in his 'Künstler-Lexikon für Bömen' published in 1815. But Vanhal quite early made a name for himself not only with the overwhelming quantity of his works but also with their quality. Already in 1772, when Vanhal was thirty-three years old, the English music historian Charles Burney noted in his travel journal during his trip throughout Europe that he would not hesitate to name Vanhal's symphonies 'among the most complete and perfect compositions, for many instruments, which the art of music can boast.'" (Bert Hagels, tr. Susan Marie Praeder. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Camerata Schweiz, Howard Griffiths, István Várdai

1. Symphony In C Major: I. Allegro
2. Symphony In C Major: II. Cantabile
3. Symphony In C Major: III. Allegro Molto
4. Cello Concerto In C Major: I. Allegro Moderato
5. Cello Concerto In C Major: II. Adagio
6. Cello Concerto In C Major: III. Finale. Allegro
7. Symphony In E Minor: I. Allegro Moderato
8. Symphony In E Minor: II. Cantabile
9. Symphony In E Minor: III. Menuetto Ma Un Poco Allegretto
10. Symphony In E Minor: IV. Allegro

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Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts Of The Great Highway

Singer/songwriter Mark Kozelek's solo moniker. The songs here drift through an emotionally rich mind world, maintaining an urbane sound without going so far as to lose their Neil Young-esque 'Americana' feeling. The music is rich and varied beyond basic indie rock and the lyrics show an artistic maturity that one reviewer calls "a more languid form of timeless storytelling". Timeless is, perhaps, the right word. There is a feeling of Kozelek reaching into the past, singing songs from creased sepia toned family photo albums as the album cover suggests. There is rich emotion here, but also distance and a sense of growing insignificance.

1. Glenn Tipton
2. Carry Me Ohio
3. Salvador Sanchez
4. Last Tide
5. Floating
6. Gentle Moon
7. Lily And Parrots
8. Duk Koo Kim
9. Sí, Paloma
10. Pancho Villa

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Franz Schubert / Joseph Haydn - Piano Sonatas; Military March

"Franz Joseph Haydn's delightful little Sonata in A major, Hob. XVI: 30 saw the light of day in 1776 — a great re-volutionary year for Thomas Jeffer-son's America, a somewhat less successful one for George III's England, a storm- and stressful one for Goethe's Germany, but altogether a peaceful one for Haydn in Eszterhiza, Hungary. 

"[...] In February of 1823, when Franz Schubert was at work on the A-minor Sonata, D. 784, his life had just taken several significant turns. On the professional side, his greatest instrumental creation to date, the "Wanderer" Fantasy, D. 760, had been accepted by the publishers Cappi & Diabelli. Two years earlier this firm had published Schubert's Op. 1, Erlkönig, D. 328, his first real breakthrough to the public; now it seemed as if he also might finally gain recognition and acceptance as an instrumental com-poser. On the personal side, however, he had just encountered disaster: the first symptoms of syphilis had appeared — the disease that within six years would destroy him." (David Montgomery. From the liner notes.)

1. Joseph Haydn - Piano Sonata In A Major, Hob. XVI:30
2. Joseph Haydn - Piano Sonata In E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:52: I. Allegro
3. Joseph Haydn - Piano Sonata In E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:52: II. Adagio
4. Joseph Haydn - Piano Sonata In E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:52: III. Finale. Presto
4. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata In A Minor, D. 784: I. Allegro Giusto
5. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata In A Minor, D. 784: II. Andante
6. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata In A Minor, D. 784: III. Allegro Vivace
7. Franz Schubert - Military March, D. 733 No. 1

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Joseph Haydn - String Quartets Op. 71 & 74

"Whereas Haydn's earlier quartets had been designed for private performance, Op. 71 and 74 were tailored, at least partly, for London's Hanover Square Rooms, which seated up to 600 in comfort. And though they never overstep the bounds of true chamber music, the 1793 works are more obviously 'public' in manner than any of his previous quartets: boldly and spaciously conceived, with virtuoso writing for all the instruments, especially the first violin (played by Salomon himself), and flamboyant contrasts of texture, register and dynamics. 

"These extrovert tendencies were in part a response to the showy quatours concertants by, inter alia, Adalbert Gyrowetz and Haydn's former pupil Ignaz Pleyel that were so popular in London. Unlike Pleyel and Gyrowetz, though, Haydn was too much of a musical architect to allow virtuosity to run amok. Fast movements are tautly, often strenuously argued, reflecting the proximity of the London symphonies, while the slow movements of Op. 71 No. 2 and Op. 74 No. 3 are among Haydn's most searching. Another tendency of these quartets, so characteristic of late Haydn, is their highly adventurous sense of tonality, manifested both in remote modulations within movements, and by the choice of a key a third away from the tonic for the trios of Op. 74 Nos. I and 2, and the largo assai of Op. 74 No. 3." (Richard Wigmore. From the liner notes.)

 Performers: The London Haydn Quartet

1. String Quartet In B-Flat Major, Op. 71 No. 1: I. Allegro
2. String Quartet In B-Flat Major, Op. 71 No. 1: II. Adagio
3. String Quartet In B-Flat Major, Op. 71 No. 1: III. Menuetto: Allegretto
4. String Quartet In B-Flat Major, Op. 71 No. 1: IV. Vivace
5. String Quartet In D Major, Op. 71 No. 2: I. Adagio – Allegro
6. String Quartet In D Major, Op. 71 No. 2: II. Adagio Cantabile
7. String Quartet In D Major, Op. 71 No. 2: III. Menuetto: Allegro
8. String Quartet In D Major, Op. 71 No. 2: IV. Allegretto – Allegro
9. String Quartet In E-Flat Major, Op. 71 No. 3: I. Vivace
10. String Quartet In E-Flat Major, Op. 71 No. 3: II. Andante Con Moto
11. String Quartet In E-Flat Major, Op. 71 No. 3: III. Menuetto – Trio
12. String Quartet In E-Flat Major, Op. 71 No. 3: IV. Vivace
13. String Quartet In C Major, Op. 74 No. 1: I. Allegro
14. String Quartet In C Major, Op. 74 No. 1: II. Andantino
15. String Quartet In C Major, Op. 74 No. 1: III. Menuetto: Allegro – Trio
16. String Quartet In C Major, Op. 74 No. 1: IV. Vivace
17. String Quartet In F Major, Op. 74 No. 2: I. Allegro Spiritoso
18. String Quartet In F Major, Op. 74 No. 2: II. Andante Grazioso
19. String Quartet In F Major, Op. 74 No. 2: III. Menuetto – Trio
20. String Quartet In F Major, Op. 74 No. 2: IV. Presto
21. String Quartet In G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 'Rider': I. Allegro Non Troppo
22. String Quartet In G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 'Rider': II. Largo Assai
23. String Quartet In G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 'Rider': III. Menuetto: Allegretto – Trio
24. String Quartet In G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 'Rider': IV. Allegro Con Brio

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Ignaz Joseph Pleyel - The Cello Concertos

"The date of genesis of the five cello concertos on the present CD falls into Pleyel's most mature Strasbourg and early Paris years as a composer. The earliest ones - Ben. 101 (1782-84), Ben. 104 (1788-89), and Ben. 105 (1790) - may have been composed and can have to do with the composer's concert organizing activities in Strasbourg; some of them were perhaps performed during his concert tours in London, too. The later ones - Ben. 106 (1797) and Ben. 108 (n.d.) - reflect commissions by music publishers or concert invitations in the first years of his stay in Paris.

"The tone of the works reminds of the elegant, sentimental and spectacularly virtuoso atmosphere of Boccherini's, Haydn's and his classical-early romantic contemporaries' concertos. They have a traditional structure in three movements: the large-scale sonata-like opening movement and the cantabile slow movement are followed by a sparklingly witty virtuoso closing rondo or sonata rondo. It is interesting to note that almost each piece was published and survives in several settings - and soloistic versions, respectively. A good example is the concerto in C major (Ben. 104) 1788-89 known in no less than nine contemporary printed versions for cello. Besides, its viola concerto form (one edition), fortepiano version (eight editions), a clarinet concerto variant (two editions), flute, oboe and bassoon versions (one edition each), string and wind combinations as double concertos (twelve editions) as well as a chamber version for violin and piano are known. As exceptions, only the earliest concerto in C major composed in 1782-84 and the manuscript concerto in C major (Ben. 108) of latest date (without date) on it occur only in a version for a single instrument. 

"Although several contemporary editions survive, the present CD offers the 'critical' versions of the concertos revised on the basis of autograph manuscripts. The Urtext editions and the cadenzas to the individual movements are by Péter Szabó."

Performers: Erdódy Chamber Orchestra, Zsolt Szefcsik, Péter Szabó

1.1. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 104: I. Allegro Vivace
1.2. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 104: II. Adagio
1.3. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 104: III. Rondo. Allegro
1.4. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 106: I. Allegro
1.5. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 106: II. Adagio
1.6. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 106: III. Rondo. Allegro Molto
1.7. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 108: I. Allegro
1.8. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 108: II. Adagio
1.9. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 108: III. Allegro Molto

2.1. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 101: I. Allegro
2.2. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 101: II. Adagio
2.3. Cello Concerto In C Major, Ben. 101: III. Rondo
2.4. Cello Concerto In D Major, Ben. 105: I. Allegro Moderato
2.5. Cello Concerto In D Major, Ben. 105: II. Adagio Poco Andante
2.6. Cello Concerto In D Major, Ben. 105: III. Rondo. Allegro

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Ignaz Joseph Pleyel - Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Sinfonia Concertante

"The fact that Pleyel, like Haydn, paid tribute to the principle of experimentation is reflected in the first work on our recording. [...] [It] is doubtless one of his superior compositions. Jost Michaels ranks it as the most important clarinet concerto prior to Mozart. It is interesting to hear how Pleyel makes his way through the concerto with his simple initial theme; the path leads by way of an emotionally rich slow movement and in keeping with dramaturgical logic issues in the virtuoso release of the rondo. During the course of this work he exploits the whole palette of the clarinet. 

"The second Clarinet Concerto, very close to Mozart in its second movement, owed its composition to similar circumstances, to be specific, to the marketing of an already successfully tested basic idea For several instruments -in this case of a cello concerto - with Pleyel himself doing the marketing. What came first, the chicken or the egg, is a question that I would prefer to leave up to scholarship. It should be noted, however, that in the concluding movement of this concerto Pleyel designs the equivalent of an opera scene with cadences by Reimund Griesbacher, a recitative, and a seeming concluding stretta. Griesbacher, the director of Prince Großalkowitz's wind ensemble in Preßburg and Vienna around 1796, was renowned as a superb concert instrumentalist on the clarinet. 

"The Sinfonia Concertante arose in Pleyel's Paris circle of friends, represented by the Gebauer family, whose members often prevailed upon him to arrange older works for them, with these works then being published by them under his trademark name. The double concerto in all likelihood was published in this way with the author's approval." (Dieter Klöcker, tr. Susan Marie Praeder. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Sebastian Tewinkel, Dieter Klöcker, Sandra Arnold

1. Clarinet Concerto No. 1 In B-Flat Major: I. Allegro
2. Clarinet Concerto No. 1 In B-Flat Major: II. Adagio
3. Clarinet Concerto No. 1 In B-Flat Major: III. Rondo
4. Clarinet Concerto No. 2 In B-Flat Major: I. Allegro Vivace
5. Clarinet Concerto No. 2 In B-Flat Major: II. Adagio
6. Clarinet Concerto No. 2 In B-Flat Major: III. Rondo
7. Sinfonia Concertante In B-Flat Major: I. Allegro
8. Sinfonia Concertante In B-Flat Major: I. Allegro

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Jan Ladislav Dussek - String Quartets

"Dussek is right to consider his quartets to be in his very own style. Perhaps Dussek is the only contemporary of Beethoven who was able to preserve his own style without suffering under the immense influence of the great classicist. Rather, Dussek can be seen as the first the Romantic composer (along with Prince Louis Ferdinand). After all, Schubert's very first, and still very much classical compositions overlap into the final months of Dussek's life, while the string quartets Op. 60 were written at a time which would hardly be called Romanticism in music history. Yet Dussek cannot be assigned to Classicism, neither in his character nor in his music, as the string quartets clearly document. [...]

"Perhaps the quartets later also suffered a certain déjà vu - they occasionally seem to remind us of better known, but always much later works. Easily they could be mistaken for music from the 1820s or 1830s. Their date of 1806 makes them all the more revolutionary, unprecedented and modern.

"The three quartets of Op. 60 are conceived as a cycle. The first quartet in G Major is in a lighter character, with only three movements, the middle of which is in the style of an Intermezzo with a virtuoso alla Polacca finale. The second quartet appears the most classical of the three. A certain closeness to Beethoven seems to be intended as the movement title Adagio pathetico reveals. The second subject is a direct quote from Haydn's op. 103. The third quartet points far into the future, with all elements of Romantic music already present. The slow movement is perhaps the most ingenious of the whole opus, as it appears to he almost late Romantic. Also notable is the tonality of the scherzo, which begins in C-sharp Minor yet settles in the home key of E flat, while the Trio is set in B major." (Johannes Gebauer. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Camesina Quartet

1. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 1 In G Major: I. Allegro Grazioso
2. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 1 In G Major: II. Larghetto Non Troppo Lento
3. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 1 In G Major: III. Rondo. Tempo Di Polacca Quasi Andante
4. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 2 In B-Flat Major: I. Allegretto
5. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 2 In B-Flat Major: II. Adagio Pathetico
6. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 2 In B-Flat Major: III. Menuetto. Non Presto E Semplice
7. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 2 In B-Flat Major: IV. Finale. Allegro Non Troppo
8. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 3 In E-Flat Major: I. Allegro Espressivo
9. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 3 In E-Flat Major: II. Adagio Non Tanto
10. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 3 In E-Flat Major: III. Menuetto. Scherzo. Con Moto Assai
11. Three String Quartets, Op. 60 No. 3 In E-Flat Major: IV. Finale. Allegro Moderato

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Jan Ladislav Dussek - Piano Sonatas Op. 44 & Op. 77

"The Sonata Op.44 is not only a dedication to and a farewell with Dussek’s friend and musical contemporary Muzio Clementi. It is also a journey through all the musical styles and époques to which Dussek bore witness. The polyphony and the canonic imitations in the development of the 1st movement represent the heritage of the Baroque era. The clear lines of the rhetorical formulae in the 1st movement belong to the classical style of Haydn and Mozart. The exquisite coquetry of the dance in the Trio of the Menuet relate to the salon of the pre-Chopin times. And the last bars of the Sonata are blown away in an extraordinary gesture of farewell.

"The Sonata Op.77 (L’Invocation) deserves its reputation as one of the most outstanding of Dussek’s works. It is not free of the weaker traits of the earlier pieces: the clichés in form, the trivial appoggiaturas and sighs, the use of diminished 7th chords to express passion and tragedy, and the tonal monotony (especially in the 1st movement and the Menuet). Nevertheless, the emotional candor, the romantic impulse, the depressive melancholy in the presentiment of his coming death make up for the lack of invention in manipulating the musical material. Both in the 1st and the final movements, the music achieves dramatic heights only to break down and fall deep into resignation and despair. Dussek surpasses Beethoven and Schubert in the expression of subjective feeling. In this Sonata, he reaches out to the Romanticism of Chopin (3rd mvt.), Schumann (episodes of the Finale) and Brahms (Trio). Again and again, the listener is impressed by the fusion of baroque archaism, classical sonata forms, the novelty and expression of the melodic contour, the richness of the piano writing and the boldness in the use of all possible resources of the instrument. (Alexei Lubimov, tr. Liza Miller. From the liner notes.)

Performer: Alexei Lubimov

1. Piano Sonata No. 18 In E-Flat Major, Op. 44, Craw 178: I. Introduzione. Grave - Allegro Moderato
2. Piano Sonata No. 18 In E-Flat Major, Op. 44, Craw 178: II. Molto Adagio E Sostenuto
3. Piano Sonata No. 18 In E-Flat Major, Op. 44, Craw 178: III. Tempo Di Menuetto Piuttosto Allegro
4. Piano Sonata No. 18 In E-Flat Major, Op. 44, Craw 178: IV. Rondo. Allegro Moderato Ed Espressivo
5. Piano Sonata No. 28 In F Minor, Op. 77, Craw 259: I. Allegro Moderato, Ma Energico
6. Piano Sonata No. 28 In F Minor, Op. 77, Craw 259: II. Tempo Di Menuetto. Con Moto
7. Piano Sonata No. 28 In F Minor, Op. 77, Craw 259: III. Adagio Non Troppo, Ma Solenne
8. Piano Sonata No. 28 In F Minor, Op. 77, Craw 259: IV. Rondo. Allegro Moderato

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Johann Sebastian Bach - Mass In B Minor

"Owing to its complex genesis and source history, the B-minor Mass cannot be said to exist in a definitive form. True, the autograph score is the most important source for the work as a whole, but it contains subsequent inscriptions that can only be eliminated through a comparison with the earliest copyists’ manuscripts. Due to the poor condition of the original manuscript – which, although it was saved from further decay by conservatory measures, was too damaged for all the details to be reconstructed – it is impossible to determine the precise state of the manuscript at the time of Bach’s death. Even if this could be done, it would be necessary to intervene in Bach’s original, since Bach’s poor health prevented him from working out the second part of the Mass in every detail. We will have to trust that his son Carl Philipp Emanuel made his changes in the Berlin period with great reverence, close temporal proximity, and a solid knowledge of his father’s style, and that he limited them to what was absolutely necessary. On the other hand, his arrangement of the Credo for a Hamburg benefit concert in 1786 involved performance markings that primarily merit the attention of reception historians but allow no conclusions to be drawn regarding performances under Johann Sebastian Bach himself. Thus, the original score forms the decisive source for the movements from the Credo to the 'Dona nobis pacem'.

"A basic decision had to be made for the first part of the Mass consisting of the Kyrie and Gloria movements. All previous editions, as well as almost all recordings, have taken the autograph score as their primary source. However, in the Carus edition (edited by Ulrich Leisinger, Stuttgart, 2014; Carus 31.232) upon which the present recording is based, the readings set down by Bach in detail in the Dresden parts have been taken as the main text for the first part of the Mass. The Carus edition thus provides the best text for both parts, i.e., supplying that which was most elaborately wrought by Johann Sebastian Bach. By consistently following this distinction, the recording based on our new edition also enables not only the B-minor Mass as a whole but also the Dresden version of 1733 to be heard separately as a Kyrie-Gloria Mass on CD 1 – an option wholly neglected in musical praxis until now. It is especially charming to also study the alternative versions of those movements which Bach, during his many years of working on the piece, amended most extensively (these are to be found on the additional tracks on CD 2). The first version of the 'Domine Deus' (CD 2, 17) is notated in the score in plain version, while the Dresden parts contain charming Lombardic rhythms. In so doing, Bach assigned the part which was originally intended for two unison flutes to one solo flute. In the expansion of the work from the Missa of 1733 to the B-minor Mass, Bach’s largest modification was of the 'Quoniam' in which he made amendments in the autograph score to almost one fifth of the vocal parts. This amended version (CD 2, 18) is the one that has usually been heard in recordings up to now. The initial version of the Sanctus and 'Pleni sunt coeli', which was originally composed in 1724 for the unusual combination of three soprano voices, contralto, tenor, bass and orchestra, can be heard on this recording as well (CD 2, 19 – 20)." (Ulrich Lesinger, tr. J. Bradford Robinson & David Kosviner. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, Freiburger Barockorchester, Hans-Christoph Rademann

1.1. Missa: Kyrie. Kyrie Eleison I
1.2. Missa: Kyrie. Christie Eleison
1.3. Missa: Kyrie. Kyrie Eleison II
1.4. Missa: Gloria. Gloria In Excelsis Deo
1.5. Missa: Gloria. Et In Terra Pax Hominibus Bonae Voluntatis
1.6. Missa: Gloria. Laudamus Te, Benedicimus Te
1.7. Missa: Gloria. Gratias Agimus Tibi
1.8. Missa: Gloria. Domine Deus, Rex Caelestis
1.9. Missa: Gloria. Qui Tollis Peccata Mundi, Miserere Nobis
1.10. Missa: Gloria. Qui Sedes Ad Dexteram Patris
1.11. Missa: Gloria. Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus
1.12. Missa: Gloria. Cum Sancto Spiritu

2.1. Symbolum Nicenum: Credo. Credo In Unum Deum
2.2. Symbolum Nicenum: Credo. Patrem Omnipotentem
2.3. Symbolum Nicenum: Credo. Et In Unum Dominum
2.4. Symbolum Nicenum: Credo. Et Incarnatus Est
2.5. Symbolum Nicenum: Credo. Crucifixus Etiam Pro Nobiss
2.6. Symbolum Nicenum: Credo. Et Resurrexit Tertia Die
2.7. Symbolum Nicenum: Credo. Et In Spiritum Sanctum
2.8. Symbolum Nicenum: Credo. Confiteor Unum Baptisma
2.9. Symbolum Nicenum: Credo. Et Expecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum
2.10. Sanctus: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth
2.11. Sanctus: Pleni Sunt Coeli Et Terra Gloria Tua
2.12. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei & Dona Nobis Pacem: Osanna In Excelsis
2.13. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei & Dona Nobis Pacem: Benedictus Qui Venit In Nomine Domini
2.14. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei & Dona Nobis Pacem: Osanna In Excelsis
2.15. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei & Dona Nobis Pacem: Agnus Dei,Qui Tollis Peccata Mundi
2.16. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei & Dona Nobis Pacem: Dona Nobis Pacem
2.17. Domine Deus (Fassung Der Autographen Partitur)
2.18. Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus (Fassung Der Autographen Partitur)
2.19. Sanctus (Fassung 1724)
2.20. Pleni Sunt Coeli (Fassung 1724)

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