Leonardo Leo - Six Cello Concertos

"'It is indeed wholly impossible that a composer nowadays could write like Palestrina, Leo, and later Handel and others - That time, when Christianity still shone excellently in all its glory, would seem to have disappeared forever from the earth, and with it that sacred solemnity of artists.'

"Thus claimed the Romantic poet and composer Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman with gentle resignation in 1814 on the subject of 'the sacred art of composition'. For that advocate of contemporary music Charles Burney, too, telling of his travels through Europe, Leonardo Leo was one of the unchallenged protagonists of the golden 'Augustan age of music' which, in his view, was the first half of the eighteenth century. And in 1761 the eponymous nephew in Denis Diderot's 'Le Neveu de Rameau' says in admiration: 'When nature created Leo, Vinci, Pergolese and Duni, it was smiling.'

"Who was this man, who is now consigned almost exclusively to music history books but who was venerated by his contemporaries and well into the nineteenth century as one of the greatest Italian masters (his pupil Niccolò Piccinni even called him the great Italian master of all)?

"Leo was a composer, conductor, organist and teacher who worked mostly in Naples; born in 1694, he stood at the border between two epochs - one foot in the Baroque, the other in early Classicism. The ambivalence of the era of transition, which has unjustly affected his long-term reputation, gives enigmatic facets to his profile as a composer. As a practical and theoretical innovator in the area of 'strict counterpoint', he became a figurehead of conservative church musicians; as an opera composer, whose praises Burney never tired of singing, he dominated the Neapolitan musical scene in the 1720s and 1730s; and as an instrumental musician he stood at the cradle of the symphony: 'The high standard that could be attained by Italian symphonies is shown by the oratorio introductions by Leonardo Leo [...] They represent great, noble mourning in music that is immortal and a model for all times' (Hermann Kretzschmar).

"Alongside his sacred music (which includes a famous eight-part 'Miserere' that was highly regarded by both Verdi and Wagner), his numerous operas (more than thirty 'opere serie' and more than twenty 'commedie musicali') and various oratorios, Leo's purely instrumental works are admittedly few in number. They consist principally of keyboard music, trios, a concerto for four violins (!) and, above all, the six concertos for cello, strings and basso continuo that wrote in 1737/38 for the exclusive use of Domenico Marzio Caraffa, Duke of Maddaloni ('per solo servizio di Sua Eccellenza il Signore Duca di Madalone', as Leo noted on the title page of the manuscript). Caraffa, who also employed Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, was a patron of Leo's and an amateur cellist, and it is thus tempting to presume that these six masterpieces were composed in response to a commission from the Duke.

"And masterpieces they are. Leo was one of the first composers to liberate the cello from the figurative bustle of thankless basso continuo past (as late as 1752, Johann Joachim Quantz wrote: 'The provision of a good accompaniment is the foremost duty demanded of this instrument') and to take its full, rich tone into account with songful, expressive melodies in quantities that have no equal in the cello concerto repertoire before Leo. Only perhaps Pergolesi, who was sixteen years younger than Leo, achieved similar results in his 'Sinfonia' for cello and basso continuo, which was probably also written for the Duke of Maddaloni. The aloof, arhacic intellectualism, however, of which Leo's sacred music was occasionally accused, and which was responsible for drawing him into one of the popular and, of course, unjustified 'querelles' (a circle of 'Leisti' formed around Leo, whilst on the other side the 'Durantisti' paid homage to a more emotional ideal that was embodied by Francesco Durante), is here as good as 'struck out'. At any rate, movement headings and performance indications such as 'Andante grazioso' and 'Amoroso' are external indications of an inner proximity to New Simplicity, which comes to the for sometimes also with the opera-derived marking 'mezza voce' (toned down, but not with mutes), but also affects the faster movements in the manner of 'singing 'Allegros'' and can contribute an abundance of 'modern', gallant ornamentation to an 'Andante grazioso' such as that found in the D minor concerto.

"In formal terms, too, Leo is far more than just a figure of nostalgic conversation, however much he followed the four-movement, slow-fast-slow sequence of the traditional 'Sonata da chiese' (although this is very rarely found in solo concertos). In the first movements he emphatically tackled the question of sonata form (highly unusual in Naples at that time), combining it with the baroque concerto principle to form a 'concertante' drama that would be refined by Mozart and Haydn into 'classicism'. Hardly at all, however, does Leo's sonata form explore the concept of 'development' that was later to prove so significant; instead, it concentrates essentially on the contrast of themes (powerful - lyrical) and tonal situations (tonic - dominant/minor parallels), which are connected at various level with the dualistic disposition of the concerto (solo - tutti).

"The stylistic dualism that here becomes evident within a single type of movement also characterizes the form at a more general level. Two of the movements, for example, are fugues (the fourth movement of the 'Concerto in D major' and the second movement of the 'Sinfonia concertata' in C minor); there are numerous brilliant fugatos or imitations (for example, at the beginning of the magical minor-key 'Larghetto' of the first 'Concerto in A major') and, naturally, Leo's writing is characterized throughout by the skilful use of polyphony - strikingly, also in the solo passages, which otherwise often tend towards uninterrupted monody, a feature which may indeed be in the nature of solo concertos.

"Leo paid faithful attention to another primary characterisitc of the solo concerto, namely the display of virtuosity. To judge from the demands made by the solo part, the Duke must have been a 'dilettante' in the best sense of the word, an excellent advocate of his instrument, which is here required to be played not only with technical virtuosity but also with very sophisticated and expressive creative power - a small step in the history of the solo concerto, perhaps, but a giant leap for the cello." (Horst A. Scholz, 2000. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Orchestra 'Van Wasenaer', Makoto Akatsu, Hidemi Suzuki

1. Cello Concerto No. 4 In A Major: I. Andante Piacevole

2. Cello Concerto No. 4 In A Major: II. Allegro

3. Cello Concerto No. 4 In A Major: III. Larghetto E Gustoso

4. Cello Concerto No. 4 In A Major: IV. Allegro

5. Cello Concerto No. 5 In F Minor: I. Andante Grazioso

6. Cello Concerto No. 5 In F Minor: II. Allegro

7. Cello Concerto No. 5 In F Minor: III. Segue Il Cantabile - Largo E Gustoso

8. Cello Concerto No. 5 In F Minor: IV. Allegro

9. Cello Concerto No. 1 In A Major: I. Andantino Grazioso

10. Cello Concerto No. 1 In A Major: II. Allegro

11. Cello Concerto No. 1 In A Major: III. Larghetto A Mezza Voce

12. Cello Concerto No. 1 In A Major: IV. (Allegro)

13. Cello Concerto No. 3 In D Minor: I. Andante Grazioso

14. Cello Concerto No. 3 In D Minor: II. (Con Spirito)

15. Cello Concerto No. 3 In D Minor: III. Amoroso - Mezza Voce

16. Cello Concerto No. 3 In D Minor: IV. Allegro

17. Cello Concerto No. 2 In D Major: I. Andante Grazioso

18. Cello Concerto No. 2 In D Major: II. Con Bravura

19. Cello Concerto No. 2 In D Major: III. Larghetto, Con Poco Moto

20. Cello Concerto No. 2 In D Major: IV. Fuga

21. Cello Concerto No. 2 In D Major: V. (Allegro Di Molto)

22. Cello Concerto No. 6 In C Minor 'Sinfonia Concertata': I. Andante Grazioso

23. Cello Concerto No. 6 In C Minor 'Sinfonia Concertata': II. Presto

24. Cello Concerto No. 6 In C Minor 'Sinfonia Concertata': III. Larghetto

25. Cello Concerto No. 6 In C Minor 'Sinfonia Concertata': IV. Allegro

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Antonio Caldara - La Conversione di Clodoveo, Rè di Francia

"Antonio Caldara is still not very well known by music lovers. Yet he is one of the most interesting and appealing composers of the Italian Baroque, and one of the most prolific in the history of music. He enjoyed great celebrity during his lifetime, and indeed throughout the entire 18th century, before sinking into oblivion. Based in Vienna, he had considerable influence on German composers: on Telemann, on Bach (who copied one of his settings of the 'Magnificat'), on the Mannheim school and, finally, through later generations, on the Viennese composers of the Classical era such as Dittersdorf, Haydn and Mozart.

"The son of a violinist, Caldara was born, probably in 1670, in Venice or possibly in Padua; we do not have more precise information, and this birth date is deduced from the statement in his death certificate that died 'in his 66th year'. Caldara began his studied with Giovanni Legrenzi, 'maestro di cappella' at San Marco in Venice, and as a boy he sang in the basilica's choir. Then, for six years beginning in 1694, he was a gambist and cellist for San Marco; he also played the organ and the harpsichord. In 1689, his first opera, 'L'Argene', was staged in Venice, and shortly after the publisher Sala printed two sets of sonatas in the style of Corelli: opus 1 in 1693, and opus 2 in 1699. Meanwhile, in 1697, his first oratorio, 'Il trionfo della continenza', was performed.

"In May 1699, Caldara was appointed 'maestro di cappella, da chiesa e dal teatro' to Ferdinando Carlo, the Gonzaga Duke of Mantua, who lavished enormous sums on opera productions. Caldara held this post until 1707 and he probably went with his employer to Paris in 1704. During these years, Caldara made brief sojourns in Bologna and in Rome, where he met Corelli and the Scarlattis, both father and son. During a trip to Spain in the summer of 1708, his opera 'Il più bel nome' was staged in Barcelona as part of the festivities to celebrate the wedding of Charles III, the Hapsburg claimant to the Spanish throne. When the French won the War of Succession in Spain three years later, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, supplanted Charles. Caldara had given lessons in counterpoint to Charles and won his admiration and the position as his resident composer. Later, as we will see, the musician was able to take advantage of the patronage of the Hapsburg dynasty.

"Caldara returned to Rome in 1709, where he succeeded Handel as 'maestro di cappella' to Prince Francesco Maria Ruspoli in the Palazzo Bonelli. Over the course of the subsequent years, Caldara composed, for Prince Ruspoli, four operas, three 'intermezzi', 10 oratorios, several 'serenate', and a large number of madrigals, cantatas, and vocal duos. He also worked for Cardinal Ottoboni and for Prince Colonna, rich Roman patrons for the arts. Then, in 1711, he married the singer Caterina Petrolli. In that same year, Charles III of Hapsburg became Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor of the German States, and moved to Vienna. Soon, in 1712, Caldara visited the Austrian capital, seeking a post with the new monarch, his former patron.

"He did not obtain the desired post until 1716, one year after the death of Marc'Antonio Ziani, 'kapellmeister' of the imperial court. Johann Joseph Fux succeeded Ziani and Caldara, who had been given leave by Prince Ruspoli, travelled to Vienna (stopping 'en route' in Salzburg), to help Fux as 'vice-kapellmeister'. He held this position until his death, 20 years later; Fux, though older than Caldara, outlived him by several years. Caldara died in Vienna on December 28, 1736 in the quarters reserved for Italians in the service of the court. Vivaldi died here, in humbler fashion, five years later. We don't know how Caldara managed his affairs, but despite his considerable income, he was so heavily in debt that the emperor deign to make a grant of 12,000 florins to his widow to help her make ends meet.

"Caldara left several hundred works of all sizes. Almost all of these works are vocal: they include more than 80 operas with libretti by Apostolo Zeno and Pietro Metastasio, 38 oratorios, 50 'serenate', 100 or so cantatas, hundreds of motets, more than 20 masses (some of which are written in strict counterpoint and for performance 'a cappella', while other are in the more luxurious concertante style), several sonatas, madrigals, and about 300 vocal canons. Caldara's work did not immediately disappear when he died, as was the case with Vivaldi, and the work of many other musicians of the period who had enjoyed celebrity during their lifetimes. Writing in the 1780s, the English musicologist Charles Burney expressed his high esteem for Caldara. It was only gradually that Caldara slipped into obscurity. In the middle of the 19th century some connoisseurs, such as Brahms and von Köchel, still appreciated Caldara's great skill in polyphony and suppleness of his melodic expression. Closer to our own time, Roland de Candé said that 'his music achieves a magnificent synthesis of the Venitian choral style, the Neapolitan melodic and harmonic style, and the Viennese Baroque, which was at its peak.'

"The oratorio written in Italian, known as 'oratorio volgare', is a close relative of the opera. Towards the end of the 17th century it supplanted the old 'historica sacra' in Latin, the gren in which Giacomo Carissimi had excelled. The Italian-language oratorio featured several historical or symbolic persons who, without the help of a narrator or a chorus, presented themselves through a series of characteristic recitatives and 'da capo' arias. In his 'Dictionnaire de musique', published in 1703, Sébastien de Brossard described this kind of oratorio as 'a kind of sacred opera [...] whose subject is drawn from scripture or from the history of a saint, or which is an allegory on one of the mysteries of religion, or on some point of morality.' He added that 'nothing is more common in Rome, especially during lent, than these kinds of oratorios.' Similar works, but without any stage scenery, were sung in private salons during those periods of the liturgical year when operas were prohibited. In the intermission between the two parts of the work, instead of listening to the sermon that would be delivered if it was being performed in a church, the audience at such private performances was served liquor.

"In composing his oratorios in Rome for Prince Ruspoli, Caldara's style evolved rapidly. The works can be divided into two groups. As Adélaïde de Place noted, 'the first group, those written around the years 1708 and 1710, are still impregnated by Venetian influence, while the later works, composed between 1712 and 1715, are marked by the elegant traits of the early 'galant' style: they are simple in shape, luminous, and supple.' Instrumental accompaniment became lighter. (It is unlikely that this development was driven by a desire on the part of the hyper-rich Roman aristocracy to cut costs.) 'The orchestra tended to be reduced to two string sections supported by the basso continuo, which was more present in the accompaniment than were the violins, while the ranges of the vocal soloists seemed to be moving upwards, sometimes even to the extent that there no low voices at all.' (On March 31, 1715, a German traveler heard an oratorio by Caldara performed by 'a great number of musicians, three female singers, [one of whom was surely the composer's wife], and a little castrato.')

"The oratorio 'La Conversione di Clodoveo, Rè di Francia' belongs to this second, later group. Its libretto is by Sigismundo Capece, who also wrote the libretto for Handel's 'La resurrezione' in 1708. The first performance of 'La Conversione' was given in Rome on April 14, 1715 at the Palazzo Bonelli. The work is scored for four solo voices and an ensemble of strings without viola, to which winds may be added. Its arias are 'accompanied by the orchestra, or by a very lively basso continuo, and they generally take the 'da capo' form and are in a dramatic vocal style, full of melissimas, coloraturas, and 'arioso' passages.' The work is a remarkable example of the concern, typical of the period, that nuances of text and character should be rendered musically and clearly. Its recitatives are free, clever, and expressive. Its arias are sensitive, moving, often set to dance rhythms, and varied: one after another they are either warlike, gracious, tormented, or confiding, depending on a character's emotions.

"The work tells the story of how his love for his wife, the beautiful and pious Clotilde, led the bellicose Clovis to convert to the Christian faith. In the beginning of the first part Clovis, King of the Francs - also known as the Sicambres - wants to go off to war. Clotilde accuses him of only seeking glory and, not hiding her concern, gives him the following advice: 'When you are in greatest danger, do not forget that the God that I worship is the God of battle.' Once Clovis and the captain Uberto have left, Clotilde confides her fears to Remigius, the bishop of Rheims and a future saint. He reassures her with these words: 'It often happens that, by the power of heaven itself, from seeds of sorrow springs a harvest of happiness.' Captain Uberto returns, bearing bad news: faced by certain defeat, Clovis has charges him with the mission of protecting the queen.

"The second part open with the worries of Remigius, who is preparing to flee with Clotilde and Uberto. But Clovis returns and announces his victory, which he attributes to the advice of his queen. Just when he was about to lose the battle, he tells them, and after having vainly called upon Mars, he successfully called on the Christian God for help. Now a member of the true faith, he declares: 'Because of this victory, I worship only your God.' Clotilde then asks Remigius to prepare 'the sacred rite, baptism, by means of which divine grace will pour down on the royal head.' After the ceremony, a love duet, in which the voices follow each other and intertwine in thirds and sixths, joins the two spouses in the same faith and ends the oratorio.

"Since Caldara's work relates one of the founding myths of the history of France, let us leave the final word to the author of the 'Legenda Aurea', Jacques de Voragine, who tells us that 'there was no sacred oil at the baptismal fonts when they reached them, but then a dove appears, carrying a vial of the oil in its beak, and the pope anointed the king with it.' Since then, 'this vial is conserved in the church of Rheims, and used to this day to anoint the kings of France.' Finally, the history books tell us that on the occasion of Clovis' batpism on December 25, 496, soon after his victory at Tolbiac over the Germans, Saint Remigius pronounced his celebrated words: 'Bow down your head, proud Sicambre. Worship what you have burned, and burn what you have worshipped.'" (François Filiatrault, 2010, tr. Sean McCutcheon. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Le Nouvel Opéra, Alexander Weimann, Suzie LeBlanc, Allyson McHardy, Nathalie Paulin, Matthew White

1.1. Parte I: Sinfonia

1.2. Parte I, Scena I: 'Invitto Clodoveo'

1.3. Parte I, Scena I: 'Di Tua Gloria'

1.4. Parte I, Scena I: 'Vanne Uberto'

1.5. Parte I, Scena I: 'Voglio Quel Seno Stringere'

1.6. Parte I, Scena II: 'Clodoveo, Mio Signor'

1.7. Parte I, Scena II: 'Rasserenatevi'

1.8. Parte I, Scena II: 'Con Prove Di Fierezza'

1.9. Parte I, Scena II: 'Volgi Il Cuore'

1.10. Parte I, Scena II: 'Clotilde, Ben Sovente'

1.11. Parte I, Scena II: 'Con Tuoi Begl'occhi'

1.12. Parte I, Scena III: 'Mio Signor, Mio Giesu'

1.13. Parte I, Scena III: 'Se Mesta L'alma'

1.14. Parte I, Scena IV: 'Remigio, Amato Padre'

1.15. Parte I, Scena IV: 'Io Non So'

1.16. Parte I, Scena IV: 'Scaccio Il Vano'

1.17. Parte I, Scena IV: 'Non Sempre Tuona'

1.18. Parte I, Scena V: 'Signora, Infausto Messo'

1.19. Parte I, Scena V: 'Vorrebbe L'Affetto'

1.20. Parte I, Scena V: 'Regina, Sono Del Ciel'

1.21. Parte I, Scena V: 'Picciol Legno'

1.22. Parte I, Scena V: 'A Tuoi Detti Mi Rendo'

1.23. Parte I, Scena V: 'Mio Dio Per Me Svenato'

1.24. Parte I, Scena V: 'Se Tanto Il Cuore Ottiene'

2.1. Parte II, Scena I: 'Agitato Da Speme'

2.2. Parte II, Scena II: 'Clodoveo Superato'

2.3. Parte II, Scena II: 'Quando Il Turbino E Vicino'

2.4. Parte II, Scena II: 'Andiamo'

2.5. Parte II, Scena III: 'Clotilde, Vincesti'

2.6. Parte II, Scena III: 'Mio Sposo'

2.7. Parte II, Scena III: 'Gioisco Che Il Tuo Cuore'

2.8. Parte II, Scena III: 'Clotilde, E Ver'

2.9. Parte II, Scena III: 'Come Cerva Che Ferita'

2.10. Parte II, Scena III: 'Remigio A Questi Accenti'

2.11. Parte II, Scena III: 'Sommo Dio'

2.12. Parte II, Scena IV: 'Con Esempio Si Bello'

2.13. Parte II, Scena IV: 'Che Santo E Bel Piacer'

2.14. Parte II, Scena V: 'Consorte Amato'

2.15. Parte II, Scena V: 'L'amor Mio'

2.16. Parte II, Scena V: 'Quest'e L'altare'

2.17. Parte II, Scena V: 'Santo Amor'

2.18. Parte II, Scena V: 'Signor, Troppa Ostinata'

2.19. Parte II, Scena V: 'V'adoro, O Padre'

2.20. Parte II, Scena VI: 'Mio Redentor'

2.21. Parte II, Scena VI: 'E' Un Piacer'

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Antonio Caldara - Requiem

"Antonio Caldara was not only one of the most important composers of his generation, but wielded considerable influence over the evolution of Italian vocal music of the early eighteenth century. Moreover, having lived the last two decades of his life in Vienna, he was a significant factor in shaping the direction of both Viennese and German music. To say Caldara was prolific is an understatement: he wrote nearly 3,500 works, including more than 90 operas, numerous oratorios, liturgical works, cantatas, madrigals, and many instrumental pieces. Unfortunately, many of his scores are lost, but there still exists a substantial body of work by which to judge him positively. As a performer he was immensely talented: he was accomplished as a viol player, cellist, and keyboardist, and in his childhood, as a choirboy at St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, he was considered a highly gifted singer. While his operas are rarely performed today, his instrumental and liturgical music has achieved some currency, and because of the increasing availability of them on recordings, Caldara's reputation could be on the upswing.

"Antonio Caldara was born in Venice, Italy, probably in 1671. Caldara's educational background is clouded: his first teacher was probably his father, a workaday violinist, and Giovanni Legrenzi, maestro di cappella of St. Mark's, and cello virtuoso Domenico Gabrielli likely taught the young Caldara.

"By the early 1690s Caldara's operas were drawing attention, and he was already known as a virtuoso cellist in Venice. In 1699 he was appointed maestro di cappella to the Duke of Mantua, a fanatic lover of opera. Caldara apparently wrote many operas for the Duke, but none of the manuscripts survive.

"Caldara relocated to Rome in 1708, where he was taken into the service of Cardinal Ottoboni. Caldara's Serenata 'Chi s'arma di virtù' (1709) was one of many successful works he wrote while in Rome.

"In 1717 Caldara resettled once more, this time in Vienna as the vice-kapellmeister under Charles VI. Caldara was required to write many operas, oratorios, and other works as part of his duties. Among his more successful efforts from the Vienna years were the operas 'Dafne' (1719) and 'Sancio Panza' (1730). His sacred music also drew acclaim with such works as 'Missa Laetare' (1729) and 'Missa in spei Resurrectionis' (1732). So busy was Caldara from the demands of his Viennese post that there is evidence exhaustion was a factor in his death on December 28, 1736." (Biography by Robert Cummings for AllMusic. See here.)

Performers: Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci

1. Reqiuiem: Requiem. Andante

2. Reqiuiem: Te Decet Hymnus. Largo

3. Requiem: Requiem. Andante

4. Reqiuiem: Kyrie Eleison. Andante

5. Reqiuiem: Christe Eleison. Andante

6. Reqiuiem: Kyrie Eleison. Andante

7. Trio Sonata In E Minor, Op. 1 No. 5: I. Grave

8. Trio Sonata In E Minor, Op. 1 No. 5: II. Vivace

9. Trio Sonata In E Minor, Op. 1 No. 5: III. Adagio

10. Trio Sonata In E Minor, Op. 1 No. 5: IV. Vivace

11. Reqiuiem: Dies Irae. Adagio. Quantus Tremor

12. Reqiuiem: Tuba Mirum. Andante

13. Reqiuiem: Mors Stupebit. Adagio

14. Reqiuiem: Judex Ergo

15. Reqiuiem: Rex Tremende. Largo

16. Reqiuiem: Recordare

17. Reqiuiem: Ingemisco Tamquam Reus

18. Reqiuiem: Confutatis. Presto

19. Reqiuiem: Voca Me Cum Benedictis

20. Reqiuiem: Oro Supplex. Adagio

21. Reqiuiem: Lacrymosa. Adagio

22. Reqiuiem: Judicandus. Largo

23. Reqiuiem: Pie Jesu

24. Reqiuiem: Reqiuem. Andante

25. Reqiuiem: Amen

26. Sonata In A Major No. 15: I. Largo

27. Sonata In A Major No. 15: II. Allegro

28. Sonata In A Major No. 15: III. Aria Non Molto Allegro

29. Sonata In A Major No. 15: IV. Allegro

30. Missa Dolorosa: Sanctus. Andante-Allegro

31. Missa Dolorosa: Benedictus. Andante-Allegro

32. Missa Dolorosa: Agnus Dei. Lento-Allegro

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Scandinavian Choir Music

"The Norwegian Trond Kverno studied sacred music, musical theory and choral conducting. He is a professional organist, teaches at the Oslo Conservatoire and made a name in his country in the field of religious vocal music. He was from 1976 to 1978 member of the liturgical commision, with the task of improving the liturgical handbooks of the Church of Norway. The hymn 'Ave Maris Stella' is structured into different parts. The six-part writing is distributed, in particular at the beginning and at the end of the piece, into a three-part female choir and a three-part corresponding male choir.

"Since the end of the eighties, the Estonian composer Urmas Sisask has devoted himself particularly to sacred music. His 'Benedicto' (1991) is a piece that combines in an attractive way several different styles: medieval polyphony (monastic organa), jazz rhythms or repeated passages in the style of litanies. The piece, which offers many unexpected turns, is a joyful setting of the liturgical text.

"After his studies, Knut Nystedt was for a long time organist and teacher of choral conducting in his native tonw, Oslo. From 1950 to 1990, he toured in the whole world with his choir 'The Norwegian Soloists'. As a composer, he was awarded many prizes. The three settings of the Bible, 'Three Motets', belong to his great œuvre for choir. Choral music fascinates him more and more. He says about himself '[...] It is vocal music that interests [me] increasingly: the human voice has extraordinary possibilities, and a range of expression richer than what has been used until now in choral practice. I therefore immersed myself in a new world of choral sound, as it were a sort of kaleidoscope, in order to discover radically new tone colours.' After 'Thus saith the Lord', a piece of austere, seemingly archaic writing, comes a well-known piece, 'Peace, I leave with you'. The beginning of this piece, a unison in the low range of the women's voices, sung pianissimo, grabs the attention immediately. The tension is sustained all through the piece. 'I will praise thee, O Lord' concludes with élan this short cycle of motets.

"The Estonian Veljo Tormis made his debut in the musical world at the time of the annexing of Estonia by the Soviet Union. Estonians and other ethnic groups, and their languages, were then banned. Tormis bases his compositions on poetical texts of high value, as a manifesto against the Soviet domination of his mother tongue. He takes a keen interest in the Baltico-Finnish tradition. After the closing by the Soviets of the organ class of the Conservatoire, judge too near to the church, Tormis, then a student of the class, changed his orientation and studied choral conducting. During his studies, he was very interested in the national styles that base themselves on folk music. His compositional technique, modern and anti-romantic, leans on these studies and is at the saem times influenced by the music of Carl Orff and Zoltán Kodály. Tormis's choral works were created in collaboration with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, his close partner for many years. His Finnish choral cycle 'Sügismaastikud' is a setting of seven poems. Each poem is given a particular, extrovert colour. The voices are treated in a very instrumental way, using extended tessituras. Long sustained chords recall organ music. Towards the end of the cycle, a broad orchestral style of writing becomes apparent.

"The Swede Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar was composer, pianist and conductor of the Göteborg Symphonic Orchestra. He wrote mostly instrumental music. After initial sutdies in Stockholm, he went to Berlin to deepen his knowledge. He was an ardent admirer of Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner. Later in life, the Nordic style of Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius fascinated him. His 'Tre körvisor' (1890) evoke with romantic harmonies but without any trace of kitsch, the poetical images of J.P. Jacobsen. 'September' and 'I Seraillets Have' are charming pictures of nature and peace. 'Havde jeg, o havde jeg en Dattersøn, o ja!' shows itself mischievously ironical.

"'Kung Liljekonvalje' (G. Fröding) and 'Förvårskväll' (R. Jändel) by David Wikander are very popular pieces of the Swedish choral repertoire. The love of detail that the texts betray - a characteristic of Swedish literature and mentality - finds in Wikander's music an adequate rendering.

"Niels V. Gade is the found of the Danish national romantic style. Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, with whom Gade studied (Mendelssohn Bartholdy even created his First Symphony in Liepzig), were friends and fervent defenders of his music. In 'Morgensang', in C major, Gade develops from passages in unison and in thirds soft but heroic harmonies, characterized by boradly spaced male voices, generally in four parts.

"The Swede Hugo Alfvén still enjoys great popularity in his country and abroad through a handful of his works, in particular his 'Aftonen'. His pieces are typical representatives of a Swedish national romantic music. 'Aftonen', with its impressionistic writing, is an excellent example of his lyrical Nordic style.

"Edvard Grieg, the most famous of Norwegian composers, wrote only a few choral works on sacred texts. His 'Fire Salmer' (Four Psalms, 1906), more precisely the psalm entitled 'Hvad est du dog skjön', are his last work, he died in 1907.

"The text is a paraphrase by Hans Adolf Brorson (18th century) of the Song of Salomon, with reminiscences of the Song of Songs. The introduction is followed by three nearly identical verses with solo baritone (soloist of the choir: Thomas Walter). The fourth verse breaks this pattern. The theme is harmonically taken apart and the text is passed back and forth between the different voices, like the whisperings of lovers. The piece ends in this quiet atmosphere.

"The cosmopolitan Einojuhani Rautavaara studied in Finland, Vienna the U.S.A., Switzerland and Cologne. He has since returned to live in his home town, Helsinki. In 'Sommarmatten' (1975), soprano solos are added to the mixed four-part choir (soloists of the choir: Silke Brucker, Marianne Dreßler, Angela Fadle and Christiane Kuhlberg-Ross). The silvery high tones of the soloists evoke the vesperal reminiscence, filled with vibrating heat, of a summer day. To this quick movement, Rautavaara opposes slow harmonies, without thirds, like archaic sculptures. The wide tessituras, using the lowest basses and the highest sopranos, create a most attractive sound picture. One understands here why Rautavaara is often described as a mystic." (Dagmar Ungerer-Brams. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Amadeus-Chor, Nicol Matt

1. Trond Kverno - Ave Maris Stella

2. Urmas Sisask - Benedictio

3. Knut Nystedt - Three Motets: Thus Saith The Lord

4. Knut Nystedt - Three Motets: Peace, I Leave With You

5. Knut Nystedt - Three Motets: I Will Praise Thee, O Lord

6. Veljo Tormis - Sügismaastikud: On Hilissuvi

7. Veljo Tormis - Sügismaastikud: Üle Taeva Jooksevad Pilved

8. Veljo Tormis - Sügismaastikud: Valusalt Punased Lehed

9. Veljo Tormis - Sügismaastikud: Kahvatu Valgus

10. Veljo Tormis - Sügismaastikud: Tuul Könnumaa Kohal

11. Veljo Tormis - Sügismaastikud: Külm Sügisö

12. Veljo Tormis - Sügismaastikud: Kanarbik

13. Wilhelm Stenhammar - Tre Körvisor: September

14. Wilhelm Stenhammar - Tre Körvisor: I Seraillets Have

15. Wilhelm Stenhammar - Tre Körvisor: Havde Jeg, O Havde Jeg En Dattersøn, O Ja!

16. David Wikander - Förvårskväll

17. Niels Gade - Morgensang

18. David Wikander - Kung Liljekonvalje

19. Hugo Alfvén - Aftonen

20. Edvard Grieg - Hvad Est Du Dog Skjön

21. Einojuhani Rautavaara - Sommarnatten

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Wilhelm Stenhammar - String Quartets Nos. 3 & 4

"Wilhelm Stenhammar was one of the most versatile Swedish composers of his generation. In addition to writing two operas, two symphonies and two piano concertos, he produced a large number of songs, piano music and a violin sonata. The string quartet genre is a central one in his œuvre. An important precondition for this was his long-standing collaboration with violinist Tor Aulin and his string quartet, the Aulin Quartet, with which Stenhammar worked closely as a pianist. 'The Aulins' concerts in Stockholm', Stenhammar wrote during the winter of 1896, 'are an undertaking that is closer to my heart than any other of this kind, and it is no exaggeration if I say that I long for each new concert, and that it is a real sacrifice for me if I am forced to miss one of them. I don't know if you understand this, but I believe that you will grasp my feelings when I say that for me that the Aulin Quartet is, and with every passing day becomes all the more, the incarnation of everything exalted that I know in the world of music - not ideal, I grant - but, perhaps even because of its imperfections, all the more cherishable. With every day, every hours that passes I feel more strongly that I would not voluntarily give this up, that it would be the last thing that I would abstain from. It has educated me, it has turned me into a musician, I need it and love it.'

"Between 1894 and 1916 Stenhammar composed a total of seven string quartets, of which one (F minor, 1897) was withdrawn immediately after its first performance. In Scandinavian music of its time, this series of quartets is unique both in its consistency and in its musical aspirations.

"'String Quartet No. 3 in F major', Op. 18 (1897-1900): Stenhammar composed the first movement of his Third String Quartet in an intensive creative period in 1897, but did not add the remaining movements until 1900. In the meantime, following the première of his opera 'Tirfing', Op. 15, he had gone through a phase of deep depression. Although audience reactions to 'Tirfing' had been positive, with hindsight the opera did not measure up to Stenhammar's own standards. Around 1900 Stenhammar was grappling in depth with his compositional ideas, and developed a self-critical attitude that would leave its mark on his future works. At the same time there was a more matieral - and indeed pecuniary - background to the crisis. In 1894 he had promised his published (Henrik Hennings in Copenhagen) to deliver a fixed number of compositions per year. After 'Tirfing' it became increasingly clear to him that this contract was depriving him of his freedom to compose. As he wrote to Hennings, Stenhammar no longer had any desire to be a 'worker at a composition factory'. In August 1899 he terminated the contract; after that, he had to earn a living from his appearances as a pianist and conductor, which significantly curtailed the time that he could devote to composition.

"The F major Quartet, Op. 18, was the first major instrumental work that Stenhammar completed and published after the crisis. It clearly documents his high aspirations as a composer, and explicitly names the benchmark: Ludwig van Beethoven. Stenhammar's contemporaries already observed that the first movement's principal motif alludes to the beginning of Beethoven's first 'Razumovsky' Quartet, Op. 59 No. 1. The context in which Stenhammar places this motif is, however, remarkable: soloistically from the viola, with short, fragmentary comments from the other three instruments. This technique was also based on tradition, and can be traced back to late Beethoven, as used for instance in the German composer's final string quartet, Op. 135, which is also in F major. In a nutshell: here Stenhammar views mid-period Beethoven from the perspective of late Beethoven. What is the function of these allusions? By no means should they be seen as involuntary reminisces, or as an attempt to imitate the style. Instead, during the course of the movement, Stenhammar emphasizes not the proximity to his role model, Beethoven, but rather the distance that he has managed to travel from that style. This is all the more apparent in the finale. The prelude ('Presto motlo agitato') toys with motivic fragments from the scherzo, in the manner of a free eighteenth-century fantasy. The ensuing fugue once again takes an allusion to Beethoven as its point of departure: the theme of the fugal opening movement of his Op. 131 Quartet. It is fascinating to follow how, throughout the movement, Stenhammar makes the distance from his model more clearly heard. In the first, contrapuntally strict fugal section this is initially achieved through a variet of sophisticated harmonic modulations. Later, the strict ricercare fugue is carried away by the irresistable pull of the motivic writing, which ultimately leads to a thematic outburst (no longer even slightly fugal in style) and a capricious stretto. With a further motivic transformation the movement ends unexpectedly, returning to the dream-like atmosphere of the first movement's coda. The middle movements, too, do not try to conceal that they were composed around 1900. The 'Perpetuum mobile', with its abrupt beginning, was perceived by contemporary reviewers as 'a depiction of the nervous bustling and anxiety of our age'. The third movement, a set of variations in B-flat minor, initially seems to be self-contained, although its coda once more alludes to Beethoven, this time the coda of the Ninth Symphony's first movement. Even the quartet's calmest and most lyrical section thus participates in the interaction with tradition.

"'String Quartet No. 4 in A minor', Op. 25 (1904-09): The Fourth String Quartet, too, comes from a period of change in Stenhammar's life. He sketched the overall scheme of the first movement as early as 1904, but did not flesh it out until the winter of 1906-07, which he and his entire family spent in Florence. Stenhammar had earned his long-awaited trip to Florence - which was intended to give him time to compose undisturbed - with a heavy schedule of concerts as a pianist during the preceding season. In addition, Henrik Hennings had held out the prospect of a private grant from Danish music-lovers. But Hennings had promised more than he could deliver. When it became apparent that he could not raise the sum involved, the relationship between composer and publisher was irretrievable soured. In the strained circumstances, Stenhammar received a prestigious offer from Gothenburg: to be the conductor of the city's newly formed symphony orchestra. He accepted, and in the period from 1907 until 1922 turned the orchestra into one of the finest in Scandinavia. His free time for composing, however, was thereby permanently restricted to the summer months. Completion of the remaining movements of the String Quartet in A minor was thus delayed until the summer of 1909.

"The extended genesis of the work is not, however, discernible from listening to the piece; in fact the Fourth String Quartet sounds as if it had been written in a single burst. This is the most important of Stenhammar's string quartets and, more than almost any other work, proves his abilities as a composer: a supreme command of a wide range of traditions and models, harmonic sophistication pushing the very limits of functional tonality, artistry in the transformation of motifs and an interconnectedness that spans the entire work.

"Stenhammar's own conviction that he had done justice to his highest aspirations in his Fourth String Quartet is clearly shown by the fact that he dedicated this work to his friend and colleague Jean Sibelius. Sibelius, in return, dedicated his Sixth Symphony to Stenhammar - a fact that is little-known today, as the dedication was written on an extra page before the score itself, and later editions have no included it.

"In the A minor Quartet, Stenhammar continued along the same path that he had followed in its F major predecessor, but once again significantly increased the range of contrasts that he seeks to convey. This is shown in an exemplary manner by the themes of the first movement. It begins with a semiquaver run from the first violin above a diminished chord from the other instruments: this is a direct reference to Beethoven - a terse figure that alludes to the beginning of his A minor Quartet, Op. 132. This is immediately followed by a wan, archaic melody, set like a choral, briefly undermined by unexpected harmonies. Melodically this passage refers to the cadential formulae of Swedish folk songs, but harmonically it reflects the then contemporary procedures of chromatically altered harmony. From these very different points of departure, Stenhammar proceeds so logically that, by the end of the movement, he can reveal that all of the thematic elements share a common nucleus. He also avoid any kind of formal stereotypes. The expressive subsidiary theme, supported by a dense accompanimental texture, does not start out in the C major that would be expected in traditional sonata form, but rather in the remote key of D-flat major, far away in the circle of fifths. The development and recapitulation, too, are not easily separated but overlap in an unconventional manner.

"Similar tendencies can be found in the slow movement as well. Stenhammar confronts the dream, opulent 'Adagio' theme with a violin figure that can with justification be described as atonal. The harmonically advanced repetition of the theme, which emerges from this confrontation, demands the utmost concentration from the players in the richly figured accompanimental structure. In the five-part scherzo, nervous tension is created by the skilful use of fugato techniques that conflict with the underlying metre; not until we reach the extensive coda is this dynamic energy reined back. As a finale there is a slow variation movement based on the Swedish folk song 'Och riddaren han talte till unga Hillevi' ('And the Knight Spoke to Young Hillevi'). The eleven variations, some of which are quite far removed from the theme itself, are linked together at an underlying level, both harmonically and motivically. At the end of the movement, when finally the solo run from the beginning of the work grows out of the exuberant figurations, the music has come full circle: late Beethoven, the folks style and chromatically altered harmony - all of these grow out of a single point of departure and everything ultimately leads back to the same place. The game could begin all over again.

"'Elegy and Intermezzo from the incidental music to Hjalmar Bergman's play 'Lodolezzi sjunger' ('Lodolezzi Sings')', Op. 39 (1919): These two movements not only come from a different creative period in Stenhammar's career than the Third and Fourth String Quartets, but also have an entirely different purpose. They were composed in 1919 as part of the incidental music for a production put on by Per Lindberg, a young theatre director from Gothenburg. The Elegy served as an overture, whilst the Intermezzo was heard between Act II and Act III. The drama 'Lodolezzi Sings' by Hjalmar Bergman, which the playwright - not without irony - described as a 'romantic comedy', is about an aging opera singer Renée Lodolezzi who, after years away from the limelight and after numerous psychological complications, finally dares to take the stage again. The play ends with her triumphant performance (invisible to the theatre audience). Stenhammar chose a string quartet to perform the incidental music; in the Elegy a flute makes two brief appearances as well, heard from afar (on this recording its part is played by the second violin). As befits its function as an overture, the Elegy sets the emotional tone of the drama. The singer's extrovert tendencies and her fundamentally depressive mood are reflected in the melodic entries, which do possess potential for pathos, but also remain harmonically unstable, dissolving back into nothingness. Whereas the Elegy can be understood as a psychological profile of the main character, the Intermezzo represents the world to which Renée Lodolezzi is venturing to return: the great European nineteenth-century operas, including the last role she sang, from Ambroise Thomas's 'Mignon'. The Intermezzo has the form of a two-part opera scena, with a recitative and aria as the first part, followed by a more extensive second part which Stenhammar wryly marks 'Andante molto italiano'. The first violin and cello sing a veritable love duet, and the Italiante character is made evidence by means of 'portamenti' and second violin's mandolin-like 'pizzicati'. At the same time, Stenhammar mockingly shatters this image with metrical irregularities and contrapuntal complications. Here the composer uses techniques that he had already tried out in his last two string quartets - No. 5 in C major 'Serenade', Op. 29 (1910) and No. 6 in D minor, Op. 35 (1916)." (Signe Rotter-Broman, 2013. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Stenhammar Quartet

1. String Quartet In A Minor, Op. 25: I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo

2. String Quartet In A Minor, Op. 25: II. Adagio

3. String Quartet In A Minor, Op. 25: III. Scherzo. Allegro

4. String Quartet In A Minor, Op. 25: IV. Aria Variata. Andante Semplice

5. Lodolezzi Sjunger, Op. 39: Elegi. Lento

6. Lodolezzi Sjunger, Op. 39: Intermezzo. Allegro Agitato

7. String Quartet No. 3 In F Major, Op. 18: I. Quasi Andante

8. String Quartet No. 3 In F Major, Op. 18: II. Presto Molto Agitato

9. String Quartet No. 3 In F Major, Op. 18: III. Lento Sostenuto

10. String Quartet No. 3 In F Major, Op. 18: IV. Presto Molto Agitato - Molto Moderato

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Wilhelm Stenhammar - Piano Concerto No. 1; Fragment from Symphony No. 3

"'Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor for Piano and Orchestra': In the spring of 1882 Stockholm was visited by the famous pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow. He describes his impressions in his Scandinavian travel memoirs, recounting how he had not met any composer of importance, but the Orchestra of the Royal opera - that is, the orchestra of the Stockholm Opera - was very good and had a tremendously enthusiastic audience. He asks whether there might possibly be a conncetion between 'the quite extraordinary receptiveness of the Swedes' and their 'sterility in the realm of music'.

"Just over a decade later he would have obtained quite a different picture. There now existed a young and very enthusiastic generation of both composers and performers, and there new, fascinating works which held great promise for the future.

"Wilhelm Stenhammar's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, first performed at one of the Royal Opera symphony concerts on 17 March 1894, stands out as a gateway - or fanfare - to this new epoch in Swedish music. The soloist was the composer himself, at that time 22 years old, and the performance was conducted by Conrad Nordqvist, the Director of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera. A fortnight later the concerto was performed in Copenhagen. The success brought Stenhammar both a publisher and an agent. The door to 'the great wide world' was no opened. Before long Stenhammar was playing his concerto in Berlin, with Richard Strauss conducting, and later with Arthur Nikisch, Karl Muck, Felix Weingartner and Hans Richter. No Swedish instrumental composition had ever before attracted such widespread attention.

"The spring of 1904 found Stenhammar sketching a new piano concerto, in D minor. Completed in Florence in the spring of 1907, it became the only one of his own works which Stenhammar later performed himself. He played the B-flat minor Concerto for the last time in 1908; after that it figures only sporadically in the repertoire, and with other soloists. During the Second World War both the score and the parts - all in manuscript - were in the possession of the Hainauer publishing form in Breslau, and the entire material was destroyed during one of the air raids on the city. Only the printed short score remained.

"When this became known, Stenhammar's widow ask the composer Kurt Atterberg, who as a young man had heard the concerto several times, to orchestrate the short score. This version of the B-flat minor Concerto was performed in the spring of 1946. It was recorded in the autumn of 1977 with Irene Mannheimer as soloist together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Dutoit.

"In the autumn of 1990, Professor Allan B. Ho of Southern Illinois University announced that he had found, in a private American collection of music, what proved to be a copy of Stenhammar's manuscript, produced for a tour of the USA by the German pianist Franz Rummel in 1898. As a result, the original classical-romantic orchestra sound can now be both listened to an studied. In comparison, Atterberg's predominantly stylish instrumentation occasionally reveals small personal touches, as if he wanted to put a signature to his own contribution.

"The B-flat minor Concerto is a work in the Brahmsian tradition, in four movements and lasting for about 47 minutes. It opens with a magnificent solo cadenz ('Molto moderato e maestoso') in a dialogue with chord from the orchestra. The broadly constructed movement which then follows ('Sostenuto e tranquillo - Animato') has a first theme which is elegiac and a second one which is enthusiastic and upward-soaring. At times the tonal language acquires symphonic proportions. The second movement - Scherzo ('Vivacissimo') - is light-hearted and buoyant, in a virtuoso style which rather puts on in mind of Saint-Saëns, a composer whose works were frequently performed in Stockholm during the 1890s. The third movement - 'Andante' - is based on a cantabile theme stated first by the horn. For most of this movement the piano simply provides an accompaniment. The final movement - 'Allegro commodo' - has a tempestuous main theme and relies very much of virtuoso effects, but towards the end these are curtailed by a ballad-like melody (on the same motif as in Stenhammar's song 'Lutad mot gärdet'). The concerto ends on a pianissimo chord.

"'Fragment from Symphony No. 3 (revised by Tommy B. Andersson)': In the mid 1910s Stenhammar had completed his two most important orchestral works: the Symphony in G minor and the Serenade in F major. These were to be his last compositions. However, between 1918 and 1919 he worked on a third symphony and there exist quite detailed outlines of a first movement - seven pages of which are in fair copy - and melodious suggestions as to an additional three movements.

"The short fragment from the work which has been recorded contains the above-mentioned seven pages. When compared with the polyphonic, almost matter-of-fact Symphony in G minor, the feeling from the outlines is of an orientation towards the romantic tone language we meet in some earlier works by Stenhammar.

"The outlines, with a concert ending by Tommy B. Andersson, were presented at a press conference in the Stockholm Concert Hall in April 1991." (Bo Wallner, 1992. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Kungliga Filharmonikerna, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Mats Widlund

1. Piano Concerto No. 1 In B-Flat Minor: I. Molto Moderato E Maestoso - Sostenuto E Tranquillo - Animato

2. Piano Concerto No. 1 In B-Flat Minor: II. Scherzo (Vivacissimo)

3. Piano Concerto No. 1 In B-Flat Minor: III. Andante

4. Piano Concerto No. 1 In B-Flat Minor: IV. Allegro Commodo

5. Fragment From Symphony No. 3

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Franz Berwald - 4 Symphonies

"Franz Berwald's 'Sinfonie sérieuse' was premiered on December 2, 1843, in Stockholm, conducted by Johan Fredrik Berwald, the composer's cousin. The performance was not what it should have been. In addition to not helping the composer's reputation, it became the only performance of any of his symphonies during his lifetime. Given that Berwald spent a number of years in Berlin and Vienna, the 'Sinfonie sérieuse' is comparable in style and structure to those of his contemporaries Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.

"The first movement 'Allegro con energia', is in the traditional sonata-allegro form. Without any introduction, the first theme group begins its passionate journey with a loud chord, and then quickly drops to piano. Berwald presents an abundance of motivic fragments, but as with Beethoven, his transitions seem to be just as significant as the primary themes. The more lyrical second theme calls to mind the earlier Romantic composer Carl Maria von Weber. A development section follows with bits of counterpoint utilizing transitional material from the first theme group. Prior to the 'official' recapitulation, Berwald sneaks in a statement of the second theme that, this time, is much more bold in character. The 'real' recapitulation unfolds in typical fashion, but unlike the serious opening in minor, the movement concludes with an exuberant flourish in major.

"As with most slow movements, the Allegro maestoso is in a ternary form (ABA). When hearing the solemn lyricism of the A section, with its chromatic lines and sustained pedal points, it is difficult not to think of the future works of Johannes Brahms and Carl Nielsen. In contrast, the B section is bolder and more dramatic. This leads into a development of sorts, before returning to the nobility of the opening.

"While not as facile and mercurial as many of Mendelssohn's scherzos, the third movement, 'Stretto', is, in essence, the typical scherzo movement: fast tempo, a meter of three, and the ABA form. Its themes drive it toward the more serene middle section. However, the second presentation of the A section dissipates rather than giving a sense of finality to the movement.

"Thematic material from the second movement serves as an introduction to the first theme group of the final movement. Again, sonata-allegro form is the large-scale structural determinant. The surging fervor of the second theme in the strings is contrasted and answered in the woodwinds. The development section has some truly contrapuntal moments using material from the first theme group to prepare the way for the recapitulation. From out of the wilderness, a valiant solo trombone signals the end of the muscular, energetic work." (Description of Symphony No. 1 in G Minor 'Sérieuse' by Rovi Staff for AllMusic. See here.)

"When Berwald's first symphony, the 'Symphony Sérieuse', was severely handled by the critics his second, 'Sinfonie capriciuse' had already been written. The composer never heard the work performed, the full score disappeared and only a 'short score' (i.e. not fully orchestrated) dated 18 June 1842 survived. The work was first performed in 1914 in a realization by Ernst Ellberg, and thereafter not until the 1960s in a realization by Nils Castergren. Since then it has taken its rightful place in the re-establishment of Berwald's music in today's symphonic repertoire. The symphony is well-named, its orchestral textures being light and airy. The first movement is swift, sunny and mainly in 3/4 time, rather like a fast waltz. The second is sweetly serious and melodic, with a Mozartean delicacy. The third movement, a scherzo, starts with short, fragmentary woodwind figures and continues on its good-humored way with quick interchanges between strings and woodwind, the brass only occasionally underlining the spirited rhythms. Today it is almost inconceivable that so original and enchanting a work could have been neglected for over 100 years." (Description of Symphony No. 2 in D Major 'Capricieuse' by Roy Brewer for AllMusic. See here.)

"Although Swedish composer Franz Berwald's Symphony No. 3, 'Sinfonie singulière' was completed in 1845, it did not receive its first performance until 1905. In fact, only one of Berwald's four symphonies was performed during his lifetime. Considered by many to be the first great Scandinavian composer, he has been described as a cross between Felix Mendelssohn, an acquaintance of Berwald's, and Finland's Jean Sibelius, born three years before Berwald's death.

"Not only is it widely held that the 'Sinfonie singulière' is Berwald's finest work, but that it may be the first great Scandinavian orchestral work. The symphony is unique for this time period in that it has only three movements rather than the traditional four. While Berwald's earlier symphonies are right at home in the German Romantic school of Schumann and Mendelssohn (Berwald lived in Berlin and Vienna at various times), this piece looks forward with the robust and rustic quality one associates with later Nordic composers such as Edvard Grieg, Sibelius, and Carl Nielsen or Nationalists such as Antonín Dvořák.

"The first movement, 'Allegro fuocoso', is in the traditional mid-nineteenth century sonata-allegro form. But, Berwald combines the organic compositional technique of Beethoven with one resembling tone painting to establish an atmosphere. Starting quietly, there is a feeling of great anticipation. Utilizing the interval of a fourth in various guises, Berwald uses motivic development and transformation rather than long, spun-out melodies, creating a sense of transition and evolution. This is a section of 'gestation' rather than introduction in the traditional sense. The middle movement, in ternary form (ABA), begins with a heartfelt, Brahmsian 'Adagio'. With a startling thump in the tympani about four minutes in, Berwald breaks into a scherzo that would have made Mendelssohn envious. Playful exchanges between winds and strings show Berwald's skill as an orchestrator and his mastery of manipulating thematic fragments. His not so subtle harmonic sequences are very much like Bruckner's in that they do not always advance the tonal scheme, but are, nonetheless, terrifically appealing. After a few minutes, the 'Adagio' returns as abruptly as it disappeared. The final movement is highly charged and dramatic. Another Brucknerian moment occurs with a soft woodwind chorale over pizzicato strings, which flowers into a grand statement of this same theme. There is a quotation of the middle movement's 'Adagio' melody about five minutes in, followed by a new lyrical theme that precedes a recapitulation of the beginning of this movement. A quiet return of the woodwind chorale in minor explodes into a joyfully victorious final statement, back in major, bringing this richly Romantic symphony to an end. In Franz Berwald's 'Sinfonie singulière' one can hear some of the stylistic qualities that anticipate later composers such as Brahms, Bruckner, Sibelius, and Dvořák." (Description of Symphony No. 3 in C Major 'Singulière' by Mona DeQuis for AllMusic. See here.)

"Berwald spent the early part of the year 1842 in Vienna, where his music was very well-received and where he wrote his first two symphonies, those with the nicknames 'Sérieuse' and 'Capricieuse'. Later that year he returned to his native Sweden hoping to continue his string of successes. But his music didn't make much of an impression there. Nevertheless he continued his composing, completing his other two symphonies - the so-called 'Singulière' and 'Naïve' - in the year 1845. He went to Paris in 1846, hoping to interest composer-conductor Daniel-François Auber in premiering the 'Sinfonie Naïve'. Nothing came of that, though, and the symphony, now sans title (by Berwald's choice) and simply known as the Symphony No. 4, waited until April 9, 1878, for its first performance. That premiere was conducted by Ludvig Norman, who did more than anyone else to keep Berwald's music before the public in the decades after the composer's death.

"Whether called 'Sinfonie Naïve' or Symphony No. 4, the work radiates a feeling of contentment and lightheartedness. The first movement, somewhat misleadingly marked 'Allegro risoluto', begins in a rather relaxed mood. A playful staccato figure leads into the peaceful second idea, which becomes the basis of the following development. This movement, and the work as a whole, displays Berwald's distinctive, pungent harmonic sense and melodic freshness. The noble, pastoral second-movement 'Adagio' leads without pause into an energetic scherzo, whose elfin quality calls the music of Felix Mendelssohn to mind. Rhythmic playfulness marks the 'Finale', an 'Allegro vivace' that concludes with a sudden acceleration and exciting coda." (Description of Symphony No. 4 in E-Flat Major by Chris Morrison for AllMusic. See here.)

Performers: Göteborgs Symfoniker, Neeme Järvi

1.1. Symphony No. 3 In C Major 'Singulière': I. Allegro Fuocoso

1.2. Symphony No. 3 In C Major 'Singulière': II. Adagio – Scherzo: Allegro Assai – Adagio

1.3. Symphony No. 3 In C Major 'Singulière': III. Finale: Presto

1.4. Symphony No. 2 In D Major 'Capricieuse': I. Allegro

1.5. Symphony No. 2 In D Major 'Capricieuse': II. Andante

1.6. Symphony No. 2 In D Major 'Capricieuse': III. Finale: Allegro Assai

2.1. Symphony No. 4 In E-Flat Major: I. Allegro Risoluto

2.2. Symphony No. 4 In E-Flat Major: II. Adagio

2.3. Symphony No. 4 In E-Flat Major: III. Scherzo: Allegro Molto

2.4. Symphony No. 4 In E-Flat Major: IV. Finale: Allegro Vivace

2.5. Symphony No. 1 In G Minor 'Sérieuse': I. Allegro Con Energia

2.6. Symphony No. 1 In G Minor 'Sérieuse': II. Adagio Maestoso

2.7. Symphony No. 1 In G Minor 'Sérieuse': III. Stretto

2.8. Symphony No. 1 In G Minor 'Sérieuse': IV. Finale: Adagio – Allegro Molto

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Alban Berg - Orchestral Works

 "The works on the present CDs span the creative career of Alban Berg from his first published piece, the Piano Sonata, Op. 1, to the Violin Concerto and the 'Symphonic Pieces from the Opera 'Lulu'', the last works that were fully completed when died at the age of fifty in 1935.

"'Piano Sonata, Op. 1': Before starting his studies with Schoenberg in the autumn of 1904 Berg had been an autodidact whose output consisted almost entirely of songs: a gifted composer but, said Schoenberg in a letter to his publisher Emil Herzka, 'absolutely incapable of writing an instrumental movement or inventing an instrumental theme'.

"Berg continued as a Schoenberg student until 1910 but the single movement Piano Sonata, Op. 1 of 1908, recorded here in the orchestration by Theo Verbey, was, in effect, his graduation piece. In it Berg set out to demonstrate what he had learned from Schoenberg's music and teaching about how to handle an extended post-Wagnerian harmonic language and how to structure a large-scale instrumental movement in such a way that it was both formally clear and thematically integrated. At the heart of Schoenberg's teaching lay the necessity of what Schoenberg would later call 'developing variation': the belief that the logic and coherence of a work depended on all its aspects' being variants of a single, basic idea. It is a principle that stands at the heart of Op. 1 in which, within a clearly defined sonata structure, a wealth of distinctive thematic ideas is generated from a minimum of motivic material.

"'Passacaglia': Although, as one might expect, there exists a number of incomplete student pieces (there are, for example, five unfinished piano sonata movements that pre-date Op. 1) the two symphonic fragments of 1913 are exceptional in that, together, they represent the only work by the mature Berg that we know him to have abandoned. The two fragments consist of forty-one bars of a symphonic movement and the short score of the more substantial Passacaglia included in this set. Berg's manuscript, which runs to 101 bars, consists of a nine-bar Theme and ten Variations (Variation XI peters out after three bars); it contains some instrumental details and some rudimentary dynamic indications which have been amplified in the present realisation by Christian von Borries, in turn slightly modified by Mario Venzago.

"'Three Pieces, Op. 6': The idea of tackling a large-scale symphonic work was probably prompted by Schoenberg's criticism of the aphoristic nature of Berg's two previous works, the 'Altenberg-Lieder', Op. 4 (the performance in March 1913 of two of which had led to a riot and the concert's being abandoned) and the Four Pieces, Op. 5 for clarinet and piano. Schoenberg had urged Berg to write an orchestral suite, and having, for whatever reason, abandoned the symphony, Berg took his advice and turned to the composition of the Three Pieces, Op. 6 for orchestra. It is a work that has much in common with the symphonic fragments, since behind both, as indeed behind 'Wozzeck', stands the musical language of late Mahler - a composer to whom Berg was devoted. The Op. 6 Pieces, written only shortly after Mahler's death and almost immediately after the premier of the Ninth Symphony, is perhaps Berg's most overtly Mahlerian work - an influence which Berg implicitly acknowledges in his adopting, in the last piece, the fateful hammer blows of the finale of Mahler's Sixth Symphony. It is also the work in which the motivic complexity of Berg's music reaches its height. Starting with soft noises on unpitched percussion, the music of the opening 'Präludium' gradually forms itself into a motivic cell consisting of a rising minor third and a semitone, which will, in various forms, dominate the whole work and give rise to a wealth of interrelated melodic figurations. Constantly developing - through extension, inversion, rhythmic transformation - the figurations produce a profusion of material that links the 'Präludium' with the following 'Reigen' (Round Dance) and 'Marsch'. Dedicated to Schoenberg on the occasion of his fortieth birthday, the Op. 6 Pieces take the technique of 'developing variation' to its most extreme point, the 'Marsch' in particular presenting so many variants of its basic material that the more obviously recurring themes act merely as signposts to which the ear clings amid the unrelenting flow of thematic ideas. Completed in the weeks immediately after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo, this final piece, which George Perle has aptly described as a 'marche macabre', possesses an atmosphere that seems to anticipate the horrors of the war which would soon engulf Europe.

"'Wein, Weib und Gesang!': Four months before completing the 'Marsch' of the Op. 6 Berg had attended the first performance in Vienna of Georg Büchner's 'Wozzeck' at the Residenzbühne and, overwhelmed by the experience, had immediately started to jot down ideas for an opera based on the play. He was forced to put the project to one side, first because of the need to finish work on the Op. 6 Pieces and then because of his being called up for military service, and it was only at the end of the First World War that he was able to begin work on the opera in earnest.

"Even then the work on 'Wozzeck' proceeded slowly, not least because of Berg's time-consuming involvement with the Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen (Society for Private Musical Performances) which Schoenberg had founded in November 1918. The Verein was an association for members only (no critics were allowed to attend and no applause was permitted), which concentrated on the rehearsal and performance of a wide range of contemporary music. Berg, Webern and the pianist Eduard Steuermann were 'performance directors', responsible for supervising the rehearsal of new works. The Verein finally closed, due to financial difficulties, in November 1922 but a financial crisis a year earlier had led it to mount a 'Walzerabend' which consisted of arrangements of waltzes by Johann Strauss II for a salon orchestra of piano, harmonium and string quartet. Schoenberg himself was responsible for arranging 'Rosen aus dem Süden' (Roses from the South), Webern for 'Schatzwalzer' (Treasure Waltz) from 'Der Zigeunerbaron' (The Gypsy Baron) and Berg for 'Wein, Weib und Gesang!' (Wine, Women and Song!). The arrangements were performed on 27 May 1921 by an ensemble that included Schoenberg as one of the first violinists, Webern on cello and Berg on harmonium. The manuscripts were auctioned in aid of the Verein at the end of the evening, when, to his undisguised delight, Schoenberg saw his arrangement fetch three times as much as Berg's.

"'Three Fragments from 'Wozzeck'': Once 'Wozzeck' was completed (the short score was finished in October 1921 and the the full score seven months later) a piano score was published, the cost of which was eventually underwritten by Alma Mahler to whom Berg dedicated the score as a token of gratitude, and copies sent to various opera companies and critics. It was, however, difficult to persuade and opera company to take on a complex atonal work by a composer who was little known outside (or even in) his native Vienna.

"The turning point came in August 1923 when the String Quartet, Op. 3 was performed at the ISCM Festival in Salzburg. In the audience was the conductor Hermann Scherchen who suggested that Berg make a concert suite from the music of the opera. The resulting 'Three Fragments from 'Wozzeck'' were performed under Scherchen in Frankfurt in June 1924, by which time Erich Kleiber had resolved to stage the opera at the Staatsoper in Berlin. The Berlin premiere of 'Wozzeck' on 14 December 1925 established Berg overnight as a composer of international standing.

"The 'Three Fragments' centre on the figure of Marie, the common-law wife of Wozzeck, and mother of his child, whose seduction by the Drum-Major inflames the jealousy of the down-beaten Wozzeck and precipitates the ensuing tragedy. The first fragment, taken from Act I, Scenes 2 and 3 of the opera, is a March, heard as Marie watches the military parade led by the Drum Major pass by, followed by a Lullaby as she sings her child to sleep. The second fragment, structed as a theme, a set of variations and a fugue, is the opening scene of Act III, in which, overcome by guilt at having given in to the blandishments of the Drum Major, Marie seeks comfort in reading her Bible the story of the woman taken in adultery. The third fragment comes from the end of the opera, when, after Wozzeck has murdered Marie and drowned himself, the great orchestral Interlude in D minor reflects on the tragedy and the curtain rises to reveal the son of Wozzeck and Marie, now an orphan, playing with other children. A child runs on to announce the discovery of Marie's body and, after a moment's hesitation, Marie's son follows his comrades to see the corpse.

"'Der Wein': In May 1925, seven months before the Berlin premiere of 'Wozzeck', Berg went to Prague to attend a performance of the 'Three Fragments' conducted by Alexander von Zemlinsky, and stayed with the industrialist Herbert Fuchs Robettin and his wife, Hanna. Berg's next work, the 'Lyric Suite' for string quartet, which charts the course of the secret love affair that developed between Berg and Hanna during this short stay, is the most obvious outcome of the relationship between the two, but the concert aria 'Der Wein', written four years later, is also a reflection of the emotional crisis that the affair precipitated. By then already working on his second opera, 'Lulu', Berg was approached by the Czech soprano Ruzena Herlinger (to whom 'Der Wein' is dedicated) with the suggestion that he write a concert aria for her. Berg accepted the commission, partly for financial reasons but also because it offered the opportunity to explore in advance some aspects of the sound world of 'Lulu', most notable the use of the saxophone and, in a 'Tempo di Tango', jazz elements.

"For the text Berg turned to Stefan George's translations of Baudelaire, which had provided the secret, unsung text of the finale of the 'Lyric Suite', and chose three of the five poems of 'Le Vin'. In 'Der Wein' the three poems are arranged to form an ABA structure in which the B section is constructed as a palindrome, with the music turning at its central point and running backwards into the final section - a feature which Berg saw as a symbole of his own situation, the retrograde portion of 'Der Wein der Liebendern' (The Wine of Lovers) leading inexorably to the finale 'wine of the solitary one' - Baudelaire's 'Le Vin du solitaire': 'What follows [The Wine of Lovers]', wrote Berg to Hanna, 'can only by the song of the wind of the solitary one - for that I am and that I remain'.

"'Symphonic Pieces from the Opera, 'Lulu'': After the premiere of 'Wozzeck' Berg had been able to rely on performances of his music to provide a steady income, but by the early 1930s political pressures had become such that, even before the Nazis came to power in Germany in January 1933, many opera houses had withdrawn from commitments to stage the opera and Berg began to experience serious financial difficulties. By mid-1934, by which time he had completed the short score of 'Lulu', it had become clear that no performances of his new opera would be possible in either Germany or Austria. Berg, therefore, suggested to his publishers that he devise an orchestral suite from the opera - a 'propaganda suite' which, since the music was no longer linked to the sensational libretto, might be performed in Germany and attract the attention of non-Austro-German, or even American, opera companies. He consequently began to work on orchestrating the opera, starting with those sections that he wanted to include in the suite.

"Based on two plays by Frank Wedekind, the opera tells, in deliberately shcoking and often absurd terms, the story of the rise and fall of Lulu, a figure who embodies the primal, sensual spirit of womanhood. During the first half of the work she ascends the social ladder, eventually becoming the wife of the wealthy newspaper magnate Dr. Schön, and then, having shot him, descends into the criminal underworld where she ends as a prostitute and is murdered by Jack the Ripper.

"The 'Symphonic Pieces' are taken from Acts II and III of the opera. The first ('Rondo'; 'Hymne'), from Act II, is the music of a love scene between Lulu and Dr. Schön's son, Alwa. In the opera this music is spread over two scenes and is constantly interrupted by other events; in the 'Symphonic Pieces' Berg simply excises the interruptions and turns Alwa's music from the different scenes into a continuous whole. The second piece ('Ostinato') forms the orchestral interlude between the scenes of Act II. In the opera this interlude accompanies a silent film which shows the arrest of Lulu for the murder of Dr. Schön, her trial and imprisonment, and her eventual escape from prison. As the central point of the central act, the 'Ostinato' marks the turning point of the whole work - a significance symbolised by its palindromic structure. The 'Lied der Lulu', which forms the third piece, is Lulu's great aria of self-justification from Act II, Scene 1, the number in which the text (in Berg's own words) stands as 'an explanation of her actions... an explanation of Lulu's nature which stands outside all human conception of morality'. The fourt of the pieces is a set of orchestral variations on a cabaret tune by Wedekind, which acts as a transition between the big society scene of Act III, Scene 1 and the London garret of the final scene. Beginning in a clear C major, with deliberately gaudy orchestration, the variations gradually move through polytonality and free atonality to a twelve-note variation, after which the theme itself is heard briefly played on a barrel organ in the street outside Lulu's London attic. The fifth piece ('Adagio') is the music that ends the opera, as Lulu returns with her final client. It culminates in a strident twelve-note chord as Jack murders her, then stabs the Countess Geschwitz who has rushed to Lulu's aid, and ends with the 'Liebestod' of the Countess as she dies alone on stage.

"'Concerto for Violin and Orchestra': Having completed the orchestration of the 'Symphonic Pieces' Berg went back to the opening Prologue of 'Lulu' and began to score the whole opera chronologically. His work on it was, however, again interrupted when, in February 1935, the American violinist Louis Krasner approached him with a commission for a violin concerto. Berg was reluctant to stop work on the opera but his financial position made refusal almost impossible. Two months later, on 22 April, there occurred the tragedy that was to determine the programme and the final shape of the concerto, when Manon Gropius, the teenage daughter of Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius, died of poliomyelitis. Deeply shaken by the even, Berg wrote to Alma Mahler to announce his intention of dedicating the concerto 'To the memory of an Angel' in commemoration of Manon. The work turned into a tone poem in which the two movements of Part I ('Andante'; 'Allegretto') became a portrait of Manon while the opening 'Allegro' of Part II depicted her illness and death. The final 'Adagio' of Part II, a set of variations on the funeral chorale 'Es ist genug' from Bach's cantata 'O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort', offers some consolation.

"Berg never heard the concerto performed. In August 1935, a few weeks after completing the work, he received an insect sting which gradually led to septicaemia. He attened the Vienna premiere of the 'Symphonic Pieces' on 11 December but was rushed to hospital on 16 December and died one week later." (Douglas Jarman, 2009. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Göteborgs Symfoniker, Mario Venzago, Isabelle van Keulen, Geraldine McGreevy, Robert Murray

1.1. Piano Sonata, Op. 1

1.2. Three Pieces, Op. 6: I. Präludium

1.3. Three Pieces, Op. 6: II. Reigen

1.4. Three Pieces, Op. 6: III. Marsch

1.5. Der Wein

1.6. Passacaglia

1.7. Violin Concerto: I. Andante – Allegretto

1.8. Violin Concerto: II. Allegro – Adagio

2.1. Three Fragments From 'Wozzeck': I. Act I, Scenes 2 And 3

2.2. Three Fragments From 'Wozzeck': II. Act III, Scene I

2.3. Three Fragments From 'Wozzeck': III. Act III, Scenes 4 And 5

2.4. Symphonic Pieces From 'Lulu': I. Rondo

2.5. Symphonic Pieces From 'Lulu': II. Ostinato

2.6. Symphonic Pieces From 'Lulu': III. Lied Der Lulu

2.7. Symphonic Pieces From 'Lulu': IV. Variationen

2.8. Symphonic Pieces From 'Lulu': V. Adagio

2.9. Der Wein

2.10. Wein, Weib Und Gesang!

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