André Grétry - L'amant Jaloux

"Late in the evening of 1 August 1752, a small band of peripatetic Italian musicians under the direction of Eustachio Bambini took to the stage at the Opéra in Paris after a long performance of Lully's 'Acis et Galatée'. They presented one of the works in their large repertoire of Italian 'intermezzi' - these were short comic works designed to be presented between the acts of other operas. Bambini decided that the intermezzo for that autumnal night was to be Pergolesi's 'La serva pardona'.

"It wasn't a hit. The gossipy newspaper the Mercure de France noted that this bizarre Italian work had some tunes that were really only to the taste of 'un petite nombre de connoisseurs'. But that 'small number' soon grew and suddenly, it seemed, everyone was talking about and debating the relative merits of French and Italian music. This was the so-called 'Querelle des Bouffons', as Bambini's troupe was popular known as the 'Bouffons', or buffoons.

"It was mainly a quarrel of letter - although it's true that guards often had to be posted in the 'parterre' (stalls) of the Opéra to control the crowd when things got a bit rough. Gossips, musicians, philosophers and wits all exchanged their views on which style was better: the noble French or the new upstart Italian. As in many culture wars, the debate took on a larger social and political significance. Liking Italian music generally coded to others that you were progressive and liberal, whereas a preference for French music meant that you were a conservative and enjoying the status quo. Hence a younger generation favoured the tunefulness of the Italians, whereas an older generation emphasised a rich and proud French musical heritage in which declamation, poetry and melodic precision were all equally valued.

"Many wondered if a new style of music might be possible which combined the best and most interesting elements of the two. Around 1765 a 'philosophe' remarked: 'We are just beginning to realise that our opera lacks the aria phrased in the Italian manner.' He confirmed that experiments by a 'well-known composer' were already bearing fruit and that 'when we do learn how to use this style intelligently [...] I predict that French opera will be superior to the Italian.'

"This 'well-known composer' was André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, and it was Grétry who, more than any other operatic composer, really managed to unite Italiante vocality with French wordsmithery. Grétry did it by always going back to his roots which were also the roots of the Querelle itself. 'I analysed Pergolesi's music when I sought to develop my musical faculties', he wrote. 'Many have tried to write music in the Italian taste, but they have had no success because the prosody of the language was incorrect; I believe I have surmounted this point.'

"Grétry was born in Liège in 1741, which makes him a contemporary of Paisiello, Boccherini and Wanhal. He came from a family of musicians. In his early teens, in the years of the Querelle, he had witnessed a touring Italian intermezzo troupe much like Bambini's; their performances made a profound impression on him. Grétry studied in Rome in the 1760s, and in 1767 finally settled in Paris, where, as an ambition 26-year-old, he attempted to forge a career for himself as an opera composer.

"Things weren't easy in the hothouse environment of the Parisian opera scene, but Grétry, impressed with the work of composers active in the new-fangled 'opéra comique', decided that this genre was the perfect vehicle for his art. 'I had never seen 'opéra comique' before', he reminisced, 'I laughed, I cried!'

"After a string of failures, Grétry finally achieved fame and popularity in 1769. His memorably tuneful style and his intuitive gift for theatricality rapidly made him one of Europe's most popular composers. Marie Antoinette was so taken with him that, once she became Queen in 1774, she appointed him her personal director of music. His success was at its height in the mid-1780s and his international reputation was cemented with 'Richard Cœur-de-lion' (1784). He kept up with the style of the times and cannily survived the Revolution. Napoleon made him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1802 and also granted him a generous annual pension. He died rich and lauded in 1813.

"'L'Amant jaloux, ou Les Fausses Apparences' (The Jealous Lover, or False Appearances) was written in 1778, when Grétry was cresting the cusp of greatness. It was given first at Versailles in the presence of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and then opened in Paris at the Comédie-Italienne in December of the same year. It was an immediate success and was considered at the time to be a masterpiece of 'opéra comique'. Grétry himself spoke of it in his 'Mémoires' as one of his favourite works. The newspaper 'Les Mémoires secrets', which was loath to praise any production at the Comédie-Italienne, reported that the first performances enjoyed 'the greatest success for the poem and the music alike. The former is the genuine Spanish character, and it seems that the work is inspired by a comedy from that nation; while the latter is perfectly equal and worthy of the composer's genius.

"The librettist had fooled the correspondent. 'L'Amant jaloux' was actually based on one of the most popular works on the 18th-century English stage: Susanna Cenlivre's 'The Wonder: A Woman Keeps a Secret' (1714). The librettist was an Irishman, Thomas Hales, who went by the Frenchified name of Thomas D'Hèle. After various adventures as a soldier in Jamaica, D'Hèle ended up turning to the profession of author 'by necessity', as Grétry reminisced, for when he arrived in Paris he was penniless. The librettist and composer soon formed a strong and fruitful working relationship, and 'L'Amant jaloux' was their second collaboration. It held the stage from 1779 to 1821 for an astonishing 365 performances.

"The score of 'L'Amant jaloux' is one of Grétry's finest, and demonstrates the composer's extraordinary aptitude, elegance and acuity in effecting the marriage of French words and music. It is one of the first operas to develop what scholars have since called the 'functional recollection' of motifs. These created a web of associations between characters and scenes and contributed to a newly fashionable sense of organic unity and interconnectedness. For example, Lopez 'quotes' Jacinte's Act I aria 'Qu'une fille de quinze ans' back to her in a later scene, memorably painting a remarkably modern sense of irony. The loving duo between Léonore and Alonze at the close of Act II is repeated and transformed into a jealous spat by means of subtle but profound changes in accompaniment and delivery. Grétry uses national topics to paint the characters' backgrounds: he quotes the famous 'Folies d'Espagne' for the Spanish Lopez, and there is a 'temps de minuet' for the French Florival.

"Grétry later recalled that the spectacular aria for Léonore at the start of Act II was inserted purely to allow Marie-Jeanne Trial ('the finest voice ever formed by nature') 'a chance to shine'. In a similar spirit, we have inserted, as was the practice in the 18th century, the ariette 'Du moment qu'on aime' from Grétry's 'Zémire et Azor' for the character of Don Alonze in Act II. Also following 18th-century practice, we perform two contemporaneous instrumental works as entr'actes.

"Grétry was once asked how he went about writing his operas. 'Well, just as one writes poetry or paints a picture. I read, re-read twenty times the words I want to paint in sounds; it takes several days for my head to become heated: in the end I lose my appetite, my eyes get inflamed, the imagination rises, then I write an opera in three weeks or a month.' Apparently he liked his stimulants: he was addicted to snuff, which he took as he one-handedly composed at the harpsichord, and, like Mozart, he found his relaxation in the game of billiards. By all accounts he was a great wit and conversationalist and was a friend of 'philisophes' and musicians alike. As musicologist David Charlton remarks, 'It is hard to imagine the evolution of 'opéra comique', and Romantic opera in general, without the part played by his works.' Not for nothing was Grétry called' the Molière of Music'. (Erin Helyard, 2015. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Orchestra Of The Antipodes, Erin Helyard, Ed Lyon, Celeste Lazarenko, Andrew Goodwin, Alexandra Oomens, Jessica Aszodi, David Greco, Stephen Lalor, Melissa Farrow

1.1. Ouverture

1.2. Acte I: 'Qu'une Fille De Quinze Ans'

1.3. Acte I: 'Plus De Soeur! Plus De Frère!'

1.4. Acte I: 'Victime Infortunée'

1.5. Acte I: 'Plus D'égards, Plus De Prudence'

1.6. Johann Nepomuk Hummel - Mandolin Concerto In G Major, S28: II. Andante Con Variazioni

1.7. Acte II: 'Je Romps La Chaîne Qui M'engage'

1.8. Acte II: 'Le Mariage Est Une Envie'

1.9. Acte II: 'La Gloire Vous Appelle'

1.10. Acte II: 'Du Moment Qu'on Aime'

1.11. Acte II: 'D'abord, Amants Soumis Et Doux'

1.12. Acte II: 'Cruelle! De Ma Douleur Mortelle'

1.13. Acte II: 'Tandis Que Tout Sommeille'

1.14. Acte II: 'Jamais Le Coeur De Léonore'

2.1. Flute Concerto In C Major: I. Allegro

2.2. Flute Concerto In C Major: II. Larghetto

2.3. Flute Concerto In C Major: III. Allegro

2.4. Acte III: 'O Douce Nuit, Sous Ton Ombre Paisible'

2.5. Acte III: 'Je Sens Bien Que Votre Hommage'

2.6. Acte III: 'Seigneur, Sans Trop Être Indiscret'

2.7. Acte III: 'Prenez Pitié De Ma Douleur'

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Acts of Vengeance - UFoI II

Second in a series releases attached to the 'United Forces of Industrial' live event held in London, released by the eponymous record label in 2015. Mostly politically charged power electronics, with tracks by the likes of Grunt, Alfarmania, Concrete Mascara, Zyklon SS and Puce Mary as well as many enjoyable others. Expect vocal samples, insurrectionist/anarchic political messages as well as other classic industrial/power electronics themes. 

A1. Black Insignia - Acts Of Vengeance I

A2. Grunt - Blood Thirst

A3. Kevlar - Eternal Unhappiness

A4. Brood - Alarmis Frustrer

A5. Alfarmania - En Otrampad Stig

A6. Taeter - Special

A7. Concrete Mascara - Violence

A8. Martin Bladh - How Some Children Played At Slaughtering

B1. Zyklon SS - EFP Warhead

B2. Am Not - Intervention 

B3. Stark - Untitled

B4. Pain Nail - Abysmal Teaching Of The Great Signs

B5. Psychopathia - Conscience Of Facts

B6. Clinic Of Torture - Cutting The Slave

B7. Jaakko Vanhala - Life's Marrow

B8. Puce Mary - McKenzie

B9. Black Insignia - Acts Of Vengeance II

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Alexander Scriabin; Leoš Janáček - Sonatas & Poems

"Alexander Scriabin was born into a wealthy Russian family; he was of delicate build and health and full of mystical self-importance. Leoš Janáček was the son of a schoolmaster in Moravia, then part of the Austrian Empire, and financial constraints hindered his musical education. The closest he came to self-delusion was his long-term infatuation with a woman thirty-eight years his junior - which hardly compares with Scriabin's messianic pretensions. Scriabin published ten piano sonatas; Janáček one. Yet it would be difficult to find a more apt pairing of composers so surefooted in handling a style of their own forging.

"Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 5 is intimately linked wit his twenty-minute orchestra score 'Le poème de l'extase'. The two pieces share adjoining opus number (Opp. 53 and 54 respectively), and Scriabin attached to the sonata part of the rather embarrassing literary poem he wrote to accompany the orchestral work. Despite the opus numbers, the sonata was written down after 'La poème de l'extase' had been composed and revised. However, parts of it had been sketched two years earlier, and Scriabin's wife, Tatyana, wrote in a letter that the composer could play the sonata through before he came to put it on paper in December 1907. In the same letter she wrote: 'I cannot believe my ears. It is extraordinary! That sonata pour out of him like a fountain. Everything you have heard so far is as nothing. You cannot even tell it is a sonata.'

"The most obvious way in which No. 5 differs from Scriabin's previous sonatas is in its one-movement form - a pattern that the composer maintained for his subsequent five sonatas. Whether or not one can tell 'tell it is a sonata' might depends on whether one attempts to analyse it aurally or through study of the score. There is a slow introduction, an exposition, a development section and recapitulation. Opposing key centres (principally F-sharp and B-flat) are utilized. Bookending this structure is an upward-rushing figure heard first and last in the work. But so fragmentary are the melodies, and so frequent the changes of time and key signature (along with specified rubato), that the architecture remains a background presence. What registers instead is the omnipresent tingle of dissonance, the twelve minute approach to a cadence that never happens, the sensually ecstatic delay of a full climax. The return of the opening gesture brings the work to a close that is quite unexpected but immediately convincing; instead of crashing out a few major chords, Scriabin snatches the music away from our hearing and into another realm.

"To attempt an alternative description of that ending, the music takes flight and disappears into the skies. The idea of flying preoccupied Scriabin - he and Tatyana reportedly undertook experiments in self-levitation, though the closest he seems to have come to achieving it is curiously light-footed way of walking. The second and final movement of his Piano Sonata No. 4 (1903) is marked 'Prestissimo volando' ('Flying as fast as possible'), so in a sense the upward rush with which the fifth sonata begins and ends is a logical progression from this. However, hearing No. 4 after No. 5 emphasizes how right Tatyana was to coo over the originality of the later work. The fourt sonata fits comfortably into one's picture of a Russian composer-pianist who favoured repertoire comprised Schumann, Chopin and Liszt. Well, perhaps not so comfortably. Once again an accompanying poems makes clear that this is intended to be music of eroticism, transfiguration and ecstasy.

"This time, though, the structure is a foreground presence. Although the fourth sonata is in two movement it is of shorter duration than the fifth, and is in fact the briefest of all Scriabin's sonatas. Concision is achieved partly through the dominance of a single theme. This is heard awaking from a dream at the beginning of the opening movement and is ruminated on until the second movement takes flight without a break. The composer really meant his 'Prestissimo' instruction: 'It must fly at the speed of light right at the sun, straight into the sun!', he exhorted one performer. The movement achieves its solar impact with a clangourous reprise of the first theme.

"The 'Deux poèmes', Op. 32, were written in 1903, the same year as the Sonata No. 4. The first shares the key of F-sharp major with the fourth and fifth sonatas - a favourite key signature for Scriabin, if for a few other composers. It is a work of grace and liquid lyricism; the composer frequently included it in his recitals. 'Vers la flamme' ('Towards the flame') is a late work, written in 1914. It was apparently intended to be an eleventh piano sonata, but was published as a 'poème'. It has been suggested that Scriabin was short of income and did not have time to work it into finished form, but it is hard to think of it in these terms. Rather, it is Scriabin's - and piano music's - 'Rite of spring'. One again we are taken on a journey to conflagration, but the process is altogether more shattering than in the fourth sonata. Melody is reduced to its primitive minimum. There is no key signature because there is no key. In a crescendo from glowing quietude to vibrating violence, all we take for granted about pianism reaches meltdown.

"Compare any photographs of Scriabin and Janáček and you immediately know these are contrasting characters. Scriabin, with his haughty manner and waxed moustache, looks like a stage magician - or, more accurately, he was exactly the kind of eccentric aristocrat on which a conjuror might base his stage persona. Janáček, solid and buff, with unruly hair and a scrubbing brush moustache, looks more like the proprietor of a successful brewery, with a seat on the local council. Yet his music, too, could have visionary qualities. His piano music in particular is haunted by tragic recollections and anxious foreboding.

"Whereas the piano was a central focus for Scriabin throughout his career, Janáček's solo piano compositions were largely confined to the period 1900-1912. These years were a turning point for the composer personally and professionally. His 1904 opera 'Jenůfa' was successfully premiered in Brno, but for the time being rejected by Prague. The bitterness Janáček felt about this was intensified by the identification in his mind between the opera and the death of his beloved daughter Olga, aged twenty-one, in 1903. He had already lost a song thirteen years earlier. This second blow contributed to the breakdown of his previously happy marriage. Though he and his wife Zdenka stayed together, the bond between them was gone.

"The cycle 'On the overgrown path' cannot be separated from these circumstances. The picturesque titles were added late in the day at the request of a friendly critic; despite their gnomic quality there are keys to the heartache within the music. The origin of the work lies in contributions to anthologies of harmonium music: three of the pieces appeared in this form in 1901, already with the 'Overgrown path' title, which is a Moravian equivalent of 'down memory lane'. By 1911 the cycle has become a ten-movement piano work and was published as such. Without cataloguing the precise sequence in which the individual pieces were composed, it is worth noting that the first and last pieces - 'Our evenings' and 'The barn owl has not flown away!' - were written before Olga contracted typhoid fever. Therefore the anguish that disturbs the recollection of summer evening walks, and the ill omens associated with the appearance of the owl in folklore, were premonitions before they became memories.

"Only one title needs further explanation. Frýdek was the home town of the composer's grandfather, where the Basilica of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary was a place of pilgrimage, hence the hymn tune in 'The Frýdek Madonna'. Other than that, one detail might be taken as emblematic of the chilling presence that dominates the cycle. In 'The barn owl has not flown away!' the harbinger of death, with its flapping wings and two-note cry, first appears separately from a calmer, consoling chordal theme. Within this tranquil second subject is a curious single-crotchet bar of silence. In subsequent reprises even this silent beat is invaded by the owl's music.

"We owe it to the pianist Ludmila Tučková that we can hear Janáček's Piano Sonata '1.X.1905, From the street' today. She gave its first performance, in Brno on 27 January 1906. When rehearsals began the sonata had three movements. But, racked with self-doubt, the composer ripped out the third movement, a funeral march, and burnt those pages. The premiere did nothing to assuage his depression, and after it he flung the remaining movements, torn to pieces, into the Vltava river. Regret at his own actions afflicted him even while his eyes retained the impression of the pages 'floating like swans'.

"However, Tučková had secretly copied the first two movements, fearing the worst after the destruction of the third. It was not until 1924, the year of Janáček's seventieth birthday, that she had the courage to tell the composer. Fortunately he sanctioned publication and performance as a two-movement work. Its violent history befits an inspiration: on the date the work commemorates, a Moravian carpenter, František Pavlík, was bayoneted to death by the forces of the ruling Austrians for supporting the foundation of a Czech-speaking university.

"The first movement ('Presentiment') opens with a plaintive treble melody that tries to rise free as rumblings in the bass threaten to engulf it. Bass and treble are briefly locked together in a panic-stricken trill that resolves into the chordal second subject, which becomes more emotionally disturbed than first impressions suggest. After an exposition repeat the development proceeds in eruptive fashion, its energies troubling the recapitulation's opening. The final chord is a solemn bell toll.

"The second movement ('Death') broods over a single melodic phrase. Though context and expression change, the sad truth it contains will not go way. In the central section, which grows to a tragic climax, this phrase develops into a coherent melody, jangling with the rhythms of Czech speech; musical characteristics of both these section combine in the closing stanza. Finally, another eerie bell-chord brings the darkness." (Brain David. From the liner notes.)

Performer: Stephen Hough

1. Alexander Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53: Allegro. Impetuoso. Con Stravaganza – Languido – Presto Con Allegrezza

2. Leoš Janáček - On The Overgrown Path, Book 1: Our Evenings

3. Leoš Janáček - On The Overgrown Path, Book 1: A Blown-away Leaf

4. Leoš Janáček - On The Overgrown Path, Book 1: Come With Us!

5. Leoš Janáček - On The Overgrown Path, Book 1: The Frýdek Madonna

6. Leoš Janáček - On The Overgrown Path, Book 1: They Chattered Like Swallows

7. Leoš Janáček - On The Overgrown Path, Book 1: Words Fail!

8. Leoš Janáček - On The Overgrown Path, Book 1: Good Night!

9. Leoš Janáček - On The Overgrown Path, Book 1: Unutterable Anguish

10. Leoš Janáček - On The Overgrown Path, Book 1: In Tears

11. Leoš Janáček - On The Overgrown Path, Book 1: The Barn Owl Has Not Flown Away!

12. Alexander Scriabin - Poème In F-Sharp Major, Op. 32 No. 1: Andante Cantabile

13. Alexander Scriabin - Poème 'Vers La Flamme', Op. 72

14. Leoš Janáček - Piano Sonata '1.X.1905, From The Street': I. Presentiment. Con Moto

15. Leoš Janáček - Piano Sonata '1.X.1905, From The Street': II. Death. Adagio

16. Alexander Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 4 In F-Sharp Major, Op. 30: I. Andante

17. Alexander Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 4 In F-Sharp Major, Op. 30: II. Prestissimo Volando

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Per Nørgård - Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5

"Per Nørgård's works stem from an insatiable urge to explore the phenomena of the world and the possibilities of music. His list of works is huge – over 400 of them – and the eight symphonies stand as pillars of his production. They are milestones along the course of 60 years and the range, from the gloomy 'Nordic' Symphony No. 1 to the ethereal Symphony No. 8, is simply vast. Perhaps only Nørgård's Nordic predecessor Sibelius has to the same extent composed symphonies of such great variety.

"Indeed, Nørgård has always had a close relationship with Sibelius, but it is by no means imitation of his music that constitutes the influence. 'What I think has been the most profound lesson from studying Sibelius' symphonies is the extent to which each of the works is really in a class by itself. This permeates my own attitude to composing symphonies. I feel each of my symphonies is a whole continent in itself,' Nørgård has said.

"Symphony No. 5 was given its first performance in 1990 by Esa-Pekka Salonen (to whom it is dedicated) and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in a concert where the rest of the programme was the fifth symphonies of Sibelius and Carl Nielsen. More than the number five and the Nordic element connects the works: for each of the three composers the fifth symphony was a breakthrough after a crisis. In the 1980s Nørgård had been through a period when chaos shattered his holistic world-picture. The greatly polarized Symphony No. 4 is a central work from those years. But with his Symphony No. 5 Nørgård showed with supreme courage that he could look all the chaotic forces in the eye however violent they might be.

"The mighty work has an unprecedentedly powerful expressive force. From the beginning of the symphony Nørgård shows that he dares go to the edge of the volcano with an awareness that he can face it. The forces of nature are not tamed, for control and chaos exist at the same time in this music – two opposites in what otherwise seems an impossible embrace.

"Nørgård takes the view that it is up to the listener to decide on the number of 'movements' in the symphony. It can be perceived with the contours of a traditional symphonic form with a large dynamic first movement, a quick second movement, a slow section (or two) and in the end an unstoppable, wildly rushing final movement. But it can just as easily be heard as one great development of the dynamism set in motion by the innumerable eruptions of the music at the beginning. The dynamic upsurges are intense and irregular, as if they come from an unpredictable geyser or a bubbling sea of lava. And the silence betwee the eruptions is full of powerful tension, for what will the next phase be like?

"The second section is typified by quivering spasms in the strings and grotesque manifestations in the woodwinds, which among other things play on loose reeds. The beginning of 'Jingle Bells' even pops up from the material as an objet trouvé, and the dynamic cascades reach absurd heights. Nørgård refuses actually to call this section a 'scherzo', but it is certainly a burlesque world that the symphony has developed into here.

"The third section builds up to yet another eruption of cascades, after which a chaconne-like foundation is firmly laid. The subsequent development comes close to running amok, and after a final culmination the music falls calm and fades out. But it is too early to write off the activity of the forces of nature. Like the awakening of a slumbering dragon the discharges of energy break out in the last section and the billowing cascades are once more in full flow. In the concluding minutes the ecstatic fanfares are transformed into a manic version of the end of Nørgård's own First Symphony, written 35 years previously. After which it is all swept away as by the wave of a magic wand.

"In the symphony Per Nørgård has developed his technique with the infinity series into a complex system he calls 'tone lakes'. The principle does not, like the infinity series, form fractal repetitions, but opens up tonal material that has developed from 12 notes to 36, 108 etc. For Nørgård it was a natural development to abandon the well tried principle of the infinity series. 'Techniques are quite simply modalities, tools for achieving results. They must be refined – or abandoned if they become too restrictive,' he said. And if there is music without irksome fetters it is decidedly this Fifth Symphony, where Nørgård juggles all the balls in the air at the same time.

"'That has been the fascinating and frightening thing about composing the work,' Nørgård explained. 'How long can it go on? Where it is going? Since something has always been going on, while something else is in the making, you experience a constant restlessness.'

"Symphony No. 4 comes from a period when Nørgård shattered the visions of a cosmos in harmony that he had presented in his Second and Third Symphonies. The main reason was his encounter with the Swiss artist Adolf Wölfli (1864-1930). For most of his life Wölfli was a patient in a mental hospital, where he created thousands of texts, images and musical fragments which with their intense creativity give the impression of a split personality. In his layer-on-layer art swarming with details and perspectives Nørgård could recognize himself – just with the poles reversed: the dark side with chaos and agitation instead of system-building according to a natural order.

"'I knew that this was a liberating moment,' Nørgård said about the encounter with Wölfli's art, speaking at the Louisiana Museum of Art at Humlebæk, Denmark, in the autumn of 1979. Wölfli's chaos became a direction indicator for Nørgård in a period that can reasonably be called his crisis years. The first work was the three choral songs Wie ein Kind to texts by Wölfli. Other major works from the period are the opera 'The Divine Circus' and Symphony No. 4, which for many of Nørgård's adherents were a surprising and perhaps also disappointing break with the intoxicating world-harmonies of the preceding works. But amidst all the Gothic horror Nørgård found a new rhythmic dynamic that took him a long way in the course of the following years – now with the focus on the misfit and the loner, including himself. 'Irreconcilability is my position today, and that can hardly be called a classic doctrine,' Nørgård said in an interview in 1982.

"In 1912 Wölfli had laid plans for a musical work with the title 'Indischer Roosen-Gaarten und Chineesischer Hexen-See' ('Indian Rose Garden and Chinese Witch Lake'). For obvious reasons it was not realized, but the title alone was enough for Nørgård. 'Such precision in the expression of polarity is rare,' as he remarked. The result was the closest Nørgård has come to a programme symphony: the symphony Wölfli himself never managed to write. The subtitle is 'Hommage à Adolf Wölfli', and Per Nørgård has aptly spoken of it as 'a handshake with a friend, with thanks for a good idea.'

"The symphony constitutes a balance of oppositions. There are two movements – the rose garden and the witch lake – each of which involves something of its own opposite. Nørgård compares it to the yin and yang symbol, which has a black eye in the white 'fish' and a white eye in the black one.

"The first movement begins on the foundation of a melody Nørgård had written for Wölfli's poem 'Abendlied' ('Evening Song'). The words of the song, 'Traulichem, Alleine sein' ('Sad it is to be alone') form a descending motif that is transferred here to the violins and takes on disintegrating, collapsing forms – in fact, quite peacefully, but with an unreal calm. We are in a sanctuary – for something. The second part of the movement builds on the birdsong motif of the African robin-chat, which is first manifested softly in the piccolo and then in the solo violin. It is the most important theme of the symphony. Nørgård took the broad view of the fact that that the bird is neither Indian nor Chinese – it was the musical qualities that counted. 'The theme fascinates me, because it has something that goes beyond any system, it so to speak contains the existential, paradox of joy and sorrow.' The ambivalence becomes all the more striking when Nørgård lets the theme spread to the brass and the dark woodwinds. That is when we experience 'the black eye in the white fish.'

"The transition from the rose garden in the first movement to the witch lake in the second is quite abrupt. 'It is the rest of us who are mad if we do not know that we are living atop a catastrophe every second,' Nørgård has explained, and now the catastrophe breaks forth without warning. From the first note the witch lake has fiery, warlike rhythms. The unreality has become hair-raisingly horrific. Quotations from foreign music appear in the development of the music. The old salon waltz Fascination, known from Mantovani's saccharine orchestra, penetrates into the brass in a grotesque version. Crazy Swiss Ländler music breaks out, an echo of another Wölfli song by Nørgård. The falling thirds of the melody even have something in common with the 'inextinguishable' theme from Carl Nielsen's Fourth Symphony, another symphony that is a life-crisis work with conflict and irreconcilability as a bearing principle.

"Relentlessly we are brought to the brink of the burning water of the witch lake when, at the ultimate cliffhanger moment, we hear a new opening. The five last notes of the symphony are a small glimpse of the birdsong motif. A sensation of the rose garden that has been there all the time. The white eye in the black fish." (Jens Cornelius. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Oslo-Filharmonien, John Storgårds

1. Symphony No. 5: I. Moderato Più Allegro -

2. Symphony No. 5: II. Allegro Feroce -

3. Symphony No. 5: III. Andante -

4. Symphony No. 5: IV. Lento - Quasi Una Passacaglia -

5. Symphony No. 5: V. Allegro Robusto

6. Symphony No. 4: 'Indischer Roosen-Gaarten' -

7. Symphony No. 4: 'Chineesischer Hexen-See'

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Per Nørgård - Symphonies Nos. 2 & 6

"Per Nørgård's works stem from an insatiable urge to explore the phenomena of the world and the possibilities of music. His list of works is huge – over 400 of them – and the eight symphonies stand as pillars of his production. They are milestones along the course of 60 years, and the range from the gloomy 'Nordic' Symphony No. 1 to the ethereal Symphony No. 8 is simply vast. Perhaps only Nørgård's Nordic predecessor Sibelius has to the same extent composed symphonies of such great variety.

"Nørgård has indeed always had a close relationship with Sibelius, but it is by no means imitation of his music that constitutes the influence. 'What I think has been the most profound lesson from studying Sibelius' symphonies is the extent to which each of the works is really in a class by itself. This permeates my own attitude to composing symphonies. I feel each of my symphonies is a whole continent in itself,' Nørgård said when his Sixth Symphony was given its first performance in 2000.

"It was with a roguish smile that Per Nørgård presented the title of his new Sixth Symphony At the End of Day or, in Danish, Når alt kommer til alt at a press conference in 1999. Nørgård was then 67 years old, and men of his age retire. Had he written his last symphony, a summation of a lifelong immersion in the genre?

"The symphony had been commissioned by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic to celebrate the Millennium, and the first performance six days into the year 2000 was to prove one of the self-renewals with which Nørgård has so often surprised us. For it is quite certain that no doors were closed in this symphony. On the contrary Nørgård is more exploratory, more playful and rhythmically ebullient than in any of his previous symphonies. For despite the two titles of the symphony (teasingly not-quite-synonymous as they are) the point is that the end never comes. Each closure is followed by a new beginning. Nørgård in fact underscored this quite specifically by following up with both a Symphony No. 7 and No. 8.

"Symphony No. 6 is also one of Nørgård's most classical symphonies, divided into three movements: a large, dynamic first movement, a slow second movement and a short, lively final movement. Despite the pauses between the movements the music develops in one long, fluid process, and Nørgård therefore prefers to call the movements in his Sixth Symphony 'passages' and compares the pauses to bridges over an onward-flowing stream.

"The first four minutes of the symphony form a restless statement recalling the exposition of a classical first movement. But the exposition ends at a standstill. After rumbling drum sounds the music dies out. After which the first of the symphony's new beginnings immediately takes over! The restart develops with tremendous imagination into a game with the orchestral possibilities. The exuberance comes close to ending in anarchy, and then the orchestra drops into a gorge of dark timbres, produced by hordes of low-sounding, unusual instruments such as the double bass trombone, double bass tuba and double bass clarinet.

"The dark, unreal sounds become the point of departure for the second passage, which starts with a very slow pulse. The bass chords function as a passacaglia, a foundation for a development over it which increases in tempo and in the number of layers. The flow moves the music onward in the mischievous third passage, where jerky riffs and the rolling, descending lines from the beginning of the symphony frolic with the listener. A humorous game with the infinite, until that development too sinks into the depths. Was that – at the end of the day – the ending? No – for at a quite unexpected point a narrow chink is opened up to new horizons. 'A delta of other worlds,' Per Nørgård calls it. From here new journeys begin. A thousand new years wait ahead. 

"The symphony is dedicated to Nørgård's wife, Helle Rahbæk Nørgård. After another performance in 2000 Nørgård revised the score along with the conductor Thomas Dausgaard, but by then he had already embarked on the pursuit of the 'other worlds' that Symphony No. 6 had presented for him. The symphony quickly acquired a sister piece, a mirror-image in the form of the large orchestral piece Terrains vagues. It begins where Symphony No. 6 ends. But that, as usual with Per Nørgård, is quite another story.

"In the 1960s Nørgård had discovered the principle he called the Infinity Series; a sequence which, translated into notes, combines modernist rigour with natural metamorphosis. The endless generation by the infinity series of new intervals emerges, among other ways, from the formation of the inversion of the series itself and of fractals. The intervals of the series can be found in other proportions such as every fourth note, every sixteenth note, every sixty-fourth note etc., and thus it develops so it can exist on several planes at the same time. 

For Nørgård this was a revelation, and his quite personal path out of the experiments of the 1960s with the serial techniques that had a stifling effect on him. Instead the infinity series threw all the doors open wide. Its breakthrough was Voyage into the Golden Screen for chamber orchestra. The year was 1968, the hippie era was changing the world, and Nørgård too. He fetched the title of the work from a song by the singer/songwriter Donovan. 

'Voyage into the Golden Screen' unfolded the infinity series in 'a full round' of 1,024 notes. The result was so fruitful that Nørgård immediately resolved to write a whole symphony on the same principle. Symphony No. 2 – in one movement became the title, and it is a tribute to the power – both rule-governed and natural – of the infinity series.

"'Instead of about 1000 notes of the series, I wanted to use about 4000 notes to exploit the potential for further immersion in the many layers and interval combinations of the infinity series. Instead of the 'untouched unfolding' of the tonal sequence and its orchestration I now wanted to 'intervene': to create melodies, take it to climaxes, to enlighten etc., but all with respect for the continuing flow and preservation of the special, timeless objectivity characteristic of the infinity series,' Per Nørgård explained.

"The main course of the symphony is the first 4096 notes of the infinity series, which run as a constant strand in more or less uninterrupted quavers. The long one-movement sequence is composed of phases, specifically 16 phases each with 256 notes of the series. After each phase of the development Nørgård places a bell signal. A 'round' is completed and we have risen one level. After every fourth phase Nørgård marks the progress of the music with what he calls a 'screen' of brass fanfares. Great, deafening orgastic eruptions. They too are part of an order such that screens Nos. 1 and 3 and screens Nos. 2 and 4 are related pairs.

"The symphony begins with a 'birth' of the infinity series. It develops gradually, first as pitchless air sounds, then unison sounds and after that quarter tone intervals. The chromatic intervals are approaching. And the peal of a bell marks the starting shot for the unfolding of the infinity series. The music takes off, euphorically, almost psychedelically, as if it has been given wings.

"For most of the symphony the quavers are played by the flutes, while the slower layers are usually pitched lower in the orchestra. Because the various layers of the music have the same origin, this gives the symphony a sense of totality that recalls ambient music. The non-stop rhythmic flow is also, one could say, related to the American minimalism of the time, although the rhythmic pulse in Nørgård's Second Symphony has a different 'swing'. But there are even lines back to musical precursors, for the growth of the symphony makes it a radical extension of the metamorphosis idea of Nørgård's teacher, Vagn Holmboe, and their shared model, Sibelius. Nørgård's Second Symphony and Sibelius' Seventh Symphony are both demonstratively onemovement symphonies and originate in a scale presentation (C major for Sibelius and the infinity series for Nørgård!). And the trombone theme which marks the key points in Sibelius' Seventh Symphony acquires a distant cousin in the form of Nørgård's overwhelming brass 'screens'. 

"A few years before Symphony No. 2 and Voyage into the Golden Screen Nørgård had even made a geographical break with conservatism by terminating his tenure at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. Instead he relocated with his best pupils to Jutland, to the Royal Academy in Aarhus, and in 1970 the Aarhus City Orchestra gave the symphony its first performance, conducted by Per Dreier.

"At that time the world-famous Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache was a frequent visitor to the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen, and he had become very enthusiastic about 'Voyage into the Golden Screen'. Nørgård played the radio recording of the new Second Symphony for him, and Celibidache stated that he had never heard such beautiful music in his life. An international success for the symphony, which Nørgård revised for the occasion, was in the offing. But Celibidache's temperament got in the way; first when he demanded a whole 20 hours of orchestral rehearsals for the symphony, and then on a quite different occasion when he walked out on the orchestra in a rage. Celibidache never came to conduct a single Per Nørgård work, but by then the symphony had already been dedicated to him – and it still is." (Jean Cornelius. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Oslo-Filharmonien, John Storgårds

1. Symphony No. 6 'At The End Of The Day': I. Moderato

2. Symphony No. 6 'At The End Of The Day': II. Lentissimo

3. Symphony No. 6 'At The End Of The Day': III. Allegro Energico

4. Symphony No. 2

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Caligula031 - Private Venus

Power electronics from Swiss national Marco Deplano, which continues themes of escorting, human trafficking and prostitution that characterise his work under this moniker. Closes with a collection of interviews and vocal excerpts in English and Italian that make up a discussion on the legality and ethics of prostitution ('An Empirical Analysis Of Escorting - Volume 1') - recalls Keith Brewer's Taint. Released on Sam McKinlay's Lake Shark Harsh Noise label in 2015 as an edition of one hundred and five cassettes.

A1. Balkan Ballerina

A2. Retail

A3. Crave

A4. Private Venus

B. An Empirical Analysis Of Escorting - Volume 1

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Backasvinet - Gevisol / Ivisol

Excellent Swedish harsh noise cassette released by obscure Swedish label Elbogen Fonogram in 2015, also self-released by the artist as a double cassette the year prior. Highly engaging old school cassette noise.

A. Gevisol

B. Ivisol

mp3/320kbps

Richard Ramirez / Quack Quack

Split between American noise titan Richard Ramirez and anonymous (presumably Swedish) project Quack Quack, released on the excellent Swedish noise label Team Boro Tapes in 2015. Both sides are excellent, highly indulgent noise.

A. Richard Ramirez - Taking It In The Back Seat

B. Quack Quack - A Mouse Trap

 

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Internazionale / Genoasejlet / Liberty Uganda / Olympisk Løft - Stolthedens Søjle

Four-way split from Danish label Janushoved. The lineup consists of label regulars Internazionale, Genoasejlet, Liberty Uganda and Olympisk Løft who offer their brand of sleek, poetic modern industrial music. It's unclear how many of these projects are monikers of the same creator, although I suspect there is some crossover here. Released as an edition of eighty cassettes in 2015. 

 

A1. Internazionale - Daughter

A2. Genoasejlet - Granada

B1. Liberty Uganda - Women Of Sierra Leone

B2. Olympisk Løft -  Ceto Og Hendes Døtre

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Across History, the Lovers Aligned

Compilation released in 2015 on Danish 'nu-industrial' label Janushoved. Features a familiar roster and blend of grainy industrial, ambient and techno while still delivering fresh, engaging music that doesn't fall victim to being derivative or predictable. Edition of two hundred cassettes.

A1. Mikkel V. Dunkerley - Intro (Trails Of Transhistorical Love)

A2. Ballista - Dress Drawn Aside To Reveal A Childhood Scar

A3. Genoasejlet - Seksten Stjerner, En For Hvert Et Minde

A4. Lace & Collar - For Hussein Chalayan

A5. Varg & Vanity Productions - The Colour Of Precious Stones

A6. Mischa Pavlovski - Liberosis

A7. P.E. - Arethusa

B1. Lucia - Naar Skytten Fælder Solens Panther

B2. Olympisk Løft - Jael Og Sisera

B3. Internazionale - The Men Hid In The Grass Of The Apennines

B4. Rosen & Spyddet - Istanbul (Til Min Lilje)

B5. Liberty Uganda - Swart Sterre

B6. Mikkel V. Dunkerley - Outro (Lovers Of Tomorrow)

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Jean-Baptiste Lully - Armide

"'If you have heard 'Armide' performed well, you may flatter yourself on having heard the most beautiful piece of music to have been written in the past fifteen or sixteen centuries: of that I am most confident. [...] For myself, I believe I have seen a performance of 'Armide' that entitles me to put that work above everything so many centuries have produced. The memory of that night has always remained with me, and I cherish it.' 

 

"Thus enthused a young Rouen magistrate and opera-lover, Jean-Laurent Lecerf de La Viéville, over the last of the tragedies en musique produced by Quinault and Lully. Since Lecerf was only twelve years old in 1686, when the work was first performed, he must have attended one of the many revivals in Paris, probably in 1697 or during the 1703-04 season. For one who greatly appreciated Tancrède, composed by a man of his own generation, Campra, the older 'Armide' that made such a strong impression on him seemed the finest example of 'total theatre,' worthy of the plays of Euripides or Sophocles. In his 'Comparaison de la musique italienne et de la musique francaise,' published in 1706, he lauded the strength of both the libretto and the music. 'Do you know anything in all our operas more universally captivating and moving than the two pieces sung by Armide?' he wrote with reference to the two grand arias ('Enfin it est en ma puissance,' Act II, Scene V, and 'Renaud, Ciel, ô mortelle peine,' Act V, Scene IV). 

"And he was not alone in being moved by those later performances: 'When Armide is about to stab Renaud in the final scene of Act II,' he reported, 'I have seen the whole audience, all eyes and ears, frozen with fear, not daring to breathe, until the air for the violin at the end of the scene finally releases the tension and allows them to breathe again, and a hum of joy and admiration is heard. [...] This unanimous reaction showed that the scene was indeed amazing.'

 
"For Lecerf, everything about 'Armide,' 'the ladies' opera,' was admirable, 'supremely beautiful.' The music was 'simple. free and easy, and consistent,' with Lully 'skilfully bringing out the meaning [of every word] in the recitative.' Everything amazed him: the violin accompaniment, the exclamations, the 'vivid vocal expression,' the orchestra, the dances, and the choruses, 'more substantial than anywhere else in Europe.' Even the soloists found favour in his eyes, although most of them were past their prime. As Armide, Marie ('Marthe') Le Rochois met with great success. Louis Gaulard Dumesny, known as Dumesnil, took the part of Renaud, and 'fortunately he was sober!'

 
"By fifteen years after its creation, 'Armide' had thus become a model, a myth, the perfect example of a tragedie en musique. The work appears to have fascinated audiences from the start. Henry Baud de Sainte-Frique, a gentleman of Languedoc, a very distinguished member of the court, and a fine dancer who had taken part at Versailles in 'Le Triomphe de l'Amour' in 1681 and 'Le Carrousel des Galants Maures' in June 1685, was amazed by the attendance a week after the premier, 'there was such a large crowd that no more could enter at all. More than a hundred people were on the stage itself [...]. All the loges held ten people each, when they were already uncomfortably full with seven.' And the work continued to be an unfailing success. The enchantment scenes delighted the Siamese ambassadors when they attended the opera in January 1687. The Mercure of 1724 published an article with a detailed description of the work, including whole pages from Lecerf de La Viéville's 'Comparaison.' Quinault's heroine 'draws sighs and tears,' and Renaud's heroism in 'abandoning the princess of Damascus, despite the charms and pleasures of her company' it found admirable. Some fifteen years later Louis Racine compared 'Armide' to his father's 'Phèdre' and to Moliere's 'Le Misanthrope.' The work made such an impression that Philippe II, Duke of Orleans. who had studied with Charpentier, composed a 'Suite d'Armide, ou Jérusalem délivrée' in 1704, and Henry Desmarest wrote an opera, 'Renaud ou Ia suite d'Armide,' that was performed in 1722 as part of the celebrations for the arrival in Paris of the Infanta-Queen (Louis XV's little fiancée, Mariana Victoria of Spain). 

"Only Jean-Jacques Rousseau was critical of the masterpiece. He particularly objected to Armide's aborted vengeance with the celebrated monologue 'Enfin it est en ma puissance.' In his 'Lettre sur Ia musique française' (1753) he wrote: 'To sum up my sentiment [...] in a few words, I say that if one looks upon it as singing, neither metre, nor character, nor melody is found in it; if one wishes to see it as recitative, it has neither naturalness nor expressiveness!' He found 'the ornaments of song even more ridiculous in such a situation than they usually are in French music' and 'its modulation is regular, but puerile for the same reason, pedantic. without power, without perceptible feeling.' Rameau, then at the height of his fame, responded with a counter-examination in the 1754 'Observations sur notre instinct pour la musique, et sur son principe,' aiming 'to render to Lully the justice owed to him' after Rousseau's 'ill-founded' criticism. He strongly defended the monologue as 'a masterpiece,' a true demonstration of artistry; he praised Lully's skill, his ability to 'think in grand terms' ('Lully pensait en grand'), and dismissed Rousseau's contradictions and false interpretations. Many years later, in a letter of January 1787 addressed to Friedrich Melchior. Baron von Grimm, Diderot described the libretto of 'Armide' as Quinault's masterpiece ('le chef-d'œuvre de ce poète lyrique').'Everything the lovers say radiates the intoxication and frenzy of their happiness'; and he admires Renaud for the love that he 'sacrifices only to glory'. Finally, the libretto inspired Gluck to compose his own version of it in 1777.
 

"The opera was immediately a huge success, but its genesis came in what was overall a very grim year for Lully. 1685 had begun very well with the first performance in January of a new tragédie en musique in collaboration with Quinault, 'Roland', which had been very well received. Several other works by the composer were premiered: 'Quare fremuerunt', which was to serve as a model of the grand motet for the four recently appointed sous-maitres of the royal chapel; 'L'Idylle stir la paix', to a text by Jean Racine, given at Sceaux; the opera-ballet 'Le Temple de la Paix', performed in October during the court's residence at Fontainebleau (the Mercure praised its dialogues as 'beautiful beyond anything we have seen of such a nature'). There was also a great deal of instrumental music, with the already-mentioned 'Carrousel des Galants Maures' at Versailles and sumptuous entertainments at Marly. However, times had changed. 'Entertainments at Versailles have given way to devotion,' reported the Dutch gazettes. Under the influence of Madame de Maintenon, the king henceforth forsook entertainments, went daily to Saint-Cyr and took an interest in religious doctrine. That was the time of the persecution of the Huguenots, the passing of the decree known as the Code Noir, expeditions against the Barbary States, tensions with the Holy Roman Empire, soon further complicated by the death of Charles II, Elector Palatine, and finally, in October, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Pleasures were clearly no longer on the king's agenda. He declined the Duke of Mazarin's invitation to Rueil for the inauguration of an equestrian statue portraying him 'in French costume', for example, and his doing so at the last moment, after everything had been lavishly prepared to receive him, meant that the divertissements composed specially for the occasion by Charpentier and Brossard were never performed. 

"In that rather bleak context. Lully was caught at the beginning of the year in a scandalous affair with one of the king's young 'music pages'. It became the talk of Versailles and provided a subject for street ballads of the day. Abbe Bourdaloue preached a sermon at Versailles about the dangers to youth of vice. The young castrato Atto Melani related all this to his patron, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The page in question was packed off to a monastery, and Lully was informed that he could no longer count on the king's protection. Then in the spring another scandal broke, this time at the Académie royale de musique (the Opera), where, following Lully's decision to cut off the pensions to veterans, four of the institution's finest and most eminent singers walked out, to the great displeasure of the opera-going public. Once again, the king had to step in and overrule the composer. To add further to Lully's worries, in the autumn of that year the Theatine monastery opposite the Louvre began to present regular concerts for paying audiences 'in the manner of the Roman oratories', and these, presenting as they did the most excellent singers as well as fine musicians under the maitre de musique Paolo Lorenzani (whose music was very much to the liking of Louis XIV), soon became exceedingly popular. Perceiving a threat to his monopoly, Lully attempted to put a stop to those church performances of what he deemed to be 'veritable operas'. But his efforts were in vain: the king refused to call the devotional concerts into question (La Gorce). Finally, at the end of the year (according to Lully's letter of dedication to the king, which appeared in the printed score, published shortly after the first performance of 'Armide') the composer suddenly fell dangerously ill, suffering 'the most violent pains [he had] ever endured', but he nevertheless managed to complete the work on time. Lully was no doubt hoping to obtain the king's sympathy. For Louis XIV had been unable to attend the performances because of his own great discomfort: he was about to undergo a complex and very delicate operation to treat an anal fistula.

 
"The earliest documents that mention 'Armide' date from May 1685, when Philippe de Courcillon, Marquis de Dangeau, recounts in his memoirs Quinault's meeting with Louis XIV in the apartments of Madame de Montespan. As usual, the poet took with him three different plots for the king to choose from. In the first one, set in fourth-century Gaul at the time of the Roman emperor Constantius, the great general Sylvanus was valiantly saved by Malaric, king of the Franks, from a conspiracy to discredit him. The second project. based on Ovid ('Metamorphoses'), told of the love between Cephalus and Procris and the jealousy of Aurora, goddess of the dawn (a subject that was to be taken up a few years later by Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre). Finally, borrowed from Torquato Tasso's 'Gerusalemme liberata', there was the tale of Armide, who for all her magic powers is unable to prevent Renaud, after an infatuation with pleasure and diversion, from obeying the call of duty and returning to Godefroy's camp to fulfil his military and religious obligations. Louis loved tales of chivalry and he chose the latter, thus marking a new direction in theatrical entertainments at Versailles: a move away from the image of the king as Apollo and towards the 'new Charlemagne'. Had he heard read to him in his youth 'Les Amours d'Armide', a delightful romance by Pierre Joulet, or the more recent 'Avantures de Renaud et d'Armide' by Antoine Gombaud, Chevalier de Mere? Anyway, the character of the beautiful, passionate princess appealed to him, as did the mysterious East (Damascus), the Crusades, the scenes of enchantment promised by Quinault and, above all, the presence of Renaud, a prince with whom he could identify. Furthermore, the plot held many opportunities for Lully to provide spectacular divertissements: the peoples of Damascus celebrating Armide's victory; the demons transformed into flying zephyrs; Renaud's sleep scene, with more demons in the guise of nymphs and shepherds; visions of the underworld; Hate and the Furies; then Ubalde and the Danish knight, more demons in disguise, caves and wild beasts, abysses and terrifying monsters... not forgetting the entertainments provided by the Pleasures and the 'fortunate lovers'.

 
"The libretto was not completed until the end of 1685, when Quinault submitted it for reading to the Dauphin and Dauphine. However, Lully had worked on the music while 'Le Temple de la paix' was in performance. 'Armide' was to have been given at Versailles, but such was the success of 'Le Temple de Ia paix' that it received additional performances in December 1685 and January 1686, which delayed the opening of the 'Ballet de la jeunesse' (Dancourt and Lalande) until 28 January. Then that in turn ran until 25 February, by which time it was in alternation with Henry Desmarest's opera 'Endymion'. As the Mercure mentioned: since the delay prevented 'Armide' from being performed at court, it was finally presented in Paris at the Théâtre Royal de Musique (Lully's public theatre in the Palais-Royal) on 15 February 1686. 

"'Armide' was included among the 'illustrious women' of Madeleine de Scudery: 'If we consider [Armide] from one angle, she is an Enchantress, she is artful; she is a cruel person; she is a young woman who has renounced the modesty of her sex; and in short, if we wished to paint her portrait thus, it would most certainly be a rather unattractive one: but it is also true that it would not be a very good likeness. If, on the other hand, we see her as a Princess, who has acted only as a Woman Warrior and a Lover, all her charms will be innocent; all her artifices will bring her glory; her cruelty will be fair: her modesty spotless, and our portrait will no doubt be a good likeness, and (unless I am mistaken) it will not be at all unpleasant.'" (Jean Duron. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Les Talens Lyriques, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Christophe Rousset, Marie-Adeline Henry, Antonio Figueroa, Judith van Wanroij, Mari-Claude Chappuis, Marc Mauillon, Douglas Williams, Cyril Auvity, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Etienne Bazola

1.1. Prologue: Ouverture

1.2. Prologue: 'Tout Doit Céder Dans L'univers'

1.3. Prologue: 'D'une Égale Tendresse'

1.4. Prologue: Entrée

1.5. Prologue: Menuet

1.6. Prologue: Gavotte

1.7. Prologue: 'Suivons Notre Héros, Que Rien Ne Nous Sépare'

1.8. Prologue: Entrée

1.9. Prologue: Menuet

1.10. Prologue: 'Que Dans Le Temple De Mémoire'

1.11. Prologue: Ouverture (Reprise)

1.12. Acte I, Scène I: 'Dans Un Jour De Triomphe, Au Milieu Des Plaisirs'

1.13. Acte I, Scène I: 'Je Ne Triomphe Pas Du Plus Vaillant De Tous'

1.14. Acte I, Scène II: 'Armide, Que Le Sang Qui M'unit Avec Vous'

1.15. Acte I, Scène III: Entrée

1.16. Acte I, Scène III: 'Armide Est Encore Plus Aimable'

1.17. Acte I, Scène III: 'Suivons Armide Et Chantons Sa Victoire'/'Que La Douceur D'un Triomphe Est Extrême'

1.18. Acte I, Scène IV: 'Ô Ciel! Ô Disgrâce Cruelle!'

1.19. Acte I, Scène IV: 'Poursuivons Jusqqu'au Trépas'

1.20. Acte I, Scène IV: Entracte

1.21. Acte II, Scène I: 'Invincible Héros, C'est Par Votre Courage'

1.22. Acte II, Scène II: 'Arrêtons‐nous Ici, C'est Dans Ce Lieu Fatal'

1.23. Acte II, Scène III: 'Plus J'observe Ces Lieux, Et Plus Je Les Admire'

1.24. Acte II, Scène IV: 'Au Temps Heureux Où L'on Sait Plaire'

1.25. Acte II, Scène IV: 'Ah! Quelle Erreur! Quelle Folie!'

1.26. Acte II, Scène IV: Premier Air

1.27. Acte II, Scène IV: Second Air

1.28. Acte II, Scène IV: 'On S'étonnerait Moins Que La Saison Nouvelle'

1.29. Acte II, Scène IV: 'Ah! Quelle Erreur! Quelle Folie!'

1.30. Acte II, Scène V: 'Enfin Il Est En Ma Puissance'

1.31. Acte II, Scène V: Entr'acte

2.1. Acte III, Scène I: 'Ah! Si La Liberté Me Doit Être Ravie'

2.2. Acte III, Scène II: 'Que Ne Peut Point Votre Art?'

2.3. Acte III, Scène III: 'Venez, Venez, Haine Implacable'

2.4. Acte III, Scène IV: 'Je Réponds À Tes Vœux, Ta Voix S'est Fait Entendre'

2.5. Acte III, Scène IV: Entrée

2.6. Acte III, Scène IV: 'Amour, Sors Pour Jamais, Sors D'un Cœur Qui Te Chasse'

2.7. Acte III, Scène IV: Air

2.8. Acte III, Scène IV: 'Sors, Sors Du Sein D'Armide, Brise Ta Chaîne'

2.9. Acte III, Scène IV: Entr'acte

2.10. Acte IV, Scène I: 'Nous Ne Trouvons Partout Que Des Gouffres Ouverts'

2.11. Acte IV, Scène II: 'Voici La Charmante Retraite'

2.12. Acte IV, Scène II: Gavotte

2.13. Acte IV, Scène II: Canaries

2.14. Acte IV, Scène II: 'Allons, Qui Vous Retient Encore?'

2.15. Acte IV, Scène III: 'Je Tourne En Vain Les Yeux De Toutes Parts'

2.16. Acte IV, Scène IV: 'D'où Vient Que Vous Vous Détournez'

2.17. Acte IV, Scène IV: 'Que Devient L'objet Qui M'enflamme?'

2.18. Acte IV, Scène IV: Entr'acte

2.19. Acte V, Scène I: 'Armide, Voous M'allez Quitter!'

2.20. Acte V, Scène I: Passacaille

2.21. Acte V, Scène II: 'Les Plaisirs Ont Choisi Pour Asile'

2.22. Acte V, Scène II: 'Allez, Éloignez‐vous De Moi'

2.23. Acte V, Scène II: Prélude

2.24. Acte V, Scène III: 'Il Est Seul; Profitons D'un Temps Si Précieux'

2.25. Acte V, Scène IV: 'Renaud! Ciel! Ô Mortelle Peine!'

2.26. Acte V, Scène V: 'Le Perfide Renaud Me Fuit'

2.27. Acte V, Scène V: Prélude

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Torturing Nurse - All Bastards+

Chinese veteran (now active in harsh noise for around sixteen years) doing what he does best with old school non sequitir electronics, insane vocal work and wild freely improvised drums. Like being locked in a metal rubbish bin and thrown into at times an industrial scale trash compactor and at others a punk show on PCP. Released on UK experimental label Cruel Nature Records as an edition of 30 cassettes in 2015. 

A1. Sunday 22.22

A2. Ordinary World

A3. All Bastards

B1. For ZK

B2. Relentless Joy

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Jason Crumer - Featherboard!

Creaking, clicking rhythms and vocal samples of poetry being recited create an intoxicating sound collage on this 2015 cassette release from Californian Jason Crumer. Released as an edition of fifty cassettes on No Rent Records, the label Crumer co-runs.

 

A. Featherboard!
B. SK (KS)

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She Walks Crooked - Crossed Out Smile

Harsh noise wall released as a run of ten cassettes on American label Lost Light Records in 2015. Dense, unrelenting wall noise spanning two thirty minute sides.

 

A. Bending Back The Truth

B. Bottled Fixation

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Valkoinen Kohina

Murky, dark power electronics from Finland released on the Italian Urashima label in 2015, re-issued on Filth and Violence two years after. Features two Pekka Perä-Takala projects (Snuff, Sick Seed) as well as contributions from Unclean, Chloroform Rapist (probably Mikko Aspa), Silence of Vacuum and Edge of Decay.

A1. Chloroform Rapist - Untitled

A2. Edge Of Decay - Kidutettujen Mieli

A3. Silence Of Vacuum - Under Three Layers 1

A4. Silence Of Vacuum - Under Three Layers 2

B1. Sick Seed - Meidän Herramme

B2. Snuff - Anonymous

B3. Unclean - Filth Pig

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The New Blockaders - Nonchalant Acts of Artistic Nihilism

Two live German performances from 2012 (Berlin) and Dresden (2014). Both feature excellent and diverse noise performances with a very spirited crowd. Released as an edition of 300 CDs in 2015 on Austrian label Klanggalerie.

1. NK (Berlin 2012)

2. Club Puschkin (Dresden 2014)

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Henry Purcell - Twelve Sonatas of Three Parts

"On 28 May 1683, the 24-year-old Henry Purcell proudly announced in the London Gazette that his Sonnata's of Parts were 'compleatly finished' and would be available for delivery to subscribers from June 11 from his house in St. Ann's Lane, near to Westminster Abbey. By October, 'all lovers of Musick' were invited to purchase from Playford and Carr, at their premises at the Temple, Fleet Street, 'the new Musical Compositions called Sonata's lately published by Mr Henry Purcell'. From variations between surviving sets (perhaps made between subscription and public sale), it would appear that a second impression was created: changes were made to the preface, and a few corrections too were incorporated.

"Purcell clearly put a great deal of effort into the publication. Rather than choosing the cheaper system of moveable type, he had his publication engraved by Thomas Cross Junior (in one of the first recorded examples of Cross's work as an engraver). Purcell dedicated the set to Charles II, stating that the compositions were 'the immediate Results of your Majesties Royall favour, and benignity to me (which have made me what I am)'. King Charles had indeed been a good patron to Purcell, appointing him Composer-In-Ordinary for the violins in succession to Matthew Locke in 1677 (when Purcell was only eighteen), and subsequently as organist both at Westminster Abbey and at the Chapel Royal.

"At some point in the early 1680s Purcell seems to have spent a considerable amount of time producing instrumental sonatas. We know that when Purcell explored a new musical concept, he poured out works with extraordinary fecundity. He had already shown in his early sacred compositions (for instance, penning masterworks such as 'My beloved spoke' and 'Blow up the trumpet' while he was still a teenager) that he possessed astonishing melodic and harmonic inventiveness, as well as highly-developed technical facilities. Now it seems that he additionally turned these remarkable skills towards instrumental compositions. Comparing the 'Twelve Sonatas of Three Parts', published in 1683, with the 'Ten Sonatas In Four Parts' (published by Purcell's widow, Frances, in 1697), we can be fairly certain on stylistic grounds that all these sonatas seem to have been written at around the same time. The summer recess of the court to Newmarket, when musical duties for the royal musicians were suspended, could have provided a perfect few months of peace and quiet for the youthful Purcell to pour out these new works.

"A further pointer towards the possible period of composition comes in the preface to the 1683 set, where Purcell states that the works would have been 'in the whole world much Sooner, but that he has now thought fit to cause the whole Thorough Bass to be Engraven, which was a thing quite besides his first Resolution'. The catalyst for that revision, resulting in the production of a separate basso continuo part, may have been the publication, in Rome in 1681 (and presumably arriving in Britain shortly afterwards), of Corelli's first set of 'Sonata da chiesa', which contained variations between the instrumental bass line and the continuo line. So perhaps Purcell had written his own sonatas before 1681, electing then to revise them in the light of these latest revelations from Italy.

"The addition of that semi-independent fourth part, which Purcell states is suited 'To the Organ or Harpsechord', creates a major shift in the construction and sound of the sonatas. The level of decoration in the bass viol comes close to that of the two violin parts, whereas the continuo line is slower moving, instead enhancing and strengthening the harmonic basis of the ensemble (especially when played on the organ, as seems more fitting in the majority of the sonatas). Purcell's sonatas are no modernised version of the old viol fantasia, typified by the delicious compositions of his mentor, Matthew Locke, the works of John Jenkins or the suites of William Lawes. With strengthened harmonic language that is not Just wonderfully individual, but highly developed in its use of dissonance and angularity, coupled with melodic lines that cover all possibilities from plangent to daringly pointed, here is the new, English Sonata.

"Purcell's fluent melodic and harmonic invention is underpinned by a highly skilled grasp of compositional technique, which had been thoroughly learned from study of the works of three lines of English composers. In the composer's Fitzwilliam autograph (MS 88) we can see Purcell's copies of music by the great English polyphonists, Orlando Gibbons, William Byrd, Thomas Tallis and William Mundy. Alongside his studies of the old masters, he also experienced the remarkable compositional flowering that greeted the Restoration: old hands who had survived the interregnum, such as Matthew Locke (1621/2-77), Orlando's son Christopher Gibbons (1615-76) and John Jenkins (1592-1678). Their wisdom was passed, live, onto the new generation, led by Pelham Humfrey (1647-74) and John Blow (1649-1708). For Purcell, this fusion of the music of three generations of fine English composers, the continuing musical buzz that had arisen with the return of the monarchy, the excitement brought with each successive arrival of the latest works from France and Italy, and the genuine love of music that was fostered and encouraged by King Charles, proved to be a potent basis for an extraordinary, highly individual musical style.

"That the sonatas were quite a new concept to his audience is made clear by Purcell's guidance in his preface 'To the Reader'. Purcell writes that his works are 'a just imitation of the most fam'd Italian Masters', and that he wishes to bring 'the seriousness and gravity of that sort of Musick into vogue'. He cautions the potential buyer that his works are 'bold and daring', whilst professing his 'unskilfulness in the Italian Language' (noting that this is due to 'the unhappiness of his Education, which cannot justly be accounted his fault'), and recommends to English musicians 'the power of the Italian Notes' and the 'elegancy of their Compositions'. Finally he gives useful instructions about tempi: Adagio and Grave are 'a very slow movement' [speed], Presto Largo, Poco Largo or Largo are 'a middle movement' and Allegro and Vlvace are 'a very brisk, swift, or fast movement'. That Purcell needs to instruct in Italian tempi suggests that at least some English musicians would have been unfamiliar with such foreign terms." (Robert King. From the liner notes.)

Performers: The King's Consort

1. Sonata 1 In G Minor, Z. 790: (Grave) - Vivace - Adagio

2. Sonata 1 In G Minor, Z790: Presto - Largo

3. Sonata 2 In B Flat Major, Z791: Andante - Largo - Presto

4. Sonata 2 In B Flat Major, Z791: Adagio - Vivace - Allegro - [Grave]

5. Sonata 3 In D Minor, Z792: (Grave) - Adagio - Canzona - Adagio

6. Sonata 3 In D Minor, Z792: Poco Largo - Allegro

7. Sonata 4 In F Major, Z793: [Largo] - Canzona

8. Sonata 4 In F Major, Z793: Poco Largo - Allegro - [Largo]

9. Sonata 5 In A Minor, Z794: [Largo] - Adagio

10. Sonata 5 In A Minor, Z794: Largo - Grave - Canzona - Adagio

11. Sonata 6 In C Major, Z795: (Grave)

12. Sonata 6 In C Major, Z795: Canzona - Largo - Allegro

13. Sonata 7 In E Minor, Z796: [Grave] - Canzona

14. Sonata 7 In E Minor, Z796: Largo - Grave - Vivace - Adagio

15. Sonata 8 In G Major, Z797: [Largo] - Poco Largo - Allegro

16. Sonata 8 In G Major, Z797: Grave - Vivace

17. Sonata 9 In C Minor, Z798: [Grave] - Largo

18. Sonata 9 In C Minor, Z798: Canzona - Adagio - Allegro

19. Sonata 10 In A Major, Z799: [Allegro] - Largo

20. Sonata 10 In A Major, Z799: Grave - Presto

21. Sonata 11 In F Minor, Z800: [Grave] - Canzona

22. Sonata 11 In F Minor, Z800: Adagio - Largo

23. Sonata 12 In D Major, Z801: Adagio - Canzona - Poco Largo

24. Sonata 12 In D Major, Z801: Grave - Presto - Allegro - Adagio

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Franz Schubert - Piano Trios, Op. 99 & 100

"'One glance at Schubert's trio, and the miserable hustle and bustle of human existence vanishes, the world takes on fresh lustre', wrote an enthusiastic Robert Schumann in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik of 1836, at the end of a long 'critical survey' of various newly published compositions for piano trio. In fact, Franz Schubert's 'Trio in B-flat major, D. 898' had only just been published by Anton Diabelli as 'op. 99', that is, eight years after the composer's death. His other great trio, the 'E-flat major, D. 929' (op. 100), by contrast, had already been printed by the Leipzig firm of Probst during the composer's lifetime – although it is not quite certain whether Schubert had seen a copy of it before he died on 19 November 1828.

"Our knowledge of the genesis of and stimulus for the two works is as disparate as this publication history. With the E-flat Trio we are on firm ground – it was begun in November 1827 and premiered as early as 26 December, when it 'was received with extraordinary applause at my concert in a packed hall', according to Schubert's account to the publisher Schott. About the B-flat major Trio, on the other hand, there is only speculation. This too is certainly a mature work and may have been the earlier of the two (as is suggested by the opus number, which may well stem from Schubert himself ); but the situation is unclear and has given rise to conflicting theories. One thing, however, is incontrovertible: both trios are among the greatest works of the 'late' Schubert.

"Although it is always slightly overshadowed by its more dramatic brother, the 'Trio in B-flat, op. 99' is a work with a beauty all its own. As it happens, the tone of both trios – very unlike that of Schubert's late chamber music for strings – always remains engaging; the music historian Alfred Einstein (a cousin of the physicist) pointed out that they were, 'after the 'Trout' Quintet, the two works in which Schubert achieved the purest blend of the 'sociable' spirit with that of true chamber music'. The 'Trio in B-flat' is characterised by broad, sweeping melodies over what might be called 'organic' pulsating rhythms, as at the very beginning when the exuberant first theme, in spite of its expansive nature, is immediately repeated. After just two bars of transition – a solitary a'' on the cello – the second subject follows on directly: one of Schubert's most beautiful inspirations, which suddenly gives a conventional opening formula a poignant harmonic twist. If Schubert was stimulated here by the 'Romantic' Beethoven of the 'Archduke' Trio, he radicalised the older composer's procedures.

"Yet the piece is not all unproblematic euphony. Einstein drew attention to the similarities of the first movement to the song 'Des Sängers Habe' ('The minstrel's possessions'), D. 832, which begins:

Schlagt mein ganzes Glück in Splitter,
Nehmt mir alle Habe gleich,
Lasset mir nur meine Zither,
Und ich bleibe froh und reich!

And one of the characteristic piano figurations that makes the movement flow so smoothly is indeed anticipated in this song written in 1825.

"The 'Andante un poco mosso' is an affecting example of Schubert's 'organic counterpoint'. While the opening cello melody initially has a very simple chordal accompaniment, its recurrences are increasingly decorated with freely invented countermelodies and accompanying voices, which further heighten the melodic intensity: 'a blissful dream, reflecting the ebb and flow of deeply human feelings' (Schumann).

"More low-key, but no less expressive is the central part of the movement, which begins in C minor. The 'Scherzo', with its waltz-like middle section, in which the 'organic counterpoint' blossoms between the strings in similar, albeit more moderate fashion, and more especially the finale are shining examples of Schubert's technique of 'rhythmic-motivic working', in which a four-bar macro-rhythm (long - long - short, short - long) dominates the music over long stretches (and is already anticipated in the accentuation of the rondo theme itself, which plays a lesser role). Here it is not themes or melodies that occupy the foreground, but the actual pulse of the music, an eminently reliable companion, since it never seems to end. 'May his surviving oeuvre be a precious heritage for us!', Schumann concluded his review. 'However numerous and beautiful the progeny of Father Time may be, he will not soon give us a second Schubert.'

"Around the same time as this trio, Schubert also wrote an Adagio for the same forces that poses a conundrum. Was it the discarded first draft of a slow movement for the Trio in B-flat? Or a sketch for a planned 'continuation'? It seems hardly credible that Schubert would have composed such a large-scale movement simply as a freestanding entity. What is certain, in any case, is that when the publisher Anton Diabelli printed the piece in 1846 (long after Schubert's death), he arbitrarily added the title 'Notturno'. This name was probably inspired by the harp-like chords in the piano at the beginning, over which the violin and cello then enter with a slowly swaying, hymn-like melody in thirds. As so often with Schubert, this one-bar motion module (harp music in the piano, semiquaver anacrusis in the strings), once established, is maintained over long stretches, with strings and piano subtly exchanging roles – the last bar of the strings is already the first bar of the reprise of the melody, which is in fact to be entrusted to the piano, and the latter in turn anticipates the first bar of the brief coda, which moves into A-flat minor. Entirely different from this is the contrasting section, which changes not only key (E major) but even time signature (3/4), and strikes up an almost triumphal ascending melody over rushing triplets – as if the struggle were already over. That this is not the case is shown by the very subdued lead-back to the main section, which is decorated on its repetition with dreamy garlands in the high register. Finally – after the return of the contrasting section, now in C major – bright trills in the piano, twittering like birds, sound above the string melody in a short coda.

"Schubert's second great piano trio (op. 100) also adopts a more ingratiating, sociable tone than others among his 'late' works. The first movement is pert, even playful; a recurring turn-like figure developed from the swashbuckling main theme holds its diverse episodes together, but takes on brooding traits in the (pensively extended) closing group and even tends towards grimness in the development. The sad and tender second theme, which begins by modulating erratically into the third-related key of B minor and ends in E-flat major, also demonstrates in its way that in late Schubert there is always but a single step from sociability to solitude.

"The heart of this work, however – preceding the 'Scherzando', whose playfully light tone almost conceals the fact that its main theme is composed as a strict canon between piano and violin – is the slow movement, 'Andante con moto'. This has the paradoxical character of a C minor funeral march, but one that leaves an impression not of statesmanlike solemnity, but of deeply intimate melancholy (Schumann: 'a sigh that rises to shrieking anguish'); even the contrasting major episode seems more nostalgic than liberating.

"This movement is something of a special case. According to Leopold von Sonnleithner, writing thirty years later, a Swedish tenor named Isak Albert Berg gave 'exquisitely lovely' performances of Swedish folksongs while staying in Vienna in the winter of 1827/28. Sonnleithner adds that Schubert was so entranced by this that he used 'the most delightful of them as themes in the E-flat Trio'. This remark long remained puzzling, because scholars searched in vain for Schubertian themes in the folklore of Sweden. Only in 1978 was a manuscript of Swedish songs discovered in a Viennese library that probably contains copies of the repertory sung by Berg – doubtless less those elusive Swedish 'folksongs' than his own compositions 'in folk style'. One of them, 'Se solen sjunker' ('See, the sun sinks'), served as a stimulus for the bewitchingly beautiful theme of the slow movement; a stimulus, no more. The melody of the fine song initially shows little resemblance to Schubert's movement: the most noticeable borrowing is the repeated octave drop on the word 'Farväl' ('Farewell') and the subsequent concluding phrase. The compelling elegiac opening is wholly Schubertian. No one else would have been capable of deriving such a movement from this song.

We can get a precise idea of the genesis of the trio, and this movement in particular, because the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna preserves in its archives a draft score of the first three movements that comes from the estate of Johannes Brahms. It shows both great assurance in the overall design and some fascinating details that deviate from the final version. For example, the second group of the first movement was originally pitched a fifth higher; the 'Scherzando' began without an upbeat; and in the slow movement, before the entry of the melody in the cello, there were initially not two, but three bars in the piano drumming out the march-like rhythm. But in the 'Andante con moto' the differences are even more numerous and striking. The movement seems harsher, more angular, more troubled; many lyrical counterpoints and smooth transitions are absent, and in one passage the violin intones, over a surging chromatic run in the piano, a motif that unmistakably recalls the 'Fate' motto from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Was this movement intended as a funeral march for Beethoven himself, who had died on 26 March 1827, and to whom the music could in this way wordlessly bid 'Farväl'? If so, then Schubert subsequently obscured this reference, because along with many other changes he deleted the 'quotation' in the final version.

Schubert underlined the exceptional status of this movement by – uniquely in his entire instrumental output – quoting it at length in the playful finale, not as a foreign body, but integrated into its structure. In a passage of the first version, the funeral march theme was even combined in counterpoint with the repeated quavers of the finale's cheerful second theme – a not entirely convincing idea that he struck out of the final version. At the end, as if at the last minute, the gloomy march brightens up and emerges in the major key (a dramaturgical device frequently used by Beethoven but seldom by Schubert): Death and Transfiguration, as it were. It may be just a coincidence that this piece was premiered on the actual first anniversary of Beethoven’s death, in the only concert Schubert ever organised himself – but it is a highly symbolic one." (Wolfgang Fuhrman. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Andreas Staier, Daniel Sepec, Roel Dieltiens

1.1. Piano Trio In B-Flat Major, D. 898 Op. 99: I. Allegro Moderato
1.2. Piano Trio In B-Flat Major, D. 898 Op. 99: II. Andante Un Poco Mosso
1.3. Piano Trio In B-Flat Major, D. 898 Op. 99: III. Scherzo - Allegro
1.4. Piano Trio In B-Flat Major, D. 898 Op. 99: IV. Rondo - Allegro Vivace
1.5. Nocturne In E-Flat Major, D. 897 Op. 148: Adagio

2.1. Piano Trio In E-Flat Major, D. 929 Op. 100: I. Allegro
2.2. Piano Trio In E-Flat Major, D. 929 Op. 100: II. Andante Con Moto
2.3. Piano Trio In E-Flat Major, D. 929 Op. 100: III. Scherzando. Allegro Moderato
2.4. Piano Trio In E-Flat Major, D. 929 Op. 100: IV. Allegro Moderato

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