Release Date: 02 January 2000
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 636943417324
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: DVORAK
Description
ANTONIN DVORAK (1841-1904): Serenade for WindLEOS JANACEK (1854-1928): MladiGEORGE ENESCU (1811-1955): Dixtuor Familiar as much of the music of Antonin Dvotak is inboth the concert hall and on recordings, the Wind Serenade is one of hismore unjustly neglected works on disc, falling in the shadow as it does of themuch better known Serenade for Strings. Despite this, it is one of Dvotak'ssunniest and most delightful compositions. Born in the Bohemian part of the Habsburg Empire in 1841,Dvotak was to become one of the great nationalist composers of the Czech landsin the nineteenth century, the years when his compatriots were trying toestablish their own national identity away from the dominant Germanic school ofcomposition, His music is filled with folk themes, joyful celebrations of hishomeland and sometimes sad longing for that mixture of emotions which seems torepresent theSlavonic spirit of his people, As well as that, there is oftenan elegance derived from the influence of Mozart and Schubert, very apparent inthe Serenade. Dvotak's life was mainly a fairly contented existencedespite the upheavals of nineteenth century history taking place around him.Nowadays he is chiefly remembered internationally for his later symphonies andchamber works and the valedictory Cello Concerto which he composed,together with the famous New World Symphony and his fairy-taleopera Rusalka, towards the end of his life. The Wind Serenade dates from 1878, just two years beforehis sunny Sixth Symphony with which it shares many of its qualities. Thework opens with a march suggesting all the pomp of the local village bands thatDvotak knew so well. This is followed by a Minuetto, a title thatbetrays the homage to the rococo wind serenade and to Mozart, although thepiece owes as much to a triple time Bohemian folk-dance as it does to theclassical court dance A flowing Andante makes up the third movementbefore the Allegro molto finale rounds off the work with a return to theopening theme. The Romanian composer George Enescu was very differentfrom Dvorak. The quintessentially Czech nature of Dvorak's music has no realparallels here;Enescu was more of an internationalist and spent most ofhis time as a performer rather than a composer, beconting a well known Bachspecialist both as a conductor and as an acclaimed violinist. His life-span of nearly75 years produced only 32 opus-numbered works and a handful of juvenilia. Bornin 1881 in the Romanian town of Liveni Vima, he spent much of his time abroadand died in Paris in 1955. Apart from his own recordings as conductor and soloist,his most important works are his symphonies and the opera Oedipe.Although his output is small, he is still considered to be the founder ofmodern Romanian music. If Dvorak's Serenade reflects the elegance of the rococogenre, then it is easy to see the influence of Bach in Enescu's Dixtuor.The three movements are scored for ten wind instruments as is the Dvorak butthere is
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Kodaly Quartet
Johanneson/Reykjavik Quintet
Trinity Ch:Rebel Baroque Orc
