Release Date: 07 January 2005
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313248124
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: WEILL
Description
Kurt Weill (1900-1950)Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 Symphonic NocturneWhile he left as extensive and as significant an output ofstage-works as any composer active during the first halfof the twentieth century, the contribution of Kurt Weillto orchestral and instrumental genres was largelyrestricted to his formative years as a composer from1918 to 1924. Although he had attempted opera inseveral unfinished and now lost projects during andafter the first World War, Weill's earliest major worksare a String Quartet (1918), a Suite for Orchestra(1919) and a Cello Sonata (1920). Yet an urge towardsmore concrete expression was inevitable in the socialclimate of post-war Germany, with political left andright fighting for supremacy as the country movedshakily towards a republic. Something of this turmoilcan be gauged from the Symphony Weill completed in1921, but which remained unperformed - and was formany years thought lost or destroyed before beinglocated, surprisingly, in an Italian convent - until 1956.Until the summer of 1920 Weill held employmentas conductor of the opera company at L??denscheid, atwhich time he applied to join the masterclass incomposition that Ferruccio Busoni was to direct at thePrussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. The youngest ofthe applicants, Weill was accepted for a three-yearperiod, starting officially in July 1921, and it is temptingto see this 'First' Symphony as the budding composer'sstatement of intent. Around this time Weill wasapproached for incidental music to a drama by thesocialist playwright Johannes Becher; though this cameto nothing, the play's title, Workers, Peasants andSoldiers: A People's Awakening to God, might almosthave been intended for that of the symphony (aquotation from the play was seemingly inscribed on thetitle-page that Weill later discarded).Although it plays continuously, the Symphony'ssingle movement is divided into three main sections thattogether outline, but do not emulate a classicalsymphonic format. Similarly its tonal orientation avoidsa secure key-centre almost as a point of principle. Thefirst section, Allegro vivace, begins with a sequence ofgrinding, dissonant chords whose tonal ambiguity is topervade the whole work. The introduction comes to analmost prayerful pause, then a more agitated mood setsin. This allegro-type music has more expressive musicas contrast, before the opening chords re-emerge.Anxious elaboration of the ideas ensues, followed by apensive interlude. This leads into the work's centralsection, Andante religioso, the spiritual ambience ofwhich is of a distinctly ironic cast. Twice the openingchordal sequence is touched upon, lending an ominousfeeling to this otherwise inward-looking music. Anearnest chorale-like idea presages the 'ChoraleFantasy' which forms the final section. This buildsgradually, by way of a beatific passage for solo stringsand wind, to a climax where the opening chords informa would-be apotheosis. Underlying doubt has not beendispelled, however, and the wo
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
Soloists:New Budapest 4Tet
Soloists:Nancy So
Slovak State Po/Walter
