Release Date: 10 January 2005
Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313599424
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: LUTOSLAWSKI
Description
Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)Twenty Polish Christmas Carols Lacrimosa Five SongsIf one takes 1954, the year that Witold Lutos1awskicompleted his Concerto for Orchestra [Naxos8.553779] and began work on his Musique fun?¿bre[8.553202], as the mid-point in his composing, then thevocal works which follow amount to just four majorpieces: from the 1960s the Trois po?¿mes d'HenriMichaux [8.553779] and the song-cycle Paroles tissees[8.553423]; from the 1970s the 'scena' Les espaces dusommeil [8.553423]; and from the 1980s the song-cycleChantefleurs et Chantefables [8.554283]. Before 1954,however, vocal music comprises a large part of whatLutos1awski wrote; the greater part, indeed, during thedecade after 1945, when a rapid implementing ofSocialist Realist cultural policies by the Polishauthorities made it hard for the composer to pursue theline of development evinced in his earlier orchestral andchamber works.Of the dozen or so vocal collections to emerge atthis time, by far the most substantial and, from a latterdayperspective, surely the most attractive is the TwentyPolish Carols that Lutos1awski assembled in 1946. Thiswas originally arranged for solo voice and piano, andgiven its partial premi?¿re by the soprano AnielaSzleminska and pianist Jan Hoffman in Krakow duringJanuary 1947. The composer returned to the carolsalmost four decades later, transcribing seventeen ofthem for soprano, female choir and chamber orchestrafor performance in London by Marie Slorach with theLondon Sinfonietta and Chorus on 15th December 1985.The remaining carols were added some four years later,and the complete sequence heard in Edinburgh, withSusan Hamilton, together with the ScottishPhilharmonic Singers and Scottish Chamber Orchestra,on 14th December 1990. On that occasion the carolswere performed in an English translation by themusicologist and Lutos1awski authority CharlesBodman-Rae, but the present recording uses the Polishtexts originally selected by the composer.The texts and melodies of the Twenty Polish Carolswere compiled from three collections of Spiewnikkoscielny published by Father Michal Mioduszewski in1838, 1842 and 1853, as well as his Pastoralki i koledyz melodyjami of 1843 and Oskar Kolberg's Lubelskie of1883 and Leczyckie of 1889 (all six volumes beingoriginally published in Krakow). The carols can beperformed singly, as a selection, or as a complete entity,in which case they comprise a musical sequence assubstantial as it is varied.The sequence begins with Angels to the shepherdscame, in a simple yet eloquent setting for choir. Therefollows the brief Hey! We rejoice now, with its livelyevocation of bells, then soprano and choir alternate inthe gentle setting of When the Christ to us is born. Thelightly tripping rhythm of Just after midnight is typicalof Lutoslawski's folk-inspired music of this period, as isthe piquant modal harmony of God is born, once againwith an effective contrast between choral and soloentries. The pensive rhythm of Our Lovely La
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
Yang Zheng; Xinxin Song; ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; Gottfried Rabl
Spectrum Concerts Berlin
Robert Trent
