SKU: HL.48025367

UPC: 196288194286.

Simon Laks (1901-1983), who moved from Warsaw to Paris in 1926 at the age of 25, belonged to the large group of composers from Central and Eastern European countries who went down in 20th-century music history as the “École de Paris”. Slavic temperament amalgamated in their music with French esprit, the folklore of their native countries combined with the stylistic elements of neoclassicism and jazz typical of the time. As a member of the “Association of Young Polish Musicians”, Laks quickly made his way into French musical life. However, his career was ended with the beginning of World War 2 due to the collaboration of the Vichy government with Nazi Germany. Internment in 1941 was followed by deportation to Auschwitz in 1942. Laks survived the Shoah as a member and later leader of a camp band in Birkenau, which he testified to in his moving book Music in Auschwitz. After the traumatic experiences, Laks did not return to regular compositional activity until the 1960s, producing an opera, songs, and chamber music works, some of which were awarded important composition prizes. At the peak of this optimistic creative phase, he composed incidental music for Peretz Hirschbein's famous Yiddish comedy Dem Schmids Techter (The Blacksmith's Daughters), which premiered in New York in 1918, for a new production of the play at the Théâtre de'l’Entrepôt in Paris. Along with Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes and Shostakovich's cycle From Yiddish (Jewish) Folk Poetry, it is one of the most significant 20th-century explorations of art music with Jewish folklore – homage to a culture irreparably destroyed. From the original score, Holger Groschopp compiled two suites, for violoncello and piano and piano solo, that capture the essence of Lak's enchanting drama music. The premiere recording of the suites with Holger Groschopp and Adele Bitter was awarded the Opus Klassik 2023 in the category Editorial Achievement of the Year.

SKU: HL.48186482

Reynaldo Hahn: Works for cello and piano [AL 30 749] For quite some time, posterity remembered Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) for just a handful of songs and the operetta Ciboulette, overlooking the incredible diversity of a catalogue as eclectic as it is appealing. Yet his chamber music contains many little-known treasures: thus, cellist Steven Isserlis, in his preface, hastens to hail the first modern edition of these two scores, which he regularly plays in recital, so much does their beauty enchant the audience. Published in 1911, the Two Improvisations on Irish Airs for cello and piano turn out to be the transcription of his first and third Preludes for piano four hands (1894). These folk themes come from the collection Songs of Old Ireland, published 12 years earlier by Charles Villiers Stanford: gracefully and tenderly, The Little Red Lark unfurls a melancholic tune of which the regular foundation respects the breadth of phrase typical of folk songs; in The Willow-Tree, the lover begs his beloved in vain to take him in her arms one last time before he lies down, lifeless, in the shade of the tree. Beyond this sensitive exploration of the Irish soul, Hahn offers us a journey into the past: the Variations chantantes sur un air ancien develop a theme borrowed from Cavalli?s opera Xerse. In this aria (1660 version: Act IV, sc. 6), Ambassador Periarco dreams of moving away from court intrigues to be able to taste the pleasures ?to which the gods have destined him?. Reynaldo Hahn?s variations succeed in maintaining the sweet simplicity of this theme, as noble as it is refined. Let us wager that this publication will delight cellists and pianists alike: it contains some nuggets. Deux improvisations sur des airs irlandais (The Little Red Lark, The Willow-Tree) Variations chantantes sur un air ancien.

SKU: HL.50512437

8.5x11.5x0.058 inches.

The Elegy for Cello and Piano was composed in 1949. It was originally conceived as the slow movement of a cello sonata which was never completed. It is a beautifully moving piece in its own rights that has – quite deservedly so – become popular with cellists.