SKU: IM.3818
A favorite in the viola repertoire in Franco-Belgian romantic style, exhibiting elegance, virtuosity and sensuous finesse.
SKU: BR.EB-9441
ISBN 9790004189184. 9 x 12 inches.
The two sonatas of Johannes Brahms's op. 120 are widely hailed as crowning points of the repertoire for clarinet and piano. Moreover, in the version for viola and piano arranged by Brahms himself, they rank among the most frequently played viola works of the 19th century. They far surpass in compositional substance the relatively few original sonatas written for these instrumentations during the same period.Of the two fellow works, the Sonata No. 2 in E flat major is the more accessible. Diverging from the classical-romantic tradition, Brahms used the key of E flat major here not to express the heroic or monumental, but to obtain lyrical, chiefly restrained characterizations. The serenade-like beauty of the principal theme, which opens the sonata, has always been particularly admired. In his review of the world premiere, the renowned Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick, a friend of Brahms's, raves with the words it was as if it had fallen from the Heavens. The closing set of variations also follows with gentle gracefulness this lyrical character. However, the middle movement, with its tempestuous outer sections in E flat minor and the hymnic trio in B major provides a passionate and serious contrast, which allows the flanking idyll to unfold its beauties all the more insistently.
SKU: BR.EB-8079
ISBN 9790004174630. 9 x 12 inches.
Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer versuchte sich in seiner Kindheit auf verschiedenen Instrumenten und gelangte dann uber den Kontrabass zum Violoncello. Bereits als 16jahriger wurde er in die Hofkapelle Meiningen aufgenommen, und nachdem er seinen letzten Schliff als Virtuose von der Vortragskunst Bernhard Rombergs erhalten hatte, wurde er, 28jahrig, als sachsischer Kammermusiker an die Dresdner Hofkapelle berufen. Als Lehrer hat Dotzauer vorzugliche Cellisten herangebildet; neben Unterrichtswerken schrieb er auch diverse Werke verschiedener Gattungen. Das ,,Quartett fur Fagott und Streichtrio ist dreisatzig angelegt:, einem Allegro in B-dur folgt ein dreiteiliges Andantino in Es-dur mit einem Minore in es-moll; den Abschluss bildet ein lebhaftes Rondo in B-dur.
SKU: AP.6-401111
ISBN 9780486401119. English.
Among the master's most exalted compositions, these selections include String Quartets No. 12 in E-flat, Op. 127; No. 13 in B-flat, Op. 130; No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131; No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132; the Grosse Fuge in B-flat, Op. 133; and No. 16 in F, Op. 135.
SKU: FG.55011-906-2
ISBN 9790550119062.
Harri Wessman's Summer Variations for viola and piano (1998) exploites the rich and romantic sound of the viola and enjoys the many shades of summer days. It is dedicated to violist Yuri Gandelsman, who premiered the suite with Risto Lauriala 15th June 1998.Duration: c. 11'Movements:1. Summer theme2. What is this?3. Pizzicato4. Con sordino5. Stile concitato ostinato6. Tango7. FinaleHarri Wessman (b. 1949) is interested in all aspects of music that may be expressive, without in any way ignoring the possibilities of melody. He himself describes his harmonic method as a kind of contrapuntally treated jazz harmony. Wessman is particularly preoccupied with the ability of music to express emotions, an interest which has led him to study the so-called doctrine of the affections and the musical rhetoric of the baroque era. His Eine kleine Figurenlehre for wind quartet and piano is a playful application of a set of baroque musical figures.His output is dominated by chamber and vocal music as well as a number of concertos for various instruments such as the Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra and the Serenade for Piano and String Orchestra. During recent years pedagogic music has become a more and more central area in his output with an emphasis on creating repertoire for budding musicians, from beginners to young professionals. He has even tailored some solo and chamber works for young musicians that he personally knows: e.g. Five Trombone Pieces for Minna Kajander (1992), Five Horn Pieces for Jenni Kuronen (1993), Five Piano Etudes for Tiina Karakorpi, Five Trumpet Pieces for Alevtina Parland and Five Double Bass Pieces for Amanda Thieme. Other chamber and solo pieces include Pan and the Nymph Pitys (1979) for flute and guitar, Three Caprices for Konstantin Weitz (1994) for solo violin and Capriccio for wind ensemble (1989).
SKU: BR.SON-634
ISBN 9790004803691. 9 x 12 inches.
Sibelius's oeuvre contains four string quartets. They appeared over a long time span and in different phases of his professional career. Most of his early compositions were chamber music, and he composed his three earliest quartets (in E flat major (JS 184, 1885), A minor (JS 183, 1889), B flat major (Op. 4, 1890)) around his study years. They remained unprinted during his lifetime, and the string quartet in E flat major was also not performed in public. The quartet in D minor Voces intimae op. 56, on the other hand, was completed in London in the spring of 1909, and Sibelius wrote to his wife Aino: It became wonderful. Just the kind that raises a smile on one's face even at the moment of death. Voces intimae was published in the same year. Even later, Sibelius seemed to be very satisfied with his composition, for he wrote in his diary: It is generally claimed to be my best work. I do not think quite that, but it does belong among my best ones..
SKU: FG.55011-677-1
According to Jouni Kaipainen, the fourth string quartet (2006) is one of key works of Seppo Pohjola (b. 1965) and holds a place as a landmark in Finnish quartet literature. Of the composer's five string quartets, it is the longest and has the widest thematic arcs of his quartets. Seppo Pohjola has gone through a variety of styles in his musical career. He began as a strict Modernist, progressed towards Expressionism and took on board Romantic influences before ending up in the early 2000s in (a reformed brand of) Modernism again. Osmo Tapio Raihala describes the end result thus: The 'new' Pohjola often anchors his style in a frenetic pulse through which he builds musical processes. Duration c. 33 minutes. Score (A4) and parts (B4).
SKU: PR.41641619L
UPC: 680160642830. 11 x 14 inches.
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra violist Randolph Kelly had premiered Adler's Viola Concerto in 2000, but the orchestra's artistic management preferred that he not perform a contemporary work for his next solo appearance. With that guideline, Kelly contacted Adler, the master of orchestration, to arrange the Brahms Sonata in F minor, Opus 120 for viola and orchestra. In this new setting, The piece promises to bring the lush romantic strains of the famous sonata to a larger audience without upsetting the purists. (Andrew Druckenbrod, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic).
