Albeniz / Gamiz - Pno Music 5 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Charles-Marie Widor's ten organ symphonies sit at the heart of his extensive oeuvre. They reveal Widor's mastery of the form with their profundity, technical difficulty and sonorous color. Symphony No. 7, Op. 42, No. 3 inaugurated a new, orchestral approach to the genre and encompasses dreamlike sonorities, Chopinesque melancholy and majestic bravura. The Symphonie gothique, Op. 70 makes explicit reference to Gregorian chant, developing a kind of theological 'programme music' that is both austere and consolatory. Christian von Blohn graduated from the Musikakademie Saarbrücken in1987 with a first-class degree in Church Music and also with a degree in Music Education, majoring in the organ. Since 1993, von Blohn has been deanery music director for the diocese of Speyer and currently provides musical supervision for the two St Ingbert parishes of St Hildegard and St Josef.

The seventh volume in this acclaimed series is devoted to two works of Albéniz's early maturity. The 12 Piezas características is a cycle of exquisite miniatures encompassing a wide variety of styles, including the assimilation of Andalusian folk music into his own personal idiom, reminiscences of earlier greats such as Scarlatti and Chopin, and elements of 19th c. salon music. The work led Felipe Pedrell, the father of Spanish musical nationalism, to call Albéniz not only a superbly equipped pianist but a great composer as well. The romantic and virtuosic Piano Sonata No. 3 opens with a richly contrapuntal Allegretto, followed by a slow movement of the utmost delicacy in the manner of a romanza and concludes with a technically complex Allegro assai.

Albeniz - Piano Music 4 [COMPACT DISCS] date 06/10/2014