Balkan Chamber Orchestra Yanagisawa - Serenades - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The second half of the 19th century witnessed a proliferation of significant works for strings alone including the Serenades for Strings by Dvorák (1875) and Tchaikovsky (1880) and Grieg's Holberg Suite (1884), followed by a trio of works for strings in 1892 from Suk, Wolf and Elgar. Tchaikovsky's music for string instruments is notable for it's range and consistency - and this culminates in the magnificent Violin Concerto and one of the greatest works ever conceived for string orchestra, his Serenade of 1880. Earlier, in 1873, Tchaikovsky wrote incidental music to Ostrovsky's three-act drama The Snow Maiden. Though he abandoned the idea of adapting it into an opera, when Rimsky-Korsakov composed one on the same subject, he retained affection for this little-known work. Judging by the beautiful Melodrama of Act II, it's neglect is unjustified. Eight years before that, as a 25-year-old student at the St Petersburg Conservatory he composed a String Quartet in B flat. If, as some authorities believe, it had four movements, only one has survived. Such is the inner power of the music that it takes on a more expressive hue when performed by a full string orchestra as on this recording. Towards the end of 1884, the Moscow Society of Artists wished to honor veteran actor Ivan Samarin's 50-year artistic career, and Tchaikovsky enthusiastically contributed a musical entr'acte. Tchaikovsky's Jurgenson persuaded the composer the music was worthy of publication, under the title Elegy, as Samarin died the year after the celebrations. When Tchaikovsky suddenly died near the end of 1893, the slow movement of his Third String Quartet was arranged for string orchestra by Glazunov for performance at his funeral service. Glazunov's subtle and sympathetic arrangement of this fine music for full string orchestra honors his friend, the great composer, in truly noble fashion. Album Tracks

This recording was made in December 1982 at a time when record tag planning was dominated by the demand for new digital recordings of standard repertoire. It has rightly been described as a boom time, when orchestras, conductors, chamber groups and soloists spent the majority of their days in the studio revisiting the bread-and-butter favourites of the literature. Nimbus was therefore open to the suggestion from John Boyden that he record for us some Mozart Serenades with the ECO. The recording was released on LP in 1984 but was never released on CD. Looking back on that time I suppose that by 1984 we were putting all our energies behind our new, exclusive relationship with William Boughton and his English String Orchestra. In hindsight it is a pity that the refined playing of the UKs finest chamber orchestras at the height of it's prestige has been overlooked. © Adrian Farmer

English String Orchestra - Serenade for Strings [COMPACT DISCS] Jewel Case Packaging date 08/14/2012