Berg / Kovacic - Berg By Arrangement-Music for Strings - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Berg - Historical Recordings 2 [COMPACT DISCS] date 08/25/2005

Franz Benda was employed at the court of King Frederick the Great of Prussia, and his exceptionally expressive violin playing led Charles Burney to describe him as ‘a truly great genius’. Benda’s cantabile composing style allowed space for elaborate ornamentation during performance which was the height of fashion in this period. This world première recording reveals Benda’s authentic and often spectacular written-out ‘improvisations’ in new editions of his sonatas, re-uniting them with a violin preserved unaltered since its creation in 1735. Album Tracks 1. I. Andante 00 04 58 2. II. Allegro 00 05 47 3. III. Presto 00 03 19 4. I. Cantabile Un Poco Andante 00 03 50 5. II. Allegro 00 06 59 6. III. Presto 00 04 30 7. I. Adagio 00 03 24 8. II. Allegro Moderato 00 03 41 9. III. Allegro Non Molto 00 05 29 10. I. Allegro 00 06 01 11. II. Adagio O Arioso 00 05 19 12. III. Allegro Moderato E Cantabile 00 04 40 13. I. Un Poco Allegro 00 05 57 14. II. Adagio 00 03 34 15. III. Allegretto 00 05 02

Michael Byron's title piece, InchFabric for String Noise,Inch performed by NYC's String Noise (violinists Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim Harris, deemed InchNew York's most daring violin duoInch by InchTimeOut New YorkInch), is a wildly virtuosic two-movement work, wherein intense continuous activity shares space with an overarching sense of motionlessness. The composer characterizes it as a Inchsound object... marked by extreme polyrhythmic complexity and intricate contrapuntal textures.Inch Closing the album is the rich texture of Byron's double bass quartet InchDragon Rite,Inch performed by James Bergman, in which are heard occasional quarter-tone inflections as the piece slowly surges and ebbs. Critic Julian Cowley, writing recently for InchThe Wire,Inch called Michael Byron Inchone of those contemporary composers who can justifiably be classed as crucial.Inch