#ClassicsaDay #Strings Week 3

There's a middle ground between large orchestras and chamber groups. That space is occupied by string orchestras. They have the full sound of an orchestra, but the uniform blend of a string quartet. The #ClassicsaDay challenge for this month is to post examples of string orchestra works. No brass, winds, or percussion allowed!

This type of ensemble originated in the early 1800s. For my posts, I've tried to alternate between Romantic and Modern Era composers. Here are my posts for the third week of #Strings.

11/18/24 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: 4 Novelletten for Strings, Op. 52

The work was possibly inspired by Schumann's Novelletten piano miniatures. Coleridge-Taylor wrote the work in 1903, and it was one of his favorite pieces to conduct throughout his career.

 

11/19/24 Edward Elgar: Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op. 47

Elgar wrote this piece for an all-Elgar concert in 1905. It exists in both a string quartet and string orchestra version. Initially, the work received an indifferent response, but it has since become one of Elgar's most popular orchestral works.

 

11/20/24 Einojuhani Rautavaara: Divertimento for String Orchestra

Rautavaara composed this work while still a student. A classmate, Jorma Panula wanted some new music for the student orchestra. Rautavaara's work was tailored the strengths (and weaknesses) of the orchestra.

 

11/21/324 Grace Williams: Sea Sketches for String Orchestra

Williams wrote this work in 1944 and dedicated it to her parents. It is one of her most popular and most-performed compositions.

 

11/22/24 Arnold Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht Op. 4

Schoenberg wrote the first version of this work in just three weeks. It was originally written for string sextet in 1899. He revised the work for string orchestra. This version premiered in 1916.

 

Herbert Howells and Charles Wood - String Quartets by Pupil and Teacher

This release pairs two string quartets: one by the teacher, the other by the pupil. The teacher was Charles Wood. 

Wood was an Irish composer active in the last decades of the 19th Century and up to the First World War. Wood built his reputation on Anglican church music. His use of modes gave his music a distinctively "English" sound. 

He was part of the first class of the Royal College of Music. He studied with Charles Villiers Stanford and Carles Hubert Hastings Parry.  Both worked to create an English school of composition. 

As a composition professor, Woods' students included Ralph Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells. Both composers would represent the height of that British school. 

Wood provides the link between the generations. And his music shows it. His sixth string quartet is performed here. This 1916 work has strong elements of both British and Irish folk music. It's a solid composition and one I was happy to discover. 

Howells had a fascination for the music of Tudor England -- and English folksong. His string quartet "In Gloucestershire" encapsulates those interests. The work had a perilous journey to recording. 

Howells wrote the work in 1916, and the score was almost immediately lost. He rewrote it in 1920. After a few performances, that manuscript also disappeared. In the 1980s a set of parts from the 1920 version were found. This recording was made from those parts.   

The London Chamber Ensemble Quartet is heavily invested in this music. Cellist Joseph Spooner worked on the reconstruction of the Howells quartet. First violinist Madeleine Mitchel made string quartet arrangements from Howell's "Three Pieces for Violin and Piano." . Those two selections are also included on this album. 

The quartet plays this music with sensitivity and deep understanding. The "Englishness" of these pieces comes through without sounding cloying or artificial. Wood and Howells were masters of their craft. And the inherent beauty of these works is what the quartet delivers. 

The liner notes suggest that a cycle of Charles Woods string quartets is underway. Based on this quartet, it's a cycle I'd love to hear. 

Herbert Howells & Charles Wood: Quartets
London Chamber Ensemble Quartet
Somm Recordings SOMMCD 0692

African Art Song - Uncommon Music Awaiting Discovery

I wondered what Rebeca Omordia would give us next. She had released two strong albums of African piano music. This release seems the next logical step. It collects works from African composers who are writing in a classical framework. 

The music is more tightly focused. Omordia's piano albums sampled works across the continent. This recital stays within Nigeria, with composers from the Yoruba and Igbo peoples. It also includes intermezzos for drums. For the Yoruba part of the program, the Yoruba talking drum is used. For the Igbo section, it's traditional Igbo percussion instruments. 

And there are some outliers. The album includes two arias by Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Geroges. This mixed-race composer and violin virtuoso was a contemporary of Mozart. Errollyn Wallen and Shirley J. Thompon are first-generation Britians from Jamaica.  

As with the solo piano albums, the music is fresh, engaging, and enlightening. The balance between African and Western classical traditions varies from composer to composer. And no matter where that balance is, the results are expressive, creating music. Music that communicates not just to Nigerians, but to everyone. 

Omo Bello is French-Nigerian and well-suited to sing this music. She has an impressive CV full of major opera roles. Her first recording was of Mahler's "Des Knaben Wunderhorn." 

But Bello also understands the musical traditions behind these works. And she speaks the language, giving the melodies the right inflection. Like these composers, she blends her classical training, creating something of great beauty. 

Rebeca Omordia and her colleagues have produced an album of music worth exploring. And music that encourages further exploration. Here's hoping there's a volume 2 in the works. 

African Art Song
Rebeca Omordia, piano; Omo Bello, soprano
Somm Recordings

#ClassicsaDay #Strings Week 2

  There's a middle ground between large orchestras and chamber groups. That space is occupied by string orchestras. They have the full sound of an orchestra, but the uniform blend of a string quartet. The #ClassicsaDay challenge for this month is to post examples of string orchestra works. No brass, winds, or percussion allowed!

This type of ensemble originated in the early 1800s. For my posts, I've tried to alternate between Romantic and Modern Era composers. Here are my posts for the second week of #Strings.

11/11/24 Benjamin Britten: Simple Symphony for string orchestra, Op. 4

Britten wrote this work when he was 20, and it's very much a youthful piece. He used themes from some of his childhood compositions, two per movement.

 

11/12/24 Christopher Wilson: Suite for String Orchestra

British composer Wilson wrote his suite in 1899. It was first performed in Cologne, and published by Schott. At the time British music was rarely heard on the continent.

 

11/13/24 Caroline Shaw: Entr'acte for string orchestra

Shaw was inspired to write this work after hearing Haydn's String Quartet Op. 77 No. 2. The work was originally for string quartet, but she later adapted it for string orchestra.

11/14/24 Felix Mendelssohn: String Symphony No. 13 ("Sinfoniesatz"), in C minor

Mendelssohn wrote 12 string symphonies. He only completed the first movement of his 13th before abandoning the genre. He was 14 at the time.

 

11/15/24 John Rutter: Suite for Strings

Rutter is best known for his choral works, though he does write in other genres. This suite for strings is based on four English folk songs.

 

Juozas Gruodis Piano Music

The classical music of Eastern Europe is still mostly unknown in the West. It's proven to be a treasure trove for adventurous labels like Toccata Classics. 

Over the past two years, they've released albums of music from Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Ukraine, and the Balkans as a region. This release features music by Juozas Gruodis, the father of Lithuanian music. 

Gruodis began his studies in Moscow. He transferred to the Leipzig Conservatory in 1920. When he returned to Lithuania, he synthesized both traditions. Gruodis' goal was nothing short of a "national concept of music." And he succeeded. Many Lithuanian composers trace their inspiration back to Gruodis. 

This release features two sonatas plus four other works for piano. Gruodis wrote the Piano Sonata No. 1 in C sharp minor in 1919. He was just finishing his studies in Moscow. The late-Romantic Russian style is prominent in this sonata but doesn't overwhelm it. I heard hints of Scriabin and Rachmaninoff, but I also heard something else. Some unusual melodic turns and harmonies that were perhaps Lithuanian. 

Gruodis' Piano Sonata No. 2 in F minor was written during his studies in Leipzig. There's more Lizt than Lyadov to the sound. And yet once again, melodies don't always follow Germanic models.

These sonatas require a great deal of technique. And Daumantas Kirilauskas is up to the task. He plays the cascades of thundering chords with authority. And he also plays with delicate tenderness when the music demands. I especially liked his performance of 1920 Variations in B minor. 

Gruodis intended the work to be an exercise in salon music. But he couldn't keep his imagination in check. By the third variation, the composition has flowered into a real showpiece. 

I would very much like to hear Gruodis' orchestral music. But for now, this album is here to enjoy. And to enjoy with repeated listening. Another exceptional release of music worth discovery from Toccata Classics.

Juozas Gruodis: Piano Music
Daumantas Kirilauskas, piano
Toccata Classics