Handel's spectacular Oratorio was composed in 1744 from a libretto by Charles Jennens that describes the fall of Babylon. Although less successful in it's day than the popular Italian opera, this work is full of invention and dramatic skill with the Jewish, Babylonian Persian and Medes masses having their own distinctive musics that were juxtaposed to create a tense dramatic conflict. Composed in …

Par HOLMAN PETER. Music for three violins and bass formed a small yet distinctive corpus of instrumental music at the Restoration court of Charles II and in the Catholic chapel of James II. Introduced to England by the German violinist Thomas Baltzar, the genre was adopted by John Jenkins, whose ten late fantasia-suites for three violins, bass viol and continuo, together with Gottfried Finger’s fi…

Robert Schumann's Kreisleriana for piano is a cycle of eight contrasting pieces composed in 1838. The work belongs to one of Schumann's most creative periods. It was influenced by the writings of author E. T. A. Hoffmann and was inspired by Schumann's love for his wife, Clara. The current edition has been thoroughly researched, with comparisons made between all early sources. The 1850 second editi…

Par GARDNER JEFF. Nous savons que Debussy, quand on lui demandait quel système harmonique il suivait pour créer ses oeuvres, répondait : 'Mon bon plaisir'. Les pièces de ce recueil sont basées sur une libre variation de motifs. Si certaines des techniques utilisées - renversement, rétrogradation, renversement rétrograde - sont associées à la musique sérielle ou dodécaphonique, ces pièces ne sont a…

Par JANSSON MARTEN. Tonight I Dance Alone for double choir a cappella consists of three poignant episodes from the life of an old man. We encounter him before his wedding, before celebrating his wedding anniversary and now as an elderly widower who says to his grandson: ; Soon we will dance in the God-light, My love and I. Soon will the moon be ours again, And the endless shining stars In the hall…

HWV 258-261. Par HAENDEL GEORG FRIEDRICH. Une impressionnante intemporalité : les solennels hymnes du couronnement (Coronation Anthems) Zadok the priest, Let thy hand be strengthened, the King shall rejoice et My heart is inditing composés par Händel pour le couronnement de George II en 1727 font partie des chefs-d’œuvre de la littérature chorale. Zadok the priest a accompagné le sacre du nouveau …

Swedish bassist, cellist, composer and arranger Lars Danielsson is renowned and admired throughout the International jazz world for his lyrical melodies and strong groove. This collection brings together 20 Impromptus For Piano And 1 Solo Piece For Contrabass, composed by Danielsson in his idiosyncratic style. Born in 1958, Danielsson originally studied classical Cello at the conservatory in Goth…

Par HAYDN FRANZ JOSEF. Along with Symphonies Nos. 76 and 77 Haydn composed Symphony No. 78 for a journey to England that never took place. Nonetheless, H. C. Robbins Landon referred to these works as the 'English Symphonies” as they are stylistically closely linked to 'the London Bach”, Johann Christian Bach. In a letter Haydn wrote to his Paris publisher Charles-Georges Boyer in 1783, he describe…

Par MEALOR PAUL. Balmoral Flourishes was premiered by The State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry at the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for King Charles III and Queen Camilla at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh in 2023. Mealor says, “Balmoral Flourishes is a short burst of light and will herald the entrance of The King and Queen at St Giles’. It is the first time that a Scotch Sna…