B-Dur. Par MOZART WOLFGANG AMADEUS. To a greater extent than almost any others, Mozart's Masses combine a very high degree of artistic accomplishment and tonal beauty with fulfilment of the demands made by the Liturgy. Even the textually expansive movements 'Gloria' and 'Credo' are, in most of Mozart's Masses, short enough to meet the requirements of a festive service, today as in his time. The ch…

Viktor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis based on a libretto by Peter Kien, ambiguously termed in the prologue as 'a kind of opera', was composed in the ghetto Terezín in 1943/44 and is considered one of the 'milestones of intellectual resistance' in Terezín and far beyond. The libretto takes a firm stand on the political situation in life by using the means of a mystery play. In the tradition of …

Par BENJAMIN GEORGE. 'Benjamin augurs well to become the most important British composer of his generation. An Antara is a Peruvian panpipe. Benjamin's 1987 work synthesizes its sound via computer and adds trombones, flutes, percussion and strings for a 20-minute essay that dazzles as much for its textures (from lush strings to the wham of an orchestral anvil) as it does for its alert rhythmic sch…

Par VERDI GIUSEPPE. The first critical edition of Verdi's Requiem with complete performance material for sale. The edition is based on the autograph as the primary source and makes accessible one of the most important requiem settings of the 19th century in a modern scholarly edition. In particular, articulation, phrasing and dynamics are often indicated more precisely than in previous, well-known…

Passionskantate. Par HOMILIUS GOTTFRIED AUGUST. He was without argument our greatest church composer, wrote the lexicographer E. L. Gerber a few years after Homilius's death in 1785. As a result of the destruction of the Kreuzkirche during the Seven Years War, the longtime Kreuzkantor, a pupil of Bach, performed his professional musical duties primarily at the Frauenkirche in Dresden. The Passions…

Created in 1851, 'Ride of the Valkyries' is the prelude to the third act of the music drama 'The Valkyrie'. The purely instrumental version soon found its way onto the concert stages and turned out to be a first-rate attraction. Apart from 'Treulich geführt', 'Ride of the Valkyries' probably is Wagner's most popular melody.More intimate insights, however, are given by 'Siegfried-Idyll'. In 1870, R…

Beethoven's Symphony #2 contrasts strongly with his first one. It is bursting with more energy, is more emotional and surprising and possesses a formal boldness which has not been seen before, culminating in the all-surpassing coda of the finale. / Orchestre

A late starter in music? After the 1841 premiere which was anything but promising, Schumann did not deal with his Fourth Symphony and put the finishing touches to it until 10 years later. One of its most remarkable features is its structure. The individual movements - none of which is really completed - shall follow each other without a break, thus leading to a great one-movement structure. The wo…

Par ZARATE JOSE. 'Gabon' ('good night' in the basque language) (2001), is a work where the composer investigates and delves into his personal idealization of the relationship of the text and its interpretation as poetic-musical recital. The piece tries to propose to the musician certain meaningful poetical concepts, with the requirement of a meticulous willingness to sing, to recite, and to feel. …

Edition Complète. Par RAMEAU JEAN-PHILIPPE. Rameau's only surviving opera based on a libretto by Voltaire has survived in two versions (1745 and 1746), whereby the 1745 version was long considered lost. Volume IV.12 of the series ?Opera omnia Rameau? presents a complete edition which enables performances of both versions. Voltaire refers to Metastasio in his libretto in that he wishes to liberate…