Sergey Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Born in Semyonovo, Russia in 1873; died in Beverly Hills, CA in 1943) Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 1. Non allegro 2. Andante com moto (Tempo di valse) 3. Lento assai – Allegro vivace – Lento assai. Come prima – Allegro vivace Rachmaninoff always wanted to write a ballet, which is hardly […]
Sergey Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Born in Semyonovo, Russia in 1873; died in Beverly Hills, CA in 1943) Piano Concerto No 3 in D-minor, Op. 30 1. Allegro ma non tanto 2. Intermezzo: Adagio 3. Finale: Alla breve After the wild success of his 1901 Piano Concerto No. 2, Rachmaninoff, the pianist-composer-conductor, was thrust into fame and […]
Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla (Born in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 1921; died in Buenos Aires in 1992) Milonga Sin Palabras From the time Argentinian-born Ástor Piazzolla was given the large keyboard accordion known as a bandoneón (a Christmas present from his father – he’d asked for skates) at around the age of eight, until his […]
Carl Nielsen (Born in Sortelung, on Funen, 1865; died in Copenhagen, 1931) Carl Nielsen was born on the island of Funen, Denmark, the birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson, and a place so lovely it is rightfully called the Garden of Denmark. The composer’s family was relatively poor: his father was a house painter, his mother […]
Carl Nielsen (Born in Sortelung, on Funen, 1865; died in Copenhagen, 1931) Flute Concerto 1. Allegro moderato 2. Allegretto – Adagio ma non troppo In 1921, Nielsen heard the legendary Copenhagen Wind Quintet and was deeply impressed by their artistry. That same year he wrote one of his greatest works for them, his Wind […]
Carl Nielsen (Born in Sortelung, on Funen, 1865; died in Copenhagen, 1931) Four Selections from Aladdin Suite, Op. 34 FS 89 The Festival March Hindu Dance Chinese Dance Negro Dance It was 1918 during the final months of a harrowing World War, and Denmark was experiencing the similar deprivations as other European countries during the […]
Franz Liszt (Born in Raiding, Hungary in 1811; died in Bayreuth, Germany in 1886) Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Minor, S. 124 3. Allegretto vivace – Allegro animato 4. Allegro marziale animato Hungarian pianist and composer Franz Liszt is known as probably the most famous piano virtuoso in the last two centuries, and […]
Lowell Liebermann (Born in New York City in 1961) Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 39 1. Moderato 2. Molto adagio 3. Presto During the 1980’s, American composer Lowell Liebermann was studying composition, conducting and piano at the Julliard School of Music in New York, and he recalls that his composition teachers told him that […]
Édouard Lalo (Born in Lille, France, in 1823; died in Paris, in 1892) Symphonie espagnole in D-minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 21 Allegro non troppo Scherzando: Allegro molto Intermezzo: Allegro non troppo Andante Rondo: Allegro Just as Mozart struggled with a fickle and finicky Viennese public in his last decade, so too did Lalo run up […]
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (Born in Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Brno, Czech Republic) in 1897; died in Los Angeles in 1957) Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 1. Andante nobile 2. Romanze 3. Allegro assai vivace Born in Moravia (now the Czech Republic), Korngold grew up in a household filled with music and musicians. His […]