published at www.batonmusic.nl

Only after John Golland passed away in 1993 the score of his Tuba Concerto Op. 46 was found. The first performance of this work was given by Andrew Duncan and the Halle Orchestra at the Halle Proms at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, in July 1997. The work is considered as a revelation. It is a colorful piece with many fine touches of effective scoring and full of melodic charm. The slow movement is a beautifully atmospheric, exquisitely scored Nocturne.

Publisher: → Baton Music

(from the opera ‘Turandot’)

Liù sings her aria ‘Tu che di gel sei cinta’ near the end of Puccini’s opera Turandot. She tells Turandot that even she will learn what love is.

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The ‘Symphonie Fantastique’ (Episode in the life of an artist) was heard for the first time in Paris on 5 December 1830. Still we can feel the beating of the creator’s heart at every performance. Hector Berlioz composed the symphony in 1830 and It is widely regarded as one of the most important and representative pieces of the early romantic period.

Recording: (Live by Hong Kong Youth Windophilics – Marco Leung, conductor)

Publisher: → Baton Music

Anton Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony in B-flat major was composed in Vienna during the years 1875 and 1876. The crowning glory of the whole work is the Finale.

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The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and orchestra, composed by Sergei Rachmaninov between the autumn of 1900 and April 1901. The complete work was premiered, with the composer as soloist, on 27 October 1901, with his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting. It belongs to one of the most performed pianoconcerto’s around the world.

Publisher: → Baton Music

(from the opera “Macbeth” by Giuseppe Verdi)

The opera ‘Macbeth’ was first performed in Florence in 1847. A second revised version was premiered in the Paris Theatre Lyrique in 1865. The chorus ‘Patria oppressa’ is sung at the very beginning of the fourth act: Scottish refugees stand near the English border.

Publisher: → Baton Music

After completing and premiering his powerful and controversial 13th Symphony, Babi Yar, in 1962, Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) spent the next year in a state of physical and creative recuperation. The only original work he wrote in 1963 was the ‘Overture on Russian and Kirghiz Folk Themes’, a memento of his visit to Kirghizstan that year. He promised the local people he would write a piece for them, and he kept that promise. By October, his ‘Overture of Russian and Kirghiz Folk Themes’ was completed, and on November 2, 1963, the work was premiered in Frunze (now renamed Bishkek), the capital of Kirghizstan. To symbolize the links between Russia and Kirghizstan, Shostakovich chose a Russian theme and two Kirghiz themes drawn from existing folk collections for his overture. The Kirghiz melodies, one heard immediately in the overture’s quiet, slowtempo introduction, are ‘Tryrldan’ about a mythological creature and ‘Op Maida’, a threshers’ song. The Russian theme is ‘Ekh, brodyagi vy, brodyagi’ (O You Tramps) from the Siberian region of Omsk. Shostakovich’s vivid orchestration and dramatic flair animate this colorful but rarely heard work.

Publisher: → Baton Music

‘Ouverture Solenelle 1812’ was written by Tschaikowsky in 1880 to commemorate Russia’s defense of Moscow against Napoleon’s advancing Grande Armée at the ‘Battle of Borodino’ in 1812. The overture debuted in the ‘Cathedral of Christ the Saviour’ in Moscow in August 1882. The overture is best known for its climactic volley of cannon fire, ringing chimes, and brass fanfare finale. In this transcription the introduction of the Slavic Orthodox ‘Troparion of the Holy Cross’ is also scored for a choir (SATB).

Recording: (LIVE) Harmonie Municipale de Dudelange (L), Sascha Leufgen – conductor

Publisher: → Baton Music