REPRINT SERIES Two short poems by the Russian symbolist poet Konstantin Balmont are set here. In both songs can be heard the combination of ‘diatonic’ and ‘octatonic’ procedures typical of Stravinsky at this time, which he...

The Symphony No. 9 in E minor was the last symphony written by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. He composed it during 1956 and 1957, and it was given its premiere performance in London by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir...

The Quatre poèmes de Max Jacob, composed in 1921, show Poulenc at his most avant-garde. To the already edgy ensemble of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and trumpet Poulenc adds lines of dissonant counterpoint punctuated by knotty chords, to the...

Hugo Alfvén regarded his Symphony No 1 (1896) as the first ‘written in the Swedish language’. It gets a little tied up in the closing pages of its otherwise clearly argued opening Allegro; the Andante is at its best when it breaks...

REPRINT SERIES Bloch’s Concerto Symphonique is a work on the grand scale of the Brahms concertos, the technically demanding piano part placed in equal partnership with the orchestra. Premiered in 1949 at the Edinburgh Festival, its acerbic melodic...

While Sibelius’ composed music for many plays to great effect, with the brief melodramas Ett ensamt skidspår (A Lonely Ski Trail) and Grevinnans konterfej (The Countess’ Portrait) he also demonstrated his skill in writing for drama on a...

REPRINT SERIES Perséphone (Persephone) is a musical work (mélodrame) for female narrator, tenor solo, mixed chorus, children's chorus, dancers and orchestra with music by Igor Stravinsky and a libretto by André Gide.It was first...

REPRINT SERIES Tilimbom is the first movement of "3 Histoires pour Enfants" by Igor Stravinsky. First published for medium voice and piano, the composer later orchestrated it for Voice and Orchestra in 1954.

Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 8 in D minor was composed between 1953 and 1955. Sir John Barbirolli, its dedicatee, conducted the Hallé Orchestra in the premiere at the Kings Hall in Manchester, on 2 May 1956. It is the shortest of the...

The Symphony No. 6 ("Fantaisies symphoniques"), H. 343, by Bohuslav Martinů was begun in New York City in 1951, after a hiatus of four years since its predecessor, and was tentatively completed three years later on 23 April 1953. In Paris, in the months...

REPRINT SERIES Martinů composed his Third Symphony during a summer retreat in Ridgefield, Connecticut from 2 May to 14 June 1944. The composition was not the result of a commission, but rather was a spontaneous gesture, and is dedicated to Serge...

Sinfonia antartica ("Antarctic Symphony") is the Italian title given by Ralph Vaughan Williams to his seventh symphony, first performed in 1953. It drew on incidental music the composer had written for the 1948 film Scott of the Antarctic. A typical...

REPRINT SERIES Chôros No. 8 was composed in Rio de Janeiro in 1925, and the score is dedicated to the pianist Tomás Terán. It was premiered in Paris on 24 October 1927, at the Salle Gaveau, with the composer conducting the Orchestra...

REPRINT SERIES This Bachiana was dedicated to Villa-Lobos' superior, Minister of Education Gustavo Capanema. It is the one that comes closest to the exuberant contrapuntal density of the Choros series. At over 25 minutes, it is the longest Bachiana, and...

Poulenc's cantata Le Bal Masqué (for Baritone or Mezzo-Soprano and Chamber Orchestra) is written to texts by the poet Max Jacob, whose work can be seen as closely approaching surrealism; it dates from 1932. The instrumentation is strongly...

REPRINT SERIES In 1930 Ottorino Respighi composed Lauda per la Natività del Signore, the only sacred choral piece among his works. In this song of praise to the miracle of Christmas,0 majestic sounding choral passages alternate with the soloistic...

Ralph Vaughan Williams composed his Symphony in E minor, published as Symphony No. 6, in 1944–47, during and immediately after World War II and revised in 1950. Dedicated to Michael Mullinar, it was first performed, in its original version, by Sir...

The Miraculous Mandarin (A csodálatos mandarin / Der wunderbare Mandarin) Op. 19, Sz. 73 (BB 82), is a one act pantomime ballet composed by Béla Bartók between 1918 and 1924, and based on the 1916 story by Melchior Lengyel. Premiered...