What's New for Spring 2024
Click on the links in all caps and boldface for more details and soundbites
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 The
Polish composer and violinist CHARLES DE KONTSKI (1815-1867)
was one of four brothers, all prominent Polish musicians, who
emmigrated to Paris after the unsuccessful 1831 Polish uprising
against Russian rule. Born Karol Katski, upon arrival in Paris, he
Frenchified his name. There, he struggled making his living as a
teacher and composer and finally achieving recognition during the
final decade of his life. His
FANTAISIE CONCERTANTE FOR PIANO TRIO ON THEMES FROM BELLINI'S OPERA
LA SONNAMBULA, is a showcase for virtuoso players,
giving each of the instrumentalists a chance to shine. A very
effective work for concert performance. |
 ANTON
EBERL (1765-1807), who was
born in Vienna, had the good fortune to study with Mozart with whom
he became a close friend. His works were often performed on the same
programs as that of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven another one of his
good friends. While his earlier works sound very much like Haydn,
his later works so often passed for those of Mozart that he
had to publish disclaimers in order to claim credit for them. His
STRING QUARTET
NO.2 IN D MAJOR would
a great replacement for an over presented Haydn. In addition, this
tuneful work should also appeal to amateurs. |
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 FERDINAND THIERIOT (1838-1919),
is one of those many fine Romantic era composers whose music though
often performed while they were alive soon disappeared not long
after their deaths. Thieriot studied with same teacher as his friend
Brahms, although his music sounds very different from that of
Brahms. In his charming
PIANO QUARTET NO.1 IN E MINOR,
one of his early youthful works, we hear echoes of Mozart, Schubert
and Weber. There are appealing melodies and good part-writing for
all. Good enough to be brought into the concert hall, it can be
especially recommended to amateurs looking for a fine work to
perform as it is not at all difficult to play. |
 THEODORE
DUBOIS (1837-1924),
along with his almost exact contemporary
Camille Saint Saens, was one of the leading composers of the French
Romantic Movement. Dubois and Saint Saens both eschewed
Impressionism. It is surprising and inexpicable that his music is
not as well known as that of Saint Saens for it is every bit as
good. Fame is a fickle thing. His
TWO PIECES IN CANONICAL STYLE FOR OBOE, CELLO
AND PIANO are charming and appealing. Though written
for two virtuoso players who, like him, taught at the Paris
Conservatory, it is a work which is very easy to play and presents
absolutely no technical difficulties. A good choice for concert but
certainly a work which amateur should not pass up. |
 The
Finnish composer
TOIVO KUULA (1883-1918), like Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly, was
an avid collector of folk songs. In his case, they were from his
home area of southern Ostrobothnia in Finland. He made a huge number
of them into songs and
originally planned to made suite for string quartet out of several
of these but apparently only finished one which was never published
until now. We present what we have called his SMALL
FOLKSONG SUITE FOR STRING QUARTET.
Since Finnish folk music is little known outside of Finland, we
believe presenting this work will fill a void. |
 Had
the Australian composer ALFRED HILL (1869-1960) been a
German, Austrian or Ameican composer, he and his music would
certainly be far better known than they are because his work is
first rate. At the Leipzig Conservatory, his teachers Carl Reinecke
and Hans Sitt, thought very highly of his compositional talent.
A prolific composer, chamber music played an important part of his
oeuvre. His
STRING QUIARTET
IN NO.4 C MINOR is a work which would have and should have entered the standard
repertoire had he been a European composer. Certainly one of
Australia's most important classical music composer. It is a
work which deserves to be brought into the concert hall but
can also be warmly reccmmended to amateurs. |
 GEORGE
SZELL
(1897-1970) is known by most music lovers as one of the most
famous conductors of the 20th century. However, Szell was a child
prodigy of the first order, not only as a pianist, but also as a
composer. At the age of 14, he composed his
PIANO
QUINTET IN E MAJOR, a work which sounds like it was
written by a mature composer decades older than a mere child. So
impressed was the famous Vienna publishing firm Universal Editions,
that they gave the 14 year old boy a ten year contract for the exclusive
rights to publish his works. It would be no exaggeration to say that
this is a work of the first order, a masterwork deserving concert
performance. |
The
German composer
HEINRICH KASPAR SCHMID (1874-1953), enjoyed a successful career
as a composer, a pianist, a teacher of composition, a conservatory
director and conductor.
Highly respected during his lifetime, his music was often performed
throughout the German speaking world, Scandinavia and England. But
like so many others, as tastes changed after the First World War,
his music disappeared from concert programs. His
The
Russian composer NIKOLAI MEDTNER (1880-1951)
was a virtuoso pianist who was persuaded by his teachers to give up
the career of a touring virtuoso and concentrate on composing. This
he did and is regarded as a pianist's pianist. Most of his
compositions were piano with the exception of a few works for violin
and piano
and his
LENNOX
BERKELEY (1903-1989) was one of the most important English
composers and teachers of the 20th century.
Although he studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, it was not her
teaching which influenced his musical thinking the most but rather
the composers he befriended while he was there, specifically Ravel,
Poulenc, Milhaud and Stravinsky. One finds elements of
neo-classicism in the works of his first period, including his