476 3386
with ABC Classic FM
Volume 5
[78’57]
CD1
1
EDVARD GRIEG 1843-1907
Praeludium from the suite Fra Holbergs tid (From Holberg’s Time), Op. 40
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Pinchas Steinberg conductor
2’45
When great civic occasions arise, it helps to ha ve a great composer on hand to do the f estivities
justice. The Norwegian town of Bergen, birthplace of the celebrated 1 8th-century Scandinavian
poet Ludwig Holberg (the ‘Molière of the north ’), was also fortunate to claim among its children
the composer Edvard Grieg, and so in 1884, the 200th anniversary of Holberg’s birth, it was to
Grieg that the town council turned in search of a suit able musical tribute: a cant ata to be sung at
the unveiling of a st atue of Holberg in the to wn’s main square. Grieg was less than enthuasiastic
about the project, and the music he wrote f or it has hardly ever been heard since. He had,
however, written his own personal tribute to Holberg , a few months earlier: a set of piano pieces
called ‘From Holberg’s Time’, which he would arrange for string orchestra the following year. The
inspiration was indeed the music of Holberg’s own day: the elegant dance forms of the French
Baroque suite, which Grieg used as the frame work for his own Romantic musical language.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN 1770-1827
2
2’50
Für Elise (Bagatelle in A minor, WoO59)
Stephanie McCallum piano
‘For Elise’ is what Beethoven wrote at the top of the manuscript, but e xactly who Elise was is a
mystery: there is no record of B eethoven’s having known anyone by that name. The piece was
probably written around 1810, but it was not published until 1867, forty years after Beethoven’s
death; at that st age, it was in the possession of Therese von Droßdick, who as the teenaged
Therese Malfatti had apparently turned down a proposal of mar riage from the composer around
the time when Für Elise was written. The famous refrain is supremely elegant and graceful;
later on, however, the music t akes a more dramatic turn before returning to the gentle mood
of the opening.
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3
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PYOTR IL’YICH TCHAIKOVSKY 1840-1893
Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet: Fantasy-Overture
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, David Stanhope conductor
3’26
6
Tchaikovsky’s first attempt at writing a symphonic poem, a ‘poem in music’ , was not a success.
Fortunately, his mentor Balakirev pressed him to tr y again, suggesting that this time he t ake as
his theme Shakespeare’s great romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Rather than attempting to
capture the whole play, Tchaikovsky decided to focus on just three key emotions: the violence of
the conflict between the two warring families; the calm reason of Friar Laurence; and of course
the passion of the t wo doomed lovers. It is the Love Theme which is included here, its soaring
lyricism full of yearning.
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FRANZ SCHUBERT 1797-1828 arr. Karin Schaupp
Ständchen (Serenade) from Schwanengesang (Swansong), D957
Genevieve Lacey recorder, Karin Schaupp guitar
MAURICE RAVEL 1875-1937
Assez vif, très rythmé (2nd movement: Rather lively, very rhythmic)
from String Quartet
Australian String Quartet (Sophie Rowell, Anne Horton violins, Sally Boud viola,
Rachel Johnston cello )
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3’48
6’09
Ravel was just 27 years old when he wrote his String Quartet, but his brilliant, f earlessly creative
talent is already clear. Structure and form were his starting point, but the result f airly leaps off the
page in its sparkling beaut y. The second movement is a scherzo; the word means ‘joke’ or ‘jest’
and such pieces are t ypically fast, light and playful. Ravel’s is a perfect example, with energetic
cross-rhythms and plenty of pizzicato (plucked) notes.
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5’17
‘I stand with one foot in the grave…’ So begins the text of Bach’s Cantata No. 156, a meditation
on destiny and submission to the will of God. Despite the sombre theme, the cant ata is
intended as an encouragement to the belie ver: an affirmation that happiness lies in accept ance
of whatever divine providence has decreed. The Sinfonia opens the Cant ata and its lovely flowing
lines set the mood of quiet tranquillit y.
Schubert’s great gift as a songwriter lay in his unique abilit y to bring poetr y and music together,
fusing them into a single w ork of art. As his friend Joseph von Spaun wrote, ‘Every one of his
songs is in realit y a poem on the poem he set to music.’ This Serenade, from Schubert’s final
song cycle Schwanengesang (Swansong), is a love song: ‘Softly my songs plead through the
night to you, reaching down into the silent grove: my darling, come to me!’ Arranged here for
recorder and guitar, the words are no longer heard but the music car ries the poet’s aching
longing and dreams of the delights to come.
5
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH 1685-1750 arr. Julie Simonds
Sinfonia (Arioso) from Cantata BWV156 ‘Ich steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe’
(I stand with one foot in the grave)
Sally Maer cello, Sinfonia Australis, William Motzing conductor
ANTONIO VIVALDI 1678-1741 arr. Gian Francesco Malipiero
Andante (2nd movement) from Concerto in G major f or two guitars
(originally for two mandolins), RV532
Slava Grigoryan, Leonard Grigoryan guitars, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra,
Benjamin Northey conductor
3’55
Vivaldi wrote over 500 concertos for all manner of solo instr uments, from violin and flute to
bassoon and piccolo. Many of his concertos featured multiple soloists, like this Concerto for two
mandolins. Since Vivaldi’s day, the mandolin has fallen out of favour and the guit ar, once seen as
little more than a strummed accompaniment for singers, has secured its place as a concert hall
soloist. There being practically no Baroque music originally written for guitar, guitarists have
instead adopted and adapted works like this concerto. Unlike modern guitar music, which makes
much of the instrument’s ability to play chords, the focus here is on the pure melodic line.
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LUIGI BOCCHERINI 1743-1805
Minuet from String Quintet in E major, Op. 13 No. 5 (G275)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra, David Measham conductor
3’01
Boccherini’s chamber music is full of charm and gentleness; the melodies, though simple, are
finely embellished with delicate trills and flourishes. Ev en his syncopated rhythms, shifting the
emphasis to the weaker beats of the bar, have the effect of softening the music rather than
tightening up the rhythmic focus. The result is music of elegant sophistication. Of all B occherini’s
music, however – and he wrote hundreds of quintets, quartets and other c hamber works – only
one piece has remained popular: this perf ectly poised Minuet.
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9
GEORGE PALMER b.1947
Waltz 2
The Cove Chamber Orchestra, Stephen Williams conductor
4’37
Until recently, George Palmer’s music has been hidden in the shado ws of his career as a judge in
the NSW Supreme Court. In 20 02, however, faced with the realisation that his f ather was dying,
Palmer assembled a few musician friends so that his f ather would be able to hear ‘at least one
thing I had written’ before he died. The project took on a life of its own and became an Australian
Story on ABC TV; since then, t wo CDs of Palmer’s music have been released on the ABC Classics
label. Waltz 2, says Palmer, ‘is a string ar rangement of a piano piece which I wrote for my sister.
It’s gentle, affectionate and perhaps a bit wistful. (My sister is gentle, af fectionate and only
sometimes wistful!)’
0
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN 1810-1849 arr. Nick Parnell
Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth.
Nick Parnell vibraphone, Leigh Harrold piano
!
3’50
Mendelssohn’s full, slow chords seem as deep and broad as the ocean spread out beneath a still,
cloudless sky. But if there is a note of disquiet in this lush music, it’ s no accident. In the era of
sailing ships, a calm sea w as no blessing, as it condemned the v essel to wait, motionless, for a
breeze to stir its sails. This excerpt from Mendelssohn’s overture evokes both the majest y and the
‘fearful silence’ of the sleeping ocean, bef ore the wind sets the ship of f on its ‘prosperous voyage’.
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JOHN DOWLAND 1563-1626
Lady Hunsdon’s Puffe
Rosemary Hodgson lute
1’34
Semper Dowland, semper dolens : if it’s Dowland, it’s doleful… They were Dowland’s own words,
and his catalogue, full of titles such as ‘Flow my teares’, ‘Come, ye heavy states of night’, ‘In
darkness let me dwell’ and ‘Sorrow, stay’, seems to bear them out. But not all of Do wland’s
music was steeped in fashionably exquisite Elizabethan melancholy. This master lutenist also
wrote plenty of songs and dances in a lighter v ein, such as this sprightly almain (or ‘German
dance’) in honour of the noted arts patron Lady Hunsdon.
4’02
The cool, mellow sound of the vibraphone is regularly heard in the w orld of jazz, but rarely in
classical music, unless tucked away in the percussion section. Unlik e most other percussion
instruments, however, the vibraphone has a sust ain pedal, like the piano, which opens up the
potential for smooth, singing melodies. Performed on the unusual combination of vibraphone and
piano, Chopin’s eloquent Nocturne has a delicately haunting qualit y that beautifully evokes the
stillness and mystery of the night.
FELIX MENDELSSOHN 1809-1847
Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) – excerpt
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, David Stanhope conductor
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JACQUES OFFENBACH 1819-1880
Barcarolle from Les contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann)
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Dommett conductor
3’54
Offenbach’s ‘opéra fantastique’ The Tales of Hoffmann follows the adventures of a poet who f alls
in love with the characters in his own stories: a mechanical doll, a singer and a courtesan. The
courtesan, Giulietta, lives in Venice, and so when she sets out to meet Hof fmann at a part y,
she travels by gondola along the Grand Canal, to the lilting rh ythms of this Barcarolle.
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CLAUDE DEBUSSY 1862-1918
Toccata (3rd movement) from the suite Pour le piano (For the piano)
John Chen piano
Pour le piano is a magical blend of musical w orlds: classical clarity of form and expression, bold
harmonies that at times have the ring of jazz, and perhaps e ven the ‘infinite arabesques’ of the
Javanese gamelan which had so impressed Debussy when he heard it f or the first time at the
1889 Exposition in Paris. The vibrant but graceful Toccata is the final movement of the suite: the
notes tumble out in a shimmering stream of subtle colours and timbres, re vealing Debussy’s
intimate knowledge of the piano’s expressive potential.
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PYOTR IL’YICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker
Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Werner Andreas Albert conductor
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Andantino – Allegretto (4th movement) from Piano Quintet in A major, D667 ‘Trout’
Kathryn Selby piano, Dimity Hall violin, Irina Morozova viola, Julian Smiles cello,
Kees Boersma double bass
&
7’43
GIACOMO PUCCINI 1858-1924
Vissi d’arte (I lived for art) from Tosca
Words by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica
Rita Hunter soprano, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Dobbs Franks conductor
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ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK 1841-1904
Lento (2nd movement) from String Quartet in F major, B179 ‘American’
6’53
Australian String Quartet (Natsuko Yoshimoto, James Cuddeford violins, Jeremy Williams viola,
Niall Brown cello)
It’s ironic that Dvořák found his inspiration for the ‘American’ String Quartet in the little
midwestern township of Spillville: a Czech-speaking community of around 350 families where
the composer was able to recharge his Bohemian batteries. Dvořák had only been in the United
States for a year or so, but he suffered greatly from homesickness, and the passionate lyricism
of this quartet’s slow movement contains a sense of restlessness and deep longing .
Most piano quintets are written for a standard string quartet (t wo violins, one viola and a cello)
plus piano; Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet has only one violin, but instead includes a double bass,
which gives the sound a special richness and depth. There is however nothing remotely fishy
about the music. The nickname ‘Trout’ refers to a song of that title, also b y Schubert, which tells
the cautionary tale of a fisherman who manages to hooks his pre y by muddying the waters;
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3’15
People have been agonising over the question posed in this aria since time immemorial, though
seldom with such devastatingly beautiful music. Puccini’s heroine, the singer Floria Tosca, can
save her lover’s life only by surrending herself to the lust of the e vil Baron Scarpia. In despair, she
cries: ‘I lived for art, I lived for love, I did no harm to an y living soul… I prayed faithfully to
God… Why am I rewarded like this?’
6’35
The Nutcracker is one of Tchaikovsky’s most popular works, a perennial favourite both on the
concert platform and on the ballet st age. Children especially have always loved the charming tale
of the little girl Clara whose Christmas gift, a nutcracker in the shape of a to y soldier, comes to
life, fights off (with Clara’s help) an attack by the evil Mouse King, then turns into Prince Charming
and carries Clara away to the land of the Sugar Plum F airy. The Waltz of the Flowers comes
towards the end of the ballet, as part of the magnificent celebrations put on b y the inhabitants
of the Kingdom of Sweets in honour of the bra ve young couple.
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young maidens, says the song, also need to keep a careful watch for angling seducers. The song
is famous for its merrily bubbling piano accompaniment, like the water of a brook; the Quintet
captures a similar exuberance in this movement, a set of variations on ‘The Trout’ melody.
3’44
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[78’44]
CD2
1
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring) from Cantata BWV147
‘Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben’ (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Lif e)
2’46
Words: Anonymous
Sydney Philharmonia Symphonic Choir, Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra, Antony Walker conductor
3
2
SERGE RACHMANINOFF 1873-1943
Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, David Stanhope conductor
4
6’42
A vocalise (pronounced ‘vocal-ease’) is a song without w ords. Vocalises were originally intended
as exercises for singers, rather than as fully -fledged concert pieces fit for an audience, but in the
early 20th century composers began to see the e xpressive possibilities of the wordless voice,
able to pour out pure melody without consonants to inter rupt the flow of vowels. Rachmaninoff
originally wrote his Vocalise in 1915 for voice and piano – he dedicated it to the great R ussian
soprano Antonina Nezhdanova – but it has been ar ranged for all kinds of solo instr uments (violin,
cello, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone…) as well as this version for orchestra.
5’54
Mozart’s Vienna was fascinated with all things Turkish: clothes, food, art and music. Mozart took
advantage of this on more than one occasion: the opera The Abduction from the Seraglio and the
ronda ‘Alla turca’ in his Piano Sonat a KV331 are the most f amous instances, but one lesser-known
example is an early comic opera called Zaide. Mozart wrote some 15 numbers for the show,
most of which are more or less f orgotten now, but the aria ‘Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben’
remains a delight to singers and audiences alik e. It is a lullaby, sung by the Turkish heroine to the
man she loves, a Christian slave.
LIVE RECORDING
From a simple, entirely unremarkable h ymn tune, Johann Sebastian Bach created one of the
enduring favourites of the choral repertoire with ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’. There is a sense of
leaping joy in the wide-ranging violin melody, and the choir’s tranquil chords have a gentle
confidence that beautifully matches the words: ‘Jesus remains my joy… He is the strength of
my life, the joy and sun of my eyes, the treasure and delight of m y soul; therefore I shall not let
Jesus out of my heart or let my gaze wander from him.’
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 1756-1791
Ruhe sanft (Sleep gently) from Zaide, KV344
Words by Johann Andreas Schachtner
Shu-Cheen Yu soprano, The Queensland Orchestra, Brett Kelly conductor
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Allegro (1st movement) from Violin Concerto in D major, RV230,
from L’estro armonico, Op. 3
Paul Wright violin, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Paul Dyer director
2’08
Today, Vivaldi’s most famous work is the set of f our violin concertos known as ‘The Four
Seasons’. But the music that took Europe b y storm, and set Vivaldi up as an international
musical celebrity, had been written almost 15 years before: a set of t welve violin concertos
called L’estro armonico . The title is difficult to translate – the w ord estro can mean ‘fantasy’,
‘passion’, ‘genius’, or all three at once – but the music cert ainly displays Vivaldi’s inventiveness
and fluency. In the Allegro which opens No. 9 of the set, the drama lies in the interpla y
between the soloist and the ensemble.
5
FRANZ LISZT 1811-1886
Consolation No. 3 in D-flat major, S172
Stephanie McCallum piano
4’11
With this ‘Consolation’, the third of a set of six, one of the greatest pianists of all time paid
homage to the poet of the piano, Chopin. Set ting aside the faster-than-the-eye-can-see virtuosity
which made him a superst ar, Liszt here evokes the gentler world of the nocturne with a simple,
elegant melody singing over slow-changing harmonies.
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6
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Rondo (3rd movement: Allegretto) from Quintet for piano and winds in E-flat major, KV452
Australian Classical Wind Band (Antony Chesterman oboe, Craig Hill clarinet,
Darryl Poulsen horn, Peter Moore bassoon), Geoffrey Lancaster fortepiano
6’09
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When Mozart wrote this quintet, he considered it ‘the best w ork I have ever composed’;
the audience at the premiere w as equally impressed, enjoying it more than t wo of Mozart’s
concertos, to judge from the applause. It w as a daring experiment, bringing together instruments
of different families, each with its own method of producing sound, and eac h with its own
technical challenges and expressive strengths. The result is a kind of con versation among the five
‘voices’; this performance, on instruments modelled on actual instruments from Mozart’s time,
shows the subtle differences of colour and tone qualit y which can be lost on modern instr uments.
7
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Allegro con brio (1st movement) from Symphony No. 5
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, David Porcelijn conductor
6’50
EDWARD ELGAR 1857-1934
Sospiri (Sighs), Op. 70
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, David Stanhope conductor
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12
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (completion by Franz Xaver Süssmayr)
Lacrimosa from Requiem, KV626
3’14
Words: Traditional
Sydney Philharmonia Symphonic Choir, Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra, Antony Walker conductor
LIVE RECORDING
Mozart was too ill to write more than the first eight bars of the Lacrimosa; the rest w as
completed after his death by one of his pupils, Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Süssmayr was a competent
composer but not a particularly original one – f ortunately, however, in those eight bars Mozart
had already set the mood, st yle and shape of the music, and Süssma yr was able to extend
Mozart’s sublime invention for another 22 bars. The accompaniment, with its const antly ‘weeping’
pairs of notes, paints in music the poem’s image of the ‘day of tears’ when sinners shall rise
from the dead to face the day of judgment.
4’30
Sospiri was written in 1914, so it’s tempting to hear this prof oundly sorrowful music as an elegy f or
the casualties of World War I, but in fact it was composed several months before the war began. Its
origins probably lie in more personal tragedy: Elgar had lost t wo close friends within a few days of
each other. The piece as commissioned by the gramophone company His Master’s Voice was
originally to be called Soupir d’amour (Love’s sigh), presumably as a companion piece to the popular
Salut d’amour (Love’s greeting), but the music’s anguish made such a title appear trivial. B efore
settling on the Italian title Sospiri, Elgar experimented with calling the piece Absence; its tragic
intensity and grave beauty seem to come from what Elgar once described as his ‘insidest inside ’.
6’56
Mendelssohn wrote this concerto for his friend Ferdinand David, a brilliant violinist and one of the
most influential teachers of the 19th century. Mendelssohn hadn’t written a violin concerto since
his early teens – a st udent work, now largely forgotten – and so he sought and took Da vid’s
technical advice, consulting with him f or five years until the piece was finished. The creative
inspiration, however, is Mendelssohn through and through; the final mo vement sparkles with the
same quicksilver brilliance as the fairy kingdom of his overture for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The opening of this symphony is probably the most f amous four notes in all of music histor y. Its
driving energy and dramatic sweep have been interpreted by many as expressing the composer’s
own titanic struggle with his deafness, which took him to the edge of suicide bef ore his
dedication to music and his belief in his o wn talent gave him the courage to go on.
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Allegro non troppo – Allegro molto vivace (3rd movement)
from Violin Concerto No. 2 in E minor
Niki Vasilakis violin, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Sebastian Lang-Lessing conductor
!
PETER SCULTHORPE b.1929
Left Bank Waltz
David Stanhope piano
1’34
The café culture of Paris’s Left Bank may seem an unlikely subject for an Australian composer to
tackle, but that’s where Peter Sculthorpe found himself in 1958, on his way to England to study at
Oxford University. When Sculthorpe returned to Tasmania a couple of years later, he was asked to
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use the Left Bank Waltz as the theme music for the Australian film They Found a Cave (with
Larry Adler playing harmonica!) – its wistful, nost algic mood clearly has an appeal that
transcends time and place.
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GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL 1685-1759
Lascia ch’io pianga (Let me weep) from Rinaldo, HWV7
Words by Giacomo Rossi
Yvonne Kenny soprano, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Paul Dyer director
4’19
‘Lascia ch’io pianga’ comes from the opera Rinaldo, a tale set during the time of the Cr usades.
Almirena, daughter of the capt ain of the Christian armies and fiancée of the great w arrior Rinaldo,
has been captured by the Saracens and is in prison, f ending off the unwanted attentions of the
Saracen king. Handel is able to e xpress the deepest human sor row in music of utmost simplicit y:
‘Let me weep at my cruel fate, and sigh for the freedom I have lost.’
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OTTORINO RESPIGHI 1879-1936
Prelude from the suite The Birds
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Omri Hadari conductor
GIUSEPPE VERDI 1813-1901
Act I Prelude from La traviata
Orchestra Victoria, Richard Divall conductor
3’49
La traviata literally means ‘The woman led astray’; the title of Verdi’s opera refers to the courtesan
Violetta, who renounces her disreput able past to begin a ne w life with Alfredo, the young man
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JOHANNES BRAHMS 1833-1897
Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 39 No. 15
David Stanhope piano
2’00
Brahms was living in Vienna, the waltz capital, when he wrote the sixteen w altzes that make up
his Op. 39. Although he was a great admirer of J ohann Strauss’s ‘Blue Danube’ Waltz (lamenting
on one occasion that the piece w as ‘unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms’), his own waltzes
have a very different flavour, reminiscent of Schubert. Brahms originally wrote these w altzes as
piano duets (i.e. for two players seated at the one piano); he later ar ranged them for a single
performer but the textures still have a great richness, with broad chords making the most of
all ten fingers.
2’47
Italy is of course the land of opera; at the t urn of the 19th century, however, there was a group of
young Italian composers determined that instrumental music should also be a vit al and vibrant
part of the nation’s musical heritage. Respighi was a leader in this ‘mo vement’. He was a highly
skilled orchestrator with a real genius f or the colours and timbres of instr uments; he was also
passionate about the music of ancient times. The suite The Birds blends these two aspects of
Respighi’s compositional personality, taking 18th-century keyboard pieces and recreating them
as music for the modern orchestra.
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she loves. Her efforts are doomed: societ y refuses to forgive her, and she is forced to leave
Alfredo when his father points out to her in no uncert ain terms that her association with Alfredo
will ruin the family’s reputation. Alone and in great poverty, Violetta succumbs to the illness that
her love for Alfredo has been keeping at bay; by the time Alfredo realises where she has gone
and comes to find her, her strength is exhausted and the t wo have only a few moments together
before Violetta collapses and dies. The opera’s Prelude, from its very first notes, weeps at the
tragedy to come. After a poignant introduction, the music e vokes – not without a hint of nost algic
sadness – the elegant dinner parties and bourgeois soirées of respect able society: the world in
which Violetta moves so easily at the beginning of the opera, and from whic h she has been
utterly excluded by the end.
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WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Larghetto (2nd movement) from Clarinet Quintet in A major, KV581
Kammer (John Lewis clarinet, Scott Taggart, Rebecca Somers violins, Nicole Forsyth viola,
Daniel Yeadon cello)
6’44
The clarinet was only invented in the early 1700s, and it did not come into widespread use until
the mid 18th century. The instrument is curious in that its lo wer notes have a rather ‘hollow’ tone
colour very different from that of the upper notes. The first composers writing for the instrument
generally ignored the lower register; Mozart, in this Quintet, insisted f or the first time that the
clarinet could be played to sound equally beautiful across the whole of its range, as indeed it does.
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HENRY PURCELL 1659-1695
Chacony in G minor
Tasmanian Symphony Chamber Players, Geoffrey Lancaster conductor
4’29
One of the best proofs of a composer ’s genius is the abilit y to make sublime music out of the
most basic of materials. Henr y Purcell, one of the most import ant composers of the 17th century
and arguably the greatest of all English composers, lo ved to do just that b y basing whole pieces
on a ‘ground’, a short musical theme repeated o ver and over as the foundation for a breathtaking
variety of melodic, harmonic and rh ythmic inventions. His Chacony (or ‘chaconne’) in G minor is a
superb example; though the theme is heard 1 6 times, the music is const antly changing around it,
fresh every time.
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JOHANNES BRAHMS arr. Carlos Salzédo
Wiegenlied (Lullaby), Op. 49 No. 4
Alice Giles harp
2’02
Executive Producers Martin Buzacott, Robert Patterson
Mastering Virginia Read
Editorial and Production Manager Hilary Shrubb
Publications Editor Natalie Shea
Booklet Design Imagecorp Pty Ltd
Cover Photo Peter Morris / Fairfax Photos
www.fairfaxphotos.com
For ABC Classic FM
Head National Networks Margaret Cassidy
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Marketing Manager Emma Paillas
ABC Classics thanks Alexandra Alewood and Katherine Kemp.
 1989 CD1 &;  1997 CD2 &;  1998 CD1 %, CD2 @;  2000 CD2 1, 0, *;  2001 CD1 1, 8, £;  2002 CD1
Brahms wrote this lullaby as a gift to his friends the F abers on the birth of their second c hild in
1868. Brahms had been extremely fond of Bertha Faber when she was Bertha Porubszky, a
singer in the Hamburg Women’s Choir of which Brahms was the conductor; the t wo exchanged
several letters via Bertha’s aunt Auguste, to the point where Auguste felt it necessary to warn
Bertha against dreaming of the impossible! B ertha, however, married the industrialist Arthur
Faber, and both husband and wife remained among Brahms’s closest friends throughout his life.
On presenting this piece to them, Brahms wrote: ‘F rau Bertha will realise that I wrote the
“Wiegenlied” for her little one. She will find it quite in order…that while she is singing Hans to
sleep, a love song is being sung to her.’ The piece is played here in an ar rangement by the US
harp virtuoso Carlos Salzédo.
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3, CD2 2, 7;  2003 CD2 5, !, £;  2004 CD1 9, CD2 3, 4;  2005 CD1 *, CD2 8, $, %;  2006 CD1 4,
CD2 6, 9;  2008 CD1 2, 5-7, 0-@, $, ^, CD2 ^ Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
This compilation was first published in 20 09 and any and all copyright in this compilation is o wned by the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation. © 2009 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by
Universal Music Group, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights of the owner of copyright reserved. Any
copying, renting, lending, diffusion, public performance or broadcast of this record without the authorit y of the copyright
owner is prohibited.
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