Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
Burleske
Jian Liu – piano
Strauss’s precocious talent is manifest in this strongly Romantic 1886 work, written when he was twenty. The solo part is fearsomely virtuosic and the entire work sparkles with the confidence of youth. Strauss’ orchestration is inventive and assured in this witty piece that tosses themes between soloist and orchestra with ease.
Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951)
5 Pieces for Orchestra Op. 16
In 1909, as he composed these pieces that Strauss had requested, Schoenberg told him, “They are short orchestra pieces (between one and three minutes long), not cyclically related… However, I am expecting colossal things of them, sound and mood especially. That is all they are about: absolutely not symphonic – precisely the opposite – no architecture, no structure. Merely a bright, uninterrupted interchange of colours, rhythms and moods.”
Gustav Mahler (1860–1911)
Das Lied von der Erde
Oliver Sewell – tenor
Hadleigh Adams – baritone
In 1907, Hans Bethge published a volume of his German translations of Chinese poetry. A year later, Mahler used seven of these poems to create this mighty song cycle or voice-led symphony that encapsulates his enduring concerns: nature and mortality. Its six movements traverse strange and beautiful inner visions. The first, Drinking Song of the Earth’s Misery, is perhaps the strangest, reeling giddily between drama and solace, from brassy alarm calls to delicate woodwind trills or caressing vocal phrases. The second song, Autumn Loneliness, is like a slow movement; it is filled with Mahler’s trademark melancholy yearning. The three shortest movements, Youth, Beauty, and The Drunkard in Spring, are three poetic snapshots revelling in life, and function as a symphony’s scherzo. The final movement, the Farewell, is a slow journey that dissolves magically into ineffable peace:
My heart is still and awaits its hour.
The beloved earth everywhere blossoms and greens in springtime
Anew. Everywhere and forever the distances
brighten blue!
Forever… forever...
