The 'Grand Variations on "Rule, Britannia!"'are a pianistic tour de force which is sure to leave audiences breathless for more from this little known composer who served his apprenticeship under both Albrechtsberger and Beethoven. Writen during an eleven year residency in London and based on one of the most enduring patriotic songs of all time, this work stands as testimony to the great affection Ries had for his English home and with it, he endowed our common musical heritage with a work ...

A student of Hiller and Salieri. Charles Blum left a significant collection of works for the guitar, flute the violin trio in the genial High Classical style but the Serenade is the only duet for guitar and flute known to have survived . In over twenty operatic and stage productions Blum displayed a gift for the lyrical which informed even the smallest of his works with moments of dramatic Intensity . ---- Karl Blum ( auch Charles Blum) war Student von Hiller und Salieri. Er schuf mehrere ...

Heller took the popular Rondo from Paganini's Violin Concerto no.1 as the theme for his first composition when just sixteen year old. The work reflects the high technical ability that was required of a young travelling prodigy and the fertile imagination of a gifted improviser. He would later belong to the influential circle of composers that included Schumann, Saint-Saëns, Debussy and Bizet. ---- Gerade sechzehn Jahre alt verarbeitete Heller das populäre Rondo aus Paganini's erstem Violin...

Entitled L'infortunée by the composer, the Sonata in F min. Op.26, was written at a time when Ries found himself living in desperate straits in Paris and it is thought to be self-referential. Rejected by the French army, the public and poverty stricken, the work is redolent with references to Beethoven's Pathetique sonata; a composer whom Ries both revered and had a long - if stormy - friendship. --- Vom Komponisten selbst "L'infortunée"-"Der Unglückliche" - genannt wurde die Sonate in fis...

Making the artistic leap from 'Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier' via Beethoven, Liszt and Wagner, the nine preludes and fugues of Salomon Jadassohn set a new benchmark for the form at a time when the Romantic piano was soaring to new technical heights and simultaneously plumbing new depths of sentimentality. Technically rigorous and yet emotionally disciplined, the composer takes the performer on a sublime journey far removed from mere affectation towards an almost transcendental state of pure...

Composed when he was just eighteen years old, this violin concerto from the Polish composer Emil Mlynarski is a masterpiece of Romantic feeling and form. Destined to become a cornerstone piece of the repertoire from this composer, before he took up a career conducting some of the finest orchestras in Europe, the opus 11 violin concerto won one of the major prizes in the Paderewski Composition Competition in Leipzig in 1898 though in tone and form, one could be forgiven for thinking it belo...

Reminiscent of the earliest examples of the chaconne form, this work by Jadassohn is replete with the kind of inventiveness and treatment of harmonic forces that came to characterise the works of the later 19" Century as found in Liszt and Wagner. A pioneer of harmonic theory himself, Jadassohn applied the most subtle and delicate twist to the traditional harmonic form in this piece. The rediscovery of this work is sure to delight audiences with a work of depth and virtuosity from one of t...

Modelled with a clear deference to the Song without Words form of Mendelssohn, Loreley is based loosely on the 1801 poem by Clemens Brentano, 'Zu Bacharach am Rheine' in which the tragic heroine Lore Lay climbs a rock on the Rhine to look for the lover who had abandoned her but who slips to her death on the riverbed below. A richly Romantic piece with astonishing emotional power, this piece is a gem in the crown of any concert recital. ---------- Mit einer eindeutigen Verbeugung in Richtun...

Overdue for modern reappraisal, the works of Ferdinand Ries represent a treasure trove of pieces that easily stand alongside his illustrious predecessor and former teacher, Beethoven. A serious concert work for which the faint of heart need not apply this rarely heard concerto deserves to be rediscovered for the original work it is. In this Pastoral, Ries transcends the accepted Beethoven model to create a work of enduring natural beauty and depth. --- Eine moderne Neubewertung der Werke v...

Overdue for modern reappraisal, the works of Ferdinand Ries represent a treasure trove of pieces that easily stand alongside his illustrious predecessor and former teacher, Beethoven. A serious concert work for which the faint of heart need not apply this rarely heard concerto deserves to be rediscovered for the original work it is. In this Pastoral, Ries transcends the accepted Beethoven model to create a work of enduring natural beauty and depth. --- Eine moderne Neubewertung der Werke v...

Raff wrote this picturesque study in reminiscence of the Giessbach falls in Switzerland. A prodigious talent who for many years worked for Franz Liszt as a musical assistant and secretary this piece was written later when Raff was fully in command of his compositional voice but the influence of Liszt is unmistakable in the technical facility and uncompromising originality of this musical tour de force. --- Raff schrieb diese malerische Studie in Erinnerung an die Gießbachfälle in der Schwe...

Celebrated for a prodigious output as much as for the dramatic range of his works , Raff was for many years the protege of Liszt and the influence on Raffs technique is unmistakable. The Reminiscenzen is one of many salon works that Raff produced during his unhappy years in Cologne from 1844-48, and destined for the domestic market : a nonetheless brilliant adaptation of themes from Don Giovanni. ---- Gefeiert für die grosse Zahl wie auch für den dramatische Vielfalt seiner Werke war Raff ...