Berlin Classics: Richard Strauss — Wind Sonatinas (Bläsersonatinen) / Armonia Ensemble (Audio CD)

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Product Details:

• Product Type: Audio CD
• Brand / Label: Berlin Classics
• Catalog Number: 0300576BC
• UPC: 885470005768
• Composer: Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
• Performers: Armonia Ensemble (musicians of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig)
• Genre: Classical / Wind chamber
• Condition: New, factory sealed

Product Features

• Format: CD
• Discs: 1
• Tracks: 7
• Total time: 67:02
• Sound: DDD
• Printed and manufactured: in Germany
• Label code: LC 06203
• Production: an mdr Figaro production, licensed by Telepool

Overview

These are Richard Strauss's last instrumental works — two sonatinas for sixteen wind instruments, written in his late seventies as the world he'd known collapsed around him. He called the first "From an Invalid's Workshop" (1943) and the second "Happy Workshop" (1944–45), wry titles for music of remarkable serenity and craft from a composer in his eighties.

Despite the limited palette of winds alone, Strauss conjures an astonishing range of color and texture. The writing looks back to Mozart's wind serenades while carrying all the harmonic richness of a lifetime spent orchestrating Salome and Der Rosenkavalier. This is autumnal music — gracious, unhurried, and quietly masterful.

The Armonia Ensemble, drawn from the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, plays with the warmth and blend these scores demand. Just over 67 minutes of late Strauss in expert hands.

Interesting Facts

• Both sonatinas date from the final years of Strauss's life, written during and just after the Second World War.
• The first is subtitled "Aus der Werkstatt eines Invaliden" (From an Invalid's Workshop), reflecting the ailing composer's mood; the second is the contrasting "Fröhliche Werkstatt" (Happy Workshop).
• Scored for sixteen wind instruments, the works hark back to the Classical wind serenade tradition of Mozart, whom Strauss revered above all.
• The performers are members of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, one of the world's oldest orchestras.
• The cover design is by Antje Warnecke, using an image from the Bridgeman Art Library.

Track Listing

Sonatina No. 1 in F major for 16 winds (1943) — "From an Invalid's Workshop"

1. Allegro moderato
2. Romanze: Andante – Menuett: Tempo di Menuetto
3. Finale. Molto Allegro

Sonatina No. 2 in E-flat major for 16 winds (1944/45) — "Happy Workshop"

1. Allegro con brio
2. Andantino, sehr gemächlich
3. Menuett. Etwas lebhaft – Cantabile
4. Einleitung. Andante – Allegro

Publishers

Released by Berlin Classics (Edel Germany GmbH), catalog 0300576BC. ℗ & © 2014. Hawkes & Son (London) Ltd. Printed and manufactured in Germany.

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