Munchinger Miniatures; 20th Century Music For Strings

issues of Haydn and Mozart (4840170) and Liszt and Wagner (4828427) demonstrate that he also had the Classical and Romantic repertoire at his fingertips. Here is the complement to those issues, an invaluable continuation of the Münchingerstory: a genial disc of encore-like gems from Bach to Grieg, recorded by Decca in September 1966 and first issued the following summer. It includes the conductor’s own, straightforward but sensitive orchestrations of two Bach fugues and a movement from Schumann’s Op.66 piano cycle, Bilderaus Osten. Alongside them are Baroque classics for which the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra was famed, such as the ‘Air on a G string’, two movements from Vivaldi’s ‘Alla Rustica’ Concerto and the Musette from Handel’s G minor Concerto grossoOp.6. On CD2, ‘Contemporary Music for String Orchestra’ ventures beyond the well-trodden path of Barber’s Adagio to include a set of Hindemith’s pedagogical music, a delicately refined Serenade by Lennox Berkeley, and Frank Martin’s arrangement of his own organ Passacaille, made for Münchinger‘and his wonderful Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra’. Dating from October 1950, the album was recorded in Decca’s crystal-clear mono sound, as were two bonus items on this new compilation: the sombre, graceful Chaconne from Gluck’s Paride ed Elena, in 1960, and from a decade earlier, the Third Suite of Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances, with its haunting Siciliano and imposing final Passacaglia. The striking cover transformation of Grien’s

Tracks

Details

Format: CD
Artist: Karl Munchinger
Release Date: 11 October 2019
Genre: Classical Music
Label: ELOQUENCE / DECCA
Distributor: Universal Music