Sergei Vasilenko - Concerto for Balalaika and Orchestra, "Springtime," Suite for Flute and Orchestra (1973)

Liner Notes:

The composer S. N. Vasilenko (1872-1956), worked in many different musical forms. He is the composer of symphonies, operas, ballets, chamber music ensembles, vocal cycles and scores for theatre and movies. He puts special emphasis on folk music. His work is filled with songs and instruments of his native land. He is interested in finding ways to apply folk-music to new works for folk instruments.

In 1929, S. N. Vasilenko wrote a concerto for balalaika and symphony orchestra, it was acclaimed with enthusiasm by the listeners.

The most significant trait of this three-part work is, its national character: the music is saturated with Russian songs and motives of Russian musical folklore. It contains the folk-tune "Oh, you little night, little dark night", "Against the bright sun", "Our street is wide", also dance songs. The beauty of the Russian melodies and the mastery of the composer, which is obvious in his concerto, drew a wide circle of listeners. The concerto for balalaika and orchestra was the start to create many works dedicated to folk instruments.

In the late part of the last century, the talented musician Vasili Andreyev introduced to the public, the strange, and until then little known instrument, the Russian balalaika. Its rich, artistic possibilities, achieved very soon the conquest of the widest audience.

Andreyev's Orchestra of national instruments, performed with the greatest success in Russia and abroad.

Andreyev's tradition survives and develops in the art of excellent national ensembles and soloists. One of the foremost is Pavel Necheporenko, outstanding master, virtuoso balalaika player.

Upon graduation from the Leningrad Concervatory (1949) in conducting, Necheporenko became permanent conductor of the National instruments Orchestra, named after Andreyev. Simultaneously he performs as balalaika-soloist, he performs often in soviet cities and also abroad. The listeners, warmly applaud the art of Pavel Necheporenko.

He has a complete mastery of the virtuoso technique, the musician is also extremely sensitive and delivers the melodious span of the folksongs beautifully. The sound of his instrument is distinguished by its softness and harmony.

In Necheporenko's repertoire can be found—adaptations of various national and contemporary songs, works, written specially for the balalaika, by Russian composers: (Concerto for balalaika and orchestra by S. Vasilenko, variations by P. Kulikov and N. Budashkin, his own variation on the theme of Paganini etc.)

Necheporenko's adaptations of classical works are extremely exciting.

The mastery of Pavel Necheporenko has received wide acclaim. He is an award winner of the All union competition for performers of national instruments, he has been honored with a State prize and honorable mention as an artist of the RSFSR.

The concert suite by S. N. Vasilenko "In Springtime" is a repertoire piece. It conveys the poetry of spring, awakening of nature, light feeling of happiness and love.

There are five parts in the suite: 1—Prelude; 2—Valse caprice; 3—Across the desert; 4—In the forest; 5—Spring streams.

In the prelude we find a picture of the arrival of spring. You can hear the voices of its messengers—the voices of birds.

The rainbow colored sunshine is painted in an elegant and gracious "Waltz caprice". The procession of a caravan is pictured in the part entitled "Across the desert", the melody of an oriental song is played by a flute.

The poetic picture of "In the forest" whose music evokes the awakening of nature, is bathed in the beams of a rejoicing spring sun. The finale—"Spring streams" is written in an ever accelerating tempo. The music conveys the first murmurs of new brooks, flowing into the rushing waters of the streams.

The suite "Spring time" belongs to the most outstanding works in the literature of flute music. It was dedicated to its first performer, Alexandre Korneyev. Pupil of the Moscow Conservatory, Korneyev is the winner of many national and international competitions, he is the first flute player in the great Symphony Orchestra of the all union Radio and Television.

The mastery of his performance, is marked by great expressiveness and a fine artistic taste. These qualities permit him to perform with great success, a large and diversified repertoire.

Credits:

Concerto for Balalaika and Orchestra

• Pavel Necheporenko, balalaika
• Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting the Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow State Philharmonic

"Springtime:” Suite for Flute and Orchestra

• Alexandre Korneyev, flutist
• Nikolai Anosov conducting the Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow State Philharmonic

Track List:

CONCERTO FOR BALALAIKA AND ORCHESTRA

1. Allegro moderato
2. Andante
3. Allegro moderato

IN SPRINGTIME: Suite for flute and orchestra op. 138

4. Prelude
5. Waltz-caprice
6. Across the desert
7. In the forest
8. Spring streams

Download links: Enjoy the music, or here. (pswd: nessessary.net)
A vinyl copy of this recording can be found on Amazon.com.

Other Recordings of music by Sergei Vasilenko:

• Vasilenko: Complete Music for Viola and Piano
• Vasilenko: Chinese Suite / Indian Suite
• Soviet Russian Viola Music
• Cole Cuts: Three Generations
• The Russian Romantic Flute

Other recordings featuring flutist Alexandre (Alexander) Korneyev:

• Vainberg: Symphony 12- In Memoriam D. Shostakovich / Flute Concerto
• Modern Russian Concerto Festival
• Handel - Sonata for flute and piano Op. 7 in A minor / Shubert - Introduction and variations Op. 160 in E minor / Mozart - KV 285, 299 - Alexander Korneyev
• Rodion Shchedrin/Amusical Offering for Organ, 3 Flutes/3 Bassons and 3 Trombone
• Kikta: Beyond the Verge of Darkness / Ukranian Carols and Spring Ritual Songs / Fresco of St. Sofia Cathedral of Kiev / Christ Had A Garden
• A. Alyabyev, W. A. Mozart J. N. Hummel
• Popov: Symphony No. 6, 'Festive', Op. 99 / Chamber Symphony for 7 Instruments
• Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 2 - Handel: Harp Concerto in B-Flat Major

Moscow Cathedral Choir - Missa Mystica (2000)

Beginning in the 1990s, there was a surge of Western interest in Russian liturgical music, the catalyst being the greater freedom of Russian cathedral choirs to perform and issue recordings. Although some Russian Orthodox chant certainly was not unknown to the rest of the world, it's been a pleasure during these past few years to discover the various individual styles of choirs and to learn of a vast repertoire virtually unheard outside of Russia (and even by most Russians). It's too bad that there's no information in the liner notes to this fine recording regarding the Moscow Cathedral Choir—an ensemble that's remarkable for its expressive range and for the technical virtuosity of its singers. Following the opening Vater unser (Our Father), sung by a sweet-sounding, unaccompanied (boy?) soprano we're jolted from our chairs by a solo bass voice singing a D-flat that's not just low, but so resonant that your subwoofer may need a tune-up afterward, especially since he intones the same note for the chant's entire four minutes and 16 seconds! He's joined by harmonizing male voices, but you'll never become distracted from nor will you forget the power of those bass notes.

In addition to chant-like works, mostly sung by men, we also hear full-fledged compositions for mixed choir in a very well-balanced and beautifully performed program whose title, Missa Mystica, refers to a sequence that encompasses the ecclesiastical year, "symbolizing the progression of a human life." Rich in texture and brimming with shimmering harmonies, the music, although varied in text, tempos, rhythmic style, and scoring, is consistent in the ardent, sincere expression it inspires from the singers—spirituality in one of its most fundamental and affecting guises. The sound, from a Moscow studio, is sufficiently detailed and well-balanced, and suitably resonant—warm in the bass registers, slightly edgy in the treble (which becomes a problem in louder dynamic passages). This is one of the better recordings available of Russian Orthodox hymns and chants, and will make a worthy addition to any collection.

—David Vernier, Classics Today.com

Credits:

• Moscow Cathedral Choir
• Victor Popov, Director

Track List:

1. Our father — Russian Orthodox Chant
2. Truly meet and right, Orthodox hymn — Greek Traditional
3. God is the Lord, Russian Orthodox hymn; Thy birth—Christmas Troparion — Anonymous
4. Nunc Dimittis — Strokin
5. I think of the Dreadful Day, concerto for Chorus — Alexander Andreyevich Arkhangel'sky
6. Let my prayer arise, for chorus (Da ispravitsa molitva moya) — Pavel Grigor'yevich Chesnokov
7. Today here hangs the cross — Russian Orthodox Chant
8. God shall arise, Orthodox hymn — Greek Traditional
9. Holy God — Russian Orthodox Chant
10. With the saints give rest (Kondakion) — Russian Orthodox Chant
11. Eternal remembrance/Blessed are they whom you have chosen — Anonymous
12. Our father — Russian Orthodox Chant
13. Blessed are they whom Thous has chosen — Alexander Andreyevich Arkhangel'sky
14. Before Thy Cross, for chorus — P. Gontcharov
15. Lord, have mercy — Grigor F. Lvovsky
16. Great Doxology — Apostol Nikolaev-Strumsky
17. Blessed is the man — Greek Orthodox Chant
18. Cherubim Hymn — Dimitry Stepanovich Bortnyansky
19. Do not cast me off in the time of old age (Ne otverzhi mene vo vremya starosti), for chorus — Pavel Grigor'yevich Chesnokov
20. From My Youth, Antiphone, tone 4 (From the Hirmologion of 1707) — Russian Orthodox Chant

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Gretchaninov & Khachaturian - Cello & Orchestra Works (1986)

Liner Notes:

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) worked at his Cello Concerto at the house belonging to the Soviet composers' association at lvanovo during the summer of 1946. As his biographer Friedbert Streller has pointed out, the work echoes the painful experiences of war-time, especially in its first two movements; he sees as indications of this the extensive use of (sharpened) minor seconds and the dirge-like motif over a pedal-point of B right at the beginning. After the E minor principal theme, stated by the cello, it is the second theme of the opening movement that most clearly bears the composer's own personal signature. Khachaturian himself tells us how he grew up in Tiflis, the capital of Georgia, and was brought up on the folk-songs of Armenia and Azerbaijan which his mother taught him. There, in the alley-ways and courtyards of the old city, folk-songs and dances were to be heard every evening; the oriental sound of the second theme, with its almost improvisatory character, is a late echo of these formative early impressions.

In his cello concerto, as in other orchestral works, Khachaturian sought to link the various movements with interconnecting motifs: for instance, the cello melody of the lyrical Notturno (marked Andante sostenuto) turns out to be a free re-working of the introductory motif from the prologue to the first movement, and the principal theme of the first movement is taken up again in modified form in the closing movement.

The concerto was premièred just a few weeks after its completion, in November 1946 in the great hall of the Moscow Conservatoire. It was performed by Sviatoslav Knushevitzky with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Gauk. The Moscow-born composer Alexander Grechaninov (1864-1956) was 31 years old when his first symphony was launched by his former teacher Rimsky-Korsakov in 1895. Eight years later his opera "Dobinia Nikititch" was given its first performance at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, with the great Chaliapin in the title role. Around the turn of the century Grechaninov was commissioned by Stanislaysky to write incidental music for the Moscow Artists' Theatre, and this led on to other things: although childless himself, Grechaninov had taught for several years at Gnessin's music school, and he made his name by writing music for children —operas, part-songs and piano music. Mention should also be made of his sacred music, which became his chief interest for many years; his most important work in this field was the "Missa Oecumenica" based on Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Hebrew liturgical molodies.

Grechaninov wrote an autobiography, which also exists in an English translation. In it he relates how after several visits to the West he emigrated in 1925, firstly to Paris. His Suite for cello and orchestra Op. 86 dates from that period, sometime between 1919 and 1929.
The suite as a musical genre gained favour as some composers began to turn away from the more rigid formal demands of the classical symphony. Whereas composers like Grieg and Saint-Saëans chose to follow on the tradition set up by their predecessors, others, including later Grechaninov, preferred to string together a free sequence of individual movements.

In the "Ballade" of Grechaninov's Suite Op. 86 the central narrative episode is enclosed by abrasive sections in a more mechanical rhythm. After this Ballade and a "Nocturne" comes a movement entitled "Prière" (prayer) in which Grechaninov takes up a popular musical cliché with the melody on the cello, a harp accompaniment and an almost hymn-like sound on the woodwind; the cello tune rise "heavenward" like a prayer as the piece nears its close. There is a very Russian flavour about this music, e. g. the Andante maestoso theme of the "Ballade" and the repeated fragments of melody and memorable descending theme of the final fourth movement.

 

WERNER THOMAS is the »personal tip« among the cello soloists of our time: thus the judgment in professional circles. He received his early musical training from his father, the Thomaskantor Kurt Thomas, studied with André Navarra in Paris, and won first prize at the Munich Competition of the State Academies of Music in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Solo recitals in Germany, Italy, and Japan and the artistic accomplishments of the »Cologne Philharmonic Cellists« paved his way to success.

Since 1987 Werner Thomas has performed at the Lockenhaus Festival with Gidon Kremer and his friends.

Credits:

• Werner Thomas, Cello
• Bamberg Symphony
• Alexander Symonides, Director

Track List:

1. Alexander Gretchaninov: Suite for Cello and Orchestra - I Ballade
2. Alexander Gretchaninov: Suite for Cello and Orchestra - II Nocturne
3. Alexander Gretchaninov: Suite for Cello and Orchestra - III Priere
4. Alexander Gretchaninov: Suite for Cello and Orchestra - IV Arabesque
5. Aram Khachaturian: Cello Concerto - I Allegro moderato
6. Aram Khachaturian: Cello Concerto - II Allegro a battuta

Download Link: Enjoy the Music!, or here.

Other recordings featuring these composers:

• Songs of the Cherubim - Modern Sacred Choir Music - Tchernokov, Gretchaninov, Arkhangelsky, Stravinksy, Penderecki [St. Petersburg Classics]
• Gretchaninov: The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom No.4
• Gretchaninov: The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 13 No.1
• A. Rubinstein Sonata No. 1, A. Tcherepnin Sonata No. 3, A. Gretchaninov Sonata for Cello and Piano
• Lyapunov: Sextet; Gretchaninov: String Quartet No. 3
• Gretchaninov: Piano Trios
• Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; Gretchaninov: Vespers
• Spartacus/ Gayaneh - Ballet Suites
• Khachaturian: Violin Concerto/Taneyev: Suite de Concert - David Oistrakh, Aram Khachaturian, Philharmonia Orchestra
• An Introduction to Aram Khachaturian
• Khachaturian: Masquerade Suite; Kabalevsky: The Comedians; Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien; Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol / Kondrashin
• Khachaturian: Gayanne Suites Nos. 1-3