Four Generations of Russian Composers by Aurelia Saxophone Quartet

Aurelia Saxophone Quartet

Four Generations of Russian Composers

Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917203929
Catnr: CC 72039
Release date: 01 January 1994

1 CD

Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917203929

Catalogue number
CC 72039

Release date
01 January 1994

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

Glazunov decided as one of the first composers of the 20th century, to write a saxophone quartet. It was quite remarkable, that someone who was known as a traditionalist (his nickname was 'The Russian Brahms'),ventured this experiment. In style and form the work is a bridge to the nineteenth century. In general it has a pastoral atmosphere; it is the 'pièce de résistance' of the saxophone quartet repertoire, also by its length. On this recording the piece has an unique rol, as it forms a bridge to later generations of Russian composers, too.

Verbanden tussen vier generaties Russische componisten
In 1932 ontdekte Alexander Glazunov de mogelijkheden van het saxofoonkwartet, doordat hij een concert van het saxofoonkwartet van de Garde des Républicains bijwoonde. Hij was onder de indruk van dit concert, en besloot als een van de eerste componisten in de 20e eeuw een saxofoonkwartet te schrijven.

Het is opmerkelijk dat iemand die bekend stond als traditionalist dit experiment aandurfde. Qua vorm en stijl slaat het kwartet een brug naar de 19e eeuw. Het werk heeft over het algemeen een pastorale sfeer. Het is het pièce de résistance van het repertoire voor saxofoonkwartet, mede door zijn lengte. Dankzij de toen ongebruikelijke bezetting van het Saxofoonkwartet slaat dit kwartet een brug met latere generaties van Russische componisten.

Glazunov was als directeur van het conservatorium van Leningrad de mentor van Dmitri Shostakovitch. Shostakovitch heeft in een aantal orkestwerken saxofoons gebruikt. Op dit album zijn twee voor saxofoonkwartet bewerkte composities voor strijkkwartet van hem te horen.

Edson Denisov twijfelde of hij componist moest worden. Daarom stuurde hij in 1951 zijn composities op naar Shostakovitch om diens oordeel te vragen. Deze adviseerde hem om compositie te gaan studeren. Met de Sonate voor saxofoon en piano opende hij in 1970 de deur naar de toekomst voor het saxofoonrepertoire. Dit album bevat zijn Quintette uit 1991, een werk met een grote spanningsboog.

Artist(s)

Aurelia Saxophone Quartet

The hot Italian summer of 1982; four young Dutch saxophonists rehearsing in Via Aurelia in Rome; the beginning of a sensational, pioneering chamber-music ensemble: the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet. Then came: Concerts throughout the world from Suntory Hall in Tokyo to the Gewandhaus in Leipzig – not to mention the little church in Marken-Binnen in the Dutch province of Noord-Holland and a municipal centre in Oristano, Sardinia which smelt of beer. Radio and television performanceswithin the Netherlands and abroad. Multiple CDs to the group’s name, one of which won an Edison and international praise, setting a new standard for saxophone quartets the world over. Collaboration with artists from all disciplines, including dance and theatre, as well as a great many musicians: pianists Ivo Janssen and...

Radio and television performanceswithin the Netherlands and abroad.

Multiple CDs to the group’s name, one of which won an Edison and international praise, setting a new standard for saxophone quartets the world over.

Collaboration with artists from all disciplines, including dance and theatre, as well as a great many musicians: pianists Ivo Janssen and Juan Pablo Dobal, bandoneon players Gustavo Toker and Carel Kraaijenhof, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, the Georgian women’s choir Mzetamze, the gamelan ensemble Multifoon, Slagwerkgroep Den Haag, the Japanese saxophone quartet Trouvère, the Hague Residentie Orchestra and others.

Over seventy world premieres of works by ter Veldhuis, Goldstein, Keuris, Andriessen and many others. The group gives compositions the chance to grow and plays pieces frequently so that they are heard often.

Astounding and ambitious arrangements. String quartets by Ravel, Debussy and Shostakovich, The Art of Fugue and the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. Pushing boundaries for our one great love: the saxophone quartet.
In 2017 the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet is ending after 35 beautiful years. The current members have decided to stop playing together because the successful development of their personal projects leaves no room for concerts. The quartet is proud to pass the baton to the promising next generation.

less

Arno Bornkamp

ARNO BORNKAMP Dutch saxophonist Arno Bornkamp (1959) is the archetype of the modern virtuoso, feeling equally at home in traditional and contemporary repertoire. Hailed as a lyrical musician with a great sense of performance, Bornkamp studied at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam with Ed Bogaard and graduated in 1986 with the highest distinction. He has won many awards, the 'Silver Laurel of the Concertgebouw' and the 'Netherlands Music Prize' among the most noteworthy. The latter enabled him to go abroad, studying in France with Daniel Deffayet and Jean-Marie Londeix, in Japan with Ryo Noda as well as working with composers as Luciano Berio and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Since his 1982 solo debut in Rome, performing the 'Concertino da Camera' by Jacques Ibert, he has played more than 250 concerts with orchestras around the world, including the most important works from the saxophone repertoire in addition to new concerti written especially for him, such as the 'Tallahatchie Concerto' by Jacob TV. In the year 2009 Bornkamp added 3 new works to his repertoire: 'Trois Danses' (orig. for oboe) by Frank Martin and 2 new saxophone concerto's by Joey Roukens and Carlos Michans. Chamber music is also a great love of Arno Bornkamp. He has a long-standing duo with pianist Ivo Janssen and is part of the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet (one of the world's most acclaimed saxophone quartet), which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2008. Arno Bornkamp's many activities (including concerts, festivals, masterclasses, lectures) have taken him to many countries in Europe, the USA, the Far East and South America, but the highlight of his career took place closer to home: in the summer of 1996 he played with Ivo Janssen due to the Prinsengracht Concert in Amsterdam for an audience of more than 15.000 people. The many CD's he has made since 1990 since on various labels have garnered national and international praise. A remarkable project is a tryptich of CD's on the Ottavo label: 'The Classical Saxophone from a Historical Perspective', covering three important periods in the history of the saxophone: the beginning period with works from around 1850 written for Adolphe Sax ('Adolphe Sax Revisited'), the beginning of the 20th Century with impressionistic music ('Boston-Paris, the Elisa Hall Collection') and the years '20 and '30 in Berlin ('Metropolis Berlin'). His most recent CD-project was released by the Basta label in 2009: 'Buku of Horn: Arno B. plays JacobTV', a portrait of Dutch composer JacobTV. Arno Bornkamp is a renowned teacher, leading an international saxophone class at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. In the summer he teaches the International Saxophone Masterclass in Laubach (Germany) and at the Université d'Eté Européenne pour saxophone in Gap (France).

less

Ivo Janssen

Since his debut in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 1988 pianist Ivo Janssen (Venlo, 1963) performs regularly in the Netherlands, and also in Germany, France, Italy, Australia and the USA. He has performed with musicians such as Heinrich Schiff, Nobuko Imai, Han de Vries and Charlotte Margiono.
For Globe, Ivo Janssen made a number of recordings including Brahms, Prokofiev, Chopin Preludes op. 28 and Hindemith’s Ludus Tonalis, which the Hindemith Institute considered to be the best recording by far of this work.
In 1994 he started a series of concerts which will eventually include performances and recordings of the complete keyboard works by J.S. Bach. In February 1998 the first album in this series was released, on his own label VOID Classics, which was especially started for this purpose. After recordings of the Goldberg Variations, Toccatas, French and English Suites, Partitas, the Well-tempered Clavier, and much more, the cycle was completed with a recording of The Art of Fugue in January 2007. His toccata! project, that combines Bach’s toccatas with toccatas especially written by a number of contemporary Dutch composers such as Louis Andriessen, Michiel Borstlap, Leo Samama and Christina Viola Oorebeek was received with much enthusiasm, in the Netherlands as well as abroad.
Since 2014 Ivo Janssen plays recitals in Janssenbeton, music below decks, a concert hall built by himself in a concrete ammunition barge in the centre of Amsterdam. However, he has decided to stop performing for the time being in the summer of 2019.

less

Johan van der Linden

André Arends

Willem van Merwijk

Composer(s)

Alexander Glazunov

Alexander Glazunov was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. In his music he reconciled the folkloric and nationalistic style of the Mighty Handful, a group of Russian composers devoted to nationalistic music, with the more cosmopolitan style of composers such as Tchaikovsky. He was a gifted artist in the use of counterpoint, a master of design and a brilliant orchestrator. Young composers like Shostakovich and Prokofiev eventually considered his music old-fashioned while also admitting he remained a composer with an imposing reputation. Glazunov had a phenomenal musical memory, which enabled him to complete several unfinished works by Borodin with the help of Rimsky-Korsakov, amongst others the Third Symphony and the opera Prince Igor. He reconstructed its overture from memory. As a conductor Glazunov introduced both...

Alexander Glazunov was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. In his music he reconciled the folkloric and nationalistic style of the Mighty Handful, a group of Russian composers devoted to nationalistic music, with the more cosmopolitan style of composers such as Tchaikovsky. He was a gifted artist in the use of counterpoint, a master of design and a brilliant orchestrator. Young composers like Shostakovich and Prokofiev eventually considered his music old-fashioned while also admitting he remained a composer with an imposing reputation.
Glazunov had a phenomenal musical memory, which enabled him to complete several unfinished works by Borodin with the help of Rimsky-Korsakov, amongst others the Third Symphony and the opera Prince Igor. He reconstructed its overture from memory.
As a conductor Glazunov introduced both his own works and the works of his Russian colleagues abroad. He appeared amongst others at the Russian concerts during the 1889 Paris World Fair.

Glazunov's most popular works are his ballets Raymonda and The Seasons, his two Concert Waltzes and some of his later symphonies. He is also known for being one of the few classical composers who wrote for the saxophone.

less

Edison Denisov

The Russian composer Edison Denisov was part of the so-called nonconformist or alternative division of Soviet music. Before deciding to become a composer, he studied mathematics. This may explain the mathematic elements in many of his works, such as changes of meter, tuplets and attempts to notate rubato (freedom of rhythm) exactly. He also made use of dodecaphonic elements. During his study Denisov examined works of composers like Debussy, Mahler, Boulez and Stockhausen, which were difficult to obtain in the Soviet Union at that time. He also wrote a series of analytic articles on contemporary compositional techniques and experimented as a composer in order to discover his own style. Denisov gained international recognition after several successful performances of his cycle Le soleil...

The Russian composer Edison Denisov was part of the so-called nonconformist or alternative division of Soviet music. Before deciding to become a composer, he studied mathematics. This may explain the mathematic elements in many of his works, such as changes of meter, tuplets and attempts to notate rubato (freedom of rhythm) exactly. He also made use of dodecaphonic elements.
During his study Denisov examined works of composers like Debussy, Mahler, Boulez and Stockhausen, which were difficult to obtain in the Soviet Union at that time. He also wrote a series of analytic articles on contemporary compositional techniques and experimented as a composer in order to discover his own style.
Denisov gained international recognition after several successful performances of his cycle Le soleil des Incas for soprano and chamber ensemble. However, the Union of Soviet Composers criticized the piece for its western influences, and began to ban performances of his works in the Soviet Union.

less