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Chaconne
Various composers

Sofya Gulyak

Chaconne

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Champs Hill
UPC: 5060212591203
Catnr: CHRCD 117
Release date: 08 December 2017
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Label
Champs Hill
UPC
5060212591203
Catalogue number
CHRCD 117
Release date
08 December 2017
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
NL

About the album

Sofya Gulyak, the first ever woman to win the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2009, has returned to the Music Room at Champs Hill to record a second disc, exploring the fascination of the Baroque Chaconne, with its distinctive bassline (which repeats), for Romantic composers and beyond.
Sofya Gulyak, die als eerste vrouw ooit de Leeds International Piano Competition won in 2009, is teruggekeerd naar de Music Room om een album op te nemen dat de fascinatie van de barokke Chaconne, met zijn kenmerkende herhalende baslijn, voor componisten uit de Romantiek en verder verkent. In chaconnes van Bach tot Gubaidulina demonstreert ze haar opmerkelijke talent.

Gulyak neemt de luisteraar mee op een muzikale reis, beginnend met Busoni’s heruitvinding van Bachs Chaconne in d klein uit zijn Tweede Partita voor soloviool. Hetzelfde werk van Bach heeft ook Nielsens Chaconne uit 1916 en Casella’s Variaties op een Chaconne uit 1903 beïnvloed. Casella toont in zijn werk duidelijk bewondering voor Bach. Het album bevat daarnaast Busoni’s originele werk Toccata: Prelude, Fantasy and Chaconne uit 1920.

Handels Chaconne in G groot wordt gevolgd door een andere beroemde transcriptie, of opnieuw voorgestelde versie van Liszt, die de Sarabande en Chaconne uit Handels Almira vrijelijk bewerkt met laat-Romantische klanken.

Ondanks dat het een vroeg en minder bekend werk is, is Gubaidulina’s Chaconne uit 1962, dat dit recital afsluit, een krachtig statement van de jonge vrouwelijke componist.

Artist(s)

Sofya Gulyak (piano)

In September 2009 Sofya Gulyak was awarded the 1st prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the 16th Leeds International Piano Competition – the first woman in the history of the competition to achieve this distinction. Since then she has appeared all over the world to great acclaim. Her recital programs are frequently reviewed in superlatives, and her concerto appearances with major orchestras are noted in glowing terms by the world’s music press. Sofya has been praised for her “tremendous precision and coloration ... exquisite soft playing ... with delicacy” and described as a “Rach star” (Washington Post). Sofya Gulyak’s résumé includes prizes from many prestigious piano competitions: she is a 1st prize winner of William Kapell International Piano Competition...
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In September 2009 Sofya Gulyak was awarded the 1st prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the 16th Leeds International Piano Competition – the first woman in the history of the competition to achieve this distinction. Since then she has appeared all over the world to great acclaim. Her recital programs are frequently reviewed in superlatives, and her concerto appearances with major orchestras are noted in glowing terms by the world’s music press. Sofya has been praised for her “tremendous precision and coloration ... exquisite soft playing ... with delicacy” and described as a “Rach star” (Washington Post).
Sofya Gulyak’s résumé includes prizes from many prestigious piano competitions: she is a 1st prize winner of William Kapell International Piano Competition in the USA, Maj Lind Helsinki International Piano Competition, Tivoli Piano Competition in Copenhagen, Isang Yun International Piano Competition in South Korea, San Marino Piano Competition, winner of Busoni Competition in Italy and prize winner of Marguerite Long Piano Competition in Paris. Recitals and concert appearances all over the globe have been numerous, in such venues as La Scala Theatre and Sala Verdi in Milan, Herculessaal in Munich, Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Kennedy Center in Washington, Palais de la Musique in Strasbourg, Hong Kong City Hall, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Osaka Symphony Hall, Musashino Cultural Centre in Tokyo, National Hungarian Opera in Budapest, National Forum of Music in Wroclaw, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Teatro Municipal and Cidade des Artes in Rio de Janeiro, Auditorium Manzoni in Bologna, Salle Molière in Lyon, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, King Theatre in Rabat, Kursaal in Bern and Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen.

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Composer(s)

Franz Liszt

If you would open any biography of Franz Liszt, you would probably mostly read about his disquiet life as a piano virtuoso, his passionate love life, and the return to his catholic roots at the end of his life. Although all of this might be true, it only scratches the surface of his comprehensive musical personality. Liszt was a pianist, conductor, teacher and organiser, but above all he was a composer of a voluminous, capricious body of work. Even though his piano works formed his core business, he gave rise to the symphonic poem, got rid of the organ's stuffy appearance, and reinvigorated the oratorio. Moreover, with his piano transciptions of Bach's organ works and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, he was an...
more

If you would open any biography of Franz Liszt, you would probably mostly read about his disquiet life as a piano virtuoso, his passionate love life, and the return to his catholic roots at the end of his life. Although all of this might be true, it only scratches the surface of his comprehensive musical personality. Liszt was a pianist, conductor, teacher and organiser, but above all he was a composer of a voluminous, capricious body of work. Even though his piano works formed his core business, he gave rise to the symphonic poem, got rid of the organ's stuffy appearance, and reinvigorated the oratorio. Moreover, with his piano transciptions of Bach's organ works and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, he was an advocate of both old and new music.
Together with his son-in-law Richard Wagner, he was in the forefront of the Romantic movement and anticipated the musical revolutions of the early 20th century with his new composition techniques.


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Georg Friedrich Händel

Georg Frideric Handel was a composer from the Baroque period. Handel wrote primarily music-dramatic works: 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, which comes to a total amount of almost 2000 arias! Furthermore, he composed English, Italian and Latin sacred music, serenades and odes. Among his instrumental music are several organ concertos, concerti grossi, overtures, oboe sonatas and violinsonates, along with many solo works for harpsichord and organ.  Together with Johann Sebastian Bach, who was born in the same year (1685), Handel is viewed as one of the greatest composers of his time. He was extremely prolific and wrote in total more than 610 works, many of which are still performed today.  Compared to his contemporaries Bach, Telemann...
more

Georg Frideric Handel was a composer from the Baroque period. Handel wrote primarily music-dramatic works: 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, which comes to a total amount of almost 2000 arias! Furthermore, he composed English, Italian and Latin sacred music, serenades and odes. Among his instrumental music are several organ concertos, concerti grossi, overtures, oboe sonatas and violinsonates, along with many solo works for harpsichord and organ.

Together with Johann Sebastian Bach, who was born in the same year (1685), Handel is viewed as one of the greatest composers of his time. He was extremely prolific and wrote in total more than 610 works, many of which are still performed today.

Compared to his contemporaries Bach, Telemann and Scarlatti, Handel was by far the most cosmopolitan. When Handel was a child, his father, who was a surgeon at the court of Saxe-Weissenfels, imagined a juridical career for him. But his musical talents did not go unnoticed at the court, which forced the father to let him study music. In Hamburg, Handel befriended Mattheson. Together they visited Buxtehude, the greatest organ player of his time, in 1703 (two years before Bach did). At that time, Handel was already an excellent musician, but it wasn't until his stay in Italy - the land of opera - that his talents and skills truly started to flourish. Back in Germany, he received a position at the court of Hannover, where the noblemen had a connection to the British throne. Thanks to these connections, Handel decided to move to London, after which a puzzling history of intrigues and political games started. For example, it is unclear what the exact political message of his famous Water Music is, which was composed for a boat ride on the river Thames by King George. Initially, Handel focused on Italian opera during his stay in London, but from the 1730s onwards he started composing English spoken oratorios, with the celebrated Messiah at its peak.


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Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.  Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.  
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Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.

Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.


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Ferruccio Busoni

Busoni was a man with many faces. He was born in Tuscany from a German mother and Italian father, and settled down in Berlin, after visiting Leipzig, Helsinki and Moscow. There he established himself as a composer, but above all a phenomenal pianist. His music shows some discrepancies. On the one hand, he looks back on the Romantic period with his giant pianoconcerto with male choir as the absolute pinnacle. On the onder hand, he looks forward to the future and found that music had to be freed of the chains of outdated ideas. In his much-read manifest 'Entwurf einer neuen Ästhetik der Tonkunst’ (1907), Busoni sketches his ideal image of music, and in his Six Sonatinas for piano he...
more
Busoni was a man with many faces. He was born in Tuscany from a German mother and Italian father, and settled down in Berlin, after visiting Leipzig, Helsinki and Moscow. There he established himself as a composer, but above all a phenomenal pianist. His music shows some discrepancies. On the one hand, he looks back on the Romantic period with his giant pianoconcerto with male choir as the absolute pinnacle. On the onder hand, he looks forward to the future and found that music had to be freed of the chains of outdated ideas. In his much-read manifest 'Entwurf einer neuen Ästhetik der Tonkunst’ (1907), Busoni sketches his ideal image of music, and in his Six Sonatinas for piano he presented these ideas musically. In his unfinished opera Doctor Faust, all discrepancies come together as the main character himself is a curious mix of seemingly incompatible elements, just like Busoni.
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Sofia Gubaidulina

Sofia Gubaidulina studied piano and composition at the conservatory of Kazan, and later the conservatory of Moscow. There, she studied under Nikolai Peiko, the assistent of Dmitri Shostakovich.  She is active as a composer since 1963. In 1975, she founded the Astreja, a group with Viktor Suslin and Vyacheslav Artyomov, which focused on improvisation with rare Russian, Caucasian, Central and East Asian traditional music- and percussion instruments.  Thanks to the renowned violist Gidon Kemer, who promotes her work since the 80s, and conductor Reinbert de Leeuw, who presented many of her works, her music is regurlarly performed in the West. Together with Schnittke and Denisov, she is regarded as one of the most important composers of new music from the former Soviet Union. In...
more

Sofia Gubaidulina studied piano and composition at the conservatory of Kazan, and later the conservatory of Moscow. There, she studied under Nikolai Peiko, the assistent of Dmitri Shostakovich. She is active as a composer since 1963. In 1975, she founded the Astreja, a group with Viktor Suslin and Vyacheslav Artyomov, which focused on improvisation with rare Russian, Caucasian, Central and East Asian traditional music- and percussion instruments. Thanks to the renowned violist Gidon Kemer, who promotes her work since the 80s, and conductor Reinbert de Leeuw, who presented many of her works, her music is regurlarly performed in the West. Together with Schnittke and Denisov, she is regarded as one of the most important composers of new music from the former Soviet Union. In 1992, she moved to Germany.


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Carl Nielsen

Carl Nielsen was a Danish musician, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age. He initially played in a military band before attending the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen from 1884 until December 1886. He premiered his Op. 1, Suite for Strings, in 1888, at the age of 23. The following year, Nielsen began a 16-year stint as a second violinist in the prestigious Royal Danish Orchestra under the conductor Johan Svendsen. In 1916, he took a post teaching at the Royal Academy and continued to work there until his death. Although his symphonies, concertos...
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Carl Nielsen was a Danish musician, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer.
Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age. He initially played in a military band before attending the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen from 1884 until December 1886. He premiered his Op. 1, Suite for Strings, in 1888, at the age of 23. The following year, Nielsen began a 16-year stint as a second violinist in the prestigious Royal Danish Orchestra under the conductor Johan Svendsen. In 1916, he took a post teaching at the Royal Academy and continued to work there until his death.
Although his symphonies, concertos and choral music are now internationally acclaimed, Nielsen's career and personal life were marked by many difficulties, often reflected in his music. The works he composed between 1897 and 1904 are sometimes ascribed to his "psychological" period, resulting mainly from a turbulent marriage with the sculptor Anne Marie Brodersen. Nielsen is especially noted for his six symphonies, his Wind Quintet and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. In Denmark, his opera Maskarade and many of his songs have become an integral part of the national heritage. His early music was inspired by composers such as Brahms and Grieg, but he soon developed his own style, first experimenting with progressive tonality and later diverging even more radically from the standards of composition still common at the time. Nielsen's sixth and final symphony, Sinfonia semplice, was written in 1924–25. He died from a heart attack six years later, and is buried in Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen.

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Alfredo Casella

The Italian composer and pianist Alfredo Casella was born into a family of musicians. His grandfather, father and brothers were professional cellists and his mother was a pianist. She gave Alfredo his first music lessons. In 1896 he entered the Paris Conservatory to study piano and composition. During his stay in Paris he became acquainted with composers such as Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and Igor Stravinsky. During the First World War, Casella returned to Italy, where he started teaching at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He also gave performances as a pianist. Casella is amongst the most famous piano virtuosos. In 1930 he formed the Trio Italiano, along with cellist Arturo Bonucci and violinist Alberto Poltrionieri,...
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The Italian composer and pianist Alfredo Casella was born into a family of musicians. His grandfather, father and brothers were professional cellists and his mother was a pianist. She gave Alfredo his first music lessons. In 1896 he entered the Paris Conservatory to study piano and composition. During his stay in Paris he became acquainted with composers such as Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and Igor Stravinsky.
During the First World War, Casella returned to Italy, where he started teaching at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He also gave performances as a pianist. Casella is amongst the most famous piano virtuosos. In 1930 he formed the Trio Italiano, along with cellist Arturo Bonucci and violinist Alberto Poltrionieri, which became well-known throughout Europe and America. His work as a pianist give rise to some of his best known compositions such as Nove Pezzi, A Notte Alta, and the Six Studies Op.70 However, Casella had his biggest success with his ballet La Giari, instead of piano music.
Casella was part of the so-called “generation of ‘80”, a group of Italian composers born around 1880, which concentrated on writing instrumental works, instead of operas The members of this generation were the dominant figures in Italian music after the death of Puccini in 1924.
Stylistically, Casella joined the Italian composers from the 17th and 18th centuries. He wrote mainly neoclassical works, and occasionally made use of the twelve-tone technique, aiming to combine style elements from the national past with those from the European present. Casella developed a personal style, rhythmically dance-like and motorial, and melodically inspired by south Italian folk music. His music is balanced and colorful.

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