Through the Night - Night Music from Renaissance to New / United Strings of Europe
Details
- Composer
- Maddalena Casulana, Carlo Gesualdo, Daniel Kidane, Henry Purcell, Arnold Schoenberg, Richard Strauss
- Artist
- United Strings Of Europe, Beibei Wang
- Format
- SACD
- Label
- BIS
- Released
- Oct 27, 2023
- Catalog #
- BIS-2589
- UPC
- 7318599925899
About
For their fourth release with BIS, the United Strings of Europe with their director Julian Azkoul present another innovative programme, dedicated this time to the night, a source of wonder and fascination, rich with metaphorical associations. The ensemble’s varied, tailor-made programme features counterpoint, aching dissonance and chromaticism from across a range of styles spanning nearly 500 years, from the Renaissance to the present day.
The album is built around two post-romantic masterpieces: Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen (here in an arrangement by Éric Mouret), a work composed during the final months of the Second World War that evokes destruction, mourning, nostalgia, but also hope for progress and transformation, and Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, based on a poem by Richard Dehmel, which, in a nocturnal dialogue between a man and a woman, shows the power of love that can overcome the greatest challenges. These two major works are joined by arrangements for strings of vocal pieces by Maddelena Casulana, Carlo Gesualdo and Henry Purcell, as well as a new work by Daniel Kidane, Be Still, featuring percussionist Beibei Wang, a reflection on recent years marked by lockdowns during which everyday markers, such as meeting with friends and family, travelling or attending concerts vanished.
Tracklist 6 tracks
-
1 Metamorphosen, TrV 290 (arr. É. Mouret for 16 string instruments) 25:38
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Metamorphosen, TrV 290 (arr. É. Mouret for 16 string instruments)
- Duration
- 25:38
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Ensemble
- United Strings of Europe
- Conductor
- Julian Azkoul
-
2 Morir non può il mio cuore (arr. S. Parkin for string orchestra) 06:26
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Morir non può il mio cuore (arr. S. Parkin for string orchestra)
- Duration
- 06:26
- Composer
- Maddalena Casulana
- Ensemble
- United Strings of Europe
- Conductor
- Julian Azkoul
-
3 Be Still 06:26
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Be Still
- Duration
- 06:26
- Composer
- Daniel Kidane
- Performer
- Beibei Wang
- Ensemble
- United Strings of Europe
- Conductor
- Julian Azkoul
-
4 Tristis est anima mea (arr. M. Wiancko for string sextet) 04:53
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Tristis est anima mea (arr. M. Wiancko for string sextet)
- Duration
- 04:53
- Composer
- Carlo Gesualdo
- Ensemble
- members United Strings of Europe
-
5 Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4 (version for string orchestra) 29:46
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4 (version for string orchestra)
- Duration
- 29:46
- Composer
- Arnold Schoenberg
- Ensemble
- United Strings of Europe
- Conductor
- Julian Azkoul
-
6 Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act III: When I am laid in earth, "Dido's Lament" (arr. L. Stokowski for cello and orchestra) 03:36
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act III: When I am laid in earth, "Dido's Lament" (arr. L. Stokowski for cello and orchestra)
- Duration
- 03:36
- Composer
- Henry Purcell
- Performer
- Raphael Lang
- Ensemble
- United Strings of Europe
- Conductor
- Julian Azkoul