Amsterdam Sinfonietta, comprising 22 string players, performs without a conductor, which distinguishes them from 'regular' chamber orchestras and requires high involvement from all musicians.
Composition History
Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings began as rough sketches for a new symphony but ended up as the four-movement serenade.
Composition History
Arensky composed his three-movement Second String Quartet in memory of his friend Tchaikovsky, using an unusual instrumentation of one violin, a viola, and two cellos for darker tone colors.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Tchaikovsky wrote his Serenade for Strings 'from inner compulsion' and as a homage to W.A. Mozart, who also wrote many serenades.
Performer Biography
Amsterdam Sinfonietta's first artistic director, Lev Markiz, was Russian and introduced many works by Russian composers, including some hardly known in the West.
Instruments
Candida Thompson, the artistic director and first violinist, performs on a Guarneri del Gesù violin.
Performer Biography
Candida Thompson, the artistic director and first violinist, studied with renowned pedagogue David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
You might also enjoy...
Schoenberg & Honegger
20th Century Classics: Hindemith
The Copland Collection: Early Orchestral Works (CD #1: 1923 - 1928 & CD #2: 1929 - 1935)
Riisager: The Symphonic Edition, Vol. 2
Elsa Barraine: Symphonies 1 & 2
Walter Kaufmann: Piano Concerto No. 3
Ives: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4, The Unanswered Question & Central Park in the Dark
Ives: The Unanswered Question & Holidays Symphony & Central Park in the Dark & The Gong on the Hook and Ladder & The Circus Band
Baltic Portraits
Bacevicius: Orchestral Music
Shostakovich: 3 Chamber Symphonies
Glière: Symphonies Nos. 1-3
Stravinsky: Symphonies / Ode
Frankel: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 / A Shakespeare Overture / Overture to a Ceremony
