IDAGIO | Herrmann: Moby Dick - Sinfonietta 5059864509537

Featuring

Michael Schønwandt
Richard Edgar-Wilson
David Wilson-Johnson
DR SymfoniOrkestret
Danish National Radio Choir
Bernard Herrmann

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Composer Biography

Bernard Herrmann, though best known for film scores, always considered himself a composer who worked in films, not merely a 'film composer'.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Herrmann believed that real composers should welcome any opportunity to write music, including for film, radio, or television, and that disdaining such mediums could lead to oblivion.

Notable Performances

The premiere of Moby Dick was conducted by John Barbirolli with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra on April 11, 1940, and was considered by him to be the most important work he had heard from a young American composer.

Performer Biography

The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, which performs on this album, was founded in 1925 as a radio orchestra and is now based in the spectacular DR Concert Hall, inaugurated in 2009.

Recording & Production

This recording features the premiere of the original 1936 version of the Sinfonietta, as Herrmann died before a planned recording project of his revised works could be realized.

Composition History

Herrmann's Sinfonietta, his first published work, was never publicly performed in its original form and remained dormant until he used it as a model for parts of his famous Psycho film score.

Composition History

Herrmann's cantata Moby Dick was inspired by a discussion with Lucille Fletcher about an imaginary American composer, leading him to compose a 'musical Moby' himself.