Category Archives: Orchestral

On Record: Gabriel Schwabe, Sinfonieorchester Aachen / Christopher Ward – Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations, Romeo & Juliet etc (Naxos)

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Gabriel Schwabe (cello), Sinfonieorchester Aachen / Christopher Ward

Tchaikovsky
Variations on a Rococo Theme Op. 33 (1876) – original version
Pezzo capriccioso in B minor Op.62 (1887)
Nocturne in D minor Op.19/4 (1873, arr. 1888 by composer)
Canzonetta in G minor Op.35/2 (1878, arr. 2025 by Schwabe)
Valse sentimentale Op.51/6 (1882, arr. 2019 by Schwabe)
Fantasy Overture, Romeo and Juliet (1870 version)

Naxos 8.574741 [56’45”]
Producer / Engineer Patrick Lemmens

Recorded 14 September 2018 (Romeo and Juliet) and 23-26 May 2025 at Eurogress, Aachen

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Naxos issues its latest recording by Gabriel Schwabe, featuring Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, alongside arrangements for cello and orchestra and a first recording of Romeo and Juliet in its second version, with the Aachen Symphony Orchestra and Christopher Ward.

What are the performances like?

Although long ago published and recorded on numerous occasions, the original version of the Rococo Variations still lags behind that made by Wilhelm Fitzhagen for whom it was written, and who shamelessly pointed up those opportunities for virtuosity at odds with the essentially Classical poise of Tchaikovsky’s own conception. Opting for the original, Schwabe makes the most of its innate formal or expressive modesty while never neglecting the element of display as surfaces in the guise of a playful humour not so often associated (though hardly unknown) with this composer. In particular the eighth variation, summarily omitted by Fitzhagen, has a genial animation that makes for a far more fitting segue into the coda – hence seeing through to its close a work whose keen lack of pretence is out of all proportion to its musical rewards.

Tchaikovsky finished one other piece for cello and orchestra, Pezzo capriccioso veering from moodiness to recalcitrance with its deftness much in evidence. Also here are his arrangement of the Nocturne from the Op. 19 piano pieces, pensive and soulful, together with Schwabe’s idiomatic takes on the Violin Concerto’s Canzonetta and wistful Valse Sentimentale from the Op. 51 piano pieces. Odd, however, that Tchaikovsky’s cello arrangement of the Andante cantabile from his First Quartet has been omitted as there was more than enough room for it; as there was for two song transcriptions – namely Legend, the fifth of his Op. 54 set, and Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass?, the seventh of his Op. 47 set – the composer also devised and which would have helped to place what is heard here in a wider, more balanced perspective.

What has been included is the second version of the fantasy overture Romeo and Juliet with (surprisingly?) its first commercial recording. Those familiar with the 1869 original will find this much closer to the third and definitive version from 1880 with the masterly introduction now in place (albeit its climax slightly underscored) then a very different lead-in (not a little akin to Balakirev) to the coda, which here seems rather over-protracted next to that of eight years later. All the right pieces are here, just in a different and ultimately less effective order.

Does it all work?

As a programme, it does. Certainly the Rococo Variations is much more effective a creative entity as Tchaikovsky conceived it, so making his reluctance to overrule Fitzhagen the more perplexing, while the other pieces with cello afford ready-made encore material Schwabe no doubt includes in his own concerts. Ward and his Aachen forces accompany sympathetically, before coming into their own with Romeo and Juliet – a fascinating intermediate version that, for all its failings, was worth making available to Tchaikovsky afficionados in this recording.

Is it recommended?

Indeed so. The performances are never less than well-attuned to the music and lack nothing in conviction, enhanced with weightily immediate sound and insightful booklet annotations. Those attracted (and why not?) to this programme should not hesitate to acquire this release.

Listen / Buy

You can listen to excerpts and explore purchase options at the Naxos website. Click on the names to read more about cellist Gabriel Schwabe, conductor Christopher Ward and the Sinfonieorchester Aachen

Published post no.2,900 – Thursday 28 May 2026

On Record – Plural Ensemble / Fabian Panisello: Philip Cashian: Chamber Concertos, Dances & Nocturnes, The Distance of Night (IBS Classical)

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Plural Ensemble / Fabian Panisello, Duncan Gifford (piano)

Philip Cashian
Chamber Concerto no.2 (2023)
Dances and Nocturnes (2020)
The Distance of Night (2022)
Chamber Concerto (1995)

IBS Classical IBS232025 [54’27”]
Producer Paco Moya Engineer Cheluis Salmerón

Recorded 9-10 November 2024 at 3-25 March 2021 at Auditorio Conservatorio Profesional de Getafe, Madrid

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

The enterprising IBS Classical label issues a new album devoted to music by Philip Cashian (b.1963), perceptively realized by the Madrid-based Plural Ensemble with Fabian Panisello while affording a viable overview of this composer over almost three decades of creativity.

What’s the music like?

This programme is framed, albeit in reverse order, with Cashian’s chamber concertos written 28 years apart. What might now be designated the First Chamber Concerto remains one of its composer’s most significant works; a single movement whose 15 continuous sections unfold less as variations on ideas heard at the outset than as variants of each other in what becomes a constant and far-reaching metamorphosis. Resourcefully and often iridescently scored, it is a notable addition to a sub-genre which has accrued more than its share of innovative pieces.

Although it consists of four distinct (if more or less continuous) movements and is scored for similar forces (13 instead of 16 players), the Second Chamber Concerto underlines the sheer consistency of Cashian’s idiom over the intervening period. While each of these movements bears a descriptive title (derived from those of paintings in the first two instances), the music is no less sufficient on its own terms; arguably more so, given that symphonic density which emerges across its entirety while ensuring an ongoing momentum and a satisfying resolution.

In between, two smaller-scale though not necessarily slighter pieces testify to this composer’s versatility. Scored for piano quartet, Dances and Nocturnes pivots constantly between relative stasis and dynamism; its contrasted episodes making adept use of various sub-groupings, with not just the piano being given its due in several soloistic passages. Whether or not any ‘extra-musical’ aspect is at play, moreover, the ending is one of the most evocative, even ‘imagistic’ in Cashian’s output: a landscape of the mind which feels no less tangible through its being so.

Cashian’s various pieces for solo piano are mainly brief and/or with a didactic intention, but not The Distance of Night – an ‘in memoriam’ to Simon Bainbridge (colleague and erstwhile teacher) and one from 200 pieces commemorating the bicentenary of the Royal Academy of Music, where Cashian has been Head of Composition for almost two decades. What emerges is a slow barcarolle whose emotional intensification is achieved despite, or even because of, consistently restrained dynamics such as impart elusiveness and insubstantiality to the music.

Does it all work?

Indeed it does. Understated it might be, Cashian’s music is resourceful and engaging while never less than idiomatically written for the forces at hand. Music, then, which deserves the widest dissemination and summons a ready response from the Plural Ensemble with Fabian Panisello, a noted composer in his own right. The CD is as stylishly packaged as are all IBS releases, and the booklet features detailed notes about each work by Louise Drewett, but it seems a pity the PE’s individual members (not even pianist Duncan Gifford) could not have been listed.

Is it recommended?

Very much so, not least when the sound could hardly be bettered in terms of spaciousness or definition. Those who have previous albums devoted to Cashian (2000’s Dark Inventions and 2023’s The House of Night, both NMC) should waste no time in acquiring this latest release.

Listen / Buy

This album is released on Friday 5 June 2026, You can listen to excerpts and explore purchase options at the Presto Music website. Click on the names to read more about composer Philip Cashian, the Plural Ensemble, pianist Duncan Gifford and their conductor Fabian Panisello

Published post no.2,892 – Tuesday 19 May 2026

On Record – Soloists of the English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods: Mahler arr. Simon: Symphony no.9 (ESO Records)

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Soloists of the English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods

Mahler arr. Simon Symphony no.9 in D major (1908-09, arr. 2007)

ESO Records ESO2602 [76’52”]
Producer Phil Rowlands Engineer Tim Burton

Recorded 23-25 March 2021 at Wyastone Concert Hall, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

The English Symphony Orchestra continues releases for its ESO Records label with Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, arranged by Klaus Simon and thereby continuing a lineage pioneered by the Society for Private Musical Performances established by Schoenberg after the First World War.

What’s the music like?

Schoenberg tackled Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and Erwin Stein his Fourth Symphony, but neither is as ambitious as that of the Ninth arranged here for single strings and woodwind (these latter with doublings), two horns, trumpet, one percussionist, piano and harmonium.

Whatever the logistical disparity between original and arrangement, the music’s textural and motivic content remain intact. This is evident from the opening Andante comodo, its formal trajectory of interlocking arcs made explicit so its long-term expressive intensification feels no less tangible. To this end, piano or harmonium contribute much more than merely filling-out the texture; articulating and reinforcing its harmonic profile through to a coda clinching the overall tonal journey with a serenity more poignant for its remaining, as yet, unfulfilled.

The ensuing Ländler emerges no less lucidly overall, with Kenneth Woods (rightly) resisting any temptation to point up emotional contrast across a movement whose deceptive blitheness of spirit is only gradually undermined. Equally notable is the way that Simon has emphasized contrasts in timbre and texture, with the music ultimately fragmenting into a bemused parody of how it began. More questionable is the Rondo-Burleske where Woods’s underlying tempo in its outer sections, while enabling the music’s contrapuntal intricacy to emerge unimpeded, is a little too dogged to convey the assaultive quality Mahler surely intended. This is less of an issue in the central trio whose aching regret is potently captured; the stealthy regaining of tension no less evident before the final section propels this movement to its anguished close.

No such issues affect the final Adagio – its equivocation only relative now that the complete Tenth Symphony has been accepted into the Mahler canon, yet remaining a test of all-round cohesion such as this account renders with unwavering conviction. Having finely gauged the balance between its starkly contrasted episodes, Woods assuredly controls the winding down of tension towards a coda of inward rapture despite its sparseness of gesture, while affording that speculative closing interplay of solo strings the necessary temporal and emotional space.

Does it all work?

Yes it does, not least through persuading the listener that such a reduction is worthwhile not merely out of contingency alone. It should hardly need to be added the playing from this 19-strong ensemble, drawn from the ranks of the English Symphony Orchestra, is consistently attuned to the essence of this music, while also making the strongest case possible for what is a methodical while empathetic arrangement. No-one having heard it is likely to feel short-changed as to the relevance of Mahler Nine on its own terms or to the symphonic literature.

Is it recommended?

Yes it is, an impressively conceived and executed reading which demonstrates the efficacy of this arrangement to moving effect. Note too that Woods’ performance of the Ninth Symphony at this year’s Colorado MahlerFest will be available from its own in-house label in due course.

Listen / Buy

You can listen to excerpts and explore purchase options at the Presto Music website. Click on the names to read more about the English Symphony Orchestra, conductor Kenneth Woods and arranger / composer Klaus Simon

Published post no.2,891 – Monday 18 May 2026

On Record – Iain Quinn, English Symphony & String Orchestras / Kenneth Woods: Works for Organ and Orchestra (ESO Records)

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Iain Quinn (organ), English Symphony Orchestra (Hindemith), English String Orchestra / Kenneth Woods

Hindemith Kammermusik no.7 Op.46/2 (1927)
Pinkham Sonatas for Organ and Strings: no.1 (1966); no.2 (1966); no.3 (1987)
Poulenc Concerto in G minor for Organ, Strings and Timpani FP93 (1934-8)

ESO Records ESO2601 [62’44”]
Producer Phil Rowlands Engineer James Walsh

Recorded 1-3 April 2025 at Merton College Chapel, Oxford

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

The English Symphony Orchestra (and its ‘String Orchestra’ incarnation) continues releases on its ESO Records label with a collection of works for organ and orchestra featuring the industrious Iain Quinn, and which includes the first recordings of two organ sonatas by Daniel Pinkham.

What’s the music like?

Much the most often heard organ concerto (as opposed to organ symphony), that by Poulenc never fails to entertain and provoke: a judicious synthesis of musical past and present, high- and low-art, the serious and skittish – all given focus by its composer’s tendentious sense of style. It certainly sounds cohesive on this persuasive recording, Quinn alive to those reckless expressive contrasts and Kenneth Woods shaping its seven continuous sections into a logical yet purposeful whole. The relatively lengthy third section emerges as a ‘slow movement’ of encroaching pathos, and only the sixth disappoints with its ‘music-hall’ aspect rather muted. What is never in doubt is the seriousness of Poulenc’s response to tragic circumstances and his aspiring towards a transcendence that is cursorily denied by those fateful final gestures.

Interestingly, the seventh and final of Hindemith’s Kammermusik itself finds its composer at something of an aesthetic crossroads as regards that trenchant objectivity of the music from his early maturity then the greater emotional range of what followed. Certainly, its opening movement has a vigour but also self-containment duly leavened in the slow movement with its eloquent enfolding of the soloist into the orchestral texture; the finale fusing elements of the preceding on route to a peroration whose expressive force is a sure marker for the future.

Interest naturally alights on music by Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006), the American composer and organist who, based largely in Boston, wrote extensively in most genres while being best known for his choral and organ music. The three works heard here are ‘Church Sonatas’ akin to those from the Baroque and Classical eras, notably the 17 such pieces Mozart wrote in the 1770s. While the First Sonata is an appealing Andante, the Second Sonata contrasts its more inward Andante with a capering Allegro; the Third Sonata duly extended to four movements with its ingratiating Allegro and animated final Vivace framing a quizzical Allegretto and an Andante whose wistful poignancy makes it the highlight from among these pieces. Music for which Quinn evidently feels real affinity, rendered here with the necessary poise and finesse.

Does it all work?

Almost always. Among the most inclusive of present-day organists in terms of his repertoire, Quinn is an assured exponent throughout while receiving steadfast support from Woods and the ESO. Sound does full justice to the Dobson Organ of Merton College Chapel, even if the reverberant acoustic is not ideally suited to the Hindemith as this affects the music’s textural pungency or its overall assertiveness. Even so, both this and the Poulenc can hold their own with earlier recordings, while that of the Pinkham should prove difficult to surpass in future.

Is it recommended?

Indeed so. The booklet features detailed notes about each work by Guy Rickards, along with pertinent observations about this organ in the context of those ‘Neoclassic Instruments’ built in quantity, most notably North America, following the Second World War. Fascinating stuff!

Listen / Buy

You can listen to excerpts and explore purchase options at the Presto Music website. Click on the names to read more about organist Iain Quinn, conductor Kenneth Woods, the English String / Symphony Orchestra and composer Daniel Pinkham

Published post no.2,890 – Sunday 17 May 2026

On this day in 1946 – Charles Ives premieres

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by Ben Hogwood. Image courtesy of Wikipedia

On this day, 80 years ago, an important concert featuring premieres by Charles Ives took place at the McMillin Theatre, Columbia University, New York City.

Three works were given their premieres by a group of graduate students from the Juilliard School – two short pieces for orchestra, The Unanswered Question and Central Park In The Dark, and the String Quartet no.2. Listened in sequence they give insight into Ives’s originality as a composer, which shines as brightly today as it did then:

Published post no.2,884 – Monday 11 May 2026