FUCHS, R.: Serenades Nos. 1 and 2 / Andante grazioso and Capriccio (Cologne Chamber Orchestra, C. Ludwig)
After his death in 1927, Robert Fuchs all but vanished from public consciousness. Yet here is a composer whom Brahms held in the highest esteem, and who could count Mahler, Wolf and Sibelius among his many talented pupils. This selection of music for string orchestra, written between Fuchs’s late twenties and early fifties, gives us an opportunity to reassess a neglected and influential figure of Austrian Romanticism. Under young German-born conductor Christian Ludwig, the internationally renowned Cologne Chamber Orchestra revives these delightful works with characteristically polished ease.
FUCHS, R.: Serenades Nos. 3, 4 and 5 (Cologne Chamber Orchestra, C. Ludwig)
‘A richly endowed composer, selfless teacher, and a rare human being’ proclaims Robert Fuchs’s memorial stone, and this esteem is reflected in his astonishing roster of pupils—Mahler, Sibelius, Wolf and Korngold among them. His own compositions, though, have been overlooked, unaccountably so on the evidence of these lovely Serenades. The Third is quite Brahmsian with a wonderfully bracing Hungarian finale. No 4 is a highly expressive and richly scored work, whilst No 5 casts its net yet wider—with anticipations of Mahler, and joyous references to the Vienna of the Strauss family. Serenades Nos 1 and 2 are available on Naxos 8.572222.
Tracks:
Serenade No. 1 in D Major, Op. 9
1. I. Andante 00:02:50
2. II. Tempo di menuetto 00:03:55
3. III. Allegro scherzando 00:04:38
4. IV. Adagio - Con molto espressione 00:03:13
5. V. Finale: Allegro 00:05:07
Serenade No. 2 in C Major, Op. 14
6. I. Allegretto 00:02:57
7. II. Larghetto 00:05:58
8. III. Allegro risoluto 00:03:07
9. IV. Finale: Presto 00:04:04
Serenade No. 3 in E Minor, Op. 21
1. I. Romanze: Andante sostenuto 00:04:21
2. II. Menuetto 00:05:50
3. III. Allegretto grazioso 00:07:36
4. IV. Finale alla Zingarese: Allegro con fuoco 00:04:16
Serenade No. 4 in G Minor, Op. 51
5. I. Andante sostenuto 00:04:23
6. II. Allegretto grazioso 00:04:09
7. III. Menuett: Moderato amabile 00:05:59
8. IV. Adagio 00:06:56
9. V. Finale: Allegro con fuoco 00:03:57
Serenade No. 5 in D Major, Op. 53
10. I. Adagio con espressione 00:05:11
11. II. Allegro grazioso 00:07:34
12. III. Allegretto amabile 00:03:13
13. IV. Finale: Allegro vivace 00:05:10