Composer: Johannes Brahms
Orchestra: Swedish Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Thomas Dausgaard
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Catalogue: BIS2383
Release: 2020
Size: 1.25 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
01. I. Allegro non troppo
02. II. Andante moderato
03. III. Allegro giocoso
04. IV. Allegro energico e passionato
21 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1 (Excerpts Arr. T. Dausgaard for Orchestra)
05. No. 2 in D Minor
06. No. 4 in F Minor
07. No. 8 in A Minor
08. No. 9 in E Minor
09. No. 17 in F-Sharp Minor
10. No. 18 in D Major
11. No. 19 in B Minor
12. No. 20 in E Minor
13. No. 21 in E Minor
14. Tragic Overture, Op. 81 (Version for Orchestra)
Begun in 2012 with the release of Symphony No. 1, Thomas Dausgaards four-volume traversal of the symphonies of Johannes Brahms is here brought to a close with the composers final work in the genre.
The E minor Symphony is sometimes described as Brahms elegiac symphony, and has been called one of the greatest orchestral works since Beethoven. Typical for the composer is the striking degree of motivic relationships throughout the work. This includes the finale in which Brahms demonstrates his full mastery in a towering Passacaglia consisting of 30 variations and a coda. The smallish forces of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra contribute to a transparency and clarity which bring out the finer details of Brahms compositional web.
As on previous instalments, the symphony is coupled with other works by Brahms. Included on the present recording is another late work, Tragic Overture, which concludes the programme. These two serious works frame some of the most rousing and ebullient music Brahms ever wrote, namely his Hungarian Dances. Composed for piano four-hands, the 21 dances became immensely popular, and Brahms arranged three of them for orchestra himself.
Having made his own orchestrations of the remaining eighteen dances, Thomas Dausgaard has recorded the full set for his Brahms cycle, with the final nine dances included here.