Composer: Josef Schelb
Orchestra: Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonie Baden-Baden
Conductor: Pavel Baleff, Paul Mann
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Release: 2018
Size: 636 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Movimento I
Music for Orchestra No. 3
02. I. Ruhig, doch fließend
03. II. Sehr lebhaft
04. III. Thema mit Variationen
Music for Orchestra No. 4
05. I. Bewegt (Live)
06. II. Sehr breit (Live)
07. III. Bewegt (Live)
Josef Schelb (1894–1977) is one of the better-kept secrets of German music. His output was substantial: he lost most of his early music in a bombing raid in 1942 but, as if to make up for lost time, wrote some 150 more works after that, in the tonally liberated, quasi-Expressionist contrapuntal tradition of Hindemith and Hartmann; Bartók was an important influence, too. The three pieces recorded here show Schelb capable of astonishing vitality in his mid- to late seventies: they display lean muscularity, freewheeling energy and luminous and transparent orchestration, often informed by bucolic nostalgia and lyrical melancholy.