Even though the orchestra doesn’t start up again until Friday (rehearsing for the Joan Rivers special on Saturday), I’ve got another orchestra (quasi) gig going on this week. It’s a recording project with Ken Selden, conductor of the Portland State University Orchestra, and it’s pretty unusual. We’re working on Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, but a version that was arranged for chamber ensemble in 1921 by Erwin Stein, and Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, arranged by Benno Sachs, both of whom were members of Arnold Schoenberg’s Society for Private Musical Performances, which took large scale compositions of modern music, and distilling them into chamber-sized orchestrations that could be appreciated in small, private house concerts. Should be a very interesting week of playing two very familiar pieces in very unfamiliar versions.
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8 replies on “chamber mahler”
Hey, that’s the Northwest Sinfonietta! And me! Hi Charles! Have a great time with your recording project. That Mahler is really fun to play.
@Heather – yes, it is a lot of fun – and it was cool to find NWS and you on YouTube! Did you perform the piece? That appeared to be a rehearsal or run-through, judging by the formal attire. The 2nd mvt of the Mahler is particularly fun, though tricky!
Is the rest of the Mahler available anywhere? Wonderful playing!
Two pieces that are immediately identifiable within one second from the sound of the first note played by a solo instrument: The flute in the aforementioned … Afternoon of a Fawn, and the snare drum in Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra overture.
@ Charlie – although the snare drum could indicate the Star Spangled Banner…
[…] Noble Viola, this kind of wacky chamber version of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un […]
i love those 2 arrangements.
i first heard them on a superb third angle concert several years ago.
looking forward to listening onward . . .
Mahler 4 is the next piece we’re doing in orchestra at school, and this version really sheds some light on how the piece fits together. Interesting!!!