Guild's News Letter July 2013    Our new releases have now been posted on the Guild Website. Enjoy! Information and new releases from Guild     I.   GMCD 7395 - Fritz Brun: Symphony No. 1 & Overture to a Jubilee Celebration     II.   GMCD 7397 - Dances and Laments by Peter Fribbins     III.   GLCD 5207 - Ça C’est Paris     IV.   GLCD 5208 - The Lost Transcriptions - Vol. 4     V.   GHCD 2396 - Mitropoulos, Tchaikovsky 1954 & 1957     VI.   GHCD 2402 - Stokowski: Brahms, Wagner 1960 I. GMCD 7395 - Fritz Brun: Symphony No. 1 & Overture to a Jubilee Celebration The distinguished Lucerne-born composer Fritz Brun (1878-1959) was arguably the most important Swiss symphonist of the 20th-century, completing no fewer than ten symphonies in the course of his long life. This outstandingly-recorded new CD offers the world premiere recording of Brun's very First Symphony (completed in 1902), a work placed very much in the tradition of Brahms, whom Brun greatly admired. Here is a new voice in European symphonic music, standing to one side of the work of Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler, but at all times finely distinguished for its depth of musical expression. The much later Overture to a Jubilee Celebration (1950) was written for the inauguration of the new concert hall of Radio Berne, and shows the composer in his most joyful and attractive vein. To the CD.   II. GMCD 7397 - Dances and Laments by Peter Fribbins Dances and Laments is the new release from British composer Peter Fribbins, following two critically acclaimed Guild albums from 2010 and 2012. Renowned for his passionate and direct musical voice, Fribbins’s music convincingly mixes elements of traditional tonality and established forms, with contemporary ideas and approaches, to create a sound that is at once distinctive and deeply personal. Dominated by associations with poetry and painting, the new CD opens with The Zong Affair, a striking septet based on a painting by William Turner, expertly performed by the Turner Ensemble, comprised of principal players from the Royal Opera House and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Dances & Laments follows, played by the wonderful French duo Philippe Graffin and Henri Demarquette. Then come two further duos: That which echoes in eternity for cello and piano (after Dante); and Porphyria’s Lover for flute and piano (after Browning), again beautifully performed. The beguiling ‘Softly, in the dusk’ (after D.H. Lawrence) follows, sensitively executed by the Rosamunde Piano Trio. The disc ends with its only ‘abstract’ offering, a powerful Prelude and Fugue based on the English hymn tune ‘Cromer’, masterfully played by Michael Frith on the organ of Brentwood Cathedral. For more information click here.   III. GLCD 5207 - Ça C’est Paris The City of Paris was a favoured settlement for our ancestors over two thousand years ago, no doubt due to its position on the River Seine and the rich agricultural conditions in the surrounding area. All this contributed to a pleasant lifestyle, and it was hardly surprising that it became the largest city in the world by the 12th century, a position it retained until other developing nations eventually overtook it in size at the turn of the 18th century. But size is not always everything, and for centuries Paris was at the forefront of Europe’s leading centres of learning and the arts. As such it attracted the best scholars and artists, and this was certainly true in musical terms. Today’s inheritors of this proud tradition still carry on the unique French style that is not afraid to adapt, yet still manages to retain that certain ‘je ne sais crois’. This tribute to Paris confirms the spell it still exerts not only for its own musicians and composers (Franck Pourcel, Roger Roger and Michel Legrand are prime examples), but also the countless admirers from around the world who have fallen for its charms. Listen to soundclips.   IV. GLCD 5208 - The Lost Transcriptions - Vol. 4 For many people sound recordings probably just mean commercial recordings, offered for sale by record companies who have strived to anticipate what their potential customers will be willing to buy. But alongside the familiar commercial gramophone records, a large number of recordings were also being made to serve the needs of various sections of the entertainment business. Today it is often labelled ‘production music’ or ‘stock music’; it often came from the music publishers themselves who wanted their music to be used in the cinema, radio, television, newsreels, documentaries – in fact anywhere that music could play a useful part. Some larger radio stations also made special programmes to offer to other broadcasters around the world, who maybe couldn’t afford the cost of some of these lavish productions. These were usually referred to as ‘Transcriptions’. Four leading Light Orchestras provide the lion’s share of the music in this collection – David Rose, Mantovani, Sidney Torch and Percy Faith. In each case they have enjoyed international success with their numerous commercial recordings, and it may come as a surprise to some of their admirers to learn that they were also actively involved in making transcription recordings. Details you can find here.   V. GHCD 2396 - Mitropoulos, Tchaikovsky 1954 & 1957 The greatly-distinguished Greek-born conductor and pianist Dimitri Mitropoulos was one of the most widely-admired musicians in the immediate post-war period until his untimely death in 1960. From 1930, he was a welcome guest with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and in the late 1930s his career took a new turning on settling in the United States, where he became chief conductor of the Minneapolis and New York Philharmonic Orchestras. This outstanding new CD release of his performances of music by Tchaikovsky with the New York Philharmonic couples a truly superb account of the composer's Fifth Symphony with the brilliant Capriccio Italien, revealing Mitropoulos to have been one of the finest conductors of the Russian's music of his day. Excellent sound. To the CD.   VI. GHCD 2402 - Stokowski: Brahms, Wagner 1960 Since his death at the age of 95 almost forty years ago, the international appreciation of the art of Leopold Stokowski has undergone a transformation, to the point where he is now widely regarded as having been one of the greatest conductors of the twentieth century, with a discography spanning almost 60 years, for over 25 of those years as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He returned to that orchestra in 1960 for a series of concerts, from which come these magnificent performances of Brahms's First Symphony and Stokowski's own purely orchestral symphonic synthesis of Wagner's 'Tristan und Isolde'. The recording quality is outstanding, and the performances are suffused with a lifetime's understanding of this great music played by a great orchestra. Listen to the soundclips.   Do you have any queries on these fascinating and exciting releases? Contact us either by phone +41 52 742 85 00 or e-mail: info@guildmusic.com for a speedy reply. With best wishes from Switzerland Silvia & Kaikoo Lalkaka Guild GmbH, Moskau 314b, 8262 Ramsen, Switzerland www.guildmusic.com Click here to unsubscribe or to change your settings.