Elgar-Britten-Warlock-Jenkins: Very British Metamorphosen Berlin & Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt

• Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934):
• 1 Elgar: Serenade for String Orchestra, Op. 20: I. Allegretto piacevole 03:17
• 2 Elgar: Serenade for String Orchestra, Op. 20: II. Larghetto 06:44
• 3 Elgar: Serenade for String Orchestra, Op. 20: III. Allegretto 02:37
• 4 Elgar: Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 1 (Arr. for Cello & Strings) 05:17
• 5 Elgar: Salut d'amour, Op. 12 (Arr. for Cello & Strings) 03:18
• 6 Elgar: 2 Pieces for Violin & Piano, Op. 13: I. Mot d'amour (Arr. for Cello & Strings) 02:26
• 7 Elgar: 2 Pieces for Violin & Piano, Op. 13: II. Bizarrerie (Arr. for Cello & Strings) 03:03
• 8 Elgar: 3 Pieces for Violin & Piano, Op. 4: I. Idylle (Arr. for Cello & Strings) 03:56
• 9 Elgar: Rosemary (Arr. for Cello & Strings) 03:16
• 10 Elgar: Carissima (Arr. for Cello & Strings) 04:19
• 11 Elgar: Adieu (Arr. for Cello & Strings) 02:20
• 12 Elgar: La Capricieuse, Op. 17 (Arr. for Cello & Strings) 05:00
• Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976): Simple Symphony, Op. 4:
• 13 Britten: Simple Symphony, Op. 4: I. Boisterous Bourrée 03:01
• 14 Britten: Simple Symphony, Op. 4: II. Playful Pizzicato 02:55
• 15 Britten: Simple Symphony, Op. 4: III. Sentimental Sarabande 08:46
• 16 Britten: Simple Symphony, Op. 4: IV. Frolicsome Finale 03:03
• Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930): Capriol Suite:
• 17 Warlock: Capriol Suite: I. Basse-Danse 01:11
• 18 Warlock: Capriol Suite: II. Pavane 01:59
• 19 Warlock: Capriol Suite: III. Tordion 01:04
• 20 Warlock: Capriol Suite: IV. Bransles 01:51
• 21 Warlock: Capriol Suite: V. Pieds-en-l'air 03:38
• 22 Warlock: Capriol Suite: VI. Mattachins 00:58
• Karl Jenkins (b. 1944):
• 23 Jenkins: Palladio: I. Allegretto 03:53
• Total Runtime 01:17:52

Info for Elgar-Britten-Warlock-Jenkins: Very British

The new recording is entirely dedicated to British music and offers a great selection of works by famous but also lesser-known composers: works by Edward Elgar (1857-1934), Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), Peter Warlock (1894- 1930) and Karl Jenkins (* 1944). The album opens with the earliest masterpiece, the famous Serenade in E minor for string orchestra by Edward Elgar (1857-1934), one of the greatest British composers and leading European composers of his generation. The hallmarks of Elgar's compositions also include flattering character pieces that often share elements of English folk music. For this recording, a selection of these pieces, which were originally written for violin, were rearranged for the cello by Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt and presented as world premiere recordings: Romance, Salut d'amour, Mot d'amour, Bizarrerie, Idylle, Rosemary, Carissima, Adieu and La Capricieuse can to a certain extent be viewed as "short stories" whose contents, associations and emotions are immediately apparent. Benjamin Britten is a central figure in 20th century British music. Metamorphosen Berlin has recorded its "Simple Symphony"; This symphony is one of the few purely orchestral works within Britten's extensive oeuvre and is based on eight themes from his childhood that were particularly close to the composer's heart. The album also features Peter Warlock's "Capriol Suite", which is based on six dances from the Renaissance. The six miniatures describe historical village scenes in a highly effective and virtuoso way. The last track on the album is the famous first movement of "Palladio" by Karl Jenkins, a homage to the Italian Renaissance architect of the same name: Andrea Palladio. "I am thrilled that Metamorphosen Berlin has recorded such a stunning version of my piece Palladio," said Karl Jenkins himself about this recording.

Previous Sony Classical recordings by Ensemble Metamorphosen Berlin under Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt received excellent reviews:

"The album 'Inspiration' is carried by the warm and intimate sound of the strings - a sound that can expand and narrow and yet remains a spectrum. Metamorphoses Berlin will be like a single great instrument. " (RBB Kulturradio)

"Enthusiasm ... 150% identification ... consistent and uncompromising ... tonal beauty and sound culture ... contrasts in this music are seldom realized in such detail." (For "Serenade", Fonoforum)

Metamorphosen Berlin
Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, conductor

Kammerphilharmonie Metamorphosen Berlin
Indira Koch and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt founded Metamorphosen Berlin in 2010. The musicians of the orchestra are members of leading orchestras in Berlin, reputed chamber musicians or winners of international competitions such as the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the International Lutoslawski Competition Warsaw, the International ARD Music Competition Munich, the Tonali competition Hamburg or German Music Competition. Since its foundation the Kammerphilharmonie Metamorphosen Berlin has performed in Germany, Spain and Switzerland with famous soloists, such as Gary Hoffman, Johannes Moser, Jens Peter Maintz, Frans Helmerson, Julius Berger, Young-Chang Cho and Ivan Martin. The Berlin composer Helmut Abel composed a special piece “Concertino” for the ensemble performed by the soloists Indira Koch (violin) and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt (cello). Metamorphosen Berlin also performed the world premiere of “Lumière” by Sören Nils Eichberg for two celli, led by the soloists Frans Helmerson and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt on November 16th 2017 on the occasion of the 10th death anniversary of Mstislav Rostropovitsch in the Konzerthaus Berlin. Sony Classical released the Metamorphosen Berlin first CD, “Inspiration”, in 2015 with works by Dvorak, Suk and Victor Herbert. In April 2017 the second CD, dedicated to works for strings by Peter Tchaikovsky, received high acclaim internationally and was awarded the Melomano de Oro in Spain.

Booklet for Elgar-Britten-Warlock-Jenkins: Very British