Luxembourg

As both previous volumes in this series have shown, Luxembourg has a wealth of composers writing vibrant new orchestral scores. Featured on this third volume, Luc Grethen's Upswing is a crescendo of energy, while Ernie Hammes' Concertino No. I fuses jazz modes with classical patterns, and his West End Avenue evokes the atmosphere of an afternoon in New York. Catherine Kontz explores feminist ideas in The Waves, while Gast Waltzing allows his music to 'speak for itself'. Volume 1 (8.579059) was acclaimed as 'an outstanding disc by Fanfare, and Volume 2 (8.579116) showcases the music of Marco Pütz.

These five pieces – all written by Luxembourgeois composers within the past decade – draw on the flexible forces of Kammerata Luxembourg to generate a kaleidoscopic range of colours and textures. Though the music is unapologetically modernist in style, it is presented in instrumental combinations remarkable for their delicacy and gentle contours – in the aural equivalent of a walk through autumn woods.

Albert Hermann Dietrich is best known through his association with the Schumanns and his friendship with Brahms, but as this recording shows, his contribution to this circle’s artistic activities went further than promoting their works as music director at the small grand-ducal court of Oldenburg. The Symphony in D minor has a strong kinship with Brahms and was one of the most frequently performed new symphonies of its day, while the originality and variety of orchestral colour in the Violin Concerto are impressive enough to have earned it a place in the concert repertory.

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The symphonic universe of Henri Dutilleux is a fascinating one. Mysterious and poetic, always remarkably expressive, his music explores the thousand and one colours of the orchestra with unique mastery. Gustavo Gimeno and the Luxembourg Philharmonic give us a flamboyant reading of three masterpieces from the composer's first creative period, showcasing the superb cello playing of Jean-Guihen Queyras in Tout un monde lointain.

Albert Hermann Dietrich is best known through his association with the Schumanns and his friendship with Brahms, but as this recording shows, his contribution to this circle’s artistic activities went further than promoting their works as music director at the small grand-ducal court of Oldenburg. The Symphony in D minor has a strong kinship with Brahms and was one of the most frequently performed new symphonies of its day, while the originality and variety of orchestral colour in the Violin Concerto are impressive enough to have earned it a place in the concert repertory.