Weinberg Symphony 17

Composed in the 1980s, Mieczysław Weinberg’s Symphonies Nos. 17 to 19 were combined by the composer to form a trilogy. The overriding title Die Schwelle des Krieges (The Threshold of War) refers to the Second World War, and thus to the memories that Weinberg, a Polish Jew who found a new home in the Soviet Union, connected with it. Symphony No. 17 is prefixed with a motto from Anna Akhmatova (1898–1966), the Russian poetess who, like Weinberg, suffered under the Stalin régime and was only rehabilitated years later……..

Composed in the 1980s, Mieczysław Weinberg’s Symphonies Nos. 17 to 19 were combined by the composer to form a trilogy. The overriding title Die Schwelle des Krieges (The Threshold of War) refers to the Second World War, and thus to the memories that Weinberg, a Polish Jew who found a new home in the Soviet Union, connected with it. Symphony No. 17 is prefixed with a motto from Anna Akhmatova (1898–1966), the Russian poetess who, like Weinberg, suffered under the Stalin régime and was only rehabilitated years later…….

Weinberg is increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding composers of the second half of the twentieth century. His Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes is a concise medley of tunes that embrace folk influence, both melancholic and high spirited. Scored for a very large orchestra and a children’s choir, Symphony No 6 is a work of huge expression, anguished and dynamic, encompassing lament, circus gallops, burlesque, and a cataclysmic and heartrending slow movement.

During the 21st century, Mieczysław Weinberg’s reputation has become such that he might be considered as the third great Soviet composer after Prokofiev and Shostakovich. This album will only enhance the regard in which he is held. The ear-opener here is the 55-minute Symphony No. 21, a six-movement work from 1991 subtitled “Kaddish” (the Jewish prayer for the dead). Weinberg’s parents and sister were murdered by the Nazis, and this powerful utterance remembers all the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, conducting her own City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Kremerata Baltica, makes every note count in this magnificent performance. Symphony No. 2, for strings alone, is a perfect foil—transparent, ethereal, and, again, rich with personality.

One of the best-kept secrets of twentieth century Russian music is the work of Polish-born Soviet composer Moisey (Mieczyslaw) Weinberg, often spelled as Vainberg. Weinberg was born in a Warsaw ghetto to a family of itinerant Jewish theatrical performers. He made his debut as pianist at the age of ten, and by age 12 was studying at the Warsaw Conservatory. With the outbreak of war in 1939, Weinberg fled to Minsk, enrolling in the conservatory and studying with Vasily Zolotaryov. In 1943 Weinberg sent the score of his first symphony to Dmitry Shostakovich, who was impressed and arranged for Weinberg to be invited to Moscow under official approval. This was the beginning of their long friendship and of Weinberg's career as a Soviet composer.
Weinberg was the only member of his immediate family to survive the Nazi Holocaust. His father-in-law was executed as ……..

From Allmusic

Mieczysław Weinberg, born in Warsaw in 1919, became a close friend of Shostakovich in Moscow, after fleeing eastwards before the invading Nazis in 1939. His style has much in common with Shostakovich’s…….This recording pairs an early orchestral work, the suite Polish Tunes of 1950, with the last full orchestral symphony he was to complete, dedicated to the memory of those who died in the Warsaw Ghetto

Few composers can be said to be ‘citizens of nowhere’ and yet, exactly this moniker is appropriate for Mieczysław Weinberg. He was born and raised in Poland to a Jewish family, but for complex reasons spent the majority of his life in Soviet Russia. He had a prolific output(over 150 opus-numbered works, and more besides), but never reached international fame during his lifetime. Since his death in 1996, that has all changed. His powerful music speaks to generations, made all the more powerful by his emotive biography. Weinberg was born in December 1919; his father was a violinist and conductor for several Jewish theatres in Warsaw, and his mother was an actor and singer. After beginning piano, Weinberg showed great talent and began joining his father in the orchestra pit from the age of 11. He studied at the Warsaw conservatoire, and was even offered a scholarship to study in America.