Coda Finale

By far the largest collection of concert etudes in the known repertoire, Kaikhosru Sorabji’s set of 100 Transcendental Studies, composed between 1940 and 1944, has a total duration of more than eight hours. On five previous discs, the Swedish pianist (and neuroscientist) Fredrik Ullen has introduced the first 83 etudes to a wider audience, the large majority of them appearing on disc for the first time. Now, 15 years after the release of the first volume comes the final installment, a 2-album set with the last 17 studies. In his own liner notes, Ullen describes the experience of learning and recording the collection: ‘From the F sharp minor of Study 1 to the F sharp minor chord concluding Study 100: traversing Sorabji’s Transcendental Studies has been somewhat like joining a comet following a long eccentric orbit through pianistic outer space, and finally returning back to mother earth.’

The Overture, Scherzo and Finale (German: Ouverture, Scherzo und Finale) in E major is a work for symphony orchestra by Robert Schumann. It is his opus 52, and was written in 1841. Schumann originally considered it his second symphony. The work is in three movements: An overture (Andante con moto in E minor[- Allegro in E major and 2:2 time) (sketched and completed in April 1841); A scherzo (Tempo: Vivo), in 6:8 time and in C♯ minor, whose theme is based on that of the overture. It has a trio section in D♭ major, in contrasting 2:4 time[5] whose material reappears as the coda of the movement; Finale (Allegro molto vivace) (orchestrated around May 1841). The Overture, Scherzo and Finale was received tepidly by critics, was revised in 1845[2] and published the next year, with a dedication to Johannes Verhulst.

Howard Shelley’s light touch, fresh and colourful orchestral playing, and excellent recording, make this very well worth hearing on its own account, not simply as a rediscovered rarity.