Traum Und Schlaf

Ondine is proud to release these world premiere recordings of two new Zemlinsky arrangements by Richard Dünser (b. 1959) with Lapland Chamber Orchestra conducted by John Storgårds. The works of Austrian composer Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942) - much admired by composers such as Mahler, Schoenberg and Berg - have gained more attention during the last decades. He wrote only 27 works with an opus number, but several of them can be considered among 20th century masterpieces. In 2013 composer Richard Dünser (b. 1959), pupil of Francis Burt and Hans Werner Henze, made two new rich arrangements of works by Zemlinsky. Seven Songs of Night and Dream (Sieben Lieder von Nacht und Traum) is an orchestration of songs from opp. 2, 5, 6, 8 and 10 based on the themes of night and dream. In this recording the songs are sung by mezzo-soprano Jenny Carlstedt. Chamber Symphony is a 40-minute orchestration of Zemlinsky's String Quartet No. 2. In this orchestration the limitations of a string quartet is set free by using a larger ensemble. Zemlinsky's String Quartet contains references to the works of his most famous pupil, Arnold Schoenberg.

Certainly, the 'quietest time of year' is also the time when music is to be most frequently heard - not only in public, in shops or markets, but also in the countryside, where Christmas is the time when perhaps the most singing is done. The music author Marius Schneider once underlined this fact by writing:"God hungers for songs." And thus the time which celebrates the symbolic birth of the Lord is a great time for music - even for people who may have no direct religious beliefs. With this 5CD-Set Capriccio presents in total 100 Classical Christmas titles, sung by most famous choruses and soloists. And draws a bow from the high classical Christmas Oratorio by Bach to more simple songs from the country side. And of course the most famous song can't be missed: Silent Night, Holy Night.