SKU: BT.EMBZ810

English-German-Hungarian.

Ferenc Vecsey (1893-1935) was one of the greatest virtuoso violinists of the early twentieth century. He was soon noticed as a child prodigy, and after his early violin lessons from his father, he became a pupil of Hubay. His first known public appearance was at the age of 6 in Tátraszéplak (Tatranská Polianka), and a few years later in Berlin he made his debut abroad. There he heard the elderly maestro József Joachim, who was astonished at the talented boy's playing. So started the young Vecsey's performing career: he gave a dozen or so concerts in Germany, then followed a series of concert tours all over the world (in 1906 in Spain, Bartók was his accompanist). From1907, his permanent place of residence between concerts was Berlin, where he began to study harmony and counterpoint. Soon he began composing himself, mainly writing virtuoso pieces for his own concerts, of which the Valse triste became the most famous. Other musicians were also happy to include this short character piece in their programmes.Vecsey later settled in Italy. He died unexpectedly at the young age of 42.

SKU: BR.EB-9413

ISBN 9790004188873. 9 x 12 inches.

For a long time after Romanticism had come to the fore, it was generally agreed that Brahms somehow did not get it: History and Progress - it was thought - were proceeding along one clear path and Brahms - who was composing sonatas and symphonies instead of nocturnes and symphonic poems - had taken the wrong way. Almost one century later, Schonberg wrote an essay, Brahms, der Fortschrittliche (Brahms, the progressive), in which he explained that it wasn't like that at all.Fully assuming the risk to appear somehow irreverent, I have to confess: Over the years, I came to the conclusion that the present - and the future - can be created only by loving the past. As Brahms had shown us, it is only by accepting the challenge of taking our heritage into our own hands, that we can create something new. We cannot avoid engaging with the past. Therefore, starting with my Sinfonia n. 1, I began to flirt with such a strong and effective musical structure like the sonata form. I re-read and freely transformed it, because it is a sturdy and resilient structure, but also a theatrical and colorful one. For me, it is a happy structure. And I think that today more than ever we need something like this: We need to find places - even imaginary ones - where we can give happiness a form of its own.Nicola Campogrande, December 2020

World premiere: Bologna/Italy, Streaming, April 11, 2021Commissioned by the Fondazione Musica Insieme.

SKU: MA.EMR-50576

1. Winner's Glory / 2. Spring Joy / 3. Sirtaki / 4. Tune For Happy Hours / 5. Gospel.