Modest Musorgsky. ‘Songs and Dances of Death’. Instrumentation for voice and orchestra
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Opus SO -
1962
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Premiere:12 November 1962
Gorky (now Nizhni Novgorod); Galina Vishnevskaya, Gorky Philharmonic Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich. -
First publication:Muzyka, No. 3362, 1966, full score -
Manuscripts:Handwritten copy of the score preserved at TsGALI. Score and parts stored at the Music Fond of USSR.
Modest Musorgsky. ‘Songs and Dances of Death’. Instrumentation for voice and orchestra
Op. SO
Form:
Orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky’s song cycle for voice and piano, written in 1875 (Nos. 1, 2, and 3) and 1877 (No. 4) to poems by Count
Arseni Golenishchev-Kutuzov, for symphony orchestra (with harp):
1. Lullaby—Lento doloroso
2. Serenade—Moderato
3. Trepak—Lento assai Tranquillo
4. The Warrior Captain (or ‘The Field Marshal’)—Vivo-alla guerra
Instrumentation:
2 flutes (II = piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (A and B flat;
II = bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (II = contrabassoon) ~ 4 horns, 2 trumpets,
3 trombones, tuba ~ timpani, side drum, cymbals, gong ~ harp ~ 1st violins
(12–16), 2nd violins (10–14), violas (8–12), cellos (8–12), double-basses
(6–10 five-string specified).
Composed: Orchestrated on 31 July 1962, at Solotcho village near Ryazan.
Dedication: Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (soprano).
English translation of the poems by Joan Pemberton Smith.
Duration: 18' 29"–22' 59".
- CD—BMG Melodiya 74321 53237-2. Complete cycle. Galina VISHNEVSKAYA (soprano), Gorky Philharmonic Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich. P Gorky concert 9 Feb. 1963, I 1998.
- LP—USSR: Melodiya D021567-8 (mono) Nos. 1, 2, and 3. Aleksandr VEDERNIKOV (bass), Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Mark Ermler. P 1968.
- LP and CD—HMV ASD 3436 (quad). Complete cycle. G. VISHNEVSKAYA (soprano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, M. Rostropovich. P 1977, G Feb. 1978. Reissued on CD—EMI CMS5 65716-2 (three-disc set). I Nov. 1995, G Sept. 1996 ~ *EMI Great Recordings of the Century 5 62653-2. [Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky.] G Awards (Oct.) 2003.
- CD—France: Auvidis Valois V 4623. Complete cycle. Dmitri PETKOV (bass), Lorraine Philharmonic Orchestra, Jacques Houtmann. P Pont-a-Mousson Oct. 1988, I 1990.
- LP and CD—USSR: Melodiya SUCD10 00139 (No. 43 in series ‘Anthology of Russian Symphonic Music’). Complete cycle. Irina ARKHIPOVA (mezzo-soprano), USSR Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeni Svetlanov. P 1989, I 1991a. Reissued on CD—USA: Moscow Studio Archives MOS 20019.
[Mussorgsky/Ravel.] I 2004.
- CD—RCA Victor Red Seal RD 60195. Complete cycle. Sergei LEIFURKUS (baritone), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Temirkanov. P Walthamstow 1 Mar. 1990, 1 Nov. 1990, G Mar. 1992.
- Deutsche Grammophon 437 785-2GH. Complete cycle. Brigitte FASSBÄNDER (mezzo-soprano), Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi. P Gothenburg May 1992, I Oct. 1993, G Feb. 1994.
- Philips 438 872-2PH. Complete cycle. Dmitri HVOROSTOVSKY (baritone), Kirov Orchestra, Valery Gergiev. P St Petersburg Jan. 1993 ~ Decca 475 7643 (‘Dmitry Hvorostovsky Portrait’, second of two-disc set). [Handel, Gluck, Vivaldi et al.] I June 2006.
- Sony Classical SK 66276. Complete cycle. Anatoli KOCHERGA (bass), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado. P Berlin 7–30 Nov. 1993, I Dec. 1994.
- EMI CDC5 55232-2. Complete cycle. Robert LLOYD (bass), Philadelphia Orchestra, Mariss Jansons. [Op. 93.] P Philadelphia Mar. 1994, I Mar. 1995, G June 1995.
- Decca 458 919-2DH. Complete cycle. Sergei ALEKSASHKIN (bass), Duain Wolfe (chorus-master), Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti. P Chicago 20–29 Mar. 1997, I Oct. 1998, G May 1999 ~ *Australia: Decca Eloquence 442 8235 (two-disc set). [Op. 113; Musorsky/Rimsky-Korsakov.]
I 2007.
- Warner Classics 2564-62050-2. Complete cycle. Dmitri HVOROSTOVSKY (baritone), St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Y. Temirkanov. [Rakhmaninov.] P Royal Albert Hall, London concert, 24 Aug. 2004, I 2005.
Year
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