Joseph Achron: Violin Concerto/Golem Suite [Milken Archive of American Jewish Music]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Born in Lithuania and trained in St. Petersburg and Berlin, Joseph Achron (1886-1943) began his career as a violin prodigy, later also turning to composition. He became a leading member of the Russian Society for Jewish Folk Music but rejected the idea of a superimposed "Jewish style," striving instead to incorporate authentic traits of ancient Hebrew music, such as modal motifs and "cantillation" based on the chanting of Holy Scripture. The three works, recorded here for the first time, clearly demonstrate this. The Violin Concerto was written in 1927, shortly after Achron immigrated to America, and is dedicated to Jascha Heifetz (for whom Achron's brother Isidore worked as accompanist for some time). The first movement uses 15 "cantillation" motifs, mostly connected to the Book of Lamentations, which are combined and developed, giving it an episodic and pervasively mournful cast. The second movement, called "Improvisation" but fully written out, is based on two vivacious, optimistic Yemenite folksongs. Achron himself premiered it with the Boston Symphony under Koussevitzky. He must have been a formidable violinist: the solo part is extremely difficult, bristling with fast, often stratospheric passagework, double stops, chords, harmonics, and bravura cadenzas. The violin sighs, laments, sings, speaks, and dances. Elmar Oliveira plays it beautifully, with great virtuosity and a remarkably natural feeling for the style's irregular, chant-related accents, swiftly changing moods and emotional intensity. The orchestration is brilliantly colorful, strong on bass instruments, brass and percussion, as is the Suite Achron extracted from his incidental music to "The Golem," a play based on the ancient legend of the mysterious homunculus who must finally be destroyed. Basically tonal and conventional, its five movements feature a somber chorale (the Golem's creation), a wild march, a mournful lullaby, a spooky dance, and a return of the beginning in retrograde (the Golem's destruction). The two "Tableaux" are also re-worked from music for a play: the biblical story of Belshazzar's Feast. The first is calm, dignified, with a long violin solo, eerie flutes, strong basses; the second is a wild bacchanalia, with trilling flutes, booming basses, obsessively repeated figures, ebbing and rising dynamics culminating in a terrifying crash. --Edith Eisler

Fanfare
"Elmar Oliveira…achieves the sense of religious ecstasy that the score demands."

Album Description
"Dionysian imbalanced exaltation…from restless, mysterious meditation of strongly religious character to dizzying Dervish-like ecstasy" was how one newspaper critic described the 1927 premiere of Achron’s Violin Concerto No. 1. In fact, Achron filled his concerto with biblical cantillation melodies that have roots in Jewish antiquity. Mysterious legends of the past and biblical stories also inspired him to create exotic orchestral tone poems based on the Golem of Prague and Belshazzar’s Feast.

Joseph Achron: Violin Concerto/Golem Suite [Milken Archive of American Jewish Music]

Joseph Achron: Violin Concerto/Golem Suite [Milken Archive of American Jewish Music], Music, Joseph Achron, Gerard Schwarz, Joseph Silverstein, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, National Orchestra of Catalonia, Orchestr Ceská Filharmonie, Elmar Oliveira, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Concerto, Orchestral, Orchestral Music

Joseph Achron: Violin Concerto/Golem Suite [Milken Archive of American Jewish Music]
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Wonderful Variety of pieces

Joseph Achron: Violin Concerto/Golem Suite [Milken Archive of American Jewish Music]

Manufacturer: Milken Archive
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000DD77U
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Tracks:

Allegro Moderato
Improvisations Sur Deux Themes Yemeniques
Creation Of The Golem
The Golem's Rampage
The Fatigued Wanderer (Lullaby)
Dance Of The Phantom Spirits
Petrifying Of The Golem
Allegro Energico
Belshazzar's Feast

Amazon.com

Born in Lithuania and trained in St. Petersburg and Berlin, Joseph Achron (1886-1943) began his career as a violin prodigy, later also turning to composition. He became a leading member of the Russian Society for Jewish Folk Music but rejected the idea of a superimposed "Jewish style," striving instead to incorporate authentic traits of ancient Hebrew music, such as modal motifs and "cantillation" based on the chanting of Holy Scripture. The three works, recorded here for the first time, clearly demonstrate this. The Violin Concerto was written in 1927, shortly after Achron immigrated to America, and is dedicated to Jascha Heifetz (for whom Achron's brother Isidore worked as accompanist for some time). The first movement uses 15 "cantillation" motifs, mostly connected to the Book of Lamentations, which are combined and developed, giving it an episodic and pervasively mournful cast. The second movement, called "Improvisation" but fully written out, is based on two vivacious, optimistic Yemenite folksongs. Achron himself premiered it with the Boston Symphony under Koussevitzky. He must have been a formidable violinist: the solo part is extremely difficult, bristling with fast, often stratospheric passagework, double stops, chords, harmonics, and bravura cadenzas. The violin sighs, laments, sings, speaks, and dances. Elmar Oliveira plays it beautifully, with great virtuosity and a remarkably natural feeling for the style's irregular, chant-related accents, swiftly changing moods and emotional intensity. The orchestration is brilliantly colorful, strong on bass instruments, brass and percussion, as is the Suite Achron extracted from his incidental music to "The Golem," a play based on the ancient legend of the mysterious homunculus who must finally be destroyed. Basically tonal and conventional, its five movements feature a somber chorale (the Golem's creation), a wild march, a mournful lullaby, a spooky dance, and a return of the beginning in retrograde (the Golem's destruction). The two "Tableaux" are also re-worked from music for a play: the biblical story of Belshazzar's Feast. The first is calm, dignified, with a long violin solo, eerie flutes, strong basses; the second is a wild bacchanalia, with trilling flutes, booming basses, obsessively repeated figures, ebbing and rising dynamics culminating in a terrifying crash. --Edith Eisler

Album Description

"Dionysian imbalanced exaltation…from restless, mysterious meditation of strongly religious character to dizzying Dervish-like ecstasy" was how one newspaper critic described the 1927 premiere of Achron's Violin Concerto No. 1. In fact, Achron filled his concerto with biblical cantillation melodies that have roots in Jewish antiquity. Mysterious legends of the past and biblical stories also inspired him to create exotic orchestral tone poems based on the Golem of Prague and Belshazzar's Feast.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Variety of pieces.......2005-04-06

The Amazon editorial review covered much of what I wanted to say about this CD. The Violin concerto definitely needs to be heard. Despite the scholarly liner notes and review, these pieces are easily enjoyed, even though they do require concentration. All of the performers are stellar.
The Naxos Milken discs are affordable enough to be accessible to people who are interested in American Jewish music or those just intereted in new litening experiences.

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