Tout le génie de Korngold est déjà visible dans cette "Baby-Serenade" pleine de légèreté et d'humour, dont la qualité d'écriture et d'orchestration n'a rien a envier à Mahler ou Strauss. Un petit bijou !
The usual advice to avoid harmonizing saxophones in the orchestra to avoid a dance band sound is ignored here with excellent results. The French repertoire (and Russian, to a lesser extent) e.g. Ravel, Rachmaninoff, abounds with solo saxophones but here they are on display unapologetically as a solid section on their own, and blend well with winds as to be expected. But in solo unison with strings, the effect puts a fine sheen on the line in a unique way. I suppose the choice of vibrato is critical, but the entire piece looks like a real treat to play for the saxes- and for all involved. From the liner notes: The Baby Serenade shows Korngold before his film career and we can hear in it his skill at humor in music. The work begins with an overture to the chaos that will follow, Overture: Baby tritt in die Welt, Baby Come Into the World. Everyone then agrees in a song, Lied: Es ist ein braves Baby, It’s a Good Baby. We then have the very active Scherzino: Es hat auch die schönsten Spielsachen, It Also Has the Most Beautiful Toys. The surprising 4th movement takes us to a simple jazz theme, Jazz: Baby erzählt eine Geschichte, Baby Tells a Story. We close with the quiet at the end of the day, Epilogue: Und nun singt es sich in den Schlaf, And Now It Sings Itself to Sleep (with just a hint of a Christmas carol at the end).
![DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE [Taster w/ English Subtitles] by Erich Wolfgang Korngold](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hlrav6ktJN0/mqdefault.jpg)
The greatest orchestrator who ever lived
One of the most talented composers ever!!
Tout le génie de Korngold est déjà visible dans cette "Baby-Serenade" pleine de légèreté et d'humour, dont la qualité d'écriture et d'orchestration n'a rien a envier à Mahler ou Strauss. Un petit bijou !
The usual advice to avoid harmonizing saxophones in the orchestra to avoid a dance band sound is ignored here with excellent results. The French repertoire (and Russian, to a lesser extent) e.g. Ravel, Rachmaninoff, abounds with solo saxophones but here they are on display unapologetically as a solid section on their own, and blend well with winds as to be expected. But in solo unison with strings, the effect puts a fine sheen on the line in a unique way. I suppose the choice of vibrato is critical, but the entire piece looks like a real treat to play for the saxes- and for all involved.
From the liner notes:
The Baby Serenade shows Korngold before his film career and we can hear in it his skill at humor in music. The work begins with an overture to the chaos that will follow, Overture: Baby tritt in die Welt, Baby Come Into the World. Everyone then agrees in a song, Lied: Es ist ein braves Baby, It’s a Good Baby. We then have the very active Scherzino: Es hat auch die schönsten Spielsachen, It Also Has the Most Beautiful Toys. The surprising 4th movement takes us to a simple jazz theme, Jazz: Baby erzählt eine Geschichte, Baby Tells a Story. We close with the quiet at the end of the day, Epilogue: Und nun singt es sich in den Schlaf, And Now It Sings Itself to Sleep (with just a hint of a Christmas carol at the end).
This is so cool!
KORNGOLD YES
Better than Mozart's baby serenade "eine kleine nachtmusik"
Everything Korngold wrote is far better than Mozart's.