Huijnen & Grotenhuis - Dance! (2015)

Tracklist
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01. Romanian Folk Dances op. 7
02. Slavonic Dance op. 46, no. 1
03. Humoresque op. 101 no. 7
04. Adagio
05. Three Hungarian Dances: Moderato assai e molto espressivo
06. Three Hungarian Dances: Allegro
07. Three Hungarian Dances: Presto con fuoco
08. Abodah (a Yom Kippur melody)
09. from Hungarian Dances: no. 6, Allegro
10. from Hungarian Dances: no. 7, Allegretto
11. from Hungarian Dances: no. 1, Allegro Molto
12. from Histoire du Tango: Cafe 1930
13. from Histoire du Tango: Nightclub 1960
14. Souvenir

‘Dance!’ features the seldom heard combination of violin and accordion. Not much repertoire has been composed for this pairing of instruments, so all of the varied music here - including well-known pieces by Brahms, Bartók, Dvorák and others - has been expertly arranged.

It’s performed by two top Dutch musicians: violin virtuoso Cécile Huijnen is first concert master of The Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra, a position she has held since 2000, and Marieke Grotenhuis is one of the foremost accordionists in the Netherlands.

The music ranges from the popular - Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, one of Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances and his Humoresque, and three Hungarian Dances by Brahms - to the rarely heard. The latter include Kodály’s Three Hungarian Dances, the inspiration for which was found early in his youth, from gipsy concerts in his birthplace Galantá, and a 1905 adagio originally written for a sonata for viola and piano.

‘Abodah’ was written by the Jewish-Swiss-American composer Ernst Bloch in 1929 for the then 12-year-old violinist Yehudi Menuhin. In his four-part ‘Histoire du Tango’ (two of the pieces are performed here), originally written for flute and guitar, Astor Piazzolla painted the musical history of the tango. The disc ends with ‘Souvenir’ by Slovakian-German composer Ladislav Kupkovic (b.1936), “a frivolous piece, with lots of fun and puns about violin techniques” in Cécile Huijnen’s description. Violinist Gidon Kremer has proven himself to be a real ambassador for the work, regularly performing it in concerts.

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