Mark Beesley, Simon Joly Chorale, New York Woodwind Quintet, Philharmonia Orchestra, Robert Craft - Schoenberg, A.: Chamber Symphony No. 2 / Die Gluckliche Hand / Wind Quintet (2008)

Tracklist

01. Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38: I. Adagio
02. Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38: II. Con Fuoco
03. Die gluckliche Hand, Op. 18, Scene 1: Still, O Schweige
04. Die gluckliche Hand, Op. 18, Scene 2: Ja, O Ja! Das Bluhen, O Sehnsucht
05. Die gluckliche Hand, Op. 18, Scene 3: Das Kann Man Einfacher!
06. Die gluckliche Hand, Op. 18, Scene 4: Musstest Du's Wieder Erleben
07. Wind Quintet, Op. 26: I. Schwungvoll
08. Wind Quintet, Op. 26: II. Anmutig Und Heiter: Scherzando
09. Wind Quintet, Op. 26: III. Etwas Langsam (Poco Adagio)
10. Wind Quintet, Op. 26: IV. Rondo

The little-known Second Chamber Symphony ought to be the most popular of Schoenberg’s later masterpieces. Neither “atonal” nor “twelve-tone”, it contrasts a lush, melodious, dramatic first movement with a rapid and richly polyphonic second movement. Die glückliche Hand is a pantomime for two silent actors and one solo singer, “the Man”. The music is very compressed, and its two middle scenes, apart from the lines by the Man, are purely orchestral. Realising that a work of 38 minutes in atonal idiom for five winds might be less audience-friendly than any of his music heretofore, Schoenberg imparted his Wind Quintet with a display of instrumental virtuosity that surpassed anything even he had ever attempted.

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