18 June 2013

Mieczyslaw Weinberg - Sinfonietta No.1

I've been having some trouble with finding inspiration for blogposts because lately I have really only been listening to the same three composers over and over again (with some short excursions into others); Weinberg, Martinu and Shostakovich. And of course I'd like this blog to be diverse but hopefully this will be okay as well (and you can just go to 24classics for some diversity and excitement). So here's another post about the under-appreciated Mieczyslaw Weinberg! For those of you paying close attention I've actually posted this piece before, in the post on Spring Music. But I love it so much that I think it deserves some more attention, on its own.


Miecyslaw Weinberg - Sinfonietta No.1 (I Allegro risoluto and II Lento)
Played by the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice, cond. Gabriel Chmura


Sinfonietta No.1 (III Allegretto and IV Vivace).



The Sinfonietta No.1 was written in 1948, and Weinberg had already moved to Moscow at that time. It's heavily influenced by Jewish folk music, which you can hear very clearly throughout the work (look out for the clarinet solo in movement 2!). It's a wonderful piece to listen to and not particularly complicated or opaque but I feel like it has such a mesmerizing beauty to it. Some of Weinberg's symphonies are as dark and emotional as Shostakovich's, and this Sinfonietta is obviously quite a bit more uplifting. It's energetic and catchy and just really, really good. 

Other YPGTCM posts on Miecsyzlaw Weinberg: Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes

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