Johann Strauss II - Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltz), Op. 437

Strauss often played in the glittering Imperial balls, conducting the orchestra and playing the first violin at the same time.   The majestic launch of this fascinating waltz presents the backdrop of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the hegemony of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph in 1888. Johann Strauss II was Music Director of the Dance Hesperides of the Imperial Court from 1863 to 1872 and composed on occasion for the celebration of an imperial anniversary. The ingenuity of the melody of the Emperor Waltz, which was originally orchestrated for a full orchestra, is such that it was easily adapted for the four or five instruments of a chamber ensemble by the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg in 1925. This waltz is a tender and somewhat melancholic work, which at times turns its gaze nostalgically to the old Vienna. The waltz praises the majesty and dignity of the old monarch, who was fully devoted to his people. It begins with a majestic, magnificent march, which soon re
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Domenico Scarlatti - Introduction


Domenico Skarlatti had to be released from the paternal domination and emigrate, in order to benefit the music by developing his jealous gifts. In search of the new, he focused his effort on composing for the keyboard instruments (mainly the harpsichord), which in his time, were constantly evolving and had invaded spectacularly in the lives of the music lovers.

The 555 sonatas for keyboard instruments that came to fruition from his creative mind are not just exercises of interpretation (essercizi), as he had named them and as was previously believable. They are an imaginative series of short compositions, which introduce new techniques of interpretation and herald the magnificent form of the tripartite sonata.

A rare arsenal of harmonious and rhythmic wealth is revealed by listening to these compositions by Domenico Skarlatti. He wasn't just a virtuoso performer, he was also a master of imagination. Mixes with exceptional subtlety and balance the polyphony with the monody. His writing is constantly met with the grace, spirit and elegance of the Baroque era. He doesn't imitate anyone. On the contrary, being innovative, he creates the conditions to imitate him.

Sonatas, the cutting edge of Domenico Skarlatti's much-documented work, were the subject of a major investigation and cataloguing. First the Italian pianist and composer Alessandro Logo dealt with the archiving and organization of these works. Their numbering is defined by the prefix L.

Newer is the work of the American harpsichordist Ralph Leonard Kirkpatrick. The list he has drawn up - where sonatas are defined by K - is considered definitive.

(George Monemvasitis)


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