RARE VINTAGE 1957 FROM ANGEL RECORDS AND THE MUSIC-APPRECIATION RECORD COLLECTION ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST CLASSICAL MUSIC PRESENTS ON ONE 12-INCH DISC and ONE 10-INCH DISC JOHANNES BRAHMS Biography by AMG The stature of Johannes Brahms among classical composers is well illustrated by his inclusion among the "Three Bs" triumvirate of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Of all the major composers of the late Romantic era, Brahms was the one most attached to the Classical ideal as manifested in the music of Haydn, Mozart, and especially Beethoven; indeed, Hans von Bülow once characterized Brahms' Symphony No. 1 (1855-1876) as "Beethoven's Tenth." As a youth, Brahms was championed by Robert Schumann as music's greatest hope for the future; as a mature composer, Brahms became for conservative musical journalists the most potent symbol of musical tradition, a stalwart against the "degeneration" represented by the music of Wagner and his school. Brahms' symphonies, choral and vocal works, chamber music, and piano pieces are imbued with strong emotional feeling, yet take shape according to a thoroughly considered structural plan. ACADEMIC FESTIVAL OVERTURE, Op. 80 Academic Festival Overture, for orchestra in C minor ("Akademische Festouvertüre"), Op. 80 Composition Description by Roger Dettmer Brahms composed this work and the Tragic Overture in the summer of 1880 in Bad Ischl, Austria, and conducted the first Academic Festival performance in Breslau on January 3, 1881. Despite Brahms' catalogue of 122 numbered works and at least 40 more works without, he wrote only 14 for orchestra: four symphonies, two early serenades, two piano concertos, two string concertos, two concert overtures, the Haydn Variations, and transcriptions of three Hungarian Dances from the 21 composed for four-hand piano between 1868 and 1880. No opera, though, or ballet or incidental theater music. Furthermore, from 1859 to 1874, he limited his orchestral writing to seven choral pieces (which, however, included A German Requiem, his longest work in any form). AND VARIATIONS ON A THEME BY HAYDN, Op. 56a Variations on a Theme of Haydn for orchestra in B flat major (St. Anthony Variations), Op. 56a Composition Description by John Palmer In Brahms' earliest sets of variations, especially those of Op. 9, the melody is of primary importance. His later studies of Beethoven, however, led to a new variation approach, in which he adhered instead to a theme's basic phrase structure and harmonic pattern. As with the Händel Variations, Op. 24, the eight Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56a, are bound by a consistent harmonic motion; at times, this is the only perceptible remnant of the original theme. Since its first performance in Vienna, on November 2, 1873, this has been among Brahms' most popular compositions — a sprawling masterwork based on the simplest of thematic germs, very much in the tradition of Bach's Goldberg Variations and Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. both conducted by GEORGE SZELL Biography by James Reel Part of the wave of great Hungarian conductors who took over American musical life just before and after World War II — the others included Fritz Reiner, Antal Dorati, and Eugene Ormandy — George Szell quickly transformed a middling Midwestern orchestra into one of the nation's Big Five. His cultivation of the Cleveland Orchestra set an example of discipline and hard work that gradually helped raise the standards of orchestras across America. Analysis dealing only with above written and conducted by THOMAS SCHERMAN also included NEUE LIEBESLIEDER WALZER, Op. 65 Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes (15) for vocal quartet & piano, 4 hands, Op. 65 Composition Description by Robert Cummings The 1868 Liebeslieder Waltzes were an immense success, as popular in their own time as they remain in ours. Brahms decided to tap into the same vein six years later with these "New Love Song Waltzes," scored, as before, for four voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) and piano duet. Like those of the earlier set, these texts originated with folk songs of various languages; they were translated into German by Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800-1875) in his Polydora: A World-Poetic Songbook. The 1868 set drew mostly on Russian, Polish, and Hungarian folk poetry, but here the provenance of the texts ranges as far afield as Turkey (No. 1) and Malaysia (No. 10). Overall, the tone of the poetry is serious, and Brahms fashioned the music to suit their often somber moods. under the musical direction of THOMAS SCHERMAN with LUCINE AMARA, FRANCES BIBLE, DAVID LLOYD, HUGH THOMPSON, ABBA BOGIN, and EILEEN FLISSLER ANGEL RECORDS MAR 573 LPS ARE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION - SLEEVE IS IN GOOD CONDITION

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