Stokowski's Symphonic Baroque

Chandos presents the final collection in its series of symphonic arrangements by one of the twentieth century's greatest conductors.

Stokowski's transcriptions of baroque works are performed by the BBC Philharmonic under Stokowski's former assistant and internationally renowned conductor Matthias Bamert

This disc includes many premiere recordings.

The release follows up the success of the previous four discs of Stokowski's transcriptions.

Matthias Bamert and the BBC Philharmonic began the present series of recordings with some of Stokowski's celebrated Bach arrangements. These were followed by a selection of the maestro's encores, which included music by Handel and Mattheson. Donald R. Vroon, Editor of American Record Guide, remarked: 'No one understood the grandeur of the baroque as well as Stokowski did, and no performance of the Handel or Mattheson pieces - on any instruments - puts them across so beautifully as these do'. So for the final collection in this series, Chandos returns to Stokowski's exhilarating transcriptions of music from the baroque era.

Inevitably, the character and personality of the great transcriber is evident in the music he arranges, and Stokowski's transcriptions reflect his own desire for rich orchestral sonorities. For example, in December 1930 Stokowski made a remarkable transcription to mark the debut in Philadelphia of Maurice Martenot's new 'Electrical Instrument', the ondes martenot. Rather than use this early synthesiser as a means of imitating existing instruments, Stokowski treats it as an entirely new orchestral colour. Stokowski's arrangement of Vivaldi's Concerto grosso No. 11 from Op. 3 is scored for huge forces: it is not often one hears Vivaldi's music played by two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and cor anglais, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contra-bassoon, five horns, four trumpets, four trombones, two tubas, tam-tam, harp, timpani and strings!

Not all Stokowski's arrangements, however, are so grandiloquently scored; quite often his approach to a work is simplicity itself. His transcription of Cesti's Tu mancavi a tormentarmi, crudelissima speranza is arranged simply, for harp and strings. Stokowski felt that the work's 'beauty and passionate eloquence' spoke for itself.

'This ripely satisfying issue, opulently recorded by Chandos, superbly played by the BBC Philharmonic… fills another important gap.'
Gramophone on CHAN 9259 (Stokowski's Symphonic Bach)