Webern - Orchestral Music (Passacaglia Symphony Five Pieces)

"This is an extraordinarily useful and important release which at under a fiver ought to leap on everyone's shelves.

Takuo Yuasa and the fine, almost dapper Ulster Orchestra give assured, indeed passionate readings of these little gems by Schoenberg disciple Anton Webern. Certainly there are worlds 'within a grain of sand' here, every note fastidiously chosen by this composer's amazingly imaginative ear, and the performers respond with a wonderful range of colour and timbre; particularly relishable are the frequently whooping horns imparting an authentically alpine atmosphere to this rewarding music.

Though coming in at much less than an hour (quite appropriate, when the composer's entire output can fit easily onto three CDS), this selection covers a generous range of works from throughout Webern's life. It begins with the Passacaglia Op.1, almost his longest single movement, with a feverishly Mahlerian soundworld, and continues through pre- and post-serial compositions: the Five Movements for Strings, given with a strong rhythmic impetus; the Six Pieces and Five Pieces for Orchestra (strongly contoured in these readings, with a vivid dramatic undercurrent); the splendid little Symphony in an account which could have been more acutely defined; and the late Variations.

Not a disc for continuous listening, but one which will bring constant and sometimes unexpected rewards for dipping-in."
- Christopher Morley, The Birmingham Post, January 19, 2002


"The music on this recording represents the complete compositional life of Webern (1883-1945). Starting with the extended romanticism of the Passacaglia, Op. 1, Yuasa's dextrous direction of the Ulster Orchestra pushes the listener unwittingly into the composer's atonal period with the Five Movements for Strings, Op. 5 . The Five Pieces, Op. 10 (each lasting 30-60 seconds) is undoubtedly the highlight of this disc, with the orchestra at their most intricately delicate. The programme closes with two pieces from the composer's 12-note period: the Symphony, Op. 21 and his penultimate work, Variations, Op. 30."
- Tariq O'Ragan, The Observer (London), January 6, 2002


"It has taken me some 40 years to come to terms with Webern's extremely concentrated musical language. This disc from the Ulster Orchestra and Takao Yuasa presents his economy of thought with a sure-footedness and an emotional input that can open ears. The Symphony Op.21 must be the world's smallest at under eight minutes and his Passacaglia has a late romantic angst. Do try - at under (GBP) 5 it's worth buying. ****"
- Dave Robson, The Northern Echo, December 20, 2001


"Treading where most big mainstream companies wouldn't dare, Naxos has followed its Schoenberg CD with a whip through his pupil's orchestral oeuvre, from the late-romantic anguish of his Op 1 Passacaglia, through the shrinking sound world of the Op6 and Op 10 pieces to the ebb and flow of the world's smallest symphony and the 1940 Variations.

With Takuo Yuasa conducting the Ulster Orchestra in a resonant acoustic, you don't get the crystalline beauty Boulez lavishes on these miniatures. Instead, you get something perhaps more useful for first-time listeners: genuine emotion, born of an urge to share Webern's treasures. I can think of a million worse ways of spending Pounds 4.99."
- Geoff Brown, The Times (London), December 4, 2001, Tuesday

"Yuasa and his Irish band meet Webern's challenges with occasionally inspired success."
- Gramophone February 2002