Four Centuries of Great Music March 1, 2026 New Classical Music Releases from the Month of February

Today on Four Centuries of Great Music, I am sharing with you some new releases from the month of February including works by DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH, Sergey Rachmaninov, Frank Bridge and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

I am opening with 

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH 1906–1975
Symphony No.5 in D minor Op.47
1 I. Moderato – Allegro non troppo – Poco sostenuto –
Largamente – Pi. mosso – Moderato 
2 II. Allegretto – Largamente – Poco pi. mosso 
3 III. Largo 
4 IV. Allegro non troppo – Allegro – Pi. mosso 

Arvids Jansons and the Leningrad Philharmonic
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphonies 5 & 9 and WAGNER Lohengrin Prelude to Act 3
ICA Classics

Having had his Fourth Symphony condemned by Stalin in 1936, Shostakovich turned his political and musical fortunes around with the Fifth. Considered a great success by bureaucrats and artists alike, the work outwardly seemed to toe the Communist Party line. With its easily understood four-movement structure and its often-brilliant orchestration, the piece appeared to give the politicians what they wanted. Yet the work is much more than that. It seeks to explore the inner truths of the human condition and from the very first bars, it is clear that Shostakovich is taking the listener on a journey that explores the full gamut of human emotions. Now considered the composer’s most popular and most often played symphony, the piece was not only a child of its time, but also a transcendental work that continues to speak today with the same undimmed intensity as it did in the mid-1930s.

Let’s close this first hour of this episode of Four Centuries of Great Music, on which I am sharing with you some new releases from the month of February with
Sergey Rachmaninov:  Three Nocturnes (1887)  
Sergey Rachmaninov:  Nocturne No. 1  in F sharp minor: Andante cantabile 
Sergey Rachmaninov:  Nocturne No. 2 in F major: Andante maestoso – Allegro assai 
Sergey Rachmaninov:  Nocturne No. 3 in C minor – E flat major: Andante – Allegro moderato  
Boris Giltburg. Piano
RACHMANINOV; Morceaux de Fantaisie, Morceaux de Salon, Three Nocturnes & Four Pieces 
Naxos

The Three Nocturnes are from late 1887, when Rachmaninov was just 14 years old,  and are are among the earliest pieces that have survived in Rachmaninov’s hand.  Beethoven at 13 showed complete mastery of form but very little imagination, with very little that hints at his mature style. Rachmaninov at 14 was the opposite: pure imagination, with very little interest in form or structure.  Melodic ideas flow freely and generously, and there is tangible atmosphere throughout.  One can also hear definite snippets of Rachmaninov’s musical DNA in the harmonies and melodic lines. It is as if the raw material is already there, but still fragmented and unformed. In terms of structure, the pieces could perhaps more justly be called ‘Fantasies’, as all contain multiple loosely-connected sections, similar to fantasies by previous composers.
Still, many lovely moments are to be found: the marching section in the middle of the first nocturne showing off Rachmaninov’s large-chord technique, the summer-day melody of the second nocturne, or the early incarnation of the sound of bells in the third nocturne. It is also interesting to see that Rachmaninov must have been writing for his own hands, with little concern for the fact that most normal people would not be able to play those very large chords – something which almost never occurs in his mature works. 



Frank Bridge Cello Sonata in D minor,   H125(1913–17)23:04 
Frank Bridge:  Cello Sonata in D minor,   H125  - I. Allegro ben moderato 
Frank Bridge:  Cello Sonata in D minor,   H125 -  II. Adagio ma non troppo – Molto allegro e agitato – Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro moderato

Bridge’s Cello Sonata in D minor was begun in 1913, but not completed until 1917. It is probable that the work’s protracted gestation contributed to its disparate musical styles, with a comparatively conventional sonata-form first movement succeeded by a more harmonically ambiguous and complex second. 
Marked Allegro ben moderato, the first movement begins softly with an eloquent, supple cello line, lightly accompanied by the piano, but this principal thematic material soon becomes impassioned and impulsively romantic. Introduced by the piano, the warmly lyrical second theme has a Gallic elegance. The movement arrives at a stirring climax, followed by a hushed echo which casts a shadow across the final bars. 
The second movement begins Adagio ma non troppo, with a gently melancholic theme in the piano, eventually taken up by the cello. An assortment of other, broadly related, ideas appear in succession, including a tender, pastoral-sounding tune in the vein of an English folk ballad. After a fiery scherzo-like central episode, the slow music returns with the pastoral melody, together with material from the movement’s opening section. Following a sturdy climax, the extended coda recalls the first movement’s initial theme, now blazingly defiant, to end the sonata decisively and with resolve. 
Bridge always looked fondly upon the Cello Sonata, which has proved to be among his most popular chamber pieces. 

 ENGLISH CELLO WORKS: BRIDGE, ELGAR, IRELAND 
Andreas Brantelid, cello and Bengt Forsberg, piano 
Naxos

Erich Wolfgang Korngold(1897-1957)24’32
Erich Wolfgang Korngold:  String Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major op.26
Erich Wolfgang Korngold:  String Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major op.26 - I. Allegro 
 Erich Wolfgang Korngold:  String Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major op.26 - II. Intermezzo. Allegro con moto 
Erich Wolfgang Korngold:  String Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major op.26 - III. Larghetto : Lento 
Erich Wolfgang Korngold:  String Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major op.26  - IV. Waltz (Finale) : Tempo di Valse 
Quatuor Hermès
Echoes of Vienna
La Dolce Volta Records

One of the most fascinating aspects of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s music is its power to conjure up images; a descriptive force he exploited from a very young age in the world of opera, much like Mozart to whom he was often compared because of his precocious gifts. He would later put this art to use in the cinema, where he went on to enjoy a brilliant career in Hollywood.

In this Second Quartet, Korngold creates an extraordinary sense of sonic depth. This is due both to the intervals he employs and to the distinctive textures he draws upon.

One can be swept away by the narrative power of this work, which in its first movement marked Allegro  and second movement marked Allegro con moto seem to summon the protagonists of an epic tale. Korngold handles his palette of colors with consummate skill, creating atmospheres and giving his music an already cinematic dimension. The American continuation of his career therefore comes as no surprise.
His combination of harmonics and deep basses, for instance, gives remarkable breadth to the opening of the the third movement marked Larghetto, Lento.

The completely unbridled waltz of the fourth movement seems to spiral out of control and conveys a sense of headlong flight. Korngold is here expressing nostalgia for a world in which everything once felt lighter. It should be remembered that in 1933 the composer already felt threatened by the rise of Nazism and was preparing to flee into exile. Yet he displays extraordinary energy, even marking on the score tempi of such extreme rapidity as to make them almost unplayable. One can imagine couples of dancers whirling around frantically , as if to forget  that Europe was on the brink of collapse. Here these tempi are temper in order to allow the work’s dramatic depth to emerge more clearly.
Its four movements are highly contrasted, both in texture and in playing style. Korngold moves from homorhythmic writing, giving the impression of a single instrument, to a contrapuntal style.  He exploits the widest range of dynamics, and juggles with pizzicatos, harmonics, and double stopping, to the point of making the quartet sound like an orchestra. All of which makes the piece extraordinarily demanding to perform