Nielsen: Serenata in Vano (1914)

Horn

The Fibonacci Sequence, now well established as one of the foremost chamber ensembles in Britain. Composed of musicians of international repute, the Fibonancci Sequence is distinguished by the variety and imagination of its programming. Here, they explore the repertoire for horn with founder member and renowned horn player Stephen Stirling with an international reputation as a chamber musician. The repertoire on this disc presents Richard Strauss' symphonic tone poem 'Till Eulenspiegels’, the beguiling ‘Idyll for horn and string quartet’ by Alexander Glazunov, Mozart’s Quintet in Eb KV407 (386c) for horn and strings with the unique scoring pairing violas rather than two violins, Koechlin’s ‘Four Pieces’ (or tiny vignettes) for horn, violin and piano, the beautiful oddity 'Serenata in Vano' for cello, double bass, clarinet, bassoon and horn by Carl Nielsen and Poulenc’s uniquely scored Sonata for horn, trumpet and trombone.

Nielsen - Chamber Music Volume 1

Nielsen - Music for Wind Instruments

Nielsen composed most of his wind chamber music towards the latter part of his career, when his interests moved from strings to wind instruments. The disc includes the most familiar and widely recorded specimen of Nielsen’s chamber writing, the 1922 Wind Quintet, coupled with lesser known works such as Serenata in Vano, Two Fantasies Op.2 and Canto Serioso. “Both major and minor works are wonderfully played… One can urge immediate acquisition of this disc,” wrote Fanfare. Although, now longer performing publicly, the Athena Ensemble had an excellent career and reputation, “The music is expertly performed with charm, sensitivity and imagination by the Athena Ensemble” said Classic CD (on the Elgar Wind Quintet recording, CHAN 241-33) and this disc is sure to remind listeners of their back catalogue with Chandos.

Carl Nielsen - Wind Chamber Music