Raft wrote his Thuringian Suite in 1877, one of those works that a recent commentator has referred to as "Raff's travelogues". The Suite shows the composer's technical command and is not without humour in the light-hearted peasant variations of the fourth movement. It opens with an introductory welcome to a region of Germany of some importance in the history of European music and proceeds through a relatively solemn second movement to a dance of gnomes and sylphs. The folk-song variations allow for oddities of orchestration, followed by a final peasant celebration.
Raff's Italian Suite was written in 1871 and takes a suitably well-crafted romantic German view of the south. A portentous Overture is followed by the gentle sway of a Barcarole, an Intermezzo, a night-piece and a final Neapolitan tarantella that provides a chance for the composer to display his contrapuntal ingenuity.
naxos
Joachim Raff (1822-1882)
1-5. Aus Thüringen
6-10. Italian Suite
Credits :
Orchestra - CSSR State Philharmonic (Košice)
Conductor – Richard Edlinger
Cover – Canaletto
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