MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: Crotchet


Piet SWERTS (b. 1960)
Fantasia para un Marqués (2001) [18:37]
Peter CABUS (1923 – 2000)
Concerto classico per chitarra ed archi (1999) [17:26]
Jozef van LOOY (1927 – 2001)
Concerto voor gitaar en orkest (1980) [27:28]
Wim Brioen (guitar)
Slovak Sinfonietta, Zilina/Tom van den Eynde; Ivo Venkov (van Looy)
rec. Concert Hall, Zilina, Slovakia, 29-30 August 2007 (Swerts, Cabus); 12-13 September 2008 (van Looy). ADD
In Flanders’ Fields – Volume 57
PHAEDRA 92057 [63:55]
Experience Classicsonline

I have already had the opportunity to review several discs devoted to music by Piet Swerts. To avoid repeating myself, I suggest referring to some of my earlier reviews for biographical information (see below). Swerts’ prolific output includes several concertos, of which Fantasia para un Marqués completed in 2001 and inscribed ‘In memoriam Joaquin Rodrigo’ is scored for guitar and string orchestra. The Fantasia consists of a set of variations on the theme by Gaspar Sanz used by Rodrigo in his celebrated Fantasia para un Gentilhombre (1954). This is capped by a lively dance movement Buleria with an ashamedly Spanish character.
 
The late Peter Cabus was a prolific composer with a substantial and varied output in almost every genre, though his music has still to receive its due in terms of public performance and recordings. He was often labelled as a neo-classicist. In fact, he also ventured into more complex territories such as bi-tonality and even serialism, while preserving classical values. This translates into formal clarity, clear-cut thematic material and lively, if at times angular rhythms. Harmonically, his music is not without sharper edges and dissonance, but never at the expense of expressivity. His Concerto classico for guitar and strings is one of his last works. Its three movements possess a clear dance-like character, albeit at times tinged with nostalgia and melancholy. Although his music may sometimes be austere, the Concerto classico is attractive and often beautiful.
 
Jozef van Looy’s name and music are completely new to me. Jaak van Holen’s concise but well informed notes mention that besides being an organist, choir director, teacher at the Lemmensinstituut and the Antwerp and Maastricht conservatories, he also composed a substantial output including chamber music, orchestral works and an opera. His Guitar Concerto is by far the most substantial work here. It is also the most serious - dramatic even. It is scored for standard symphony orchestra. The very opening sets the scene with some tense writing. The music is not without dissonance and harmonic stringency. The first movement ends abruptly, unresolved. The slow movement is based on fragments from his mass Justus ut palma annually performed in St. Gummaruskerk where Van Looy was organist and on a carnival song by Frans Boogaerts (1888–1950), Van Looy’s predecessor at the church. After a short meditative introduction played by the strings, the guitar muses alone giving way to Boogaerts’ carnival song in the woodwind. Further reflection from the guitar leads into an aggressive, short-lived orchestral outburst. The dialogue is then resumed, alternating meditative fragments over soft string accompaniment and lively snippets of the carnival song. The final movement opens with a fierce outburst from the orchestra leading into some forceful music alternating with calmer or lighter episodes. Some turbulence, however, remains to disrupt the flow of the music. Another brief climax is followed by some pensive music, but the work remains as ambiguous and undecided as ever. A cadenza eventually leads into the orchestra’s final outburst, without achieving any real resolution or reconciliation. I was delighted to make the acquaintance of Van Looy’s music and I certainly look forward to hearing more. His Guitar Concerto is a valuable and most welcome addition to the repertoire.
 
These three concertos were composed for and/or dedicated to Wim Brioen who plays beautifully throughout with superb technique and remarkable musicality. The Slovak Sinfonietta supports him with fine playing and endearing commitment in scores that must have been new to them. The recorded sound is quite good although one may notice a difference in clarity in the recording of Van Looy’s concerto, which may be due to the hall’s acoustics. There’s nothing serious enough to spoil one’s enjoyment of this very attractive and ultimately rewarding release.
 
Hubert Culot

Reviews of other compositions by Piet Swerts
Droombeelden - Phaedra 92038
String quartet 2, Clarinet quintet - Phaedra 92045
Symphony 2 - Phaedra 92052
Wind music - De Haske 10.015-3

Reviews of other releases in the In Flander's Fields series

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.