Tales of song and sadness

Album information

A SWAN SONG FOR TWO GIANTS OF DUTCH MUSIC

Tales of song and sadness is a double tribute commemorating the demise of Frans Brüggen and Louis Andriessen, two giants of Dutch music culture. It contains performances by the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and Cappella Amsterdam, under the direction of Daniel Reuss, as well as contributions by Sour Cream and of course Frans Brüggen. The album also documents the unique entanglement of early and contemporary music pioneers in post-war Netherlands, whose influence stretched far beyond national borders. Centrepiece of this programme is Andriessen’s May, commissioned by the musicians of the orchestra to commemorate the death of Brüggen, eventually turning out to be that composer’s swan song as well. It is flanked by other Andriessen works for choir, orchestra and recorder, respectively, as well as excurses into early music by Josquin des Prez, Thomas Preston, Jacob van Eyck and Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Cappella Amsterdam and Daniel Reuss have released In Umbra Mortis (Rihm & de Wert, 2021, awarded with an Edison Klassiek Award), David Lang’s the writings (2022) and Schnittke’s Psalms of Repentance (2023) on PENTATONE. This is the first time that recordings of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Sour Cream and Frans Brüggen appear on PENTATONE.

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