Soft Classical (for sleep)

Waltz in C Sharp Minor, Op. 64 No. 2 (Sheba Blake Edition)

Waltz in a Minor, B. 150 (Choir Rendition)

Cellist Péter Somodari and pianist Nicolas Costantinou present Hedra, an album that takes the listener through key repertoire for cello and piano, from sonatas by Beethoven and Debussy and individual pieces by Fauré to a world-premiere recording of the Cello Sonata No. 1 by contemporary Greek Cypriot composer Contantinou Y. Stylianou. 

The word ‘hedra’ (Greek: ἕδρα) refers to any side or face of a three-dimensional geometric shape. Any given face is not only connected to its neighbours, but together they contribute to and are part of the final shape. Similarly, every musical masterpiece is interconnected with those that follow, as it inevitably contributed to their formation, and this is reflected in the relationship between the works gathered together on this release. Beethoven pioneered the modern cello sonata, and from first to last his five cello sonatas chart a huge development in the genre. The Fourth, as recorded on this album, spans dark chromaticism, improvisatory freedom and extrovert exuberance in a manner that paved the way for later composers. 

Fauré’s amiable Sicilienne was composed as part of the incidental music for Molière's play, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, while his Élégie was originally conceived as the slow movement of an abandoned cello sonata. The Élégie was described by composer Patrick Castillo as honouring “grief as a multifaceted thing”, relating it to this album’s theme. Written late in his life while he struggled with illness and the impact of the First World War, Debussy’s Cello Sonata is founded on principles inherited from Beethoven and his contemporaries; Debussy said that his sonatas were composed “in the old supple forms (without the bombast of modern sonatas)”, and that the Cello Sonata is “almost Classical in the best sense of the word”.  

Stylianou’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in C major is a further continuation of the question of the sonata form and whether it is still relevant today. The work was composed during spring 2020 and in the words of the composer: “I decided to channel all the fear and frustration of the pandemic in creating a work that deals with those aforementioned questions but in a personal way. It would be impossible to avoid feelings of that period seeping into the work, but at the same time, I wanted it to be a creation in pursuit of inner balance, which is after all what the sonata form is meant to be. Whatever the opposition of two musical ideas (or more) might be, in the end, it must find a resolution of some sort.”

Péter Somodari and Nicolas Costantinou have been performing together since their student days. Currently serving as the principal cellist of both the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Péter Somodari has collaborated with such artists as Leonidas Kavakos, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Alexei Lubimov, Truls Mørk, Miklós Perényi, Boris Pergamenschikow, Christian Tetzlaff, Tabea Zimmermann, composer György Kurtág, and the Toyota Orchestra. He is currently a visiting professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna

A regular collaborator with Odradek Records, Steinway Artist Nicolas Costantinou has a doctorate from the Royal College of Music in London and is renowned for impressing audiences with his daring selection of repertoire old and new. Costantinou has previously recorded the music of Constantinos Y. Stylianou on the Odradek releases Metavasis and Past Forward. Stylianou studied and now lives in London, and his music has been performed by the Philharmonia, Bruckner Symphony Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra and the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, in prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall in London, the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh, St David's Hall in Cardiff, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, ORF concert hall in Vienna, Megaron Concert Hall in Athens, the UNESCO Headquarters and the Cathédrale Saint-Louis des Invalides in Paris.

Gabriel Faure - Sicilienne, Op. 78

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) 'None but the Lonely Heart' Op. 6, No. 6

Live recording of the Austin Chamber Music Center - Adult Academy Fall Concert, December 2023 at  First Unitarian Church, Austin, TX.

4. Franz Schubert - Serenade D.957 - No.4 Ständchen

Performed by The Andersonville Orchestra.

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op.102; II Andante (Dmitri Shostakovich)

"'Symphony No. 10 in E Minor' op. 93, II. 'Allegro' for Percussion Ensemble" (2020) is an arrangement that was written for the Minooka Community High School Marching Band Front Percussion Ensemble (Minooka, Illinois, U.S.A.). This arrangement is based on "Symphony No. 10 in E Minor op. 93, II. 'Allegro'" composed and orchestrated by Dmitri Shostakovich. This work was mixed and produced using the composition/engraving software, MuseScore.

Instrumentation: percussion ensemble (brake drum, concert bass drum, concert snare drum, cymbals (crash, suspended), drum set, glockenspiel, 3 marimbas, ratchet, 2 synthesizers (brass, strings), timp, tubular bells, 2 vibraphones, xylophone).

CREDITS
Arranger: Collin Wittlich
Mixing Engineer: Collin Wittlich
Orchestrator: Collin Wittlich
Parts/Score Copyist: Collin Wittlich
Producer: Collin Wittlich

"'Symphony No. 10 in E Minor' op. 93, II. 'Allegro' for Percussion Ensemble" (2020)

First Worldversion on Feltpiano. Listen to the Track on Amazon Music to trigger the Algorithm. Thank you so much.

Gustav Mahler - Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 cSharp - Minor. Feltpiano - Version by Jürgen Reimann

Dreams Of Love - The Ultimate Romantic Piano Album

Satie: Gymnopédie No. 1. Lent et douloureux

Best Of Lang Lang

Liszt: Liebestraum No. 3 In A-Flat, S. 541 (Live)

Sleep: 111 Pieces Of Classical Music For Bedtime

Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332: II. Adagio

Chilled Piano - Themes

Cavatina

Sultasto. Virtuose Musik aus Barock, Klassik und Romantik. Mit Gerhard Koschel (Akkordeon) und Gerald Meißner (Violine).

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) 'None but the Lonely Heart' Op. 6, No. 6

Christian Dawson Pianist

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