Prior to this Naxos American Classics disc in the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music Series, all that could be reasonably heard on record of Russian-American composer Joseph Achron's music were his short pieces for violin and piano and recordings of these pieces stretch back to 1917. Achron's chamber and orchestral music is what the composer himself regarded as his life's work, yet no trace of it was to be found on record. Conductor Gerard Schwarz should be commended for bringing to listeners this first disc of Achron ...
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Prior to this Naxos American Classics disc in the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music Series, all that could be reasonably heard on record of Russian-American composer Joseph Achron's music were his short pieces for violin and piano and recordings of these pieces stretch back to 1917. Achron's chamber and orchestral music is what the composer himself regarded as his life's work, yet no trace of it was to be found on record. Conductor Gerard Schwarz should be commended for bringing to listeners this first disc of Achron in extended forms, Joseph Achron: Violin Concerto No. 1; The Golem, it is a splendid example of Achron's capabilities in this realm and leaves the listener hungry for more.Joseph Achron's music is like no other in the pantheon of early twentieth century composers: tonally it's a little like Hindemith and Stravinsky, but stylistically not like them at all. Achron's scores his orchestrations lightly over a large group of instruments, like some Schoenberg or Liszt, but again, ultimately...
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