The Lyrita label has specialized in neglected British repertoire, and in this case the main work involved, the Symphony No. 1 ("Chinese"), Op. 6, of Bernard van Dieren has never been recorded before at all, although it was broadcast once on the BBC in 1935. Van Dieren was born in the Netherlands, but worked mostly in Britain. He got romantically involved with a female student of Busoni, chased her to London, attended the premiere of a Busoni opera along the way, and apparently picked up the most contemporary trends in ...
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The Lyrita label has specialized in neglected British repertoire, and in this case the main work involved, the Symphony No. 1 ("Chinese"), Op. 6, of Bernard van Dieren has never been recorded before at all, although it was broadcast once on the BBC in 1935. Van Dieren was born in the Netherlands, but worked mostly in Britain. He got romantically involved with a female student of Busoni, chased her to London, attended the premiere of a Busoni opera along the way, and apparently picked up the most contemporary trends in Continental music. The "Chinese" aspect of the Symphony No. 1 refers not to thematic material, but to the texts of the eight connected sections (the fifth, "Interludio," is orchestral, but has a poem attached to it). The texts come from the volume Die chinesische Flöte , a book of Tang Dynasty poetry translated into German by Hans Bethge. The popularity of this book in Germany merits investigation; the poems were set by Schoenberg, Webern, and other composers, but their most famous...
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