British cellist Steven Isserlis points out that the four composers represented on this disc have a number of things in common -- they were born within 30 years of each other, had nationalist tendencies, and all lived at some point in Paris -- but the major unifying theme is the fact that Isserlis commissioned all these arrangements of pieces that had originally existed in other formats. The circumstances of the creation of each of the arrangements are fascinating and sometimes moving, and the results are so attractive that ...
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British cellist Steven Isserlis points out that the four composers represented on this disc have a number of things in common -- they were born within 30 years of each other, had nationalist tendencies, and all lived at some point in Paris -- but the major unifying theme is the fact that Isserlis commissioned all these arrangements of pieces that had originally existed in other formats. The circumstances of the creation of each of the arrangements are fascinating and sometimes moving, and the results are so attractive that they could easily enter the limited repertoire of works for cello and chamber orchestra. To call British composer Sally Beamish's Suite pour violoncelle et orchestre a reconstruction is a bit of a stretch, since only one movement of Debussy's very early work survives, but the addition of four other pieces, one for cello and piano, two piano works, and a song, makes for a lovely and cohesive suite. Ravel's Deux mélodies hébraďques exists in versions for voice and piano, and voice and...
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