Serenade no. 3 H 218. Unusual instrumentations were by no means the exception in the chamber music works of Bohuslav Martinu, most notably the works he wrote in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s being characterised by his experimentation with sound and form. It is from this period that four short serenades also originate (1932), each with a different instrumentation. The serenades were issued by the Prague publishing house Melantrich in 1949. Their premiere took place two years previously on 16 October 1947 and was performed by members of the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK). Although the study score of the Serenades Nos. 1 and 3 was published while the composer was still alive, he was in fact not involved in preparing this edition: indeed, the performance material also appeared in print without his participation in 1954. It was therefore decided to use the autograph score as the principal source for this edition.

The Dreamers - A Gothic Tale for Horn Trio by Niels Marthinsen. Programme note: The Dreamers for horn violin and piano is the sixth of a series of seven compositions named after Karen Blixen's collection of short stories Seven Gothic Tales. My musical gothic tales are written for very different ensembles - THE SUPPER AT ELSINORE is a saxophone quartet THE OLD CHEVALIER is for bass trombone and piano THE MONKEY is a chamber orchestra work - but they all share musical material in a criss-cross of contextual references reminiscent of Blixen's narrative complexity: Themes and motivs from one pieceappear in others in new and surprising shapes and combinations. Karen Blixen's THE DREAMERS has the most complex narrative structure of all her seven gothic tales. The story is made up of three tales with different narrators but with the same principal caracter in various disguises all three imbedded within a fourth tale that serves as a framework for the entire short story.The main story line unravels the life of a famous opera diva who looses her voice during a terrible fire. Before this her life was perpetual bliss and the tragedy drives her into assuming different personality guises in order to escape reality.Toward the end she is confronted with her true identity and dies.THE DREAMERS isn't 'about' anything. The music is inspired by the artistic content of Blixen's short story - it's emotionalism dramatic construction atmosphere period and settings - but unfolds in time and musical space in ways that are completely independent of the story's narrative progression...except one might say that the three players try their best to either catch or escape each other and that when they finally meet it happens abruptly even tragically - and only barely provides a little consolation.

Par BYSTROM BRITTA. Feather Music (2020) composed by Britta Byström for chamber orchestra. To Ensemble Pluma. Commissioned by Ensemble Pluma, with support from Dansk Komponistforening and the William Demant Foundation./ Répertoire / Orchestre de Chambre

for Cello and Piano Violin Cello and Piano Flute and Piano-Chopin's works for piano and strings were usually made for a specific occasion and we owe their existence to the repertoire needs of specific individuals. The exception is the Sonata in G minor for cello the last work by the composer intended for publication a work reflecting his current style highly reflective the result of imagination encroaching into post-romantic areas. Chopin's chamber works belong to the regular concert repertoire. These works were edited by by I. J. Paderewski L. Bronarski and J. Turczy ski.Chopin's works for piano and strings were usually made for a specific occasion and we owe their existence to the repertoire needs of specific individuals. The exception is the Sonata in G minor for cello the last work by the composer intended for publication a work reflecting his current style highly reflective the result of imagination encroaching into post-romantic areas. Chopin's chamber works belong to the regular concert repertoire. These works were edited by by I. J. Paderewski L. Bronarski and J. Turczy ski.

Le Carnaval des animaux. Written in March 1886 as a humorous occasional work for the traditional carnival concert organized by his cellist friend Charles-Joseph Lebouc, the Carnival of the Animals was so successful that Saint-Saëns banned performances and publication soon afterwards. He was worried that this ?grand zoological fantasy? - consisting of 14 short individual pieces for eleven instruments - might overshadow his serious works. Yet only five months after the composer?s death, it appeared in print after all, beginning its worldwide victory march - in its original setting as well as in numerous arrangements. Thus, the Carnival did in fact arguably become the most popular work by this French composer and, owing to its musical originality, it is also a favourite in music lessons or for school orchestra performances. With this combination of a study edition and an edition in parts (for which additional parts for larger numbers of strings may be ordered), G. Henle Publishers now presents the perfect resource for such occasions.