Daniel Reuss leads new recording of Stravinsky’s late serial works

Conductor Daniel Reuss has released a new recording of Igor Stravinsky’s late works with the Noord Nederlands Orkest and Cappella Amsterdam, presenting pieces composed as the composer explored serialism in his 70s and 80s. The review notes that Stravinsky’s late interest in serialism served both as a way of distilling musical thought and as an intellectual and stylistic challenge.

While some contemporary listeners found the music austere, the critic finds a "self-effacing purity and beauty" in these complex, intellectually probing pieces that merits a wider audience. The programme centres on four main works: In Memoriam Dylan Thomas (1954), described as an "extended, impassioned setting for solo tenor" of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night; Threni (1958), called a "spiny, multifaceted jewel" setting words from the Book of Lamentations; and the Introitus (1965) and Requiem Canticles (1966).

These are interspersed with shorter items, including an "unpretentious" Lord’s Prayer and a "severely cerebral" two-minute Elegy for JFK.

Key Topics

Culture, Daniel Reuss, Igor Stravinsky, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Cappella Amsterdam, Serialism