Stravinsky: Works for Winds The Swedish Wind Ensemble & Cathrine Winnes

• Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971):
• 1 Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1947 Version) 09:48
• Octet:
• 2 I. Sinfonia 04:20
• 3 II. Tema con variazioni 08:09
• 4 III. Finale 03:34
• Concerto for Piano & Wind Instruments (1950 Version):
• 5 I. Largo - Allegro 07:26
• 6 II. Largo 07:49
• 7 III. Allegro 05:16
• Circus Polka (Version for Band):
• 8 Circus Polka (Version for Band) 03:26
• Ebony Concerto:
• 9 I. Allegro moderato 03:16
• 10 II. Andante 02:31
• 11 III. Moderato - Con moto 03:45
• Total Runtime 59:20

Info for Stravinsky: Works for Winds

Stravinsky composed a small but significant body of works for wind instruments of which the larger ones are presented here, by the Swedish Wind Ensemble. The first three wind works, Symphonies of Wind Instruments, Octet and Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, were created in the twenties, while the concluding two wind works, Circus Polka and Ebony Concerto, were Stravinsky’s few excursions into the genres of jazz and popular music in mid 1900’s.

Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920, revised 1947) is considered one of Stravinsky’s greatest works. Octet (Octuor) (1923, new version 1952) is recognized as one of the first works in the neoclassical genre. Concerto for Piano and Winds (1923-24, revised 1950) is one among several piano pieces composed as vehicles for Stravinsky himself in an effort to make money as a performer.

Circus Polka (For a Young Elephant) (1942) was written in the United States. This is a short work for winds and stands apart from the other pieces presented. Ebony Concerto (1945) was commissioned by clarinettist Woody Herman and is scored for Herman’s Big Band with a French horn added.

The Swedish Wind Ensemble (Blåsarsymfonikerna) is the largest professional civilian wind ensemble in Sweden. Today it counts twenty-five wind players and two percussionists frequently expanding to accommodate the demands of larger works. The orchestra was founded in 1906 but has since then developed into a flexible professional modern wind ensemble.

Conductor Cathrine Winnes, based in Norway, has rare communicative gifts, outstanding precision and uncompromising musicianship. She is known for her work on the podium and also for her pioneering work as a broadcaster. Winnes was appointed artistic director and chief conductor of the Swedish Wind Ensemble in 2016.

Swedish-Polish pianist Peter Jablonski is internationally acclaimed for his natural fluency of playing and an extraordinarily deep knowledge of piano repertoire, which make his performances timeless and captivating. Jablonski has been performing on major world stages for over twenty-five years. His extensive discography includes recordings he has made for Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Philips, and Altara labels for thirty years. He received numerous awards for his recordings, which include the Edison award and the Grammophone Classical Music Award.

Clarinettist Johan Söderlund is the currently serving concertmaster of the Swedish Wind Ensemble. Apart from his work in the classical field Söderlund is a comfortable performer in jazz and other improvised music which mirrors his broad musical tastes and skills.

The Swedish Wind Ensemble
Cathrine Winnes, conductor

Cathrine Winnes
(b.1977) is a Norwegian orchestral conductor. In 2016, she became the artistic director and chief conductor of The Swedish Wind Ensemble. From 2013 to 2017 she held the same position i Östgöta Blåsarsymfoniker.

Winnes works with several of the large symphony orchestras in the Nordic countries, such as the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Trondheim, Stavanger and Kristiansand, the Swedish Radio Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of Norrköping, Malmö, Helsingborg, Gävle and Odense. In Autumn 2017, she will make her debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm.

Winnes has conducted at the Royal Swedish Opera and at the Estonian National Opera, and during the 2017/2018 season will be conducting The Phantom of the Opera at the Göteborgs Operan and Die Fledermaus at the Wermland Opera. In 2015, she conducted the world premiere of Cecilie Ore’s opera Adam and Eve at the Bergen International Festival and the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. She has also attended the Ultima Festival in 2016, conducting the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, in the world premiere of Trond Reinholdsens Piano Concerto.

In 2016, Winnes led the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra choirs Christmas Concert, which was broadcast on Swedish television SVT. She has conducted the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra in the documentary and concert performance of Shostakovich Symphony no 5, shown on Norwegian television NRK. She has also performed as the conductor for the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, leading the broadcasted Christmas Concert of 2015.

Winnes holds a masters degree in orchestral conducting from the Norwegian Academy of Music and studied with Professor Ole-Kristian Ruud. Previous to this, she studied at the Royal College of Music Stockholm, under the legendary Professor Jorma Panula. Winnes is currently teaching at the Norwegian Academy of Music, a position she has held since 2008.

The Swedish Wind Ensemble
Originally called Stockholm Spårvägsmäns Musikkår – funded by the tramway company SL – it was founded in 1906 with 6 members, most of them employed as bus and train drivers in the city of Stockholm. Today it comprises 40 of the best professional wind players in Sweden, 4 percussionists and one double-bass player. The Swedish Wind Ensemble has its own subscription series, and additionally perform a number of high profile annual events such as such as Last Night of the Proms (a tradition since over 20 years), a summer-night performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in the main square of Stockholm's Old Town and the famous St. Lucia concert in December in the Stockholm Globe Arena.

Since 1985, the ensemble has continually worked with the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and its young conductors, offering them the opportunity to work on a regular basis with a professional orchestra. In October 2005, Christian Lindberg performed his first concert as Chief Conductor of the Swedish Wind Ensemble.

The Swedish Wind Ensemble celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2006 and is one of the oldest orchestras of its kind in the world today.

Setting its sights further afield the Swedish Wind Ensemble is intent on bringing Sweden's famous wind sound to as wide an audience as possible. In 2006, the orchestra toured in Spain and in Sweden 2007 and 2008. A tour to Tallinn, Riga and St Petersburg with Maria Eklund as a conductor is planned for 2010.

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