Brahms by Arrangement, Vol. Two: Orchestrations by Robin Holloway BBC Symphony Orchestra & Paul Mann

• Johannes Brahms (1933 - 1897): Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23:
• 1Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: I. Theme: Andante, Leise und innig (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:32
• 2Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: II. Variation 1: Pochino più mosso, delicato (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:20
• 3Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: III. Variation 2 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:47
• 4Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: IV. Variation 3: A tempo, grazioso (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:53
• 5Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: V. Variation 4: Misterioso (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:55
• 6Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: VI. Variation 5: Grazioso con moto (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:29
• 7Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: VII. Variation 6: Alla marcia (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:19
• 8Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: VIII. Variation 7: Allegro leggiero (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:41
• 9Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: IX. Variation 8: Andante con moto ardente (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)01:12
• 10Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: X. Variation 9: Maestoso (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:25
• 11Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: XI. Variation 10: Alla marcia, poco lento (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:50
• 12Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23: XII. Epilogue (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:08
• Six Canonic Studies, Op. 56:
• 13Brahms: Six Canonic Studies, Op. 56: No. 1, Con moto egual’e dolce (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)03:04
• 14Brahms: Six Canonic Studies, Op. 56: No. 2, Gently lilting, flowing (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)04:06
• 15Brahms: Six Canonic Studies, Op. 56: No. 3, A tempo, andantino piacevole teneramente (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:22
• 16Brahms: Six Canonic Studies, Op. 56: No. 4, Con moto amabile: supple and airy (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)03:46
• 17Brahms: Six Canonic Studies, Op. 56: No. 5, Vivace (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)02:13
• 18Brahms: Six Canonic Studies, Op. 56: No. 6, Andante serioso (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)03:22
• Symphony in F Minor, Op. 34:
• 19Brahms: Symphony in F Minor, Op. 34: I. Allegro non troppo (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)16:06
• 20Brahms: Symphony in F Minor, Op. 34: II. Andante (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)08:16
• 21Brahms: Symphony in F Minor, Op. 34: III. Scherzo: Allegro – Trio (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)08:27
• 22Brahms: Symphony in F Minor, Op. 34: IV. Finale. Poco sostenuto – Allegro commodo (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin Holloway)11:18
• Total Runtime01:24:31

Info for Brahms by Arrangement, Vol. Two: Orchestrations by Robin Holloway

Composers who orchestrate the music of earlier colleagues often serve them best when they add something of themselves to the work in hand. These three orchestrations by the English composer Robin Holloway (b. 1943) demonstrate his profound understanding of and affection for two of the most important Romantic composers - and his re-imagining of Brahms' Sonata for Two Pianos (which Brahms himself recast as his Piano Quintet) as a symphony gives one of the greatest of all compositions a wild and thrilling energy, making it also a masterpiece of our own age.

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Cellerina Park, leader
Paul Mann, conductor

Paul Mann
is a regular guest-conductor with many major orchestras throughout Europe, the US, Australia, and the Far East. Orchestras with which he has worked include the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Nuremberg Symphony, Lahti Symphony, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, Ukrainian Festival Orchestra, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic, RAI Torino, Orchestra dell’Arena di Verona, Flemish Radio, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Orchestre de Bretagne; the BBC Orchestras, City of Birmingham Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Hallé, Britten Sinfonia, Orquesta Ciudad de Barcelona, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, among many others. Mr. Mann has guest-conducted extensively in the USA, and is a regular guest with the New York City Ballet, both at their Lincoln Center home, and on tour in Washington and Los Angeles. He regularly visits Australia, guest conducting with the Melbourne Symphony, Queensland Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony, West Australian Symphony, and Adelaide Symphony orchestras, as well as the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand, and with the Malaysian Philharmonic.

He first came to international attention as first prizewinner in the 1998 Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, as a result of which he was also appointed assistant conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. He made his LSO debut shortly afterwards, and special projects with the LSO included the Duke Ellington Centenary Concert at the Barbican Hall with Wynton Marsalis, and a famous collaboration with the legendary rock group Deep Purple in two widely acclaimed performances of Jon Lord’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, the live DVD and CD of which remain international bestsellers. The subsequent tour of the project saw forty concerts throughout Europe, South America, Mexico, and Japan. He also made the first-ever studio recording of Jon Lord’s Concerto, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, in collaboration with the late composer and a star-studded cast of soloists. His long association with Jon Lord and his music culminated in a spectacular concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 2014, in memory of the composer, who died in 2012.

Paul Mann was chief conductor of the Odense Symphony Orchestra in Denmark until 2008, where he achieved considerable critical acclaim, and where he began a distinguished career in the recording studio, making numerous recordings of a wide range of repertoire, for such labels as Bridge, Warner Classics, Da Capo, and EMI. His discography for Toccata Classics now encompasses almost twenty discs, all of rare and previously unrecorded repertoire, much of which is performed in his own newly-prepared editions.

Booklet for Brahms by Arrangement, Vol. Two: Orchestrations by Robin Holloway