What better way to celebrate a new year than with a look back? In this case, the Classics a Day team decided to go back 100 years. For January 2021 the challenge is to post works that were completed in or recordings released in 1921.
It turns out there was quite a lot going on that year. Here are my #ClassicsaDay posts for the second week of #Classical1921
01/11/21 Igor Stravinsky – Suite No. 2 for Chamber Orchestra
This 1921 work incorporates elements of his earlier Trois pièces faciles and Cinq pièces faciles, No. 5, Les cinq doigts
01/12/21 Frederick Delius – Cello Concerto
Delius started his concerto in 1920 and completed it a year later. It was written for Beatrice Harrison, who gave the UK premiere in 1923.
01/13/21 Arnold Schoenberg – Suite for Piano
Schoenberg began his first true 12-tone piece in 1921 and completed it two years later.
01/14/21 Erich Wolfgang Korngold – Piano Quintet Op. 15
Korngold wrote the quintet in 1921 when he was 24. He was at the peak of his prewar classical career. “Die Tote Stadt” premiered the year before. But by 1927 audiences began to move on, and Korngold moved to Hollywood
01/15/21 Heitor Villa-Lobos – Fantasia de Movimentos Mixtos
Villa-Lobos completed this violin concerto in 1921. He would revisit it off and on over the next 20 years, revising it over time.
