Enjott Schneider - Flute Stories (Various Artists)

Information

Composer: Enjott Schneider

• Water - Element of Infinity (Concerto for two flutes and orchestra)
• Baumwelten - Worlds of Tree (for flute, strings and harp)
• Pictures of Yang Guifei (for flute and symphonic orchestra)

Łukasz Długosz, flute

Agata Kielar-Długosz, flute

Silesian Chamber Orchestra

Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, conductor

Date: 2020

Label: Wergo

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Review

Enjott Schneider is one of the most productive and successful composers of our time. Instead of chasing after the elusive goal of progressivity like many of his colleagues, he looks for common ground with people of different cultures, for universal musical values that transcend geography and history. Schneider first achieved international fame as the composer of hundreds of scores for films such as "Herbstmilch" (1989), "Schlafes Bruder" (1995), or "Bibi Blocksberg und das Geheimnis der blauen Eulen" (2004), but his orchestral works also have a richly varied narrative quality that is documented in WERGO' s series of recordings dedicated to his music. Featuring internationally acclaimed soloists Lukasz Dlugosz and - in the double concerto - Agata Kielar-Dlugosz, this newest recording presents multi-faceted compositions for flute and orchestra. Common to all of them is a narrative tone that evokes the spirit of forests and water as well as the legendary ancient Chinese concubine and Imperial consort Yang Guifei, who is credited with the cultivation and popularization of flute playing in courtly circles. The Asian atmosphere of the final work on the recording creates a bridge to the double concerto at the beginning, where "water" is explicitly used as a metaphor for Daoism. Western symphonic music is united here with Chinese harmonies and melodic shapes.

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Enjott Schneider (born 1950 in Weil am Rhein) is a German composer, musicologist and educator. He studied music and humanities at Freiburg, earning a doctorate under Hans-Heinrich Eggebrecht. Schneider held academic posts in Freiburg and Munich, and later taught composition in Regensburg. He gained prominence in the 1980s as a leading film composer, scoring major German television series and films. His diverse output spans symphonies, operas, concertos and organ works, often blending styles from classical to rock. A prolific author and studio founder, he has received numerous prestigious awards for his music.

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