Cikker / Walton / Rachmaninoff (selection)

Ján Cikker, along with Eugen Suchoň, is a founding figure of Slovak modern music. While his work focuses primarily on opera, he has also composed a number of significant symphonic works. The charming Selanka, Op. 23 has a relaxing character. The composer wrote it in 1944, when he was coming to terms with the tragic events of World War II through a creative turn toward folk melodies. William Walton is one of the lesser-known British composers of the 20th century. He wrote the technically demanding Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in 1939 for the legendary soloist Jascha Heifetz, who premiered the work in Cleveland, USA. Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 is the last orchestral work by the great Russian composer. Sergei Rachmaninoff composed it in 1940 while in exile in the United States as an expression of his nostalgia for home. The three-movement composition culminates in a dramatic finale in which the themes of death (Dies irae) and life stand in opposition to one another. The premiere took place on January 3, 1941, in Philadelphia under the baton of Eugene Ormandy.