Ries: Bläsernotturni Nr.1 & 2

Ferdinand Ries was close to Beethoven, which means that he has often been labeled as his imitator, but today we know – also as a result of our constantly expanding Ries edition – that he mastered with bravura the challenge that he independently set for himself. This month we continue our exploration with his two Notturni for Winds, works once again exemplifying his great compositional talent. Although set for the same instruments, the works are very different in their ambitions and dimensions. While the first has the character of an occasional work very much typical in the context of a friendship gift, in the second Ries clearly draws on the Southern German-Austrian wind serenade tradition. As in Mozart's KV 388 before it, its reduction to four movements (and simultaneous upgrading of the individual movements) represents a transcending of serenade character on the way to the cyclical sonata form. The recording also includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Partita in B flat – better known as the Gran Partita – here in the version for wind octet. This release is most highly recommended to all fans of good chamber music!