ALEXANDER VON ZEMLINSKY (1871-1942): Die Seejungfrau, Sinfonietta, Op. 23.

Description: Zemlinsky's sumptuous orchestral fantasy shared its premiere with Schoenberg's Pelleas and Melisande and both works, besides being unique in their composers' output, strove to resolve the difference between programmatic and absolute music which was symbolized for their generation by the works respectively of Wagner and Brahms. Like Schoenberg's work, Die Seejungfrau is full of richly orchestrated, highly picturesque music which seethes with passionate life. The Sinfonietta, from 1935, wraps two compact and harshly showy "new music" movements around an oppressively melancholy slow movement. New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; James Judd.