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Free Download: Claude Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was approached by dramatist Henrik Ibsen in 1874 to compose incidental music for a staging of his five-act play Peer Gynt. Although Grieg had been laboring over an opera with Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson since 1873, he pursued the project, believing it would not distract him from his operatic endeavors. In the end, the opera was dropped and Grieg devoted his time to Peer Gynt, which would become some of his most popular music. Grieg completed the score in 1875 and the first performance took place on February 24, 1876.

This recording is performed by Orquesta Filarmónica De La Ciudad de México under the direction of Fernando Lorenzo.

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Free Download: Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, op. 46

Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was approached by dramatist Henrik Ibsen in 1874 to compose incidental music for a staging of his five-act play Peer Gynt. Although Grieg had been laboring over an opera with Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson since 1873, he pursued the project, believing it would not distract him from his operatic endeavors. In the end, the opera was dropped and Grieg devoted his time to Peer Gynt, which would become some of his most popular music. Grieg completed the score in 1875 and the first performance took place on February 24, 1876.

This recording is performed by Orquesta Filarmónica De La Ciudad de México under the direction of Fernando Lorenzo.

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All tracks downloaded through this promotion are owned by Alexander Street Press and are available to legally download, free of cost to the user.

Free Download: Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, Pastoral

Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, written in the autumn of 1807 through the beginning of 1808, premiered at the Theater an der Wien on a cold December evening in 1808.

A lengthy program (the four-hour-long program consisted of premieres of the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the Viennese premiere of the Fourth Piano Concerto, selections from the Mass in C, the scena and aria “Ah, perfido”, improvisations from Beethoven at the piano, and a slapdash finale of the work now known as “Choral Fantasy”), an uncooperative orchestra, and a frigid theater left little chance for a warm reception.

Today, Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony is one of the most beloved works in the classical repertoire.

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Free Download: Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Mandolins, RV 532

Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) wrote over 500 concertos and his compositional conventions, such as the ritornello form and the three-movement structure, became the standard for concerto writing. Vivaldi wrote forty double concertos, but this is the only concerto scored for two solo mandolins. It is difficult to determine whether this work was an exploration in new instrumentation or if it was meant to satisfy the requests of patrons.

This performance is presented by the Ensemble Instrumental de Grenoble under the direction of Kurt Redel, featuring soloists Christian Schneider and Danielle Meyer.

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Free Download: Johannes Brahms's Double Concerto for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 102

Completed in 1887, this concerto is German composer Johannes Brahms’s (1833–1897) last orchestral work. Brahms wrote this work, referred to as a “double concerto” as it features two soloists rather than one, for violinist Joseph Joachim and Joachim’s quartet-mate, cellist Robert Hausmann.

This recording is performed by Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine under the direction of Alain Lombard.

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Free Download: Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1, "Titan"

Austrian composer Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) completed most of his first symphony in 1888, having begun to sketch as early as the 1870s. The last edition published in Mahler’s lifetime is dated 1906.

“The introduction to the first movement sounds of nature, not music!” Mahler once instructed conductor Franz Schalk. Indeed, the opening measures, consisting of pianississimo A’s across seven octaves, aptly evoke “nature’s awakening from its long winter sleep,” as Mahler first described it.

This recording is performed by Orchestre National de Lille under the direction of Jean-Claude Casadesus.

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Free Download: Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 14, "Der Tod und das Mädchen", D. 810.

Austrian composer Franz Schubert (1797–1828) completed his String Quartet No. 14 in March 1824.  Along with the A minor “Rosamunde” Quartet No. 13, it was the first chamber music Schubert had composed for three years.

The work's nickname stems from the second movement, a set of five variations on Schubert's 1817 song setting of Matthias Claudius' poem, “Der Tod und das Mädchen” (“Death and the Maiden”). This wonderfully inventive movement lies at the heart of the quartet. It is preceded by a fiery allegro and followed by an equally forceful scherzo, though the trio section is wistfully happy in tone.

The final movement of this remarkable work is a lively Presto in the style of the saltarello ortarantella dance. Seemingly full of outbursts of happiness amidst the nervous intensity and rhythmic insistence, it forms a thrilling conclusion to the quartet.

The String Quartet No. 14 was first performed at the residence of Karl and Franz Hacker in 1826, but not published until 1831, three years after the composer's death.

This recording is performed by the Enesco Quartet.

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Free Download: Maurice Ravel's "Miroirs (Mirrors)"

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) was a French composer.

Dating from 1904–1905, each piece in Ravel's Miroirs (Mirrors) for piano is dedicated to a different member of his artistic group, known as "Les Apaches". The first piece, "Noctuelles (Night Moths)," is dedicated to French poet and essayist Léon-Paul Fargue, "Oiseaux tristes (Sad Birds)" to pianist Ricardo Viñes (who also premiered the work), "Une barque sur l'océan (A boat on the Ocean)" to painter Paul Sordes, "Alborada del gracioso (The Gracioso's Aubade)" to music writer and critic Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi, and "La vallée des cloches (The Valley of Bells)" to composer and pianist Maurice Delage

Ravel remarked that ‘these pieces marked such a change in my harmonic evolution that nonplussed even those most accustomed to my musical style'. He later arranged two of the set for orchestra, "Une barque sur l'ocean" and "Alborada del gracioso".

This recording is performed by pianist Abdel Rahman El Bacha.

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Free Download: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky's "Shchelkunchik [The Nutcracker Suite], Op. 71"

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was a Russian composer.

Tchaikovsky's final ballet, The Nutcracker, was completed in 1892, a year before the composer's suicide. Based on a Christmas story by E.T.A Hoffmann, The Nutcracker was first produced in St. Petersburg on 18 December 1892 with choreography by Marius Petipa.

Tchaikovsky did not think much of the music he produced, though he did the best job possible with the material available. The result is, understandably, light and frivolous to match the tinsel fairy world of the story. Yet the music retains great charm and has a surface sheen that is endlessly fascinating.

Particularly attractive are the miniature overture and the national dances that culminate with the lively Russian Trepak. The Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy sparkles prettily and the Waltz of the Flowers has tremendous verve. The whole work remains a traditional Christmas favourite for the whole family.

This recording is performed by the Orchestre d'Etat du Palatinat Rhénan.

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Free Download: Jean Sibelius's "Symphony No. 2, Op. 43"

Pyotr Il′yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was a Russian composer.

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) was a Finnish composer.

The Second Symphony was sketched in 1901 while Sibelius was staying admid the beautiful mountain scenery of Rapallo, Italy. The composer had been on an extended trip abroad from his native Finland, visiting Berlin and meeting Dvorak in Prague. Still, however, Sibelius yearned for his homeland and the Second Symphony bears witness to this homesickness.

The ostinato passages and atmospheric string sounds used by Sibelius are often said to represent the Finnish wind. And the stirring finale, though far from sophisticated, must have raised the spirits of his countrymen laboring under the yoke of Russian oppression.

This recording is performed by the Orquesta Filarmónica De La Ciudad de México.

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