Despite this brilliant beginning, Henselt, probably due to extreme stage fright, removed himself from the concert stage at age 33; he had stopped composing three years earlier. To take up his time, he became more active teaching in the imperial household and travelled through Russia in his role of Inspector General of music schools and teaching academies.

While following the passacaglia format, Webern, at the same time, has managed to put the work almost in sonata form: after the presentation of the theme in the 8 pizzicato notes heard at the beginning, they develop into a central slow section, a section with scherzo elements, and then closes with a highly compressed recapitulation.

In this violin concerto, Jost opens with a solo violin, not the orchestra as is most common in solo concertos. The solo has a very introverted feeling, as though we’re being permitted a private view of a violinist at play.

Written in 1992, the work encapsulates the feelings that any native New Yorker has about the city. New York may be a city of contrasts and a city of hard work but it is deeply beloved by its inhabitants in a way that few other cities are. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for its 150^th anniversary.

Weiss’ Lute Sonata No. 39 dates from 1731-35 and shows many of Weiss’ compositional traits: it is in the style galant and merges the da capo aria with the concerto form. The opening movement, entitled ‘Ouverture,’ is filled with imitative counterpoint and uses the entire three-and-a-half range of the 13-string lute.

Busoni’s childhood compositions show his imagination and taste, but are somewhat limited in terms of melody and melodic invention. As a product of the 13-year-old Busoni, the Solo dramatique has more of a Brahmsian cast than anything contemporary. With the equality of the two instruments, it also makes an interesting statement about Busoni’s view of his career in terms of his father’s.

If we look at Palmgren’s 1904 work, Aria, we could almost be part of the Spain created by Enrique Granados. Slow, singing and sultry, the Aria is placed in a crystal world where the piano left hand sometimes creates an interesting backdrop, and other times, joins the melody in a focused declaration.

Klampanis writes for the guitar as both a polyphonic instrument and as a percussion instrument. In this piece, he combines elements of Greek folk music and jazz with classical music to create a work that represents both ancient and modern Greece.