It was a watershed year for music, both in the concert hall and opera house. There was the premiere of Brahms’ first symphony and Wagner’s four-evening-long Ring cycle. Gustav Mahler’s first significant score made its appearance, Edvard Grieg and Antonin Dvorak produced their first major works to be acclaimed outside their own countries, and a new French opera propelled Tchaikovsky into producing a stream of great works on the subject of “fate.” The year was 1876, and it heralded a new direction for classical music, whose impact we still feel today.

Recordings used
Grieg                      Chandos CHAN 8524            5014682852425

Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. op. 46                           (Ulster Orchestra, Handley)

 

Piano Quartet in A minor           Hungaroton HCD31519       [ out of print]

Piano Quartet in A minor                (Alpe Adria Ensemble)          

 

Brahms Symphony No. 1       Telarc CD-80463                   089408046322

IV. Adagio – Allegro non troppo, con brio               (Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Mackerras)

 

Dvorak Piano Concerto    Teldec 8573-87630-2            685738763023

1. Allegro agitato                                                             

3. Allegro con fuoco              (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Harnoncourt; Aimard)

 

Dvorak-Smetana        CDC 7542152                          077775421521

String Quartet No. 1 “From My Life,” IV               (Alban Berg Quartet)

 

Tchaikovsky                EMI CDE 7677902                077776779027

Francesca da Rimini           (Berlin Philharmonic, Ozawa)

 

The Ring without Words        Telarc CD-80154                   089408015427

Gotterdammerung: Immolation Scene                  (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Maazel)

 

Richard Wagner         Marco Polo 8.220114           0730099211420

American Centennial March            (Hong Kong Philharmonic, Kojian)