2. “Song of June” by Jonathan Harvey
A short and beautiful chorus work by Jonathan Harvey.
IDAGIO and Amazon for: Nigel Short, Tenebrae
1. “Sinfonietta” by Leoš Janáček
I adore fanfare music. It’s a soft spot of mine since I was a child and I would go and listen to the marching band on the bank of the Danube on Navy Day. I’ve always found the sound of brass instruments to be both playful and empowering and the orchestra needed for this work has a lot of those, as it requires a bigger brass section, of up to 25 players. Leoš Janáček first composed the fanfare sections as the background music for a sporting event, and later on developed them into this Sinfonietta, in order to express the contemporary free man, his spiritual beauty and joy, his strength, courage and determination to fight for victory.
IDAGIO and Amazon: Sir Simon Rattle, Philharmonia Orchestra
Disclaimer: this is not an exhaustive list of all the works curated by Clemency Burton-Hill in the book Year of wonder: classical music for every day. To enjoy the full catalogue of pieces proposed by the author along with her comments on the composers and the music itself, feel free to pick up her awesome book here (not affiliated, nor sponsored).