Zwolf Stucke (Miniaturen) op. 29 [12 Pieces (Miniatures) op. 29]

Description

In the course of his first two years in Moscow, Mieczyslaw Weinberg established his reputation above all in a remarkable succession of string quartets and sonatas, and then in the Twelve Pieces (Miniatures) for Flute and Piano, followed closely by the Clarinet Sonata.

The technical demands on the flutist in the Miniatures vary from internal piece to piece, but as a whole this is a more integrated cycle than the title would suggest. Indeed the design – with a cadenza-like ‘Introduction’ almost entirely for flute, two pieces almost entirely for the piano (No. 2 ‘Arietta’ and No. 7 ‘Ode’), and attacca markings between Nos. 9 and 10 and Nos. 11 and 12 – strongly suggests performance as a cycle.

On the whole, the Miniatures are a remarkable picture of a compositional star in Moscow, Weinberg being admired by Shostakovich, among others, as one of the foremost Soviet composers.

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