On Record

Latest
Wind Band Music - CRESTON, P. / SCHWARZ, G. / GRAINGER, P. / COPLAND, A. (Above and Beyond) (The President's Own United States Marine Band, Schwarz)

Few wind ensembles have earned such international acclaim as the United States Marine Band, virtuosos who here perform an excitingly varied programme directed by the award-winning conductor of the Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz. Established classics such as Frederick Fennell’s edition of Percy Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy sit alongside Paul Creston’s festive Celebration Overture. Copland’s pungent Emblems evokes Amazing Grace in masterly fashion, whilst Schwarz himself contributes his own recent composition Above and Beyond, written specifically for this band in recognition of its remarkable musicianship. learn more...

“At times, conductor Schwarz seemed like a kid in a candy store, picking from each section the specific delights he wanted at any given moment…the melodies had a certain felicity, and Schwarz made canny use of the vast capabilities of the band.” -DMV Classical Music read more...


DVORAK, A.: Symphony No. 6 / JANACEK, L.: Idyll (Seattle Symphony, Schwarz)

Dvořák’s was a strong voice in the re-establishment of Czech musical identity, and the noble themes, open landscapes and dancing Scherzo of the Symphony No 6 bear the stamp of a genius at his height. The work can also be heard as a tribute to Brahms, who had helped him earlier in his career. Janáček’s charming Idyll reflects his preoccupation with Moravian folk-songs and rhythms as well as the influence of his friend Dvořák, identified by Jaroslav Vogel as the work’s “spiritual godfather.” learn more...

"Gerard Schwarz Shines in Dvorák"  -Classics Today
read more...
Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella / Scherzo fantastique (Graham, Wilson, Opalach, Seattle Symphony, Schwarz)

The ballet Pulcinella was first staged in Paris in 1920. Sergey Dyagilev had gathered around him some of the greatest artistic talents of the age: choreographer and dancer Léonide Massine, Pablo Picasso, who provided the astonishing designs, and Stravinsky. For the story of a travelling Italian theatre company, Stravinsky took music derived from Pergolesi and his contemporaries, and fashioned it into new and rich life, magical and piquant. The Scherzo fantastique, Op 3 is a lavish and brilliantly scored orchestral showpiece. learn more...
TCHAIKOVSKY, P.I.: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (Seattle Symphony, Schwarz)

Written under difficult circumstances while he was employed at the Moscow Conservatory, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 1 held the composer’s affection throughout his life as “a sin of my sweet youth”. The melodic richness and skillful orchestration in his later music can already be found in this and the Symphony No 2, which owes its subtitle to the use of folk music from the Ukraine, a region known as ‘Little Russia’. These youthful masterpieces are heard here “in performances full of grace and zest. Schwarz is a passionate advocate of this music, and it shows.” (The Seattle Times) learn more...


Top Picks

MUSICALLY SPEAKING (educational CD series)

By the time Mozart turned twenty he was already one of the most skilled composers of his day. His output included not only symphonies and concertos but piano pieces, serenades, arias, operas and smaller species of musical theater, songs and church music. Symphony No. 40 in G Minor forms the centerpiece of the "final trilogy." It is a work of complex character, one whose music embodies passion and formal elegance, sorrow and exultation, darkness and light. Mozart's brilliant use of counterpoint, the simultaneous sounding of different melodic strands, makes the finale of his "Jupiter" Symphony one of the outstanding musical achievements of the Classical period. learn more...
HOLIDAY CLASSICS 
(Seattle Symphony, G. Schwarz)

Seattle Symphony’s first holiday album embraces works composed specifically for Christmas as well as other pieces that convey a universal message of peace, love and hope—the essence of humanity’s highest aspirations. Music Director Gerard Schwarz asked two composers, the Symphony’s Composer in Residence Samuel Jones and Seattle Symphony Principal Oboe Ben Hausmann, to “make the music their own” by scoring several of the pieces to retain the unaffected simplicity of these well-known Christmas and concert works. Schwarz joined them in this task, arranging or editing several of the pieces, with the resulting works celebrating the remarkable artistry of the musicians of the Orchestra. In these new settings, recorded entirely in Benaroya Hall, the music emerges with honest, untarnished beauty. learn more...

Full discography

Click here to view Jerry's full discography.