Sommernacht

Of the few orchestral works by Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) most were written to commission, not by choice alone. The most successful of these is without doubt Sommernacht (Summer Night), heard here in an arrangement for solo strings and large string orchestra. As a work it is akin to, without quite the radicalism of, Schoenberg's Verkla?rte Nacht. The Berner Symphonieorchester, Sommernacht's 1945 dedicatee, here led by it's Swiss-born chief conductor Mario Venzago, and soloists are the featured artists on this all-Swiss program of recorded rarities.