Franchetti: Symphony in E minor / Nella Foresta nera

Alberto Franchetti and Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari shared a similar dual heritage. Franchetti’s father was an Italian Baron, his mother was Viennese and Alberto studied in Germany where he composed the Symphony in E minor in 1884 as part of his graduation examination from Dresden Conservatory. Late Romantic and cast in the German symphonic tradition, it is a colourful, evocative and majestic work. Inspired by the wild beauty of the forests of the Rhine valley, Nella Foresta nera is a tranquil, atmospheric ‘symphonic impression’. Venetian-born to a Bavarian father, Wolf-Ferrari spent many years in Germany where he wrote his Sinfonia da camera. The work has an expansive symphonic breadth and utilises Romanticism’s full harmonic and melodic arsenal.