Hyperion Records

Achron was an advocate of a new Jewish style which he believed should assimilate traditional elements within a sophisticated overall synthesis. This aesthetic is evident in Hazan for cello, Op 34 (1912), and in works that followed. Many of these quote sources at the head of the score, as in the Hebrew Dance, Op 35 No 1, introduced by a solemn piano introduction using a slow version of the source tune. A rhapsodic violin soliloquy alternates twice with a rhythmic dance, full of scintillating violin passagework and a dazzling flourish. The Hebrew Lullaby, Op 35 No 2, is a meditative nocturne based on a rising three-note motif from the source folksong, developed in veiled textures and counterpoint over a sustained pedal bass.

from notes by Malcolm Miller © 2012