# Sinfonietta



## tahnak (Jan 19, 2009)

Which is the greatest sinfonietta ever written? Contemplate and share.
I am clear about this and I raise my hand for Leos Janacek's Sinfonietta. None other than this great work is so powerful under the label of 'Sinfonietta'.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Lesser known ones include
Ostrcil´s, Prokofieff´s, Britten´s, Lajtha´s
(for strings), Macha´s, Boris Tchaikovsky´s
(for strings), Holmboe´s, Heino Eller´s (for strings),
Korngold´s, Zemlinsky´s, Halffter´s,
Rimsky-Korsakov´s.
Janacek´s has a brilliant character of its own, e.g.
the instrumentation, whereas the others are more 
conventional in their language. However I remember 
Zemlinsky´s as practically a symphony and very good 
as well.


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## tahnak (Jan 19, 2009)

I shall hunt for Zemlinsky and give it an ear.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Checked the Zemlinsky and Ostrcil (I have recordings of the above-mentioned,
mostly LPs). The Ostrcil is a long work, but the themes are somewhat dark yet
unremarkable at least at first hearing, whereas the Zemlinsky is more catchy 
and one of his best works. However, for many-facetted and concentrated freshness, 
the Janacek remains my favourite and can´t be beaten.


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

I would recommend the Korngold one, which is available on Chandos. Korngold wrote it when he was a teenager.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

The only other works with this title that I have heard, apart from Janacek's, are the two by Myaskovsky (I think they are for string orchestra). I find it ironic that Janacek called this a sinfonietta rather than a symphony, because it is a work which requires a massive brass section. Perhaps he wanted to get away from the Austro-Germanic tradition? Who knows, but it's a masterpiece anyway...


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## johnfkavanagh (Sep 9, 2011)

Sid James said:


> The only other works with this title that I have heard, apart from Janacek's, are the two by Myaskovsky (I think they are for string orchestra). I find it ironic that Janacek called this a sinfonietta rather than a symphony, because it is a work which requires a massive brass section. Perhaps he wanted to get away from the Austro-Germanic tradition? Who knows, but it's a masterpiece anyway...


Agreed. Janacek's is the best work called Sinfonietta but it is certainly symphonic in scale. I'd like to put a word in for E J Moeran's Sinfonietta too.


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Poulenc also has a Sinfonietta. It's in the usual 'light and charming' Poulenc instrumental style, but all the movements are fairly substantial in length.


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## slowjazz (Aug 29, 2011)

also the slovene uros krek has a sinfonietta written in 1951


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

William Alwyn wrote a Sinfonietta for strings.


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Albert Roussel also has one for strings (1934).


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

My vote goes to Poulenc.

In that vein, though not called "sinfoniettas", should we count Mendelssohn's 12 String symphonies (often called sinfonias)??


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## TresPicos (Mar 21, 2009)

I really like the sinfonietta as a genre. And there are some nice ones out there. Like Penderecki's:


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