Northern Flowers: Wartime Music Series

The Wartime Music series produced by Russian label Northern Flowers offers an excellent sampler of music composed by Soviet composers during the WWII. The variety of the music is startling, and the fact that Gliere wrote the warm and melancholy Coloratura Soprano Concerto at the height of the war, is a little miracle in itself. The only Shostakovich symphony included is his 9th, an anti-climax celebration of the Russian victory. Works in the 16 volumes released so far are listed below, with links to introductory articles.

• Vol. 1: Nikolay Myaskovsky, Symphony-Ballad, Op. 54; Symphony No. 23 in A minor, Op. 56
• Vol. 2: Vladimir Shcherbachov, Symphony No. 5; The Tobacco Captain Suite
• Vol. 3: Nikolay Myaskovsky, Symphony No. 24 in F minor, Op. 63; Symphony No. 25 in D flat major, Op. 69
• Vol. 4: Gavriil Popov, Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 45, "Geroicheskaya" (The Heroic); Symphonic Aria, Op. 43
• Vol. 5: Mieczyslaw Weinberg: Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 10; Cello Concerto, Op. 43
• Vol. 6: Lev Knipper: Violin Concerto No. 1; Symphony No. 8
• Vol. 7: Dmitry Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70; Russkaya reka (Russian River), Op. 66; Otchizna (Native Country), Op. 63
• Vol. 8: Gavriil Popov, Symphony No. 2, Op. 39, "Rodina" (The Homeland); The Turning Point, Op. 44; Red Cavalry Campaign, "Symphonic Poster"
• Vol. 9: Alexander Mossolov: Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 34; Symphony in E major
• Vol. 10: Sergey Prokofiev: Semyon Kotko Suite, Op. 81bis; Waltz Suite, Op. 110
• Vol. 11: Yuri Kochurov: Macbeth Symphony; The Suvorov Overture; Solemn March;  Heroic Aria
• Vol. 12: Orest Yevlakhov, Symphony No. 1, Op. 14; Nochnoy patrul' (Night Patrol); Concert Suite, Op. 8
• Vol. 13: Reinhold Glière: Cello Concerto in D minor, Op. 87; Coloratura Soprano Concerto, Op. 82
• Vol. 14: Leonid Polovinkin, Symphony No. 9
• Vol. 15: Igor Stravinsky, Symphony in 3 Movements; Scherzo a la russe; Danses concertantes
• Vol. 16: Leonid Polovinkin, Symphony No. 7; Heroic Overture; The Sunny Tribe

Get this collection in one Spotify playlist here: Northern Flowers: Wartime Music (143 tracks, 17 hours) Ctrl (CMD) + G to browse in album view. Discussions about this series on Unsung Composers.