Stories of the Danube is a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

Joe Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

, which was commissioned by the Brucknerhaus,

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

. It was first performed as part of the ''

Linzer Klangwolke The Linzer Klangwolke () (Linz Cloud of Sound) is an open-air multimedia musical event held each year since 1979 in early September in the Linz Danube Park in the Austrian town of Linz. It is organized by the Brucknerhaus Linz. The Cloud of Soun ...

'' (a large-scale open-air broadcast event), for the opening of the 1993

Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

Festival in

, on September 12. In its seven movements (plus a finale), the symphony traces the course of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

from

Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar '' Kreis''. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Da ...

through various countries ending at the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

Recording

The symphony was recorded as a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

Brno Philharmonic Orchestra The Brno Philharmonic (Czech: ''Filharmonie Brno'') is a Czech orchestra based in Brno, the Czech Republic. Its principal concert venue in Brno is the ''Besední dům''. The orchestra also performs regularly in the Janáček Opera House in Brno. ...

, conducted by

Caspar Richter Caspar is a masculine given name. It may refer to: People * Caspar (magus), a name traditionally given to one of the Three Magi in the Bible who brought the baby Jesus gifts *Caspar Austa (born 1982), Estonian cyclist *Caspar Badrutt (1848–1904 ...

, at Dukla Radio Studio,

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, in November 1995 and Music Room,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, in February 1996.

allmusic Biography AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

/ref>

Track listing

# "Beginning: ''In the depths of the forest a spring wells up: A river is born''" – 5:49 # "Mountain Waters: ''Waterfalls of melted snow cascade into the young river''" – 3:30 # "

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

: ''An impression of life in the reign of emperor

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

at the turn of the century''" – 11:22 # "Intro" – 3:52 # "

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

: ''History of a free people without a home''" – 7:35 # "Voice of the Danube: ''On the riverbed, an imposing rock watches History''" – 5:53 # "Unknown Soldier: ''A stream of blood and violence: The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

''" – 5:52 # "Intro" – 4:26 # "Sultan: ''900 years of

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

''" – 7:59 # "Finale: ''The nations of the Danube celebrate peace''" – 2:33

Personnel

* Joe Zawinul - keyboards, vocals * Caspar Richter - conductor * Amit Chatterjee - guitar, vocals * Burhan Öçal - percussion, vocals *

Arto Tunçboyacıyan Arto Tunçboyacıyan ( hy, Արտո Թունջբոյաջյան; hyw, Արթօ Թունճպոյաճեան, Art'ō T'unjpoyajean; born August 4, 1957) is a United States-based avant-garde folk and jazz multi-instrumentalist and singer of Armenian ...

- percussion, vocals * Walter Grassman - drums *

References

{{Authority control 1996 albums Joe Zawinul albums 1993 in music Zawinul