The main attraction of this album is to present, in addition to a few already established recorded works such as Brahms’ Nänie, Gesang der Parzen (Song of the Fates) and Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny), the Liebeslieder Walzer in its orchestral version as imagined by the composer himself. Surprisingly while the versions for piano duet and vocal quartet have often been recorded, that is not the case for the nine waltzes selected by Brahms in 1870 for his orchestral rewriting; indeed they were only edited in the 1930s, most likely forgotten in favour of more marketable versions. Another relative rarity is the Begräbnisgesang (Burial Song) op. 13 for choir and wind, an instrumentation that made the work usable for outdoor celebrations. The excellent Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, funded in 1945 by the notorious choral conductor, accompanied by the Gävle Symphony Orchestra from Sweden perform these sumptuous pieces in a stunningly beautiful recording. © SM/Qobuz