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Herman BERLINSKI (1910-2001) From the World of My Father (1941, rev.1995)
(I. Haztot - Prayer at Midnight [4:38]; II. Nocturnal
Procession [1:58]; III. Legend [5:08]; IV. Dance [7:43]) Shofar Service (1964) (I. Malkhuyyot [2:33];
II. Zikhronot [2:10]; III. Shofarot [3:39) The Burning Bush (1956) [9:36]
Symphonic Visions for Orchestra (1949) (Andante
Molto Pesante [1:46]; Adagio Molto Espressivo [4:42]; Adagio
Molto Sostenuto [11:18])
Seattle
Symphony Orchestra/Gerard Schwarz (Father)
Ted Christopher (baritone); James Ghigi (trumpet); Stephen
Keavy (trumpet); Tim Roseman (shofar); Christopher Bowers-Broadbent
(organ)
BBC Singers/Avner Itai (Shofar)
Barbara Harbach (organ) (Bush)
Barcelona
Symphony/ National Orchestra of Catalonia/Gerard Schwarz
(Visions)
rec. Benaroya Hall, Seattle, USA, May 1999 (Father);
St. Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, London, UK, November 1999
(Shofar); Calvary Church, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA,
February 1993 (Bush); Centre Cultural de Sant Cugat,
Barcelona, January 2000 (Visions). NAXOS 8.559446 [55:32]
Herman
Berlinski is one of those musical personalities whose Jewish
heritage played as vitally important a role in the creation
of his music as Messiaen’s Catholicism played in his. Berlinski
said that he doubted that there was any music he wrote which
did not embody his Jewish existence. This is certainly immediately
obvious as soon as you listen to it. His music has the same
sense of suffering and the ability to overcome it that is
found in some black music. It makes for a powerfully emotional
experience. One reviewer said of another of his works on
Naxos (Avodat Shabbat) that “There are passages in Berlinski’s
work of such aching beauty that if you are not moved to tears
you are made of sterner stuff than I am.”
Each
of the works on this disc is a good introduction to the breadth
of expression that Berlinski brings to his music and makes
the listener want to explore further. It is interesting to
note that though he was born in Leipzig of Polish parents
his musical roots draw on that eastern European Jewish legacy
that begins east of Germany’s borders. Anyone who is familiar
with klezmer will hear its influence in this music; try track
2 to hear what I mean. This was due to the insistence of
his father that though he wanted his children to be “modern
German Jews” he also wanted them to be acquainted with their
eastern European heritage. He also engaged a tutor to teach
them Yiddish. There is no indication in the liner notes,
which are extremely comprehensive and well written, that
Berlinski ever wrote any music for film. I this found surprising
because he would have produced some superb music for that
medium. He has that facility for producing powerful sweeping
themes that would fit neatly into so many movies.
‘From
the World of my Father’ is a suite that Berlinski reconstructed
from his recollections of music he had written in Paris just
before the war when he was forced to leave. His parents had
emigrated from Lodz in Poland to Germany. He had been writing
and arranging music in Paris for an émigré Yiddish art theatre
known as PIAT. This music is a portrayal of the world of
his parents and their parents before them. It aimed to encompass
traditions, hopes, fears, joys, persecutions – in short to
present in music as a microcosm of the Jewish world of eastern
Europe. It achieves these aims wonderfully and is never banal
but full of typical Jewish melodies woven into a brilliantly
evocative piece.
‘Shofar
Service’ is a liturgical work using a shofar, usually made
of ram’s horn. This may be the oldest surviving wind instrument
to have been in continuous use. It is the only musical instrument
of any kind mentioned in the Bible that can be positively
identified. It was used for summoning people, warning them
of approaching danger, announcing the beginning of a period
of celebration, of fasting and many other events. This piece
was written to be performed during Rosh Hashana or
the Jewish New Year - a time with which the shofar is most
associated. It is a powerful work in which the shofar is
set against the voice of a baritone who entreats the people
to harken to the sound of the shofar and to worship the Lord
at the holy mountain. Liturgical though it may be it would
be extremely effective performed in the concert hall as part
of a programme of Berlinski’s work.
‘The
Burning Bush’ was commissioned from Berlinski by the distinguished
organist of the Emanu-El temple in New York. Berlinski had
been encouraged to learn the organ as late as 1951 by Josef
Yasser, synagogue organist and musicologist, who offered
to teach him. The organ has always fascinated Berlinski but
it had not figured on his course in Leipzig where it was
principally associated with the church. Taking the Hebrew
words eh’ye asher eh’ye (I am that I am) that God
spoke when asked by Moses who he should say had appointed
him to carry out his mission, Berlinski constructed a reflective
cell from those words. This rhythmic cell pervades the piece.
It was first performed in 1956 by Robert Baker - who commissioned
it - to great acclaim. It helped establish Berlinski’s reputation
in Great Britain, Europe and America as one of the most gifted
contemporary composers for the organ.
The
final work on the disc is ‘Symphonic Visions for Orchestra’ a
semi-programmatic tone-poem inspired by various biblical
images, passages and sentiments. Once again it shows the
power of expression that Berlinski has. It makes a fitting
end to a disc of music that will hopefully gain a new wave
of admirers - of whom I am certainly one - for a truly original
musical voice. The disc is a great start for those wishing
to explore this composer’s music. The recordings are bright,
clear and well played by clearly committed musicians who
have taken to this wonderfully harmonious and melodic music.
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