"Franz Schreker
and His Students" is the title
of a Nimbus Records release with the
Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, John Axelrod,
and Dietrich Henschel. A promising title,
if you know and like Schreker’s music
– perhaps from the sick, sick, but equally
enthralling and mesmerizing production,
of his spectacular, gorgeous, riveting
opera "Die Gezeichneten" (Kent
Nagano conducting at the Salzburg Felsenreitschule,
DVD available on EuroArts).
Schreker (1878-1934)
might have become the epitome of daring
20th century romanticism – combining
the lush sounds of late Richard Strauss
with a more modern harmonic language
(not unlike an offshoot of Debussy’s
style) – had it not been first for the
Third Reich, then the reaction to the
Third Reich to crush his reputation.
A student of Robert Fuchs - as were
Gustav Mahler, Franz Schmidt, Hugo Wolf,
and Alexander Zemlinsky - Schreker was,
in his time, thought of as one of the
most important composers during the
early 20th century. His reputation -
attained through his operas – was comparable
to those of Mahler, Strauss, Debussy,
Reger and Korngold.
At the height of his
career, the causes of his future decline
in popularity, esteem, and influence
were already under way. Schoenberg’s
music was just about, if slowly, getting
a hold of critics and the academies
… and Fascism was on the rise even before
Schreker died in 1933 (after suffering
a stroke), not yet 56 years old. First
his music was declared "degenerate"
and sexually depraved - an allegation
hurled not only at the music but the
composer as well. After the war his
music was too conservative to please
the modernists who wanted to cleanse
music from all stains of the past.
Many of his later students
suffered from a similar fate. Berthold
Goldschmidt, Stefan Wolpe, and most
importantly: Ernst Krenek (1900-1991).
Krenek is included on this disc with
his First Symphony (op.7) in nine short,
continuous movements. A less well known
representative of Schreker’s students,
Julius Bürger (1897-1995, foremost
a conductor like his fellow Schreker-student
Jascha Horenstein), is included with
two Songs for Baritone and Orchestra:
"Legend" and "Silence
of the Night" (not a Christmas
song, but based on a Gottfried Keller
poem).
Schreker himself is
featured with two early works, the Intermezzo
and Scherzo for string orchestra
op.8 from 1900. They are less interesting
pieces than most of what Schreker composed
later, but worthy little buffers between
the – also early, but major – works
of Bürger and Krenek. Schreker
wrote both of these rather conventional
pieces for a competition (which Intermezzo
won). The Scherzo remained
unpublished for many years - the Intermezzo
was combined with three more movements
into the reasonably popular "Romantic
Suite".
More attractive for
the potential purchaser are the two
1919 Bürger works. These large-scale
orchestral songs (each over 10 minutes
long) offer so many inspired touches
of orchestral coloration that one cannot
but wonder if there is much more of
his music available. As it turns out:
not much – but a cello concerto looks
appealing, having been made available
by Toccata.
The faux Arabian Nights melodies
for the solo bassoon, the dashing and
bold lines toward grand orchestral climaxes,
and the terrific, searing performance
by Dietrich Henschel make these youthful
opera of Bürger’s most impressive
upon repeat listening.
Krenek’s First Symphony
isn’t exactly charming right off the
bat. Much like his string quartets,
the music benefits greatly from repeat
exposure. And this 1921 symphony doesn’t
offer any of the lusciously dense chromaticism
that the name "Schreker" of
the CD-title evokes. This nervously
moving, restless symphonic work flirts
with all the styles Krenek had encountered
at age 21 – with atonalism as well gestures
of the big late-romantic symphonies.
And in that limited sense the work is
quite unique. Krenek dutifully shows
his enormous compositional skill in
the work, not least with the large,
bombastic Fugue just before
the coyly concluding Presto.
I haven’t heard Takao Ukigaya and the
NDR SO-Hannover on their 1996 disc on
CPO, but the performance of Lucerne
Symphony Orchestra under its Texan music
director John
Axelrod suggests that it would take
much more than just a casual effort
to better this interpretation.
Jens F. Laurson
see also review
by Gary Higginson
for details
Dietrich Henschel (baritone) 
