Bernhard SEKLES (1872-1934)
Chamber Music
Chaconne on an eight-bar march-theme, Op.38, for viola and piano * (publ.1931)
[8:58]
Cello Sonata, Op.28 (1919) [27:20]
Capriccio in four movements for piano trio (publ.1932) [13:00]
Violin Sonata, Op.44 (date unknown) [18:20]
Solomia Soroka (viola; violin), Noreen Silver (cello), Phillip Silver (piano)
rec. 28, 29, 31 May 2012, Blue Griffin Studios, Lansing, Michigan, USA.
* first recording
TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC0147 [67:55]
It may very well be true that the days of the CD are numbered what with the
spread of downloading and all. That said, the recording industry is surely
alive and in robust health if the number of discs released each month is anything
to go by.
Along with each new crop up for grabs by we happy band of reviewers there
are always new discoveries either of repertoire by well known composers or
by relatively or completely unknown ones. As far as I’m concerned Bernhard
Sekles is one of the latter. I’d never come upon his name before. If one were
to judge by appearances from the photo on the booklet one would be forgiven
for thinking he was a bank manager who was waiting to hear another hard luck
story from a customer before a request for a loan. He has that world-weary
look about him that says that he’s heard it all before and that nothing would
surprise him. When you’ve read his story it comes as no surprise that he looks
that way for he is another composer who had the misfortune to live in Germany
at a time that encompassed the horrors of the First World War and the rise
of Nazism. With teachers such as Joachim Raff and Engelbert Humperdinck his
musical education was assured. In 1895 he went to work at the Hoch Conservatory
only two years after leaving it as a student. He became its Director in 1923.
Sekles only produced a relatively small number of compositions but was highly
regarded as a teacher. Among his pupils were Paul Hindemith, Theodor Adorno,
Hans Rosbaud, Cyril Scott and Rudi Stephan. He was one of the first Jewish
academics to be fired from his job when Hitler came to power. He had already
incurred the furious wrath of the ultra right by fighting for and establishing
in 1928 the world’s first Jazz studies course at the Conservatory. This was
a considerable achievement since it was only four years later that New York
University established the first one in the USA.
His works are reminiscent of Brahms who was still alive for 25 years after
Sekles was born and whose music must have been heard everywhere at the time.
The first few notes of the Chaconne on an eight-bar march-theme, Op.38,
for viola and piano, here receiving its first recording, have a kind
of jazzy edge to them reminiscent of ‘Le Hot Club de France’ in which Stephane
Grappelli made his name. At the same time there is a bittersweet nature to
the piece whose main theme is a jaunty sounding march which Sekles subjected
to no fewer than 21 variations. It’s quite remarkable for a work lasting less
than nine minutes. At other moments an atmosphere of menace is injected and
I wondered if the political events that were unfolding at the time exerted
any influence. It is followed by an absolutely beautiful opening to his Cello
Sonata, Op.28 that dates from 1919. Its late romantic nature is wholly
satisfying with Sekles’ music placing considerable demands on the performers.
The short second movement is an interesting combination of the mysterious
and the bizarre. The third and final movement which lasts longer than the
other two put together is a theme and variations with some lovely passages
of great beauty. These are suffused at times with a feeling of sadness and
regret when it’s not sounding martial or grotesque though it ends delightfully.
There follows the only work on the disc for all three players, Sekles’ Capriccio
in four movements for piano trio whose first movement is pretty austere
while its second is full of brio and effervescence. The intermezzo is emotionally
reflective not to say melancholy though hauntingly beautiful. The final movement
is a set of variations on Yankee Doodle, that quintessentially American
folk tune. As the pianist on the disc Phillip Silver writes in the excellent
notes various composers have used this tune as a basis for variations though
none have been as comprehensive and wide ranging as Sekles’. He treated it
to everything from ‘late Romanticism via Impressionism to jazz and illustrate(s)
the potential of the theme’.
Sekles regrettably wrote only two sonatas: both of them on this disc. I say
regrettably since he was clearly a master of the genre in spite of there being
only two as they will both demonstrate to any listener. The unpublished Violin
Sonata, Op.44 works on every level with four contrasting movements each
highly successful and perfectly constructed. The first uses a march theme
shared by each instrument. Marches seem to be a feature of Sekles’ writing,
appearing in three of the four works. The second movement is quite delicious
with a gorgeous folk-like tune carried by the violin and mirrored by the piano.
The third movement is as Phillip Silver says ‘mercurial’, darting around will-o’-the-wisp
like, throughout its short 2:41 span. The final movement is very interesting
with traces of the 13th century Latin hymn Dies Irae in
its theme. This goes through a set of eleven variations which involve several
different influences from atmospheric medieval chant to Moorish sounds and
concludes with three variations. As Silver explains, these have ‘an aura of
a dance of death’ about them. As he rightly points out this could be significant
given the events that were occurring at the time it is thought this work was
written (1933).
I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to have been introduced to this
composer who I really hope will emerge from obscurity with the help of this
disc. He thoroughly deserves to be heard by every chamber music lover. These
three musicians have done the composer great service in projecting their obvious
admiration for Sekles into their playing which is flawless and makes the disc
a really valuable discovery.
Steve Arloff
Flawless playing makes this disc a really valuable discovery.
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