RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Anton BRUCKNER (1824–1896)
Psalm 146 in A major, WAB 37 (1858 – 1860?) (30:03)
Mass No. 3 in F minor, Große Messe, WAB 28 (1868, 1883, 1893) (60:16)
Ania Vegry (soprano), Franziska Gottwald (contralto), Clemens Bieber (tenor), Timo Riihonen (bass)
Philharmonischer Chor München
Philharmonie Festiva Ebrach/Gerd Schaller
rec. in public concert in the Abbey Church, Ebrach, Germany, 6 September 2015
Improvisation Sketches “Bad Ischl” (1890) completed by Erwin Horn (8:35)
Andante in D minor, WAB 130 (1:49)
Nachspiel in D minor, WAB 126 (4:07)
Prelude and Fugue in C minor, WAB 131 (5:54)
Fugue in D minor, WAB 125 (3:58)
“Perger” Prelude in C minor, WAB 129 (2:06)
Gerd Schaller (organ)
rec. Eisenbarth Organ, Abbey Church, Ebrach, date not provided
PROFIL PH16034 [2 CDs: 116:48]
The 2015 Ebracher Musik summer concert series concluded on
6 September 2015 with an extraordinary concert of Bruckner’s symphonic
choral music in the Ebrach Abbey Church, located in the small Franconian village
of the same name. Gerd Schaller, music director of the summer festival,
assembled an excellent cast of musicians including his orchestra, the Philarmonie
Festiva Ebrach (with whom he has recorded the complete 11 symphonies of Anton
Bruckner for the Profil label).
I was fortunate to be at this concert, and I can attest to its special nature.
Not one moment was less than superbly executed, and now Profil has released
a two-CD set of the event as recorded by the Bavarian Radio, plus a bonus
of assorted organ works of Bruckner performed by Gerd Schaller on the Abbey
pipe organ.
The highlight of this CD set is Psalm 146 by Bruckner, an odd work by any
measure. First and foremost, it does not sound anything like the usual
Bruckner: it is unique among his works, with nothing quite like it before
or after. The closest parallels are the Psalm cantatas by Mendelssohn. We
have no idea of exactly when or why it was written, but most probably it dates
from the late 1850s when Bruckner was in the process of moving from St Florian/Linz
to Vienna and concluding his studies with the Viennese pedagogue Simon Sechter.
It was never performed during Bruckner's lifetime, there is no date
on the score, no dedication and no mention of the work in Bruckner's
correspondence. Thus, the mystery!
I have my own theory: Psalm 146 is an explosion of pure, pent-up inspiration
from Bruckner, a work he must have felt compelled to write, from the heart.
It is a substantial work lasting more than half an hour, with double chorus,
orchestra and soloists. And most importantly, it is a masterpiece by any measure,
far surpassing his Requiem in D minor (1849), often considered to be the most
significant of Bruckner's early works. In Maestro Schaller's
interpretation, one is convinced that there is not one wasted measure, not
one un-inspired moment, and never a sense of routine note-spinning that does
crop up from time to time in Bruckner's early works. It has numerous
memorable melodies and ends in magnificent joie de vivre with a prolifically
prodigious fugue!
I've known Psalm 146 from an early 1970s LP recording from the Nürnberg
Symphony. I liked this piece very much from this beginning and was mystified
as to why it seemed ignored or forgotten among Bruckner's compositions.
After the Ebrach concert I think I understand this conundrum. Psalm
146 requires large forces for performance and is extremely demanding
music for the singers when they must learn it from scratch, which is definitely
the case with such a little known work. Had it been "discovered"
and announced as a hitherto unknown work of Mendelssohn or Schumann, I think
it would have been taken into the choral repertoire quickly. We know it is
by Bruckner, but it doesn't sound like Bruckner, so it's
stuck in a kind of musical no-man's-land. And like much of Bruckner's
music, it takes an inspired and empathetic conductor to realize an inspired
performance. Maestro Gerd Schaller is certainly such a conductor, in whose
hands the music takes flight to spiritual realms far beyond the notes and
words printed on the page.
Psalm 146 has six movements. The first, Alleluja, lobet den Herrn, is
for chorus and soprano solo, lyrical and comforting, even as the somewhat
florid soprano line, sung with fluid grace by soprano Ania Vegry, prefigures
the similar solo in the much later Psalm 150. A brief recitative follows,
Der Herr bauet Jerusalem, which leads without pause into Movement 3. This
is where Bruckner takes off the metaphorical gloves to demonstrate his mastery
of counterpoint in the double chorus, Gross is unser Herr und gross seine
Macht. This is the kind and quality of choral writing found in Handel's
Israel in Egypt or Mendelssohn's Elijah, for example. The music seems
to fly off the page with great dramatic impact, and here we really
experience the discipline and fervor of the Philharmonischer Chor München.
Movement 4, Der Herr nimmt auf die Sanften, is, in my opinion, the centerpiece
of this work, serene, rather than dramatic: a double Arioso for soloists
with choir of some 213 measures and lasting a little over 10 minutes. Bruckner's
writing in particular for the soprano and tenor is gorgeous, featuring a lyrical
cantilena that spins one heavenly melody after another, as do the solo oboe
and solo violin, in an ensemble worthy of the opera Bruckner never wrote.
Ms. Vegry's soubrette-like lyricism and energy, along with Mr. Bieber's
lyric tenor, made a strong impression in their extensive duet. The
central Chorale features the choir over a bouncy accompaniment of plucked
strings. All soloists participate as the Arioso continues, unbroken,
into Movement 5, Der Herr hat Wohlgefallen. Amazing music, and even
more amazing when one realizes that this is a one-off masterstroke of style
and technique that Bruckner would never return to. Bruckner has saved
his piece de resistance for the end, Movement 6, Alleluja, lobet
den Herrn, 238 measures of contrapuntal mastery in one of Bruckner's
largest and longest examples of prelude and double fugue. It is fiendishly
difficult for the singers, and very much in the spirit of the big choral
fugues of Handel, Mozart and Bach. I see this is a deliberate – I would
say conscious – testimonial from a master composer confident in his
skill ["Look what I can do!"], as it brings Psalm 146 to a triumphal
conclusion. The Philharmonischer Chor München, trained to an inch of its collective
life by its director, Andreas Herrmann, sing as if possessed; and perhaps
they were, by the spirit of Anton Bruckner. Equally, I have nothing but the
highest praise for the excellent contribution of the Philharmonie Festiva
under the inspired leadership of Gerd Schaller.
I have deliberately focused my detailed comments on the unfamiliar Psalm,
leaving the Mass No 3 in F minor for some general observations. Again,
Gerd Schaller and his Ebrach forces do themselves proud. It is important to
note that he views this Mass, correctly in my opinion, as a prime example
of High Romantic, Roman Catholic musical expression, consumed with the passionate
depiction of the central tenets of the Christian faith. There are no pious
platitudes or calming lullabies here, and no pernicious straight-jacket
from the historical performance crowd, but rather vivid, ecstatic, awe-inspiring,
mystical drama of the highest order, with brilliant music depicting
the Crucifixion and Agony of Christ, his Glorious Ascension and the terror
of the Final Judgment. This, by the way, falls roughly at the
midpoint of the Mass and is in many ways the emotional climax of the piece:
"He will come, with glory, to judge the living and the dead!" set
to some of the most harrowing music imaginable. The Gloria and Credo
are presented attacca on the CD, unlike the live performance where Schaller
provided a brief pause for everyone to collect his or her breath after the
substantial demands of the Gloria. The attacca segue, which I first encountered
on the DG LP of the Mass as conducted by Eugen Jochum, seems both musically
and dramatically appropriate and is indeed a bit of coup de théâtre. Thus
with the Gloria/Credo under Schaller we have a unified half-hour of mainly
forte-fortissimo choral singing, exhilarating to hear as it is physically
taxing for the musicians to sing. Both Gloria and Credo conclude with jubilant,
major-key fugues, crowned with trumpets and timpani, which the Ebrach musicians
execute with blazing affirmation.
In the course of Bruckner's Mass, the listener senses the heritage
of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Schubert's two late Masses, and
Berlioz's Requiem (all of which Bruckner knew). Beyond that, the high
drama and musical tone-painting spring from an ethos common to the roughly
contemporary Verdi Requiem and Brahms German Requiem: emotions deeply personal
to the composer translated into music both uninhibited and public in its expression.
In the midst of all the high drama, two moments of serenity and repose should
be mentioned: the tenor solo Et incarnatus est, sung with sensitivity by Clemens
Bieber, and the lovely Benedictus, one of the most Romantic movements from
any of Bruckner's works, the main theme of which would be reused a
few years later in the Adagio of Symphony 2. Special kudos here to the strings
of the Philharmonie Festiva for producing their glorious wash of sound.
CD 2 is filled out with a selection of Bruckner’s original organ works,
plus a reconstruction by Erwin Horn from three pages of Bruckner’s sketches
outlining an improvisation he gave in July 1890 at the wedding of Austrian
nobility. Bruckner was internationally famous for improvisation on the pipe
organ and was publically acclaimed for this during tours to Britain and France.
However, for whatever reason he was not inspired to any substantial composition
for the instrument. Most of Bruckner’s original organ works are occasional
pieces of little significance within his body of works. Gerd Schaller performs
them on the Eisenbarth Organ of the Abbey Church of Ebrach.
I am grateful to Profil for releasing this CD set as a major footnote to Schaller’s
complete symphony cycle. Sound is first-class, with a wide and deep sound
stage that accurately reproduces the acoustics of the Abbey Church while keeping
a clear focus on the musicians. Bavarian Radio achieved a good balance between
chorus and orchestra, with the chorus appropriately forward in the sound picture,
and all words can be clearly understood. This set is unique in presenting
Psalm 146 and is thus self-recommending. There are many recordings of the
Mass, but this new CD from Gerd Schaller goes right to the top of the list
with my strongest possible recommendation.
John Proffitt
Member, Board of Directors, Bruckner Society of America
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