Music Around the Bauhaus
Steffen Schleiermacher (piano)
rec. 1998, Fürstliche Reibahn Arolsen, Bad Arolsen, Germany
MDG 613 0878-2 [73:30]
For many people, the term “Bauhaus” will mean the concept of art, but this community founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar in 1919 was regarded as a high point in German artistic endeavour in general. It attracted not only painters such as Kandinsky and Paul Klee, but exponents from all fields, including architecture, drama, writing and music, all drawn by the ethos espoused by the artistic community. This is discussed in detail in Steffen Schleiermacher’s detailed and informative booklet notes. He discusses not only the music, but the theory behind Bauhaus and its attraction.
Three of the composers featured here, Hauer, Vogel and Stuckenschmidt, are new to me, and Wolpe and Antheil are not quite household names. But this is a varied and interesting disc. It documents an era of musical development that not only takes in the late romantic theories of the day, but also Schoenbergian technique, brutalism and more. This can be seen in the music of the first composer presented here, Stefan Wolpe. His Stehende Musik is quite mechanistic and percussive; elements of the Cinq marches caracteristiques are cinematic and contain jazzy tunes reminiscent of the Weimar cabarets of the day; Adagio is late-romantic.
The music of Josef Matthias Hauer is mainly represented by Nomos Op. 2, five short pieces from his earlier period. Hauer is possibly the most important composer here. He and Johannes Itten had planned to create a music school in Weimar to complement Bauhaus. The Nomos pieces flirt with Schoenbergian dodecaphony, something Hauer would further develop later in his career; he is said to have composed over a thousand twelve-tone pieces. They also display a more romantic outlook, especially in the longest No. 4. The Phantasie Op.17 is dedicated to his wife. After a slow and listless opening, it gradually builds into more tempestuous section before fading away quietly.
The Russian-born Wladimir Vogel was a visitor to Weimar. He seems to have been more interested in the planning and erecting of the proposed new Bauhaus building, which he saw as an opportunity to put forward his ideas of musical architecture. His Nature vivant - Six pièces expressionnistes, as the name suggests, contain some elements of French expressionism along with more modern and atonal elements.
Another possible visitor to Weimar was the American George Antheil, the self-confessed ‘bad boy of music’ whose scandalous concerts were met with derision. Whether he was a visitor to Bauhaus or just had contact with many of those involved is not known for certain. In keeping with his best-known work, Ballet mécanique, Antheil’s two-minute piano Sonatina Death of the Machines depicts the aftermath of a great war between machines. Written in the previous year, it is mechanistic in its outlook and points the way to the better-known piece. It has been suggested that another piece here, Shimmy, was performed by the Bauhaus orchestra.
The final composer on this disc is the German, Alsace-born, Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt. He is probably better known as a music critic, including work for Berliner Zeitung am Mittag, and as a musicologist. He visited Bauhaus during 1923 and worked with Kurt Schmidt on his Mechanical Ballet which was premiered at that years Bauhaus Week. Stuckenschmidt’s music for the Ballet is no longer in existence. It has even been suggested that it was a series of improvisations, never written down in its entirety. His March of Alexander the Great over the Bridges of Hamburg was composed in the same year, and is one of only a few his pieces ever to be published. It has a relentless march as its base, with added flourishes every now and again. It reminds me in a way of the music of Kurt Weil.
This is a truly interesting and historic disc. Steffen Schleiermacher should not only be lauded for his excellent performance, but for his wonderful scholarship. I recommend that you read his exemplary booklet notes first. They gives you a history and feel for the music before you listen to it. He changes between the different styles and genres of the music presented here with ease and enthusiasm, making this a most valuable and welcome disc. The recorded sound is well up to Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm’s usual high standard.
Stuart Sillitoe
Contents
Stefan WOLPE
1. Stehende Musik [3:00]
Cinq marches caracteristiques
2. I Energico ed animato [2:31]
3. II Andante tranquillamente [2:28]
4. III Con fuoco ed energia [2:28]
5. IV Marcia funebre [3:52]
6. V Vivo e sereno [2:06]
7. Adagio No.5 [7:38]
8. Variation [1:30]
9. Tango [3:30]
Josef Matthias HAUER
Nomos op. 2 (1913)
10. I [2:17]
11. II [1:38]
12. III [1:59]
13. IV [3:06]
14. V [1:27]
15. Tanz, Op.10 [5:04]
16. Phantasie, Op.17 [4:26]
17. Zwölftonspiel Weihnachten [4:36]
Wladimir VOGEL
Nature vivant-Six pieces expressionnistes
18. I. Strophe d'album [0:59]
19. II. Prelude gris [2:19]
20. III. Nettement desagreable [1:26]
21. IV. Morceau poetique [1:31]
22. V. Lasse et plaintif [1:45]
23. VI. Joyeux [1:30]
24. Einsames Getropfel [1:33]
George ANTHEIL
25. Sonatina 'Death of the Machines' (1922) [1:56]
I. Moderato / II. Accelerando / III. Accelerando / IV. Accelerando/Tempo I
26. Shimmy (1923) [1:01]
Hans Heinz STUCKENSCHMIDT
27. Marsch Alexander des Großen über die Brücken von Hamburg (1923) [4:00]
