Fritz VOLBACH (1861-1940)
Es waren zwei Königskinder, Symphonic Poem, Op. 21 (1900) [18:36]
Symphony Op. 33 in B minor (1908) [43:01]
Sinfonieorchester Münster/Golo Berg
rec. live, January 2019, Münster Theater, Germany
CPO 777 886-2 [61:52]
These works trace their existence back to the first decade of the last century but their nineteenth century tap-roots are left exposed. Make no mistake, Volbach is an adherent of German late-romanticism. He was a pupil of Hiller and an
admirer of Mendelssohn and Schumann. It is interesting to note that he had a small clutch of pupils of which Eugene Zador (1894-1977) was one. In 1919 Volbach founded the Münster Symphony Orchestra and there is, accordingly, some ‘symmetry’ to this revival being in the skilled and engaged hands of that orchestra. Frederik Wittenberg documents the composer and his music and we are in his debt for having the otherwise unusual facts laid out with such economy and detail.
The tone poem Es waren zwei Königskinder is based on a folk ballad of that name. However, the atmosphere transcends the tune which serves as a mood-setter and point of departure rather than a shackle. Volbach is not about to submit to the “theme and variations” drudgery that afflicts some of the works of Siegfried Wagner and Franz Schmidt’s Hussarenlied. Tenderness hangs like a cloak over the work’s first half and a throbbing melody with a Brahmsian touch soon declares itself. We are often in territory related to Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet, MacDowell’s tone poems, Hadley’s The Ocean and Salomé and Herbert’s Hero and Leander.
The Symphony opens with a startlingly aggressive and rhythmically grunting figure; Volbach means business. He also knows how to pace himself as the mistily diaphanous pages that appear and reappear in the first movement are not an excuse for any slackening in the dramatic tension. The small jewel that is the Scherzo is a Mendelssohnian butterfly flutter. The long Adagio (the longest of the four movements, at 14½ minutes) communicates as both humane sunset and richly-paced funerary cortège. This carries over into the finale but with greater momentum. There are moments of regal and Elgarian pomp alongside capricious violin solos. At times the tension and forward motion sags, but in general this is a doughty symphony.
There are three Volbach tone poems and this full-blown four-movement symphony. The other two tone poems are Östern and Königskinder. In addition, there are two quintets: one for piano and wind (Op. 24, 1902) and the other, Op. 36 in D minor (1912) for piano and string quartet. Another piece is listed: Raffael. Three mood pictures for choir, orchestra and organ (1902).
Golo Berg has been the general music director of the Münster Symphony Orchestra since 2017 and given that these are accomplished, dedicated and well recorded performances he seems to have well and truly put down roots with the orchestra and CPO.
Rob Barnett
