Arnold ROSNER (1945-2013)
Requiem, Op.59 (1973)
Kelley Hollis (soprano), Feargal Mostyn-Williams (countertenor), Thomas Elwin (tenor), Gareth Brynmor John (baritone), Crouch End Festival Chorus, David Temple (director), London Philharmonic Orchestra/Nick Palmer
rec. 2019, Abbey Road Studios, London
TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC0545 [69:22]
I first came across Arnold Rosner’s music on a 1990 Harmonia Mundi Modern Masters CD of tonal American twentieth-century music, reviewed here and in a reissue here, now available only as a download or second-hand. The work recorded there, the Responses, Hosanna and Fugue, was so evidently influenced by Vaughan Williams’s Tallis Fantasia that I was intrigued, to say the least.
Rosner’s education is an interesting story in its own right, especially in the way it discloses how academic prejudice can deflect a student. He wanted to study music from an early age, but his parents were not at all convinced that he could earn a living as a composer, so he studied mathematics at university. Having graduated, he could not deny that music, not mathematics, was his driving force, and so enrolled into a composition degree course at the University of Buffalo. At that time, in 1966, musical academia was obsessed by Serialism, the method of composition pioneered by Arnold Schoenberg. Rosner’s preference for tonal music was dismissed, often with contempt, as unworthy of consideration. His hopes to achieve a doctorate in composition were repeatedly dashed, as one score after another was turned down because they were not composed in the approved fashion. Interestingly, he cited Nielsen, Vaughan Williams and Hovhaness as his musical influences.
This is a sad story. Those who read musical biographies relating to nineteenth-century composers will know that in those days academia was far more likely to reject works that were too “modern”, rather than too traditional. Rosner then decided to follow a degree in music theory, and submitted a dissertation on the compositions of Alan Hovhaness, thus achieving a doctorate. He devoted the rest of his life to composing music that represented his own ideals, supporting himself by holding academic positions in colleges in and around New York City.
Now, of course, such a stranglehold has vanished (one hopes). Many composers are working in an array of styles that suit their individual aims. Originally, Rosner wanted to compose an opera based on Ingmar Bergman’s film The Seventh Seal, but repeated attempts to contact Bergman by letter produced no answer. It was only when Rosner managed to talk to the film-maker by telephone that he was firmly given the thumbs-down. Rosner had already composed a significant amount of music for the proposed work, and after much thought decided to incorporate it into a large-scale Requiem.
The work, in ten movements, is a setting of spiritual and secular texts by a number of the world’s cultures including The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a sutra from Zen Buddhism and the Jewish Kaddish. Poets whose work is used include Whitman, Villon and Dante.
The first movement, Overture, is a setting of a famous extract from the Book of Revelation – the section describing The Seventh Seal. Some of it reads: “And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. And there were lightnings, voices and thunderings, and an earthquake and a great hail.”
Naturally enough, a composer finds himself tempted to throw everything including the kitchen sink at a setting like this. Rosner duly obliges. It begins in a subdued manner and then suddenly rises to an orchestral explosion, only for most of the orchestra to drop out, leaving exposed celestial chords. In an ostinato that follows, the chorus enter singing the English words. Then the seven trumpets enter, playing ornamented figures followed by a hushed chorus. That leads into the cataclysmic earthquake in which the full orchestra and trumpets are involved. The movement has very considerable impact, and at time the orchestration sounds chaotic, perhaps aptly describing the events. The music is always tonal, but modern, and very listenable, I find.
The second movement provides a distinct contrast. It is a setting of Ein Wort, ein Satz (a word, a phrase) written by the German writer Gotfried Benn during the Second World War. Rosner scores it for tenor solo and small percussion ensemble, which plays in a somewhat pointillist manner, causing the composer to wryly remark that it was his “tribute to Anton Webern”, although the piece is completely tonal. The poem is nihilist, for example: “The sun stops, the spheres no longer chime and all thickens around, dark and dense.”
The third movement Toccata: Musica Satanica, for orchestra only, is a diabolical scherzo, proceeding with relentless turbulent frenzy throughout.
The next movement, a Ballade: Les Neiges d’antan, is a setting of a mid-fifteenth century poem, by the best-known French poet of the period, François Villon. The movement well illustrates Rosner’s brand of poignant lyricism. The orchestral accompaniment is simple, with an ornamented vocal soprano line. It is here that I hoped to find memorable music, and indeed, it is, but the effect is rather spoiled by the voice of soprano Kelley Hollis. I have found a couple of videos on YouTube of her singing, and I do not find her vibrato there to be as noticeable as in this quiet movement of the Requiem. She sings with quite a quick vibrato. That, coupled with the florid vocal line, makes her voice sound rather fragile, and it tends to disturb the accompaniment, rather than complementing it. This is a pity, because the music could be quite tender and dreamy.
The fifth movement is a setting of the Sutra: Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo. It is an aphorism that Zen Buddhism claims will give long life, if chanted repeatedly. It is scored for full chorus and orchestra; a central section features a solo baritone. It begins with the male voices repeated chanting the sutra on one note. Gradually, instruments enter, creating a hymn-like sound. Female voices enter; they intone extracts from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which are enhanced by additional instrumental forces, rising to a notable climax. At that point the climax breaks off, and the solo baritone sings a gruesome depiction of hell, where sinners are subject to excruciating torture. This is the longest movement, and is one of considerable contrast and textual interest.
An even greater contrast comes in the sixth movement, a setting of part of Whitman’s When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d. Rosner chose a section in which the poet conveys his serene acceptance of the inevitability of death. It is set for mixed chorus a capella, in the modal style of a sixteenth-century madrigal.
The seventh movement is an Organum (an early type of polyphonic music based on plainsong with an accompaniment sung below or above the melody) featuring a male vocal trio. The text is taken from Dante’s Divine Comedy with the celebrated words “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”. Most of it has minimal orchestral support, but by the end the full orchestra is involved.
The next movement is probably the most romantic of the work, a setting of a Jewish Kaddish (an ancient prayer sequence). It is scored for soprano and full orchestra, reinforcing the impression of a late-romantic aria. Unlike the earlier section for soprano, this demands that, at times, the soloist contend with the orchestra playing loudly. Kelley Hollis has to use a greater vocal range than in her earlier appearance, and at first I thought that this was a distinct improvement. However, although her vibrato is more suited to the musical style of the Kaddish, at the climax her voice comes under considerable pressure, to some deleterious tonal effect.
The ninth movement, a Passacaglia: Libera Me, is scored for full chorus and orchestra. The passacaglia was one of Rosner’s favourite musical forms, and this one is an elaborate affair. It begins as the bass voices doubled by the low strings introduce the theme. In keeping with traditional form, eighteen variations follow, the music building in complexity and intensity. After the variations, some free development of the passacaglia theme occurs, becoming increasingly agitated. On reaching its peak, the final part of the first movement returns, leading to the climax of the entire work, which passes into the last movement und wieder Dunkel, ungeheuer (and again the immense darkness), scored for small ensemble with piano. It is a finale of mysterious calm.
As the reader will have gathered, Rosner’s Requiem is a work notable for the juxtaposition of a wide range of expressive extremes, but also for delicacy and an imaginative use of instrumental colours. It is worth noting that at its completion, Rosner had not heard performances of any of his orchestral music, beyond sight-reading by student groups. I have enjoyed repeated listens very much indeed, and were it not for my misgivings about the soprano, this would be a totally rave review. The orchestra plays very well and the chorus is committed. The male soloists are fine and Toccata are to be warmly congratulated for the recording quality and their production of this very fine CD.
Jim Westhead
