For a composer of the quality of Petr Eben his music
is still shamefully under represented in the catalogue although thankfully
the organ music, which forms such an important part of the composer’s
output, is now largely available through three fine volumes on Hyperion.
In point of fact with this particular work it was Supraphon who got
there first, releasing Tomáš Thon’s recording of Job in
1996 to be followed by Halgeir Schiager’s performance (albeit recorded
in 1993) as the first of Hyperion’s three volumes a few years later.
Not surprisingly for a composer who has produced organ
music in such quantities and who himself is a fine player, Eben is masterful
in his writing for the instrument. The effects and textural range of
his palette are at times spectacular, the more contemplative moments
often hauntingly serene. Church music and biblical subjects are another
central thread running through Eben’s output and in the Old Testament
story of Job, as with Vaughan Williams in his Masque for Dancing
(strangely the opening movement of Eben’s work has a fleeting similarity
to passages from the Vaughan Williams work although that is where the
comparison ends), Eben found a subject that allowed him to exploit to
great musical effect the considerable opportunities for dramatisation
effect the story affords.
Cast in eight sections, the Supraphon recording intersperses
the movements with corresponding readings from the Old Testament by
Moshe Yegar in Hebrew. The fanfare and toccata of the opening movement,
"Destiny", give an immediately powerful statement of
the composer’s dramatic intentions, whilst in the ensuing "Faith",
the humble opening chorale is soon shattered as Job is struck with the
first of the many misfortunes that afflict him and his family, the mood
returning to contemplation at the close as Job refuses to denounce his
faith. Job’s persistence continues in "Acceptance of Suffering",
given particular poignancy by Eben’s use of the Bach chorale "Wer
nur den Gott lässt walten" and contrasted in stark
terms by the anguished outcry at the opening, violently and vividly
onomatopoeic in its use of clusters and glissandi and fabulously played
by Thon. The ensuing Passacaglia, "Longing for Death",
charts the cumulative impact of Job’s despair as he is slowly ground
down, magnificently dramatised by Eben in music of ever increasing power
and complexity. The "Despair and Resignation" of the
fifth movement is followed by God’s depiction of the creation to Job,
questioning at first, then highly animated as Job’s vision is brought
to life, only to be questioned again at the close. Only in "Penitence
and Realisation", does Job begin to understand the message
from God, Eben reflecting this in musical terms by quoting once again,
this time using the plainsong Veni Creator Spiritus. The finale,
"God’s Reward", brings the work to a blazingly triumphant
conclusion in the form of a set of variations on another chorale melody,
"Christ, the model of humility".
Where Supraphon give us Old Testament readings, the
rival Hyperion performance couples the four movement Laudes and
Homage to Dietrich Buxtehude, giving a total playing time of
seventy-two minutes. Generous compared to the short thrift of the Supraphon
at a second under fifty-eight minutes and reduced considerably further
in musical terms by the inclusion of the readings, which it must be
said, are only likely to be of any benefit to fluent speakers of Hebrew
of which I am not one. For these reasons alone (Laudes and Homage
to Buxtehude are also fine pieces in their own right) I cannot recommend
the Supraphon disc over the Hyperion although the performances of Job
in both cases are unquestionably fine.
Christopher Thomas
Tomáš Thon (organ)
Moshe Yegar (narrator)