Let me spoil the game
straightaway: this is a most interesting,
varied and rewarding collection of choral
works composed in the last fifteen years
or so of the 20th century
by composers from various stylistic
horizons.
The Norwegian-born
Knut Nystedt, almost the Grand Old Man
here, is represented by his beautifully
crafted and inventive Ave Maria
composed in 1986 as a chamber concerto
for violin and mixed chorus, a somewhat
unusual, but quite effective combination.
The demanding violin part even includes
a cadenza!
All the other pieces
are by German composers belonging to
different generations. The opening item,
John Van Buren’s Gloria,
is a short setting of just a few lines
from the traditional Gloria, worked-out
quite effectively in a fairly gentle,
melodic way. This is clearly the kind
of stuff that should appeal to any choir
willing to explore some accessible 20th
century repertoire.
Hans Schanderl’s setting
of Psalm 90 is rather more ambitious
in scope, superbly matching the various
moods suggested by the text, and again
quite rewarding in its own right.
"Oh, Erde..."
by Peter Michael Hamel is, stylistically
speaking, in a rather different league
than the other works featured here,
in that the idiom is on the whole more
modern, but never extravagantly or rebarbatively
so. This is a substantial setting of
poems by Walter Flemmer and Nelly Sachs
as well as of the Lacrimosa section
from the Requiem Mass framed by a short
section from the Book of Job of which
varied restatements introduce and close
the work while also serving as an interlude
between the Lacrimosa movement (female
voices) and Flemmer’s Wir klagen
an. The opening statement Oh,
Erde... uses quarter tones and glissandi
and confronts vibrato and non-vibrato
singing to great expressive effect,
whereas the interlude setting is somewhat
simpler and the epilogue version again
relies on somewhat more advance techniques
(including whispering and speaking chorus)
as well as more traditional singing.
These settings, while quite varied in
character and vocal technique, aptly
reflect the various moods of these often
beautiful words. There is no denying
the intense and deeply sincere humanity
underlying this often moving and strongly
communicative piece of music. A major
work by any count, but one that does
not yield all its secrets easily but
rather repays repeated hearings.
Wilfried Hiller’s Sappho
for female voices, flute and cello was
– ironically enough, I think – composed
for either children’s or youth choirs;
but, needless to say, works perfectly
well when sung by professional singers.
As a whole, this is however a fairly
simple, straightforward work with enough
to challenge young singers and to reward
singers (and any listener, for that
matter). Flute and cello accompany most
sections adding some telling instrumental
touches while providing for some help
at intonation as well. This beautiful,
attractive work provides for a fine
conclusion to this most desirable release
well served by magnificent, well recorded
singing. Well worth having.
Hubert Culot
Eckhart Hermann (violin)a; Vera
Becker (flute)b; Andreas Suttner (cello)b;
via-nova-chor München; Kurt Suttner