Wilhelm Middelschulte
is another in a long line of obscure
composers born in the latter half of
the 19th century who deserve
greater exposure. In Middelschulte’s
situation, greater exposure is even
more unlikely because he wrote only
for the organ, his music is generally
very dark in mood, and it uses baroque
forms. However, Middelschulte’s compositions
have much to offer and should appeal
to organ enthusiasts and those who love
the organ music of the Baroque masters
such as Bach and Buxtehude.
Middelschulte was born
in Westphalia and in 1888 became the
choirmaster and organist at the Lukas
Church in Berlin. He eventually met
his soulmate, an American woman who
he followed to Chicago in 1891 and married
in 1895. He remained in the United States
until 1939 when he returned to Germany.
During his long years in the United
States, Middelschulte was the organist
of the Thomas Orchestra, the future
Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He also
had appointments at the Wisconsin Conservatory,
Detroit Conservatory and the University
of Notre Dame.
Middelschulte was not
a great melodist, but he had superior
skills in contrapuntal writing and his
music is thoroughly compelling for a
variety of reasons. First, he uses the
full resources of the organ as to registrations
and tone color. Secondly, the architecture
is highly complex and built on logic
and mathematics as Middelschulte employs
all the baroque ‘tricks of the trade’
and blends them with a circa 1900 sensibility.
Third, Middelschulte is expert at creating
tension and conveying a host of strong
emotional messages.
Middelschulte’s Passacaglia,
premiered in Chicago in 1897, was his
first published work and remains his
most frequently performed piece as well.
The Passacaglia was a common baroque
form of variations where the theme is
stated and generally remains in the
bass. Middelschulte varies his theme
sixty-two times over the span of approximately
12 minutes. The work begins softly in
the lower registers, but with a strong
severity and sense of gloom. As the
piece progresses, its dynamic range
increases and eventually becomes thunderous
for the last four minutes of the work.
Overall, this is not music for the faint
of heart; its severity and increasing
drama requires a stalwart constitution
intent on absorbing the immense power
and concentration of the work.
The two short pieces
on the program, the Intermezzo I and
the Gebet, are arrangements from the
opera "Die Juwelen der Madonna"
that was composed in 1911 by Ermanno
Wolf-Ferrari. The history of these arrangements
is that many composers were asked to
arrange individual numbers of the opera
before its first performance in 1912,
the purpose being to inspire discussion
prior to the premiere. Listeners will
notice a lyricism to the two pieces
largely absent in Middelschulte’s Passacaglia
and Fantasia contrapuntistica. This
lyricism is courtesy of Wolf-Ferrari’s
music, and Middelschulte never abandons
it in his arrangements. The Intermezzo
I is quite dark in mood but with lessened
severity from Middelschulte’s norm.
The Gebet is an excellent piece to close
the program, given its uplifting nature
and contrast with Middelschulte’s generally
gloomy demeanor.
The major work on the
disc is the Fantasia contrappuntistica,
Middelschulte’s arrangement of the piano
work of the same name by Ferruccio Busoni.
The work has an interesting history
heightened by Busoni’s relationship
with Middelschulte. As it happens, both
Busoni and Middelschulte had an interest
in the unfinished concluding fugue from
Bach’s Art of Fugue. Upon meeting in
1910 and discovering their mutual interest,
Busoni set off to create a work that
quotes and continues the unfinished
Bach fugue.
Busoni’s first piano
version was dedicated to "Middelschulte,
master of counterpoint". Subsequently,
Busoni added a chorale prelude to precede
his piano arrangement and titled it
"Fantasia contrappuntistica",
again dedicating his work to Middelschulte.
Friedrich Stock, the conductor of the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, then prepared
a version for organ and orchestra, and
Middelschulte prepared the solo organ
version presented on this CPO disc.
Middelschulte’s solo
organ arrangement is true to the musical
structures of Bach and also to Busoni’s
style of composition. The arrangement
has eight movements: Preludio corale,
Fuga 1, Fuga 2, Fuga 3, Intermezzo,
Cadenza, Fuga 4 and Corale-Stretta.
It is a most complex piece of music
that doesn’t actually complete the unfinished
Bach fugue, but takes it into a late-romantic
idiom just as Busoni had done with his
version for piano.
Bach’s music is recognizable
throughout the arrangement with the
final Movement building up to an overwhelming
portrayal of intense concentration and
power.
Jürgen Sonnentheil,
a frequent concert organist and conductor
in Europe, has an excellent grasp of
Middelschulte’s structures, soundworld
and tense/foreboding underpinnings.
Sonnentheil plays the new Gerald Woehl
Organ at the St. Michaelis Church in
Hildesheim. The instrument offers a
blend of the grand North German Organ
tradition and the more discreet organs
of Central Germany. It certainly delivers
all the power of Middelschulte’s music,
although tone can be rather murky in
the lower registers.
Severe and brooding,
Middelschulte’s music will not attract
those who tend to dislike organ music
or the representation of the underside
of the human condition. I would strongly
suggest that any readers interested
in Middelschulte made sure that they
already know and appreciate the organ
works of Bach and/or Buxtehude. Many
folks find the organ music of Bach and
Buxtehude too dark and solemn, but Middelschulte
is more consistently bleak and severe
than either of these two masterful baroque
composers. As an example, Bach always
offers us exquisite ‘rays of light’
in his most severe music; Middelschulte
offers nothing remotely similar. Negativity
and great weight just keep pounding
the listener.
I hope I have provided
an insightful description of Middelschulte’s
organ music. Given this reviewer’s particular
tastes, Middelschulte’s severe style
and contrapuntal leanings are highly
rewarding. The CPO booklet notes, a
superb example of cogent musical content,
indicate that Sonnentheil will be recording
the complete Middelschulte organ works
for CPO. I look forward to the future
releases but doubt that they will propel
Middelschulte into the Classical Hall
of Fame. Since alternative recordings
of this repertoire are likely to be
minimal, anyone wanting Middelschulte’s
musical creations should look to CPO
for satisfaction. As has been the case
for many years, it is the independent
labels that give us obscure music from
relatively unknown composers. I congratulate
CPO for its enterprise and adventurous
nature.
Don Satz
Jürgen Sonnentheil, organ 