In the Christian church
of the first centuries after Christ
Easter was the most important feast.
It still is in the Eastern-Orthodox
Church, but over the centuries Christmas
has gradually taken over that position
in the churches of Western Europe. This
is reflected by stories and carols which
have more to do with popular piety than
by the actual story of Jesus' birth
as told in the Bible. The church didn't
do anything to suppress this development.
On the contrary, folk tales and Christmas
carols were excellent instruments to
spread the teachings of the Church among
common people, in particular those with
little or no education. As a result
a whole repertoire of carols came into
existence, some of which are international
in character. But most countries also
have their own particular carols, with
their own texts and music. And sometimes
regions have their own repertoire as
well, often in their own dialect. This
disc delivers an example: it brings
carols which are sung in Carinthia,
a region in Southern Austria. They are
all sung in the regional dialect, which
is strongly different from Standard
Austrian-German. Therefore it is a serious
omission that the booklet not only doesn't
give the translation of the lyrics,
but no lyrics at all. Even native German
speakers will hardly be able to understand
what the carols are about, unless they
are from the region itself. Only a couple
of pieces from German speaking regions
elsewhere can be understood. So it is
anybody's guess what these carols are
about. It may be assumed, though, that
their content isn't that much different
from that of carols in other countries
and traditions.
By the way, not all
carols are 'folk songs' in the strict
sense of the term. Some have been composed
during the 20th century.
In the booklet Peter
Paumgarten describes how singing together
in choirs and smaller vocal groups is
a long-standing tradition in Carinthia.
He and his brothers have grown up with
a number of carols recorded here. "We
had the good fortune of being initiated
by our parents from our earliest childhood
into the mysteries of singing in several
parts at the evening kitchen table ("I'll
sing it for you, then you sing the second
part/upper voice ...")."
The men's quartet schnittpunktvokal
is an ensemble which sings a wide variety
of music, among them the part songs
by Schubert and contemporary compositions
written for it. The fact that the upper
voice is sung by a male alto is entirely
in the regional tradition: "In male
ensembles the high tenor voice is almost
always sung in falsetto". All the same
the way the carols are sung here is
probably a lot more sophisticated than
how they are traditionally sung by choirs
and ensembles in the region. That, of
course, is always the problem when professional
singers are performing traditional repertoire.
If one wants to hear how this kind of
music is sung by the people one has
to look elsewhere. From a purely musical
point of view one may support the artistic
creed of the ensemble which is to keep
the interpretations pure and simple
and free from sentimental dead weight.
But could it be that the sentimental
approach of these carols is an indispensable
part of the living tradition of the
region?
The singing of the
ensemble is very fine, no doubt about
it. And it is a good idea to present
this repertoire in a performance like
this to a wider audience, which would
probably never get acquainted with it,
if it was sung by a more traditional
choir or vocal ensemble. From that perspective
this disc can be recommended without
reservation. But one may assume it can
only give a hint of what the living
tradition of Carinthian carol singing
is all about. And the purpose of this
recording would have been served a whole
lot better if CPO - as usual - had printed
the lyrics and their translation in
the booklet.
Johan van Veen
männerquartett schnittpunktvokal
