"Music must never be comfortable,
never muse-like, never soothing.
It must stir, must touch people personally,
make them stop and think."
Helmuth Rilling
The Arts label was
created in 1993 and is based in Reisen,
Germany. Since then Arts have issued
over 400 titles of classical music in
various genres, from medieval to contemporary,
and from the greatest artists of the
last decades to promising young artists
just starting out on their careers.
This new release on their Archive series
contains legendary remastered studio
recordings, made in Stuttgart in 1977,
of four sets of Brahms’s finest secular
choral works from the great Stuttgart-born
choral specialist Helmuth Rilling and
his award-winning ensemble the Gächinger
Kantorei.
Brahms is universally
acknowledged as one of the greatest
composers although a significant amount
of his output remains in the background.
His most popular scores, such as: the
4 Symphonies; the Violin Concerto; the
2 Piano Concertos; the Haydn Variations
for Orchestra, Op. 56a; the Hungarian
Dances for Orchestra; the Academic
Festival Overture, Op. 80; the Tragic
Overture, Op. 81 and a large body
of chamber music dominate the
catalogues. Consequently Brahms’s high
quality choral music has been overshadowed
and largely ignored as demonstrated
by the small amount of concert performances
and the frequency of deletions from
the CD catalogue. Secular choral music
composed by Brahms and his contemporaries
and fellow countrymen Schubert, Schumann,
Mendelssohn et al remains unfashionable
and has been so for several decades.
The large body of choral music from
the influential principals of the English
choral tradition, Stanford and Parry
have also suffered the same fate.
Brahms’s choral compositions,
at their best, are remarkable and for
the most part remain unknown by the
average listener leaving a considerable
treasure trove of precious gems to be
unearthed. It is very rare to come across
performances of Brahms’s high quality
choral scores such as: the Begrabnisgesang
(Funeral hymn), Op. 13; the Geistliches
Lied, Op.30; Rinaldo, Op.
50; the Triumphlied (Song
of Triumph), Op 55; the Schicksalslied
(Song of Fate), Op. 54; Nänie,
Op. 82; Gesang der Parzen (Song
of the fates), Op. 89; Vier ernste
Gesänge (four Serious Songs),
Op. 121 and the Missa Canonica (1856–7).
There are some exceptions and fortunately
there have been numerous recording of
Brahms’s Liebeslieder Walzer,
Op. 52 and the Neue Liebeslieder
Walzer, Op. 65 made over
the years but far fewer actual performances.
In recent years the
tide seems to be turning back in favour
of recordings of Romantic secular and
sacred choral music. In the last couple
of years or so there have been several
welcome new Brahms choral cycles released,
in particular from Chandos; ClassicO;
Hyperion; Harmonia Mundi and Brilliant
Classics labels. This Arts Archive reissue
of these remastered 1977 Stuttgart recordings
of Brahms choral works from Gächinger
Kantorei under Helmuth Rilling are excellent
examples of the composer at this most
vibrant and captivating.
Throughout Brahms’s
career choral works, both sacred and
secular, were tremendously popular throughout
Europe. He developed this interest in
choral music when in 1859 he co-formed
and became music director and conductor
of the Hamburger Frauenchor, a woman’s
choir numbering some forty voices, an
association that was to last until 1862.
This experience undoubtedly stimulated
him to write for choral forces which
he continued to do productively throughout
the rest of his life.
The sets of Liebeslieder
Walzer and Neue Liebeslieder
Walzer that Brahms wrote between
1868-74 are substantial collections
of short waltzes. They are in fact love
songs for vocal quartet or choir. The
four hand piano accompaniment is designed
to serve as an equal relationship with
the choir. The 18 songs of the first
set Liebeslieder Walzer, Op.
52 from 1868-69 are presented as vivacious
pieces on the subject of love written
closely on texts by Georg Friedrich
Daumer the German poet and philosopher.
Five years later in 1874 the second
group of 15 songs entitled Neue Liebeslieder
Walzer, Op. 65 are very different
in mood. In these settings from Georg
Friedrich Daumer and Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe the carefree waltzing happiness
of the first set is no longer present
as in this second set the lovers encounter
disenchantment and suspicion.
The set of Sechs
Chöre, Op. 93a (c. 1883-84)
and the Fünf Chöre,
Op. 104 (1886-68) were not intended
by Brahms for the middle class singing
clubs. His two demanding sets of choral
works, probably influenced by his close
association with Schubert, are sober
in character and use texts from eminent
writers that include: Friedrich Rückert;
Max Kalbeck and Johann Wolfgang Goethe.
These choral pieces for 4-6 part unaccompanied
choir are acknowledged as ranking amongst
the greatest in a capella writing.
The choral forces used
on this issue are the Gächinger
Kantorei who were founded in 1953 by
Helmuth Rilling in Gächingen, a
small village in the Swabian Alps, near
Stuttgart. Although the choir’s headquarters
moved to Stuttgart soon afterwards,
the name was kept. The experienced Gächinger
Kantorei tour regularly internationally
and have produced over 60 gramophone
recordings, winning a ‘Grand Prix
du Disque’ award.
Gächinger Kantorei
offer engaging and warm-hearted accounts
of the first set in music that walks
on the bright side of the street. In
the more sombre pieces of the second
set their passion and commitment never
wanes. It is hard not to become involved
in the unbridled enthusiasm that the
choir conveys for Brahms’s delightful
music. With a cool and clear tone the
pianists Martin Galling and Michael
Leuschner provide sympathetic accompaniment.
The remastered sound is excellent and
adds to the pleasure.
This release is my
preferred recording of the Brahms Liebeslieder
Walzer, Op. 52 and Op. 65. There
are several fine versions in the catalogues
and I especially admire the fresh and
glowing account of the choral scores
to the two sets of Liebeslieder Walzer
from the Singverein der Gesellschaft
der Musikfreunde Wien, under Gary Bertini
on Orfeo 008102. Of the versions of
the Liebeslieder Walzer for vocal
quartet and two pianos, I can recommend
the uplifting account from eminent line-up
of Peter Schreier; Brigitte Fassbaender;
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Edith Mathis
on Deutsche Grammophon 423 133-2. There
is also a confidently performed version
from the late 1950s that is worth considering
from the impressive quartet of Elsie
Morison; Marjorie Thomas; Richard Lewis
and Donald Bell on a French edition
from EMI Classics 575 722-2.
This excellently presented
and gloriously performed release is
a true credit to the Arts label and
comes complete with full texts in German
with English translations and the advantage
of a fascinating essay by Bettina Schröm.
A pleasing touch is the inclusion inside
the booklet of the English translations
of the actual titles of the forty-four
songs.
This outstanding Brahms
release is a real joy from start to
finish. I have already included the
disc in my next two Recorded Music Society
programmes.
Michael Cookson
1. Rede, Madchen, Allzu
Liebes, [1:05]
2. Am Gesteine Rauscht Die Flut, [0:51]
3. O Die Frauen, O Die Frauen, [0:56]
4. Wie Des Abends Schone Rote, [0:34]
5. Die Grune Hopfenranke, [1:07]
6. Ein Kleiner, Hubscher Vogel, [2:11]
7. Wohl Schon Bewandt War Es, [1:06]
8. Wenn So Lind Dein Auge Mir, [1:07]
9. Am Donaustrande, Da Steht Ein Haus,
[1:27]
10. O, Wie Sanft Die Quelle, [1:06]
11. Nein, Es Ist Nicht Auszukommen,
[1:02]
12. Schlosser Auf, Und Mache Schlosser,
[0:43]
13. Vogelein Durchrauscht Die Luft,
[0:47]
14. Sieh, Wie Ist Die Welle Klar, [1:00]
15. Nachtigall, Sie Singt So Schon,
[0:50]
16. Ein Dunkeler Schacht Ist Liebe,
[1:12]
17. Nicht Wandle, Mein Licht, [2:29]
18. Es Bebt Das Gestrauche, [1:22]
Neue Liebeslieder Walzer (New Love Song
Waltzes), 15 songs for chorus 4 part
voices and piano 4-hands, Op. 65, No.
1-15 (1874)
19. Verzicht, O Herz, Auf Rettung, [0:44]
20.Finstere Schatten Der Nacht, [1:41]
21. An Jeder Hand Die Finger, [1:03]
22. Ihr Schwarzen Augen, [0:49]
23. Wahre, Wahre Deinen Sohn, [0:59]
24. Rosen Steckt Mit An Die Mutter,
[0:30]
25. Vom Gebirge, Well' Auf Well', [1:05]
26. Weiche Graser Im Revier, [1:39]
27. Nagen am Herzen, [1:03]
28. Ich Kose Sub Mit Der Und Der, [1:10]
29. Alles, Alles, In Den Wind, [0:41]
30. Schwarzer Wald, Dein Schatten Ist
So Duster! [1:24]
31. Nein, Geliebter, Setze Dich, [2:26]
32. Flammenauge, Dunkles Haar, [1:34]
33. Zum Schlub: Nun Ihr Musen, Genug!
[2:18]
Sechs Chöre (Six Choral Pieces)
for unaccompanied chorus 4 to 6 part
voices, Op. 93a (c. 1883-84)
34. Der Bucklichte Fiedler, [1:55]
35. Das Mädchen, [2:51]
36. O süßer Mai, [2:06]
37. Fahr wohl! [1:47]
38. Der Falke, [2:28]
39. Beherzigung, [1:07]
Fünf Chöre (Five Choral Pieces)
for unaccompanied chorus 4 to 6 part
voices, Op. 104 (1886-68)
40. Nachtwache I, [2:36]
41. Nachtwache II, [1:37]
42. Letztes Glück, [2:44]
43. Verlorene Jugend, [1:51]
44. Im Herbst, [5:39]
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