It’s the eightieth anniversary of Klabund’s death, a very timely
moment to release this, a fascinating portrait of one of the driving
forces for German Cabaret music during its heyday. Edel, in conjunction
with the Akademie der Künst, has been releasing listenable portraits
of Cabaret greats for some ten years now with their series ‘The
Listening Room’. These are two-disc surveys of vintage recordings
of the likes of Friedrich Hollaender, Werner Richard Heymann and
Rudolf Nelson, all painstakingly cleaned up, with extensive liner-notes
- albeit with abbreviated English translations.
Klabund, born Alfred
Henschke, never enjoyed good health in his adolescent and adult
years, and tuberculosis claimed him at an early age. He ceased
his studies to take up the role of peregrinating poet, taking
up his pseudonym as a combination of Klabautermann, the
traditional gremlin that was known to plague mines and ships,
and Vagabond His poetry turned from the lofty topics
that some ivory-tower types busied themselves with and chose
instead to focus on everyday life. He wanted, as he said to
“be in the ‘it’ of things.” In the meadowland of life, as the
liner-notes mention, he wanted to be of use: “I am the manure!”
he joyfully exclaimed.
Those who set his words
to music are the stars of the German music firmament: Werner
Richard Heymann, Friedrich Hollaender, Hanns Eisler. The first
disc is devoted to these musical settings, the earliest of these
recorded in 1930, ranging to 2004, with most put to tape in
the sixties. An especial standout is the stout-hearted performance
of Kate Kühl singing “Der Glockenturm”. Heymann’s setting borrows
heavily from the famous entry of the piano in Tchaikovsky’s
first piano concerto, but darkens as the lyrics do. The speaker
“stands free in the world like the bell-tower ... moving neither
to left or right.” The ten-thousand-pound bells become a symbol
for deep suffering in this all-too brief song: “so heavy with
pain is my heart”, Kuhl blurts out, the emotion in her voice
raw and electrifying. There is one song translated into English,
Amsterdam, showing the sad recurrence of crushed dreams
in those Klabund wrote of — the people of the streets. “In
ancient Amsterdam I have become a Thing”, the singer intones,
another character left to walk the asphalt like his mother.
The second disc is
a sort of audio book, with various actors narrating a selection
of his prose and poetry. His brief autobiographical sketches
are interesting, and here we have straight readings of the verses
that captured the attention of so many composers. Unfortunately
there are no parallel texts in the booklet, or any translations
into English, which does limit the impact of this second disc,
but it appears that the non-German-speaking audience is not
the particular target of this release. For those, however,
who have working knowledge of German and who have a love of
Cabaret music, should certainly look out for this set, as well
as the others issued by Edel. They are greatly rewarding and
historically-significant collections.
David Blomenberg
Artists include: Annemarie Hase; Ernst Busch; Kate Kühl; Hanne Wieder;
Blandine Ebinger; Hanne Wieder; Hannes Wader; Hermann Prey; Tim
Fischer
