Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum - Vol. 21
- from the 2009 Festival
Egon KORNAUTH (1891-1959)
Fantasie in E flat minor, Op.10 (1912-15) [13:34]
Jonathan Powell (piano)
Samuil FEINBERG (1890-1962)
Sonata No.2, Op.2 (1916) [8:40]
Nina Tichman (piano)
Theodor LESCHETIZKY (1830-1915)
Meditation, Op.19, No.1: “La Mélusine” [1:56]
Hommage à Czerny, Op.46, No.5: “Toccata” [2:38]
Hubert Rutkowski (piano)
Gabriel PIERNÉ (1863-1937)
Nocturne en forme de valse, Op.40 No.2 (1904) [6:26]
Artur Pizarro (piano)
Arnold BAX (1883-1953)
What the minstrel told us (1919) [8:07]
Denis Pascal (piano)
Francis POULENC (1899-1963)
Aubade (1929) [21:37]
Jonathan Plowright (piano)
Eliane RODRIGUES (b. 1959)
2 Momentos musicais (1994-95) [5:11]
Eliane Rodrigues (piano)
Erwin SCHULHOFF (1894-1942)
Sonata No.1 (1924) [10:54]
Janice Weber (piano)
rec. August 15-21 Husum, Germany. DDD
DANACORD DACOCD 699 [79:45]
The first word of the title of this CD says everything: it is certainly not
misleading – ‘Rarities’. I pride myself on having a reasonable knowledge of
the literature of piano music; however most of this CD is unknown to me. In
fact, I had not heard of three of the eight composers: another two of them
are names only. The only two pieces that I know well are Arnold Bax’s What
the minstrel told us and Francis Poulenc’s Aubade.
The Festival at Husum has been established for 24 years: it was founded by
the pianist Peter Froundjian. The festival took for its inspiration the legendary
twelve orchestral concerts by Ferruccio Busoni in Berlin (1902-1909) as well
as the ‘Society for Forgotten Music’, founded by Vladimir Dukelsky in Paris
in 1947. Dukelsky once wrote: - "Why is great music often forgotten?
Not because it is unworthy of a future, but because of the circumstances in
which it was launched. It is tragic that a number of worthy compositions are
plunged into oblivion following their premieres. Among factors contributing
to their early demise are: imperfect performance, biased criticism, or audience
indifference."
The proceedings open with a work and a composer which are new to me. However,
the Fantasy in E flat by Egon Kornauth makes an impressive, romantic start
to this CD. Kornauth was born in Austria in 1891 and began his musical career
as pianist, an organist and later played cello in the Brno theatre and symphony
orchestra. The sleeve-notes point out that he had an international career
as an accompanist, a soloist and a conductor. Towards the end of his life
he taught music theory in Vienna and Salzburg.
In amongst all this activity he studied composition with Robert Fuchs in Vienna
and later with Franz Schrecker and Franz Schmidt. He composed a considerable
number of pieces of works including chamber, symphonic and vocal music. Although
he knew and understood many of the ‘latest’ contemporary trends in musical
composition, he wrote in a late-romantic style.
The only ‘fault’ that could be held against the present fantasy is the ‘orchestral’
nature of the pianism. According to the programme notes, this appears to have
been a feature of many of his piano works. Yet this can be forgiven (if forgiveness
is required) in this attractive piece that explores a wide range of musical
emotion and expression. I enjoyed this work and hope that Jonathan Powell
will one day record more of this music. At present, this work appears to be
the only piece of Egon Kornauth’s music that has been recorded.
The recording situation with Samuel Feinberg is happily much better than with
Egon Kornauth. Most importantly, BIS
have released the cycle of twelve piano sonatas. As a composer, Feinberg appears
to have gone through three stages. His early works are largely romantic however
he began to experiment with serialism and other ‘modern’ techniques before
returning to a more conservative style in his later years.
The 2nd Sonata, which is actually quite short, is played in one
movement. It has been likened to Scriabin, who incidentally died in the year
of its publication, Medtner and early Szymanowski. Colin Clarke writing for
MusicWeb
International has suggested that the music is written as ‘a single stream
of consciousness’. It is a good description. The performance given by Nina
Tichman reveals her as a fine advocate for this Sonata.
Some shorter works provide interest and variety in this selection of music.
Hubert Rutkowski plays two contrasting pieces by the teacher/composer Theodor
Leschetizky which musically evoke La Mélusine who was a water sprite from
European mythology and a Toccata that owes much to the didactic music of Carl
Czerny, but is certainly not a piece for the beginner!
Gabriel Pierné is one of those composers who always seem to hover in the background
of his more famous contemporaries such as Ravel and Debussy. Very much a talented
musician, Pierné was an organist, a conductor and a composer. His compositions
cover a wide range of genres from songs to a piano concerto. However most
of his piano pieces were composed in his younger days. The present Nocturne
en forme de valse, played by Arturo Pizarro was the second of ‘Trois Pièces
formants Suite de Concert’ which was composed in 1904. Although this piece
is quite clearly in the romantic style, there is an edge that makes it just
that little bit dark and introverted. All is not quite as it seems to be.
Fauré may be the nearest stylistic marker.
I am delighted that Denis Pascal chose to give a definitive performance of
Arnold Bax’s What the minstrel told us. Although this is a piece that
Bax enthusiasts will know and treasure, I guess that it is not particularly
well-known in the wider world of piano repertoire. At present there are three
versions of this great piece in the catalogues: Eric Parkin on Chandos,
Ashley Wass on Naxos and Iris Loveridge on Lyrita.
I have often wondered exactly what it was that ‘the minstrel told us.’ The
work which was written for Harriet Cohen in 1919 was subtitled ‘ballad’ and
there seem to be three things ‘going on’ in this piece. Firstly, there is
the composer’s relationship with Harriet; secondly there is the genuine interest
that Bax had for Irish folk tales and bardic poetry. And lastly there is his
well-known anger about the events of the 1916 Dublin Easter Rising. Bax lost
many of his friends at this time and was deeply upset by the political situation.
The piece is really a rhapsody built in the form of an arch. The opening and
closing sections are restrained and contemplative: these contrasts with the
stormy, violent middle section. Lewis Foreman has described this aggressive
music as a ‘wild dance’ and being ‘full of barbaric rhythms.’
Francis Poulenc’s Aubade, brilliantly played here by Jonathan Plowright,
is well-known in its concertante guise with a fair number of recordings being
available: it needs little comment. However, I have not heard it in its piano
solo version before. Although it is manifestly a worthy addition to the pianist’s
repertoire, I do prefer the original version for piano and eighteen instruments.
It is interesting that Pascal Rogé does not include this arrangement in his
‘complete piano works’ issued on Decca.
Eliane Rodrigues is a name I have not come across as either a composer or
a pianist. However the performance here of two her 15 Momentos musicais
mark her out as exceptional in both talents. The first piece (No.11) is a
musical portrayal of a ‘carousel’ realised as a waltz: it is dedicated to
her son Sergio. The second (No.12) is based on a traditional Brazilian dance,
the Miudhino: this is dedicated to her other son Christopher. Both
pieces are within the tradition of European romantic piano music, although
the Latin American colouring is never far away.
One of the most important works on this CD is the Sonata No.1 (1924) by the
Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff. Although there are already at least two other
recordings of this work in the catalogues, it is a masterpiece that deserves
to be better known and widely played. Schulhoff was not a serial composer,
in spite of his close friendship with Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils. His
musical antecedents included Alexander Scriabin, Richard Strauss and Claude
Debussy. In later years he was influenced by the ‘Dadaists’ and finally by
the advent of jazz and ragtime. These elements were synthesised with neo-classicism
and dance music from a variety of cultures to produce a very personal ‘modernism.’
The sonata is in four fairly short movements that are melodically and harmonically
related. Various pianistic devices are used including clusters, major second
chords, motor rhythms and a passacaglia theme that uses all twelve notes of
the scale – but is not serially manipulated. In the brief third movement the
composer introduces ragtime elements before ending with clusters. The last
movement refers back to the first and makes use of an insistent toccata like
figuration sometimes supported by an aggressive pedal-point. Scale passages
bring the movement and the sonata to a close.
Janice Weber proves this Sonata to be an exciting and exhilarating work that
has not become old-fashioned, in spite of its use of a somewhat dated musical
vocabulary. Erwin Schulhoff definitely demands a reappraisal.
Husum allows talented and well-known pianists to play worthy music that may
otherwise not find a place in their recital programmes. The music is performed
at some nine concerts and a selection is issued on CD. Needless to say there
is never any doubt about the quality of the playing. A glance at the list
of pianists is enough to suggest a huge range of talent. I would wish to single
out a particular performer as every note or every piece is performed with
sympathy, technical understanding and enthusiasm. It is high praise indeed.
John France
Every note or every piece is performed with sympathy, technical understanding
and enthusiasm.