Oskar WERMANN (1840-1906)
Zwei Vortragsstücke, Op 92 (1894) [10:17]
Prelude and fugue No 2 on the tones of the bells of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden, Op 146 [6:23]
Zwei Stücke, Op 72 (1891) [10:51]
Sonata for Cello and Organ in G minor, Op 58 (1889) [20:04]
Largo religioso, Op 24 (1883) [6:10]
Gustav MERKEL (1827-1885)
Arioso, Op 55 (1871) [5:38]
Adagio religioso, Op 114 (1872) [3:28]
Fugue on BACH, Op 40 (1864) [3:43]
Max REGER (1873-1916)
Aria, Op 103a (1908) [6:01]
Hannah Vinzens (cello)
Gordon Safari (organ)
rec. 8-10 September 2020, Christuskirche, Dresden-Strehlen, Germany
MDG 903 2206-6 SACD [72:45]
Simple logistics account for the paucity of music for cello and organ. Situations where an organ can be found where the player is in direct contact with the cellist, and where the pipes speak with sufficient immediacy and proximity to the cello, are very rare. But they do exist, and the aural combination of cello and organ is a most appealing one; this disc is ample evidence of that. For some reason, the right situation seemed to exist in late 19th century Dresden, where there was something of a tradition of pairing cello with organ. The booklet note suggests that this was due to a “succession of excellent cellists in the history of the Dresden Hofkapelle”, and the recording focuses primarily on one of the composers who helped maintain that tradition, Oskar Wermann.
Born into a relatively humble family on the outskirts of Dresden, Wermann showed early musical talent, but his family did not have the means to pay for him to have formal musical training. He took a job as a school-master, was able to pay for piano lessons with Friedrich Wieck (Schumann’s famously reluctant father-in-law), and eventually took organ lessons with Gustav Merkel, who was the Dresden court organist. In time, he enrolled at the Leipzig Conservatory where the influence of Mendelssohn still reigned supreme, and in 1876 was appointed Kantor at the Dresden Kreuzekirche, a post which he held until shortly before his death in 1906 and which was, in effect, the principal musical post in the city’s protestant churches. During those 30 years he composed some 150 works, mostly for choir or organ, but with a small number for organ and cello which were written for the noted cellist Friedrich Grützmacher and two of his pupils, Ferdinand Böckmann and Arthur Stenz.
Every bit of information one reads about Wermann points to an arch-conservative, keen to look back to the past and write music which did not set out to break new ground. This is very much evident in the music here, which is clearly the work of a thoroughly competent composer but not one over-burdened by imagination. Works in established forms, such as the Sonata, which appears to be the first ever sonata written for cello and organ, and the second of three organ Preludes and Fugues based on the carillon of the Kreuzkirche, were never going to make waves in the musical world even at the time of their composition, and are workmanlike rather than inspired. But there are some enchanting moments in the others, which not only stem from the pleasing combination of instrumental colours, but from a Wermann’s obvious sensitivity towards music which expressed his own religious convictions. I would single out the second of the Op 72 pieces, Abdendlied, as something well worth seeking out, and I would certainly praise the delicacy of cellist Hannah Vinzens and organist Gordan Safari, who are generous in their approach to this music.
The names of Gustav Merkel and Max Reger are much more widely known, even if little of their music attracts much attention. The three pieces for cello and organ by Merkel on this disc all pass by without disturbing the even tenor of the programme – again, solid, well written music, which serves a purpose and creates a pleasing effect, but is never destined to set hearts a-flutter – while the Reger Aria is such an outrageous copy of Bach’s famous Air (even down to having been written so that it could be played entirely on the G string of a violin) that this arrangement of it for cello and organ seems rather pointless. In short, this is a programme of nice music, nicely played and nicely recorded; nothing more, nothing less.
Marc Rochester
