Texte paru dans: / Appeared in: |
|
|
Outil de traduction ~ (Très approximatif) |
|
|
Reviewer: J.
F. Weber The 12th issue in Carus’s complete works of Heinrich Schütz is the third complete set of his op. 12. Rademann’s version was preceded by Frieder Bernius (Fanfare 13:2) and Konrad Jünghänel (29:5), both warmly reviewed when new. Before that, we had most of the published opus numbers in complete sets, but only single issues (and not all that many) of this one, with five pieces never recorded at all. “Saul, was verfolgst du mich” is probably the most familiar work in the book. These works were published in 1650, when the composer was able to return to the large ensembles that were unavailable to most churches during the Thirty Years’ War. Like the two earlier recordings, these discs are arranged in the order of publication, which placed the five-voice works first, followed by the six-voice, seven-voice, and eight-voice works, the last seven pieces being the crowning achievement of this marvelous publication. The basic performing forces always include two instrumental parts and three to six vocal parts; the score includes “complementary” parts for additional voices and ins truments. The composer conceived the works in the splendor of the full scoring, while still enabling performances in less well-equipped churches that had not yet recovered from the war. Like the first two recordings, which are virtually identical in overall timing, the five- and six-voice works are on the first disc, the seven- and eight-voice works on the second, but the new set is four minutes shorter in the first disc and three minutes shorter in the second. Individual timings are more telling: The masterly story of the conversion of St. Paul (Saul) for eight voices (SWV 415) advances in length from 8:52 in the first set to 9:22 in the latest. Like that passage from Acts of the Apostles, some of the most effective pieces are set to gospel texts, such as the incident when Jesus remained behind in the Temple (SWV 401); the angel’s command to Joseph to flee into Egypt (SWV 403); the parable of the sower (SWV 408); the prophecy of Simeon (SWV 410); the Our Father (SWV 411), and the admonition to render to Caesar (SWV 414), all doubtless sung on the Sunday when the gospel text was read. Such psalm texts as “The Lord is my shepherd” (SVV 398), “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills” (SWV 399), and “Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain” (SWV 400) are exquisite musical expressions of the memorable words, while “Now thank we all our God,” written on the departure of Swedish troops from Dresden in 1650, is of unmistakable significance as the last piece to be composed and the last piece in the book. While
the two earlier recordings of op. 12 remain admirable, Rademann’s latest
addition to the ongoing series will be irresistible to collectors who have
come this far. He uses 10 soloists, a couple of them having sung in the very
first entry in the series (31:5). As for soloists, it is worth noting that
in Bernius’s set the role of Jesus in the Temple (SWV 401) was sung by a
choirboy from Tölz, a particularly effective touch that is worth hearing.
Now there remain for Rademann only the St. John Passion, the second book of
Kleine Geistliche Konzerte (op. 9), the first and second books of Symphoniae
Sacrae (op. 6 and op. 10), and of course the long-awaited and mostly
unrecorded Becker psalms (op. 5) among the published works. Be forewarned
that the Becker psalms that have been recorded have usually been limited to
not much more than one verse. Maybe that’s all one needs to hear, but it
will be interesting to see how Rademann handles this. Matteo Messori has
given us all the rest (34:3, 30:5), though he seems to have run out of steam
in his goal of a complete recording of Schütz. Carus, remember, is the
publisher of the new Complete Works, and Rademann is following a parallel
track in recording them, an additional point of interest. This is an
admirable achievement. | |
|
|
|
|
Cliquez l'un ou l'autre
bouton pour découvrir bien d'autres critiques de CD |
|
