Error processing SSI file


 

BUY NOW 

Crotchet   AmazonUK   AmazonUS

Te Deum: Music for Choir, Brass and Organ
Paul ENGEL (b.1949)

Venezianisches Déjà-vu fur neun Blechblaser for Brass (2001)
Te Deum for Choir, Organ, Brass and percussion (1988)
Cyrillus KREEK (1889-1962)

Three Psalms for unaccompanied choir (1929)
J.S. BACH (1685-1750)

Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major BWV 564
Chorale prelude BWV 641 on ‘Wenn wir in hochstein noten sein’;
Knut NYSTEDT (b.1949)

Immortal Bach nach ‘Komm Susser Tod’.(1988)
Franz Hauk (organ)
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Ensemble Art of Brass Vienna
Mikka Uleoja; Paul Engel (conductors)
Recorded the church of St.Jakob Innsbruck, Austria October/November 2001
GUILD GMCD 7245 [69.52]

I wouldn’t normally recommend hearing a CD with nine works on it from beginning to end in one sitting. Indeed I did not at first do so myself. However this is one of those rare CDs when hearing the whole disc at a single session is a highly desirable thing to do despite its seventy-minute duration.

Now and again a disc comes into a reviewer’s hands, which at first may not seem to be too promising but which proves to be exciting and fascinating. For me this has proved to be just such a disc. It is beautifully planned, expertly recorded, staggering well performed and in short a revelation. Guild is producing discs with a considerably original profile. This is typical of the Guild stable, including as it does two important composers, Engel and Kreek, little known outside their own countries.

The programme is shaped at the beginning and end by two major works by the Austrian composer Paul Engel. So the plan is: a work for Brass of sixteen-minute duration by Engel followed by three short psalm settings by Kreek for unaccompanied chorus. Then comes a major Bach organ work and then a chorale prelude. There follows a choral work dedicated to Bach by Nystedt and then the culmination of the entire disc the 25 minute Te Deum for chorus, organ, brass and percussion by Engel.

Let me put some flesh on the skeleton.

Engel’s work for brass is nicely entitled a ‘déjà-vu’ being based upon the Sonata XIII by Giovanni Gabrieli for eight instrumental groups and also on the motet ‘Jubilate Deo’ I listened to both of these pieces before preparing this review and I must say that the connections are not obvious. However there are certain turns of melody and rhythm, which are reminiscent of both works. Anyway Engel’s work is full of interest and life even if slightly anonymous.

Cyrillus Kreek was an Estonian composer. If these psalm settings are anything to go by then Kreek should be better known. He is an ascetic composer, who wastes not a single note. These settings are beautiful, simple and austere, inspired by the spiritual folksongs. The collecting and cataloguing of folksong was a lifelong mission for Kreek. The Estonian Philharmonic Choir is perfect for this music, well balanced with a touch of that typical Northern European vibrato and with strong dynamics.

The organ at St. Jakob’s Church, Innsbruck was reconstructed by Johann Pirchner in 1999; its specification is given. The pedal board is particularly impressive with an unusual 2¾ foot Mixtur VI. In my view it is not really a Bach organ but its picture on the CD booklet gives the impression of it being a baroque-inspired instrument. In any case it’s a small point and the two pieces work well in a very agreeable performance by Franz Hauk, who also contributes the booklet notes.

Knut Nystedt is Norwegian. He has been an invigorating renewer in the field of church music in Norway. He has an individual sound with his use of cluster chords and speech techniques in the 1960s. Clusters are used in this work as it grows in intensity. More recently neo-romantic elements have crept in and these are to be found in this ‘Homage to Bach’ using a chorale melody ‘Komm Susser Tod’.

Then comes Engel’s Te Deum where all of the above musicians come together. This is a real masterwork. It divides the text into four sections played without break. I am impressed by its form, shape, overwhelming harmonic sense and growth, rhythmic excitement and overall power. It leaves one spiritually uplifted. It is performed as well as any composer might expect and quite obviously much enjoyed. It is not too ‘modern’ and although tough it is not forbidding.

The booklet notes are useful if rather quaintly and anonymously translated. I particularly enjoyed a description of the end of the Te Deum, which describes the music as ‘lingering bells fuse with wind and organ accords, which form a background for a large soprano solo’. I make no further comment concerning fat ladies.

Gary Higginson

Error processing SSI file

Return to Index

Error processing SSI file