I wonder just how many
people will have been put-off by seeing
a New Zealand orchestra and choir performing
a Classical German mass. I used to have
this romantic ideal that only the Austrian
and German orchestras could play Mahler,
Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart, only the
Russians could play Tchaikovsky and
Shostakovich and only an English orchestra
could perform Elgar and Vaughan Williams.
I now know that holding onto these blinkered
principles only serves to deprive the
listener of many superbly performed
works. Although an orchestra may have
a tradition of playing a home-composer’s
music it certainly doesn’t have the
monopoly on delivering wonderful interpretations.
Recent examples of marvellous performances
that I have heard on disc include Beethoven
from Nashville Tennessee, Rimsky-Korsakov
from Malaysia, Bernstein from New Zealand,
J.S. Bach from Japan, Shostakovich from
Italy and Shostakovich from Australia.
There can be no other
composer surrounded by as much great
musical talent as Johann Hummel. Mozart
took the young Hummel into his home
for music tuition and later Hummel received
instruction from luminaries such as
Clementi, Albrechtsberger, Haydn and
Salieri. Furthermore Hummel became acquainted
with Beethoven. Surrounded by great
masters Hummel had the best possible
Classical teachers and became an eminent
and brilliant concert pianist undertaking
an extensive concert tour of Europe
and Russia as well as composing a wide
variety of works.
In 1804 Hummel took
over from the ageing Haydn as the kapellmeister
at the court of Prince Esterhazy. The
appointment was not without conflict
and tension and Hummel was summarily
dismissed following a chaotic episode
on Christmas Day 1808 and was reinstated
when the Prince relented.
The Prince Nicolaus
II of Esterhazy instigated the tradition
of having a newly composed Mass performed
on the name-day of his wife the Princess
Maria Hermenegild. Following in Haydn’s
footsteps, Fuchs, Hummel and Beethoven
all wrote Masses for the occasion. Hummel
composed five settings of the Mass between
1804 and 1808 and the Missa Solemnis
in C major was written in 1806 especially
for the wedding of the Prince’s daughter,
the Princess Maria Leopoldina Esterhazy.
To be asked to write a Mass to celebrate
what must have been Europe’s ‘society
wedding of the year’, given the wealth,
fame and rank of the two families concerned,
gives a clear indication of the high
professional standing that Hummel was
held in at that time.
Renowned musicologist
Allan Badley who wrote the booklet notes
holds the view that Hummel’s Missa
Solemnis, "is a worthy successor
to the late Haydn Masses. It’s brilliant,
inventive and flexible choral writing
and technical resourcefulness are the
work of an experienced and gifted composer."
Hummel composed the
Te Deum in 1806, three months
before the Missa Solemnis. It
is thought to have been composed at
Prince Esterhazy’s behest to celebrate
the signing of the Peace Treaty at the
end of the war between the Austro-Russian
alliance and France following Napoleon’s
victory at Austerlitz. In the view of
Allan Badley the Te Deum,
"is an immensely attractive
work. The orchestration blazes with
primary colours and the choral writing
is fluid and attractive. Although relatively
short in duration, the Te Deum contains
moments of great emotional gravity as
well as pure transcendent joy."
Hummel’s reputation
was at an all-time low in the 1900s
and I have seen various disparaging
references to his music lacking substance
and emotion. However this wonderful
release of world premiere Hummel recordings
from Naxos should go a long way to help
redress the balance.
The singing from the
soloists and the Tower Voices New Zealand
is glorious and it is really hard to
understand why these wonderful works
have not been recorded before now. The
richly coloured and sonorous choral
singing with beautifully detailed orchestral
textures have been successfully recorded
in the excellent venue of the Michael
Fowler Centre, in Wellington.
In both works from
the first bar to the last, a sense of
urgency, energy and reverence prevails.
There are dedicated contributions from
the soloists, chorus and orchestra under
the assured direction of the talented
and experienced conductor Uwe Grodd
who gives a vigorous and forceful reading;
high in intensity. This is an excellent
release which has a first class recorded
sound together with a spectacular cover
picture of ‘Christ the Saviour of the
world’.
A superbly performed
release of wonderful music that deserves
to be heard. Another sure-fire winner
from the high-flying Naxos stable.
Michael Cookson
Tower Voices New Zealand 