The composer and writer
Peter Cornelius was born in Mainz in
1824 and died there fifty years later.
After he failed at an acting career
he studied music and became a friend
of Liszt and Wagner. I mainly know his
music from his opera ‘Der Barbier von
Baghdad’ (1858). This was first produced
in Weimar by Liszt who had become Kapellmeister
there in 1848 and where he promoted
the works of Wagner and Berlioz. However,
Liszt’s support of Cornelius’s opera
on top of his promotion of the Liszt-Wagner
‘New Music’, provoked local opposition.
As a consequence Liszt resigned his
position. Despite these early difficulties
this delightful work has maintained
its position in the repertoire, particularly
in Germany. A recording featuring Fritz
Wunderlich has had circulation. However,
it is not by that opera, or his two
later works in the genre that Cornelius
is known. Rather it is his vocal and
the choral works, particularly the latter.
It is these that feature on the present
disc.
Georg Grün, director
of the performances here, contends (booklet
translation p.8) that the ‘Requiem’
(tr. 1) is the most mature of Cornelius’s
choral works. It was written in 1863
in the response to the death of his
friend, the poet and writer Friedrich
Hebbel, and is a setting of the latter’s
poem ‘Seele, vergiss sie nicht’. In
this work, six-part writing for a tenor,
alto and two sopranos and baritones,
predominates. Each vocal register doubles
for the cycle ‘Lieb’ of 1872 (trs. 2-4)
whilst in ‘Trauerchöre’ (1869,
trs. 5-7) the choral backing is two
tenors and baritones. It is perhaps
in this latter piece, with its lack
of female voices, that we can best appreciate
the consummate skill of these performers.
The blending of harmony and pinpoint
articulation are the hallmarks of much
practise under a choral director of
experience and excellence. The exclusion
of the female voices in the previous
comment should not be taken as a criticism
or failing on the distaff side. Rather
the very resonant acoustic does take
away the sharpness of the words particularly
when the sopranos are above the stave.
However, the overall result allows appreciation
of the structures and compositional
complexities within the various pieces.
Perhaps the most interesting work, after
the ‘Requiem’, is Cornelius’s Op. 13
(trs. 12-14). These three vocal psalms
were written in 1872, Cornelius arranging
movements from keyboard suites by Bach
as four-part chorales with the soprano
line carrying the melody. He uses his
own words based on the passages in the
psalms and succeeds in preserving the
musical substance of Bach’s originals.
The booklet has a brief
essay by Georg Grün and all the
words with English translation. The
disc should appeal to all lovers of
this genre and is strongly recommended.
It should also be appropriate listening
for those who enjoy earlier choral pieces
such as those by Hildegard of Bingen
and others of that period.
Robert J Farr
Hans Jörg Mammel, (ten)