Faced as we are now
with a glut of Rheinberger – organ sonatas
and concertos once more in the ascendant
but with the violin and organ works
not so far behind – it’s still unusual
to come across examples of his secular
choral music. The sacred music has for
some time taken its place in the German
repertory but the so-called Turkish
Singspiel Vom Goldenen Horn will
be unheard by all but the most diehard
Rheinberger admirer. Based on texts
by the folk singer Assim Agha Gül-hanendé
this 1895 work calls for four solo voices,
choir and piano accompaniment. Its descriptive
title as a ‘Singspiel’ is doubtless
a none-too-oblique reference to Schumann’s
mid-century ‘Spanisches Liederspiel’
Op.74 - which also presented a series
of lieder for solo voices while advancing
a story-line.
The thing that will
immediately strike you is how un-Turkish
this Turkish Singspiel is. Long gone
are the days of Mozart and followers
like Witt who would festoon their music
with percussion and piccolo in imitation
of "Turkish" sonority. Rheinberger’s
tribute is an altogether more clement
and unoriental one, belonging firmly
to the central European tradition. There
are no passing allusions either, which
makes for a cohesive setting, albeit
one that tends to lack a certain drama.
There are nine lieder playing for a
good half hour. The watchwords are warmth
and a certain limited ardour as the
love story evolves; thankfully the solo
voices are suitably bright and youthful.
The music ethos is High Romantic, not
Brahmsian for the main part though there
are maybe hints of Rheinberger’s great
contemporary in the sixth song, Perle.
Otherwise the greatest impression
is that made by Schumann. Perhaps an
even greater impression could have been
gained had the studio recording not
tended to a degree of chilly clarity;
the accompanying piano sounds rather
too distant and the lack of resonance
militates against the full warmth of
the music-making. Nevertheless this
is a rare opportunity to get to grips
with his less easily available secular
choral music and adherents won’t spurn
the chance.
Coupled with Vom
Goldenen Horn are two other much
shorter works. Liebesgarten is
sung a capella and is devoted
to the beauties of nature. It’s a lightly,
fulsome work with generous overlapping
lines for the choral forces and some
folk-like warmth along the way. I was
especially taken by the fourth of the
five settings, where the composer’s
characteristic generosity of long lyrical
lines is most evident. The much later
In Sturm und Frieden is in effect
a reminiscence of the earlier nature
cycle. There’s remarkably little difference
in tone and texture between them despite
the fact that it was written eighteen
years later and is almost contemporary
with Vom Goldenen Horn. Still,
Rheinberger can write storm music with
the best of them and the lightly flecked
folk depiction of the sixth setting,
Guter Rat is characterful. Rather
too often there’s a slightly becalmed,
samey approach to word setting but in
the main it’s a successful setting if
not an especially inspiring one.
The studio acoustic
is rather unhelpful, especially in these
nature settings, but the forces manage
to breach this limitation well enough.
This is a different look at Rheinberger,
especially to those familiar with his
more popular works. The triptych offers
pleasurable, if not always exciting,
listening.
Jonathan Woolf
Silke Schwarz (soprano) 
