Hugo Distler is primarily
known for his vocal works, and his style
is more or less defined by the Singbewegung,
a movement which advocated a return
to historical styles. For Distler, this
meant a focus on pre-Bach vocal music,
and in particular that of Heinrich Schütz.
The very title of the Geistliche Chormusik
op. 12 is a direct allusion to Schütz’s
Geistliche Chor-Music of 1648
– the most significant collection of
motets before those of J.S. Bach. The
informative programme booklet goes into
some detail, including some revealing
statements by Distler about his position
regarding religious and aesthetic questions
concerning his work. In the 1934 foreword
to his Op.12, he warns against those
who would "see in the alignment
of the new German choral music along
the lines of the classical age of the
choral tradition (…) nothing but stylistic
imitation (…). If since the very days
of the Reformation the Lutheran church
has ever desperately needed to revive
the belligerent and confident hymn in
the spirit of Martin Luther, it is today."
Distler never completed
his full conception of the Geistliche
Chormusik. Overtaken by the escalation
and tyranny of the war and surrounded
by death and destruction, he took his
own life on 1 November 1942 at the age
of 34. The surviving works, with the
exception of Op.12, 2 which consists
of 14 didactic motets with extended
spoken parts and a performing time of
around 40 minutes, have been arranged
on the CD in the order of their assignments
in the church year – the numberings
indicating the order in which they were
composed.
The composer gazes
sternly at us from behind his piano
on the CD booklet, and the seriously
intellectual nature of this music is
clear from the outset. Unaccompanied
voices, open intervals, tonal but sometimes
angular melody and counterpoint, rhythmic
homophony – elements which constantly
hark back to the essence of choral music
in Schütz’s time, but placed in
an idiom which is unmistakeably mid-20th
Century. The brilliance with which Distler
trod this fine line between the old
and the new is clear, and the practical
usefulness of such works within a church
context is also immediately apparent.
These works are approachable, the texts
are clear, there are no emotional histrionics
– but neither are the pieces without
expressive content. Distler can be playful
and light, and even a superficial hearing
shows his sympathy with the text. The
second part of Singet Frisch und
wohlgemut begins ‘Kinder, singet
alle gleich’ and is set with a disarming,
almost naïve simplicity which sums
up the transparency of connection between
words and music. These works are a poignant
reminder that, while Nazism was rising
in Germany, a sizeable part of the population
was as concerned with the message and
beliefs of Christianity – aligned in
faith with most of the rest of Europe.
The texts are printed
in the booklet, but only in German.
Following them is a rewarding and educational
experience, and the gently restrained
singing of the MonteverdiChor is entirely
appropriate to the music. Don’t expect
a hair-raising rollercoaster ride with
this CD. While not without harmonic
interest, these pieces are written within
strict religious frameworks which seem
to preclude too much of a voyage of
discovery in musical terms. On the other
hand, this is very much ‘the real thing’
when it comes to choral music, so while
it may have limited appeal and is not
for light listening, it should not be
dismissed lightly either.
Dominy Clements
MonteverdiChor München/Konrad von Abel
