Pavel HAAS (1899 – 1944)
Wind Quintet, op.10 (1929) [15:15]
Suite for Oboe and Piano, op.17 (1939) [15:15]
String Quartet No.3, op.15 (1938) [21:22]
Ensemble Villa Musica (Jean-Claude Gérard (flute); Ingo Goritzki (oboe); Ulf
Rodenhäuser (clarinet); Dag Jensen (bassoon); Zdenek Tylsar (horn); Kalle
Randalu (piano); Nico Chumachenko – Erika Geldsetzer (violins); Enrique Santiago
(viola); Martin Ostertag (cello))
rec. 20 January 1998 (Quintet), 16 December 2001 (Suite), 11 June 2007 (Quartet),
Fürstliche Reitbahn Bad Arolsen. DDD
MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM MDG 304 1527-2 [52:18]
Pavel Haas was one of that group of important Czechoslovakian composers who
were interned in Terezin (Theresienstadt). Finally they were murdered in the
gas chambers. Unlike Viktor Ullmann, who has risen head and shoulders above
his compatriots, if only because of the huge amount of music he wrote, Haas’s
output is small, but his is a very refined voice. Haas studied with Janácek;
you can hear the master at work quite clearly in the piano writing in the
Suite for oboe and piano. He also inherited some of the older composer’s
melodic angularity and fondness for rich harmonies.
The Suite is quite austere, and problematic in some ways, not least
in the elusive strain of melody which pervades the piece. You aren’t going
to be whistling the tunes after a single hearing, but they are always in your
mind as a presence. You have to return to the work for it has a depth which
isn’t immediately obvious. Although marked furioso I don’t find the
first movement in any way furious. I am at a loss to understand this marking
for although the music protests it always resolves, which isn’t what one would
expect from fury – unless you’re moving from Kansas to Oz. The piano writing
in this movement is slightly reminiscent of Janácek’s Concertino. The
middle, scherzo, movement, marked con fuoco, is fiery and has a lot
to be angry about. This is very well worked out, as is the more gentle and
easy-going finale. This is a moderato, a kind of pastoral scene which
isn’t quite as idyllic as you might at first think. This is a very fine work.
If you like Charles Koechlin’s Oboe Sonata you’ll find much to enjoy
here.
The last of Haas’s three Quartets is a master-piece. It is forthright, powerful,
succinct. It uses just the right number of notes to say what it has to; what
a marvel this composer could be! The first movement is, again, quite argumentative.
It has time for reflection in the shape of a lyrical second subject but its
respite is short-lived. I feel a menace here. There’s always something in
the music, even when it’s at its quietest, which is emotionally disturbing.
Although the spirit of Janácek hangs, somewhat obviously in places, over the
work, Haas has an original voice that has absorbed that of his teacher. I
imagine that the slight reminiscences of the older composer are subconscious.
The ending is as enigmatic as anything Haas ever wrote. The slow middle movement
has an occasional feel of Debussy about it, as the recitative makes its way
from soliloquy to song. The finale, a theme and variations, starts deeply-felt
which makes one realise, all the more, the loss of a great chamber music composer.
It ends with a fugue of strange harmonies and peculiar tonality.
The disk starts with the early Wind Quintet, a slightly more difficult
work than one would imagine from this composer. Perhaps the difficulty stems
from the fact that the wind quintet is notoriously difficult to write for.
Rather like the string quartet, it delivers a monochromatic sound. Unlike
the string ensemble, it lacks the range or the ability to employ the very
high register afforded the violin. There’s a lot of interest in this work.
This stems from the chatter of the first movement. The third movement is like
a slowed-down version of Janácek’s March of the Blue Boys (which became
the third movement of Mladi). It has a delightfully bluff sense of
fun. This is quite a serious work, despite the scherzo, but it is most enjoyable
once your ears adjust to the overall sound of the music.
Despite what I have written concerning which composers the music sounds like
I don’t mean to imply that Haas is obviously derivative, I only want to give
some idea of the influences absorbed into his style. This is fine music that
can stand by itself and is the work of an obviously individual voice. Haas
should be heard and this disk is as good an introduction as any I have heard.
The sound is good. Every strand of the music can be clearly heard but I felt
a slight tiredness throughout and it isn’t as bright as it might have been.
The performances are very good.
Bob Briggs