Poetic Inspirations Alex Klein oboe Works for Oboe, Viola & Piano Richard Young viola Ricardo Castro piano August Klughardt (1847–1902) Schilflieder (Songs of the Reeds), Op. 28 (1872) (19:35) 1 1. Langsam, träumerisch (3:40) Producer: James Ginsburg 2 2. Leidenschaftlich erregt (2:38) 3 Engineer: Bill Maylone 3. Zart, in ruhiger Bewegung (5:40) 4 4. Feurig (2:47) Graphic Design: Melanie Germond 5 5. Sehr ruhig (4:38) Cover: Immortalité by José Roosevelt Charles Martin Loeffler (1861–1935) Oil on canvas, 50 x 60 cm, 1994 / Private collection, Bulle (Switzerland) Two Rhapsodies for Oboe, Viola, and Piano (1901) (21:23) illustrations on pp. 7 & 12 also by José Roosevelt 6 I. L’Étang: Lento (un poco Andante) (9:30) 7 II. La Cornemuse: Un poco maestoso (11:50) Recorded: April 19, 20, 22 and 23, and October 16-17, 2007 at WFMT, Chicago Felix White (1884–1945) Publishers: 8 Modinha © Marco Aurélio Yano, 1984 The Nymph’s Complaint for the Death of her Fawn (1921) (8:08)* Trio for Viola, Heckelphone, and Piano, Op. 47 © B. Schott’s Söhne, Mainz, 1929 / © renewed P. Hindemith, 1957 Marco Aurélio Yano (1963–1991) The following instruments were used for this recording: 9 Modinha (1984) (2:45)* Viola: Peregrino di Zanetto (Brescia, ca. 1560) Oboe: F. Lorée Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) Piano: Steinway Technician: Charles Terr Trio for Viola, Heckelphone, and Piano, Op. 47 (1928) (14:44) Bass oboe (Hindemith): F. Lorée Erster Teil (7:03) bk Cedille Records is a trademark of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation24 devoted to Solo: Sehr lebhaft, stürmisch— (1:00) promoting the finest musicians and ensembles in the Chicago area. The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation’s activities are bl Arioso: Sehr langsam— (4:32) supported in part by contributions and grants from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies including bm Duett: Lebhaft (1:31) the Alphawood Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, Kirkland & Ellis Foundation, NIB Foundation, Negaunee Foundation, Sage Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (CityArts III Grant), and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Zweiter Teil: Potpourri (7:37) bn I. Schnelle Halbe— (2:39) bp III. Schnelle Halbe— (1:36) Contributions to The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation may be made at www.cedillerecords.org or 773-989-2515. bo II. Lebhaft. Ganze Takte— (1:46) bq IV. Prestissimo (1:35) CDR 90000 102 P&C 2008 Cedille Records Trademark of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation. All Rights Reserved. TT: (67:10) *World Premiere Recording August Klughardt — as in the second piece, when wind and pelt- Schilflieder (Songs of the Reeds) And I fancy I can hear 1–5 Schilflieder (Songs of the Reeds), Op. 28 ing rain envelop the familiar scene by the pond. Poems by Nikolaus Lenau the gentle music of your voice The third piece is a hushed and vulnerable while your charming song is sinking This recording project has revealed a number dream — a bittersweet recollection of happier 1 Over there the sun is setting, into the pond without a trace. of unexpected treasures, the most unlikely of days. (Alban Berg used this same Lenau poem weary day sinks into sleep and the willows hang down low which might be Schilflieder because August for one of his Seven Early Songs.) In the fourth 4 The sun has gone down; to the pond, so calm so deep. Klughardt is virtually unknown today, even piece, a violent thunderstorm is in full fury black clouds are drifting, among most professional musicians. During when a burst of lightening suddenly illuminates And my love is lost forever, sultry and anxious his career as a Kapellmeister in Posen, Neus- what appears to be the woman’s face reflected flow, oh tears, which no one heeds, all the winds are fleeing! trelitz, Lubeck, and Dessau, he wrote numer- in the surface of the pond, her rain-soaked hair sad the wind through willows rustles, Furiously across the sky ous operas and symphonic works and some whipped about by the howling wind. weaving through the shivering reeds. pallid lightning sears chamber music. Not one of his compositions In the depth of desolation and her transient image has found its way into the standard repertoire, As colorful and dramatic as the music has been you shine brightly from afar, in the pond appears. thus far, Klughardt saves the best for last. For however, although his woodwind quintet is while through reeds and rushes brightly In the stormy light occasionally mentioned by wind players. Nev- in the fifth piece, the two lovers appear at last shines the gentle evening star. ertheless, despite its obscurity, this piece for to “talk” to each other! After a soul-wrench- I seem to see your form piano, oboe, and viola is hauntingly beautiful ing outpouring in the viola comes a heav- and your loosened hair 2 and deserves to be heard. enly 2-note “cry” in the oboe. Just as Robert Waning light, the clouds are scurrying blowing in the storm! Schumann evokes his beloved “Cla-ra” with a and the rain falls like a stone, and the noisy winds cry sadly: Schilflieder (Songs of the Reeds) was composed 2-note falling fifth (in his third string quartet 5 Motionless upon the pond “Pond, where has your starlight flown?” in 1872 in a grand romantic spirit reminiscent and the piano quintet), the woman here calls lies the moonlight’s gentle glow, of Franz Liszt, to whom it was dedicated. Its five out with a 2-note falling sixth. What follows is Seeking the light, extinguished weaving her pallid roses pieces are based on poems by Nikolaus Lenau, a touchingly poignant “conversation” — his in the depths, whipped by the storm. into the reed’s green wreath below. whose verses are printed in the score above the still-tormented soul expressed by the viola, Never more your love will smile Stags, roving on the hills, relevant passages. They tell the story of a man her more reassuring voice by the oboe. The on my heart’s profoundest gloom! look up into the night, who has lost the love of his life. Overwhelmed two eventually “harmonize” one another in sometimes the dreaming birds music of sincere and heartfelt rapture. And in by despair, he withdraws to a secluded place 3 Oft on secret forest paths stir in the depths of the reeds. by a pond where reeds grow in the shallow wa- one extraordinary moment near the end, just I creep in the evening glow I drop my tearful gaze; ters near the shore. Here he grieves and remi- after “a quiet evening prayer,” the oboe’s ten- to the lonely banks of rushes, my soul is pierced to the core nisces about his lost love. der melody is seamlessly passed to the viola, as darling girl, and think of you. though the lovers’ salty tears are mingling one by sweet memories of you, From the earliest moments of the first piece, last time. All prior despair is reconciled as this When the shrubs begin to darken like a quiet evening prayer. one is overwhelmed by the man’s private pa- deeply moving work concludes with a soft but the reeds tell of mysteries deep, thos. Different memories are subsequently wistful “cry” — yet again, a falling sixth. and a plaintive, whispering voice tells me I must weep, must weep. Translation by Gery Bramall evoked by changes in the weather and the light — Richard Young 4 5 Charles Martin Loeffler At age 13, Loeffler resolved to become a of the moon’s “ghostly face, with flattened influenced by his Prussian origins. Yet if his 6–7 Two Rhapsodies professional musician. He studied violin in nose and weirdly vacant jaw, like death’s heart still carried bitterness toward those Berlin with Joseph Joachim and composition head lit from within.” The second rhapsody who took away his father when he was 12 Of all the works on this CD, this comes clos- in Paris with Ernest Guiraud. At age 20, he (The Bagpipe) imitates the characteristic years old, there is no hint of it in his music. est to occupying a place in today’s “standard emigrated to America, where only one year sounds of that primitive yet hauntingly ex- For what is so compellingly expressed in repertoire.” It turns up with surprising fre- later he become assistant concertmaster of pressive instrument, in a lush setting that these Two Rhapsodies is the wondrous ex- quency, not only on mixed chamber music the Boston Symphony Orchestra — a post he could not be more “Romantic.” hilaration, curiosity, and rapture of a young programs that have become the norm at so held for over 2 decades. This prestigious po- person’s private imaginary realm. Despite many summer festivals, but also at conserva- sition enabled him to have numerous com- Loeffler embraced a musical philosophy all the comfortable trappings of Charles tory concerts and viola and oboe “congress- positions performed by that great orchestra, post-Romantic literature called “decadent.” Martin Loeffler’s very successful and satisfy- es” the world over. In fact, violists and oboists and to be a frequent concerto soloist. In fact, He and composers such as Frank Bridge ing adult life, could this realm have been a have probably played this piece more often Loeffler gave the American premieres of believed that one could not fully appreci- still-necessary escape from the nightmares than any other chamber work that combines violin concertos by Saint-Saëns, Bruch, and ate happiness without first confronting the of Martin Karl Löffler’s childhood? these two instruments — with the possible Lalo.