Schoeck

In the vinyl era, domestic Schoeck boomlets happened at intervals of a decade or more, while CD days have seen a few reissues and fewer notable new recordings. The simultaneous appearance of the Elegie and Notturno (ECM 2061) the ripest of Schoeck’s song cycles with Chris Walton’s eminently Read more Othmar Schoeck: Life and Works (University of Rochester Press, 2009), raises the possibility of the composer becoming a vibrant presence. Good luck. The current production illustrates why viable work too often gets lost in the shuffle.

Renate Rusche - Bass Clarinet [Schoeck.Messiaen.Celis.Genzmer.Erdmann]
Berliner Symphoniker, Neil Varon / Werner Hagen
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 242 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Scene" # 624 0556-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1993
Genre: Classical | Style: Contemporary, Bass Clarinet

”The bass clarinet is featured in all its extraordinary tonal variety as a chamber, concerto, and solo instrument on this recording marking the remarkable debut of a young virtuoso. This is an interesting recital, nicely performed, which certainly helps to fill a void in concert music for winds.” (Fanfare)

Othmar Schoeck est né en 1886 à Brunnen (Suisse). Fils du peintre Alfred Schoeck, Othmar fut d'abord élève au Conservatoire de Zurich, puis passa quelque temps à Leipzig, où il étudia la composition avec Max Reger (1873-1916). À son retour en Suisse, il connut une intense activité pratique dans la direction d'orchestre, et fut en particulier le chef d'orchestre des concerts symphoniques de Saint-Gal, occupation qui fit peu à peu place à l'activité créatrice.

The Basel Chamber Orchestra I TEMPI has chosen the composer Othmar Schoeck for its second GENUIN CD. The title says it all: Gevorg Gharabekyan and his musicians take us on a dreamlike summer night all the pieces possess a lightness and cordiality unusual for Schoeck: a wonderful suite, a fascinating cello concerto, and an enchanting pastorale. The string sound of the style-conscious ensemble is supple but captivating. The finest ramifications of late Romantic music are traced. One can only hope that this great CD will contribute to a Schoeck Renaissance outside the Confederation his music deserves it!

Through the medium of this remarkable and poignant five-movement work for voice and string quartet, the genesis of which dates from 1931-33, this exemplary disc affords us what is arguably the magnum opus of Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957). Ten poems by German Romantic poet Nikolaus Lenau (1802-50) inspire Schoeck's late-Romantic style to great heights and depths of feeling, deeply personal ones as the excellent sleeve notes elucidate, encompassed within an overall tenor of meditative darkness that allows those moments of musically lighter beauty a greater hair-raising intensity.