Draeseke - Christus

[BerlinExpat]

Draeseke's Christus is on offer at 2001 (a German book and media company which also does mail order. They often have excellent bargains and this one is worth investigating if you are still looking for it at a reasonable price.

The five CDs are reduced from €89.99 to €29.99. Postage to UK is €9.50.

The 2002 link is: http://www.zweitausendeins.de/catalogsearch/result/?q=Felix+Draeseke&cat=&t=1

[Mark Thomas]

This is a tremendous bargain, but I am rather ashamed to report that this very set is one of the few CDs which I have ever given away because I was certain that I would never listen to it again.

I really admire Draeseke, indeed I count him as one of the few truly great composers amongst the romantic unsung but, after diligently, indeed doggedly, listening to the whole work several times I came to the conclusion that my intellect just wasn't up to the demands made of it in this work. I got neither musical, spiritual nor intellectual satisfaction from it, but I know that Draeseke is a great composer, that this was a late work towards which he had been working for many years and that he regarded it as one of his finest, so without any false modesty (not my strong suit anyway) I just had to accept that it was beyond me. Some pieces are. I did, though, take comfort in the subsequent opinion of a couple of Draeseke aficionados, whose views I respect, that Christus is a very tough nut to crack.

Be warned, therefore, that this financial bargain may require a substantial investment of another sort!

[Alan Howe]

I'm afraid the work - at least in this recording - is Draeseke's one big failure. It just doesn't have the sustained inspiration required. Some parts - most of them choral - are thrilling, but there are long stretches which are, frankly, extremely tedious. Much as it pains me to do so (and I have been a fan of this great composer for some years now), I'd say 'avoid'.

[kolaboy]

Every composer of note has a moment (at least one) of "irresistible inevitability". I'm a big fan of his symphonies - and I think such moments can be found there - but this piece just did not click with me. Looks darned impressive there on the shelf, though 

[Gareth Vaughan]

Sounds a bit like Browning's magnum opus, "The Ring and the Book", which I have waded through (because I like Browning) and which has a few (not many) great moments amid acres of convoluted tedium.

[chill319]

I'm ready to accept that Christus was a misfire.  But I can't help wondering if Draeseke knew that this work required a specific venue to achieve its intended effect. Just as Wagner insisted on Bayreuth.

Members of this splendid forum know how much venue counts.  Imagine the Eroica with songs and novelty acts between the movements.  Didn't happen.  But could have 15 years earlier.

Consider also recent recordings of early music, where polyphony is set in the midst of plainchant as it was actually heard during early Renaissance Masses.  The effect is so much more powerful than just hearing each polyphonic piece on the heels of the last one in the recording.

Consider also the power of occasion, as experienced by some forum members in connection with the recent performance of Brian's Gothic.

So, yes, this particular performance may not reveal the expressive power of the music. But I wonder if it would if heard in the proper context. Just a thought.

[Alan Howe]

The work certainly needs an inspired performance to get the most out of it - and the one on Bayer is not it.