Klughardt and Gernsheim from Sterling

[Alan Howe]

At last the long-promised coupling of Klughardt's Symphony/Symphonic Poem in 4 Parts Lenore and Gernsheim's Zu einem Drama has been announced by Sterling;
http://www.sterlingcd.com/catalogue/cds1096.html

[eschiss1]

Good news I think Thanks!

[Mark Thomas]

The Lenore is the same recording as I recently uploaded to the Downloads board and which I have now removed.

[EdwardHan]

Great news! It's interesting to know that Gernsheim had ever written a symphonic poem

[eschiss1]

I recall seeing mention of Zu einem Drama - possibly in the label notes of the Gernsheim/Rubinstein LP on Genesis, or somewhere else awhile before seeing the score on IMSLP.
It makes me consider the sheer number of his dramatic choral and vocal works with orchestra that are even more to a drama/narrative (sorry) but such a response reeks of ingratitude on my part. I look forward to hearing this new recording!

[Alan Howe]

This is a really splendid CD containing some fascinating music. The very New German-sounding Lenore Symphony/Symphonic Poem by Klughardt is full of tunes and interesting orchestration - very different from the classicism of, for example, the later 3rd Symphony and Violin Concerto (available on cpo). In this regard, it is almost as if Klughardt made the same sort of musical journey away from radicalism as did Herzogenberg in roughly the same period.
The late Gernsheim tone poem Zu einem Drama is a special piece too - and it is interesting in that Gernsheim, predominantly of the classical school, is here writing music suggestive of wider trends in the music of his time.
Both works are splendidly presented here by extremely competent German regional orchestras of which there are evidently so many. The only reservations I would have about this issue would be its mean playing-time (51 mins) and the apparent omission of any mention of tempo markings on the outside of the booklet and the back cover of the CD. However, ample compensation is provided by the two splendid essays featured in the booklet: one on Klughardt by the late Dr Alan Krueck, doyen of Raff and Draeseke scholarship and all things unsung, and the other on Gernsheim by one of our foremost musicologists, Malcolm MacDonald. The work of these men greatly enhances what is surely a must-buy...

[mbhaub]

Today I've been listening to this disk (while watching the Olympics from London). The music is interesting, esp the Gernsheim. The Klughardt pales next to Raff's masterpiece. It's not bad music - just not especially memorable or exciting. The Gernsheim is much more dramatic and involving. The performances are good, but the editing of the Klughardt is terrible. Could have used a discrete fade in/out for each movement. THe three tracks should have been four. The program booklet and the back of the case are lacking any movement titles. There's some really bad distortion or noise early on in the first movement. Interestingly, the cd is DDD but you wouldn't know it. These recordings are old, too. 2002 for the Klughardt. While I'm grateful to have this music available, I hope that CPO will do the Klughardt right. I didn't find Gernsheim very interesting based on the four symphonies, but this work is very good and makes me want to go back and re-evaluate the symphonies.

[Peter1953]

Martin has good points. What a difference between Raff's Lenore and the Klughardt. But then, I just don't like Klughardt's music (though I only have his VC and Symphonies 2 & 3). I cannot explain why. Is it because I don't find his melodies very memorable? That cannot be the reason because I have a lot of music that isn't really memorable but still delightful. I suppose it's just me.

Gernsheim's Zu einem Drama is what I had expected from this very fine composer. This symphonic poem makes the disc for me worth having, despite the total time of only 51 minutes and the usual heavy price of a Sterling CD.

[Mark Thomas]

Personally, I find Klughardt's take on Lenore a powerful work and an impressive achievement for a young composer. Of course, beside Raff's masterwork it is totally eclipsed and that's a real misfortune: one might imagine the youthful von Haussegger penning a Resurrection Symphony in the same year as Mahler's Second Symphony premiered! Put Raff's great Symphony out of one's mind, try to be objective about Klughardt's work and remember that he was ignorant of Raff's Lenore until after he'd finished his own composition. I believe that Klughardt's Lenore shows originality and some fine workmanship. He has used imagination in illustrating Bürger's ballad, it's just unfortunate that Raff came up with the same ideas and executed them with all the mastery that his genius and an extra 20 years compositional experience gave him.

[Alan Howe]

Klughardt's is the work of a young composer in thrall to a new musical aesthetic, whereas Raff's is a masterpiece by a fully mature composer who had forged his own idiom.

[Holger]

I also bought this disc because Klughardt is a composer of special interest for me since I played his cello concerto when still being a student at our local music school.

The main points regarding this piece have already been made: it's really the work of a young composer (aged 25 when he composed it), so it cannot be surprising that it still much relies on other composers' influences. Likewise, it's not surprising that this work is not as mature and convincing as Raff's symphony. Still, it's quite a good and interesting piece in my view. I think it's helpful just to regard it as a piece on its own, i.e. to ignore the Raff background.

What I find a little annoying about the disc itself is what Martin said, I mean the lack of fade-ins and fade-outs in case of the Klughardt, the lack of tempo markings and movement titles outside the liner notes and the fact that movements 2 and 3 aren't divided into two tracks. I don't understand this even more since this is work anybody (including myself) could easily have done.

A last word regarding Klughardt in general: I really enjoy his music, it's just likeable in my view. What somehow confuses me is Peter's statement about his melodies. Actually, if I think about his Symphony No. 3 for example (counted as No. 4 if we take Krueck's suggestion from the liner notes), I would say this is a work full of memorable melodies. Take the third movement, or the second theme of the finale! I really think these are very catchy tunes indeed.

[mbhaub]

I would like to add:

The booklet notes are indeed superb, although there's almost more about Raff than Klughardt. But they're readable, informative and entertaining.

My wind quintet has a repertoire of many 19th c quintets and one of our absolute favorites is the Klughardt. He knew how to write idriomatically for each instrument, the tunes and harmonies are gracious, and although there are some technically ferocious difficulties, it's worth the effort. The same cannot be said of many other more famous and  more often recorded quintets.

If CPO ever decides to record this, what they should do is couple the Klughhardt Lenore with the Raff....should fit.