At
the beginning of the 19th century, the intelligentsia and the bourgeoisie of
German-speaking countries were much occupied with their love of nature. Rising
economic activity and growing wealth allowed for the leisure time necessary to
enjoy their passion for the outdoors, for country walks and even for long
journeys on foot. "Die schöne Müllerin" (The Fair Maid of the Mill) Op.2, D.795, Franz Schubert's setting
of poems of Wilhelm Müller, celebrates the influence of nature on man's
emotions, but with added dimensions of a storyline. The first of Schubert's two seminal song cycles
(preceding the "Winterreise"), it is usually performed by a pianist and a solo
singer, the vocal part falling within the range of the tenor (or soprano)
voice. Transposed to a lower range, however, it can also be sung by other
voices, a precedent established by Schubert himself. Actually,
Müller's first large-scale poem cycle originated from a literary parlour game taking place
in 1816, where the poet joined friends at the home of a German privy councillor
to create a "Liederspiel" (a narrative play told in poetry and song),
the subject of which was the folk story of a false-hearted miller maiden moving
between various suitors. Müller eventually completed the cycle of poems,
combining the roles of gardener and miller into a single character and telling
the entire story from the miller's point of view. Schubert
came across the poems in late 1822. Wishing to create songs on a grand
emotional scope, the composer was drawn to this cycle; it occupied him much in
1823. Publishing "Die schöne Müllerin" D.795 in Vienna in
August 1824, Franz Schubert chose twenty of the poems, creating one of the first
song cycles in music history. Sadly, Müller, who had claimed that his poems
"lead but half a life, a paper existence of black-and-white, until music
breathes life into them ..." probably died unaware of the fact that
Schubert had put this poem cycle to music.
In Schubert's time, the singer would have been
joined by a fortepianist. In this 2-disc recording for the hänssler Classic
label (2023), the first disc presents Austrian tenor Daniel Johannsen
performing the song cycle with fortepianist Christoph Hammer (Germany). In the
second disc, we hear Johannsen singing "Die
schöne Müllerin" with the Alinde Quartett (2022) in a groundbreaking setting by renowned US-born
composer/conductor/tenor Tom Randle
With much focus on the music of Schubert, Johannsen
and Hammer have collaborated frequently, both in live performance and in
recordings. Their reading of "Die schöne Müllerin" addresses each and every aspect of the cycle as the
narrative thread unfolds - the miller's naivety, expressed with artfully-stylised
folksiness, outbursts of ecstatic exuberance of love, together with the deep tragedy of the events which unfold in
their full intensity. The two artists conjointly highlight the sheer beauty of
Schubert's melodic shaping, the composer's economic but striking use of
dissonances and the constant duality reflected in rapid changes between major
and minor. Nature, in all its splendour, emerges fresh and enticing as it
reflects the miller's emotional state throughout. Hammer's playing is buoyant
and articulate as he and Johannsen communicate hand-in-glove at each turn of phrase of the Müller
text, with the murmuring brook and the turning of the mill wheel the most
constant and symbolic backdrop elements to the diegesis. Playing on an original
fortepiano by Conrad Graf, Hammer displays its warmth of sound, the delicacy
and emotional and dramatic variety offered by this instrument and of his own
musical palette. Instead of bowing to restraint
(a quality so often attributed to the fortepiano), Hammer invites the
instrument's capacity for expressive freedom and considerable carrying power to
serve the music and words. With the direct action of the small hammers on the
strings and the natural decay in the mechanism, there is space between the
notes, rendering clarity of delivery. Johannsen, engaging his wonderfully
distinct diction and meticulously-defined phrasing, unveils the gestures and meaning of each song, his richness
and radiance of timbre, his fine vocal and interpretational skills giving expression
to the emotions and meaning (camouflaged and otherwise) present in each song.
The result of superb teamwork, Johannsen and Hammer's performance is precise in
detail and subtle, indeed, a convincing, gripping and moving interpretation.
And to the Tom Randle setting. Remaining faithful
to Schubert's text and concept, Randle underscores key words and creates fine
contrasts between intimate, jubilant and vehement moments. Translating the
fuller, more dramatic keyboard textures into the string quartet medium, Randle
adds extra melodic lines, "comments" and some doubling. There is much
delicacy and beauty both in the setting and in the Alinde Quartett's superbly
eloquent, attentive playing. Daniel Johannsen relates- and reacts to the string
players and to Randle's spectrum of references. The adaptation is profound and it is indeed very Schubert. I personally missed the fortepiano
textures when it came to certain associations, especially those of the
mechanical, pounding mill-wheels and the
burbling brook, keyboard
timbres so intrinsic and unique to the
work. Still, Randle's transcription is refined,
intelligent and aesthetically appealing. It asks to be listened to again and again.
Recorded in Grafrath (CD 1) and Ratingen (CD 2),
Germany, the sound quality is lush and convincing.
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| Tom Randle@tomrandle |
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| Christoph Hammer (kulturhaus.lu) |
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