Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

After the old Uebigau Organ, which was built after the devastating fire in the town in 1681 as part of the subsequent reconstruction of the church, had been extensively repaired in 1771, the Parish of Uebigau sent a letter to Conrad Geissler in 1891 with a request, " to undertake the construction of a new organ for the local church." The then already 66-year-old organ builder from Eilenburg had gained an excellent reputation from the organs he had previously built, by then 105 in number. In 1895 the new organ was tested and accepted. As Opus 114, it is a typical instrument of it's builder, with mechanical slide chest, solid, perfected construction, fully developed diapason pipes, a strong, vigorous and full-bodied plenum sound, and a basic number of characteristic romantic and warm sounds. 18 stops are spread over two manuels and pedal. The instrument has since been preserved without major interventions. The programme recorded here is based primarily on the Central German provenance of the organ and it's builder Conrad Geissler and the existing technical capabilities of the instrument. The selected composers form, as it were, a cross-section of central German culture of the mid-19th century.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy wrote his so-called “Reformation Symphony” in 1830, for the three hundred year anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, the profession of faith of the Lutheran churches and communities, that still applies today. He had already been carrying around his musings about arranging the Lutheran hymn “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” symphonically for some time. For this work, the composer created a symphonic model, which on the one hand emulated Beethoven, and on the other hand reached far into the future in terms of its conceptual disposition. The formal structure of the symphony stringently leads to the daring and monumental last movement – an extravagant choral arrangement of “A mighty fortress is our God.” Before this powerful finale, the first three movements seem as if they were preludes. With the version on this release, arranged by Torsten Sterzik, the work had a musical and textual extension bestowed upon it, which proceeds very sensitively, and hardly influences the musical structure. Only in the third movement does Sterzik insert two arioso solo parts, which are based on the psalm text “Herr Gott, du bist unsere Zuflucht”. Then he repeats the first part of the fourth movement – the theme of the hymn is first matched by the flute, and then taken up by the orchestra – and adds in the choir part Colla parte. Later in the fourth movement, the hymn is always heard, when the harmonic development of the original composition allows a connection with the melodic progression of the hymn “A mighty fortress is our God”. On the release at hand, this extended version in a vocal-symphonic way is recorded for the very first time. The recordings took place at Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the sheet music is published by Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden.

In the peace and quiet of contemplation, in the absence of all distraction, an 'explosion' of endless thoughts is set free that leads us to an 'inner implosion', to the core of our true selves. The inspiration for the Missa 'Contemmplatione' composition came from multipage 'stage directions' from Bernd Kuchenmeister's father. He gave them to him and requested that his son should write a mass for him. Astonished by this request, Bernd Kuchenmeister began working on a kyrie, but eventually gave up on the project entirely. After his father passed away, he started to go through his stage directions for a mass once more, thinking: 'I can't do it for you anymore because you're no longer in this world'. But he wanted to fulfil his obligation and sought constant dialogue with his father in his subsequent work. During the preparation of the mass that followed, he always had the feeling that he was connected to him in a special way. One of the central ideas of the Cistercian Order is that of contemplation, which can be traced back to the influential Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. It was therefore natural to record this mass in a Cistercian abbey: The album was recorded at the foot of the Ursula altar in the Marienstatt abbey where already Bernd Kuchenmeister's first album 'bach symphony' had been recorded.

Johann Sebastian Bach's works, known today as cello suites, intonate a polyphony that arises from the virtuosity of an instrumentalist - a complex play of intimation and execution, of foreground and background, reverberation and reverberation, hatching and large arches. And instructions for musicians whose redemption is not uncommon for them. The circumstances surrounding the creation of BWV 1007 - 1012 are hardly known, which means that there is an uncertain source at the beginning. It makes an authentic interpretation of the musical text impossible from the outset, and the right to be true to text cannot be maintained either: there is no autograph handwriting of the suites, which opens up a spectrum of new works, which above all harbors chances and suggests that the Suites have not necessarily been written for a specific instrument. The attraction for instrumentalists lies in balancing intention and interpretation. The renowned flutist Paul Meisen has pointed out the surprisingly natural playability of the cello suites by the flute. His former master class student Sabine Kittel, now solo flutist at the Saxon State Orchestra in Dresden, shows this potential here in a comprehensive way. The double album recorded in the Emmauskirche Dresden-Kaditz and the Jakobuskirche Freital-Pesterwitz is supplemented by the Partita in A minor BWV 1013.

If there's a place to be called "pictorial" in a special way, then we should think of Untermhaus, a small settlement below Osterstein Castle in Gera, Eastern Thuringia. Small in dimensions, houses and old workshops are clustered between the river Weisse Elster and the mountains. They look like forgotten contemporary witnesses because their reference point, the old castle above them, is ruined. The so-called Mohrenplatz is the starting point of the steep ascent to the castle, a kind of entrance for the castle and still today keeping the charm of ancient times. At this place, we find one of the oldest and most beautiful churches of today's Gera: St. Mary's, and the birthplace of Otto Dix, one of the 20th century's most famous painters, is neighboring, too. The church must have been a source of impression for Dix, who spent his childhood there in Untermhaus: strong walls, a high wooden arch, and it's most special thing, the multi-colored winged altar dating from medieval times. The Gera-based ensemble diX commissioned a cantata on this altar to be composed by Peter Helmut Lang from Thuringia. Each picture of the altar was described musically in one movement and also became the central topic of a special service during the ecclesiastical year.

Classical Music

Five pieces by five composers who are all personally associated with each other: Klaus Huber and Younghi Pagh-Paan are a couple, Ernst Helmuth Flammer studied with Klaus Huber and Paul-Heinz Dittrich, Jörg Herchet and he were colleagues for a while at the College of Music in Dresden. The cellist Matthias Lorenz knows Paul-Heinz Dittrich the longest, since 1991, when he was invited to a concert in East Berlin shortly after the German reunification. He met Klaus Huber in 1995, with Younghi Pagh-Paan he was first in contact in 1997 and his friendship with Jörg Herchet – and through him with Ernst Helmuth Flammer – first came about after moving to Dresden. Is the motivation behind the works selected for this program entirely personal? Of course. This (always!) plays a role. It also plays a role that, since he began playing them, he has become attached to the pieces over the course of time. Despite all the personal interconnections, the works are very different. Three of them were practically written at the same time, but they represent three very different approaches to composing. And yet there is one thing in common in all the differences. All five composers do not aspire to a revolution; their pieces are rooted in the European tradition, ranging from Dittrich’s “quasi-Sarabande,” Flammer’s extensive organ points or Huber’s need for sections with a more personal character. On the other hand, none of the five pieces remain stagnant. Instead, the composers expand upon the possibilities made available to them. Herchet‘s piece is based on the traditional “beautiful” cello sound but is increasingly interrupted by deviations until this can be equated with the normal sound. Pagh-Paan combines Korean tradition with European avant-garde, and Flammer embeds a tour de force of cello performance in his clear structure. On this album, Flammer’s piece has its world premiere recording.