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Rheinberger: Choral & Organ Music / Noro, Il Polifonico Men's Choir
Brilliant Classics

Rheinberger: Choral & Organ Music / Noro, Il Polifonico Men's Choir

$13.99

Details

Composer
Josef Rheinberger
Artist
Manuel Tomadin, Il Polifonico
Format
CD
Label
Brilliant Classics
Released
Apr 21, 2023
Catalog #
BRI96766
UPC
5028421967660

About

In his own lifetime (1839–1901), Joseph Rheinberger was more sought after as a professor of organ and composition than he was recognized as a great composer. His roll call of students at the conservatoire in Munich was long and impressive, including Humperdinck, Wolf-Ferrari and Furtwängler. However, Rheinberger produced a significant catalogue of sacred music in particular, concentrated on choir and organ. Sometimes unfavourably compared to Brahms, he is more usefully regarded as a south-German Fauré – for the gentle contours of his melodies and the softly rounded quality of his choral writing.

The principal work on this new album is the Mass for four-part men’s chorus which he composed in 1898, and which has become a staple of the male chorus repertoire around the world. By no means as staid or sober as its scoring might suggest, the Mass is a work of resonant beauty and sweetness, a concise and elegant demonstration of Rheinberger’s melodic gifts and his embodiment of Catholic values in the secular musical culture of late 19th-century Germany.

This newly recorded album makes an ideal introduction to the world of Rheinberger through its diversity. The Mass is complemented by a radiant partsong, Abendfriede, and a setting of the Ave Maria all the more affecting for its devotional simplicity, close in spirit to the early motets of Bruckner. Finally, Manuel Tomadin plays the grandest and best-known of the 20 organ sonatas composed by Rheinberger throughout his career. Cast in three movements, No. 19 opens with an imposing Allegro, while the intimate central Provenzalische finds Rheinberger at his most beguiling as he taps into the folkloristic culture of German Catholicism. Prefaced by a broad introduction, the chromatic counterpoint of the finale approaches Reger for hard-won transcendence, played here on the organ of the Church of Maria Ausiliatrice in the Slovenian town of Vipava.

Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901) was a German romantic composer of mainly works for the organ, his own instrument. He was one of the leading figures in the “Cecilian Movement” which, in a world of increasing secularization, propagated the return to religious values of the past, expressing itself in a renewed interest in Gothic architecture and polyphony. Rheinberger’s works are a happy blend of the Romantic spirit of his time and a healthy dose of polyphony and counterpoint, in this he was a worthy successor of Felix Mendelssohn. This new recording presents a selection of choral music and organ works, the two genres in which Rheinberger excelled and for which his fame is undisputed. Included are the Mass for Male Choir and Organ Op. 190, Ave Verum, the popular Abendfriede for organ and the mighty Organ Sonata No. 19 in G minor.

Music of great warmth and sensitivity, quintessentially romantic, played by organist Manuel Tomadin on the 1897 Goršic organ at the Church of Maria Ausiliatrice, Vipava, Slovenia, the specifications of which are included in the booklet. The male choir “Il polifonico” is conducted by Fabiana Noro.

Tracklist 12 tracks

  1. 1 Kyrie 05:13
    Track
    1
    Title
    Kyrie
    Duration
    05:13
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
    Ensemble
    Il Polifonico
    Conductor
    Fabiana Noro
  2. 2 Gloria 03:22
    Track
    2
    Title
    Gloria
    Duration
    03:22
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
    Ensemble
    Il Polifonico
    Conductor
    Fabiana Noro
  3. 3 Credo: Patrem 06:25
    Track
    3
    Title
    Credo: Patrem
    Duration
    06:25
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
    Ensemble
    Il Polifonico
    Conductor
    Fabiana Noro
  4. 4 Sanctus 01:44
    Track
    4
    Title
    Sanctus
    Duration
    01:44
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
    Ensemble
    Il Polifonico
    Conductor
    Fabiana Noro
  5. 5 Benedictus 02:11
    Track
    5
    Title
    Benedictus
    Duration
    02:11
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
    Ensemble
    Il Polifonico
    Conductor
    Fabiana Noro
  6. 6 Agnus Dei 03:53
    Track
    6
    Title
    Agnus Dei
    Duration
    03:53
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
    Ensemble
    Il Polifonico
    Conductor
    Fabiana Noro
  7. 7 12 Character Pieces, Op. 156: No. 10. Evening Peace in D Major 03:53
    Track
    7
    Title
    12 Character Pieces, Op. 156: No. 10. Evening Peace in D Major
    Duration
    03:53
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
  8. 8 Ave Maria, Op. 172 02:42
    Track
    8
    Title
    Ave Maria, Op. 172
    Duration
    02:42
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
    Ensemble
    Il Polifonico
    Conductor
    Fabiana Noro
  9. 9 I. Praeludium 11:05
    Track
    9
    Title
    I. Praeludium
    Duration
    11:05
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
  10. 10 II. Provencalisch 07:28
    Track
    10
    Title
    II. Provencalisch
    Duration
    07:28
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
  11. 11 III. Introduction 03:38
    Track
    11
    Title
    III. Introduction
    Duration
    03:38
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin
  12. 12 IV. Finale 06:43
    Track
    12
    Title
    IV. Finale
    Duration
    06:43
    Composer
    Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
    Performer
    Manuel Tomadin