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Rosner: Requiem, Op. 59 / Palmer, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Toccata

Rosner: Requiem, Op. 59 / Palmer, London Philharmonic Orchestra

$20.99

Details

Composer
ROSNER, ARNOLD
Artist
Palmer
Format
CD
Label
Toccata
Released
Sep 04, 2020
Catalog #
TOCC0545
UPC
5060113445452

About

Far from being a treatment of the usual Latin, the Requiem of the New York-based Arnold Rosner (1945–2013) sets spiritual and secular texts on death from a number of the world’s cultures, including Whitman, Villon, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, a sutra from Zen Buddhism and the Jewish Kaddish. The work of a young man (Rosner was 28 when he wrote it), this Requiem is both monumental and wildly energetic – but it also encompasses passages of transcendent beauty. His musical language clothes the modal harmony and rhythm of pre-Baroque polyphony in rich Romantic colors, producing a style that is instantly recognizable and immediately appealing. Some of the music was first written for an aborted operatic treatment of Ingmar Bergman’s film The Seventh Seal, where the main character plays chess with Death; in like spirit, Rosner’s Requiem is a major statement of human defiance in the face of mortality, even if its gentle closing pages bring uneasy acceptance.

REVIEW:

Arnold Rosner’s Requiem (1973), no exaggeration intended, is one of the great works of the 20th Century. Rosner (1945-2013) was a postmodernist at a time when modernism was unshakable in academic circles. He studied at SUNY/Buffalo—a notorious hotbed: the faculty laughed at him. They were wrong. They couldn’t deal with his love of Renaissance and early music (Dufay especially), his tonality and post-tonal language. Written when he was 28, the maturity and vision is striking. Inspiration for this work was triggered by his fascination with Ingmar Bergman’s Seventh Seal. He wanted to adapt it for an opera, but Bergman refused permission. He began to write it anyway, and some of it appears in the Requiem. His sources include the New Testament, François Villon, the Kama Sutra, Whitman (When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed), Dante, the Kaddish, and the Dies Irae. All are set with sensitivity and profound musicality. The London Philharmonic is great, but Ms Hollis’s soprano is wobbly. Helpful notes by Rosner scholar Walter Simmons. Texts and translations. Don’t miss this.

-- American Record Guide (Allen Gimbel)

Tracklist 10 tracks

  1. 1 I. Overture: The Seventh Seal 11:17
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Overture: The Seventh Seal
    Duration
    11:17
    Composer
    Arnold Rosner
    Performer
    Thomas Elwin, Feargal Mostyn-Williams, Gareth Brynmor John
    Ensemble
    Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Nick Palmer
  2. 2 II. Recitative: Ein Wort, ein Satz 03:28
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Recitative: Ein Wort, ein Satz
    Duration
    03:28
    Composer
    Arnold Rosner
    Performer
    Thomas Elwin
    Ensemble
    London Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Nick Palmer
  3. 3 III. Toccata: Musica satanica 05:08
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Toccata: Musica satanica
    Duration
    05:08
    Composer
    Arnold Rosner
    Ensemble
    London Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Nick Palmer
  4. 4 IV. Ballade: Les neiges d'antan 06:15
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Ballade: Les neiges d'antan
    Duration
    06:15
    Composer
    Arnold Rosner
    Performer
    Kelley Hollis
    Ensemble
    London Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Nick Palmer
  5. 5 V. Sutra: Enmei jukku kannon gyo 09:48
    Track
    5
    Title
    V. Sutra: Enmei jukku kannon gyo
    Duration
    09:48
    Composer
    Arnold Rosner
    Performer
    Gareth Brynmor John
    Ensemble
    Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Nick Palmer
  6. 6 VI. Madrigal: To All, to Each 06:28
    Track
    6
    Title
    VI. Madrigal: To All, to Each
    Duration
    06:28
    Composer
    Arnold Rosner
    Ensemble
    Crouch End Festival Chorus
    Conductor
    David Temple
  7. 7 VII. Organum: Lasciate ogni speranze 05:56
    Track
    7
    Title
    VII. Organum: Lasciate ogni speranze
    Duration
    05:56
    Composer
    Arnold Rosner
    Performer
    Thomas Elwin, Feargal Mostyn-Williams, Gareth Brynmor John
    Ensemble
    London Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Nick Palmer
  8. 8 VIII. Prayer: Kaddish 06:43
    Track
    8
    Title
    VIII. Prayer: Kaddish
    Duration
    06:43
    Composer
    Arnold Rosner
    Performer
    Kelley Hollis
    Ensemble
    London Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Nick Palmer
  9. 9 IX. Passacaglia: Libera me 08:50
    Track
    9
    Title
    IX. Passacaglia: Libera me
    Duration
    08:50
    Composer
    Arnold Rosner
    Ensemble
    Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Nick Palmer
  10. 10 X. Und wieder Dunkel, ungeheuer 05:27
    Track
    10
    Title
    X. Und wieder Dunkel, ungeheuer
    Duration
    05:27
    Composer
    Arnold Rosner
    Ensemble
    London Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Nick Palmer