Schoenberg: Expressionist Music (Choral & Song Choice – July 2024)
Claire Booth and Christopher Glynn present songs by the composer in a vivid new light, says Erik Levi in his review of Schoenberg: Expressionist Music…
Schoenberg
Expressionist Music – Erwartung, Op. 2 No. 1; Mädchenlied, Op. 6 No. 3 etc
Claire Booth (soprano), Christopher Glynn (piano)
Orchid Classics ORC100306 60:50 mins
The neglect of Schoenberg’s substantial output of lieder, in the recital room and on recordings, remains something of a mystery. Perhaps the composer’s reputation as an uncompromising modernist has much to do with it.
Although openly acknowledging Schoenberg’s problematic reputation, Claire Booth and Christopher Glynn have come up with an ingenious way of presenting his music in the most accessible and vivid manner.
Their solution is to create a kind of songbook focused around eight central themes that are directly related to some of the composer’s paintings. To make the link seem more tangible, illustrations of the relevant works are reproduced in the booklet.
‘Booth and Glynn maximise the variety of Schoenberg’s musical expression’
Adopting this approach enables Booth and Glynn to maximise the variety of musical expression explored in each of the themes with performances that respond vividly to all the twists and turns in Schoenberg’s complex and ever-changing musical armoury.
Thus, post-Wagnerian songs from the earlier part of Schoenberg’s career rub shoulders with settings which operate on the borderlines of conventional tonality and those, such as the Brettl-Lieder and Folksong arrangements, that are simpler or more ironic in character.
Such startling juxtapositions make a far more powerful impression than adopting a conventional chronological survey. They also serve to highlight some particularly powerful works such as the Nietzsche setting ‘Der Wanderer’, or Heinrich Ammann’s ‘Jane Grey’.
In addition, Glynn provides further contrast with two of the Six Pieces for Piano, the last of which is a moving conclusion to the album. Erik Levi
Clip: Erwartung Op. 2