|
|
 |
|
 |
||
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Contents:
DDD Total Time = 59:47 - Recorded at Hillesden Church, Hillesden 1997 The music of the late-Romantic Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) has in the past ten years been gaining ever greater recognition. He is generally acknowledged to be one of the most significant song composers since Hugo Wolf; however, his chamber music has received little attention. Schoeck's complete works for violin and piano are now available on a single CD. The Violin Sonata in D major (Woo 22), written in 1905 and recorded here for the first time in its original version, was the earliest instrumental work that Schoeck still recognised in later years. The Albumblatt for violin and piano (Woo 70), written in August 1908 and never performed since, provides us with the first evidence of Schoeck's infatuation with the celebrated Hungarian violinist Stefi Geyer (1888-1956) who at this time was also the object of Béla Bartók's unfulfilled amorous intentions. Schoeck's love too remained unrequited, but seems to have been the catalyst for a rapid onset of compositional maturity, as is testified by the Violin Sonata op. 16 (1908-9). The Sonata op. 46, written over twenty years later, is stark and linear in style, the Romantic spirit of its forbears having given way to a tentative Neo-Classicism. This CD not only gives a fascinating overview of Schoeck's compositional development, but shows his mastery of melody and of form in a hitherto barely explored repertoire. Page revised 30.06.03 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
