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Contents:
DDD 69.29 Recorded at Liebfrauenmünster Ingolstadt, 1–3 October 2001 “This is not the funny Poulenc we know from his Concertos for Two Pianos, it is rather a Poulenc on his way to the monastery, if you want to put it this way, a Poulenc of the 15th century.” These are the words the composer used to describe the organ concerto he worked on for many years and -- after its completion in 1938 -- considered to be one of his most significant works: “Beside the religious works the Concerto pour orgue occupies an important place in my œuvre. Even though it is not a ‘Concerto da chiesa’ in the strictest sense of the word, I have restricted the orchestra to strings and three timpani in order to make a performance in the church possible. If someone is interested in the serious side of my work, he should get to know this piece and my religious compositions.” The work was written at a time when Poulenc was rediscovering the Catholic belief of his childhood days. Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, which he completed in 1932 preceding the Organ Concerto, was rather a divertissement, still without the emotional depth of the later work. Poulenc’s music has a complex, episode-like effect. It is reminiscent of the 18th century: the Romantic, Impressionism and the Modern permeate each other playing a game of charades. The emotional expression is often ambivalent; seriousness and exhilaration are side by side. The critic Claude Rostand commented on this: “Poulenc has two souls, one belongs to a monk, the other to a little rascal.” Poulenc himself admitted in his correspondence never before having had so many problems in finding the proper musical expression as with this concerto. It borders on irony that the best-known organ concerto of the 20th century is by a composer who can neither boast an academic education nor had he come in deeper contact with the great French organ tradition. But there was also the secular organ culture of the salons in Paris frequented by Poulenc. His organ concerto was a commission piece for a lady, who had effectively supported the artistic scene, La Princesse Edmond de Polignac. On December 16, 1938 the concerto was first performed in her salon in front of invited guests. Maurice Duruflé played the organ and Nadia Boulanger conducted. The first public performance followed in the Salle Gaveau in Paris on June 21st, 1939 played by the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris with Roger Desormière as conductor, the organ part was once again performed by Maurice Duruflé, who had also been responsible for the instructions on how to register the organ voice in the printed score. Poulenc treats the organ more as an obligatory orchestral instrument and less as a concertizing solo-partner. Predominantly, the organ takes on the function of the brass, which was left vacant in the score. The form of the concerto is reminiscent of an early Baroque prelude in the style of Dietrich Buxtehude: A one-movement structure is divided into seven sections. The allusion to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Fantasy in G minor BWV 542, which starts the solo section, forms the frame for this almost symmetrically structured work. In the emotional middle part this motif undergoes a sort of development. It is then contrasted with two quietly flowing sections as well as an Allegro giocoso, which combines a chromatically coloured orchestral theme with a scale-wise motif in the organ. The kyrie “orbis factor” quoted in the last section provides the work with an obvious religious reference. Robert M. Helmschrott born in Weilheim, North Bavaria in 1938 and finished his musical studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. Further studies included a stay with Tournemire’s student Pierre Froidebise in Liège, Belgium and with Goffredo Petrassi and Luigi Dallapiccola in Siena, Italy. Helmschrott was awarded a stipend from the Deutsche Akademie Villa Massimo in Rome (1967-69), a scholarship from the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (1975) and he was artist-in-residence at the MacDowell Colony Peterborough, N.H., USA (1993). He received a number of national and international prizes for his compositions. Helmschrott wrote liturgical, choral and chamber music, as well as orchestral works. The better part of his work was dedicated to organ music (more than 20 solo works for organ and 12 church sonatas for different instruments and organ). Helmschrott is a professor at the Hochschule für Musik and Theater in Munich and has been acting as its president since October 1st, 1990. In 1990 he was also awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany). It was in December 1993 during his stay as artist-in-residence at the MacDowell –Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, USA that Robert Maximilian Helmschrott wrote the Concerto for Organ, String Orchestra and Percussion entitled “Lamento”, commissioned by the department of culture in Ingolstadt. The premier took place in the Ingolstadt Liebfrauenmünster on June 5, 1994 performed by the Georgische Kammerorchester Ingolstadt under the direction of Liana Issakadze with Franz Hauk on the organ. The work is associated with the 12 church sonatas for various instruments and organ (the first church sonata for trombone and organ was composed in 1984 also as a commissioned piece by the department of culture in Ingolstadt). The 12 church sonatas form a self-contained cycle. It’s distinctive feature: Structured in two movements (slow – fast) and a series of eight tones as material for the composition. The “concerto” continues this idea. The symmetrical series containing eight tones (B. C sharp. D. E. / F. G. A flat. B flat.) is once again used as tonal material, which Helmschrott describes as “Modus H”. The two-movement structure is also maintained, although in an extended symphony form more like chamber music. The two corner movements are joined by an intermezzo. The tonal signets and symbols developed from the “Modus H” have a mournful and expressive character. They always try to take on the function of a message or the expression of a message, e.g. of joy and mourning. The “concept” displays the character of a Lamento in the demonstration of various stages of perception from moments of restrained resignation to exposed emotion. Among the French symphonic organ school Jean Langlais is considered one of the grands maîtres, like Guilmant, Widor, Vierne, Dupré or Litaize, who enjoy a worldwide reputation as composers, virtuosi, improvisers and teachers alike. Langlais followed in the footsteps of César Frank and Charles Tournemire taking on the post as organist at the basilica St. Clotilde in Paris. Felix Raugel ascertained: Clarity of style, tenderness of perception and pizzazz qualify Jean Langlais as one of the first French improvisers and composers of the present. His music imparts the impression of a composer whose personality freely expresses his ideas and is a master of the inner experience. He started working on the Third Organ Concerto on December 28, 1970 and completed it on April 9, Good Friday of the year 1971, in La Richardais in Brittany. The premier of the work was performed at the Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, USA) on October 22, 1976. Thomas Daniel Schlee commented: The title “Réaction” chosen by the composer can be explained through the formal design and its interpretation: All parts of the concerto except one feature a relatively free design except some ties of motif, a freedom which leads to the necessary contrast to the strict form, the central fugue that is. In its entirety the work wants to be understood as creative “reaction” to the countless, difficult to grasp forms in contemporary music. Such a regress to traditional formal patterns does not have to result in reactionary music, as Jean Langlais has proven with his Third Organ Concerto. The nucleus of the entire work can be found in the first four measures: A drastic contrast in dynamics on a stationary tone, the “Tritonussprung”[1], a general rest – then a figure of triplets, which is modified during the progression of the piece and reappears in long note values and in inversion. Further important structural features are the contrast of tonal surface and monophonic melody as well as the tendency for intensified condensation. [1] In major, the major triad on the raised fourth degree; in minor, the minor triad on the flattened fifth degree; e.g. C E G – F sharp A sharp C sharp; A C E – E flat G flat B flat. Page revised 30.06.03 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
