American Record Guide – July/August
2003
Te Deum
Bach, Engel, Kreek,
Nystedt
Franz Hauk, org; Art of Brass Vienna, Estonian Phiharmonic Chamber Choir/ Paul
Engel
Guild 7245 - 70 minutes
Here we are served up a rich repast of highly varied,
predominantly Estonian music for Organ, brasses, percussion, and choir - but not
all at once; in fact, all four elements are heard together only in the
concluding Engel piece. Most of it is sacred, or at least intended to be
performed in a church - in this case, lnnsbruck's St Jakob Cathedral.
The opening selection is by Paul
Engel (b 1949): Venetian Deja-vu for nine brasses, after Giovanni
Gabrieli. Written in 2001, it is very freely based on a motet and an eight-part
sonata for double instrumental choirs by the younger Gabrieli. The musical
language is intermittently bitonal and sounds distinctly contemporary, but it
works well as intended. This is a very busy, skilfully constructed, and
demanding work. Fleeting thematic and harmonic echoes of the old master are
there, but sometimes you have to listen very carefully to hear them. I'm not
sure I've caught them all, even after four hearings. But the overall sonic
effect is very much like that of Gabrieli's vivid multi-choir brass
extravaganzas: very impressive, even thrilling! The amazing virtuosity of
Vienna's Art of Brass Ensemble is immediately apparent.
A stark sonic contrast then emerges
in the form of three settings by the Estonian Cyrillus Kreek (1889-1950) from
his Psalms of David for Choir (choral freaks: another exciting
discovery!). His reverential and ecstatic a cappella settings take their
thunderstruck listeners an ethnic and structural step or two beyond Russian
Orthodox chant, but the wondrous mystical intensity of that form remains
unscathed. The imposing Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir - one of the best of
the full-throated Slavic-tradition groups - sounds like a band of gutsy,
enraptured angels in the cathedral's reverberant acoustic. Really beautiful
stuff!.
Franz Hauk (who doubles as the
author of the fine program notes) then offers an interlude of gripping organ
playing, on a spectacular new (1999-2000) cathedral instrument from Johann
Pirchner. lt's all-Bach: the mighty Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue followed by the
gentle S 641 Chorale Prelude, 'When we are in dire distress'. Hauk makes child's
play of the challenging toccata, including the imposing 12-bar pedal solo-one of
the toughest ever. I would've loved to watch his flashing feet as he went at it!
Recording quality is magnificent.
Contrasts continue with a single
arresting a cappella choral piece by the Norwegian Knut Nystedt, 'lmmortal
Bach', after 'Come Sweet Death'. After presenting the aching chorale just as
Bach left it, Nystedt proceeds to transform each separate line by building
highly dissonant tone clusters, one note at a time, on top of Bach's foundation
notes. This causes creeping accumulations of fearful tension that bury the great
master's voice in seething, painful musical chaos. But in each episode, just as
the listener begins to wonder if he can take any more, Nystedt slowly plucks
individual notes back out of the grim tonal fabric, blessedly resolving all into
peace and serenity once more. This is an utterly ingenious and fascinating piece
that certainly adds a disturbing new dimension to the original chorale.
The program ends with the title
work, Engel's complex and hard-hitting Te Deum. Whiffs of old Slavic
church modes waft through the busy musical fabric like incense; but otherwise,
the grim old patriarchs of yesteryear would be appalled. I wasn't it seems to me
a truly original and meticulously crafted work. It positively reeks of pomp and
glory, intermittently leavened by abject entreaty and hushed mystery.
Instruments include percussion (drums, bells, xylophone), nine mixed brasses,
and organ - all employed with great imagination.
The choir's sonorities seem a bit recessed compared to their
spacious sound in the Kreek pieces; but then, sonic room had to be made for an
awful lot of instrumental decibels as well. lf there's any label that knows how
to record music in churches, it's Guild - and they strike mostly happy dynamic
balances here. Choir and instrumentalists alike are everywhere superb.
This collection might just as well
have been included in the composer section, as the music of Engel occupies the
lion's share of the space. Despite the excellence of the other selections, it
seems primarily intended to show off his compositions - and with good reason.
Engel, whose works are just now beginning to be recorded, is a composer to be
reckoned with - as if Estonia doesn't have enough fine ones already!
Fans of organ, brass ensembles, and
choral music will all find something to gush about here. Every selection is a
revelation. I'd buy it for the Kreek pieces alone. Notes, texts and
translations.
KOOB
Musicweb Saturday April 05 2003
Te Deum: Music for Choir, Brass and
Organ
Paul ENGEL (b.1949)
Venezianisches Déjà-vu fur neun Blechblaser for Brass (2001)
Te Deum for Choir, Organ, Brass and percussion (1988)
Cyrillus KREEK (1889-1962)
Three Psalms for unaccompanied choir (1929)
J.S. BACH (1685-1750)
Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major BWV 564
Chorale prelude BWV 641 on ‘Wenn wir in hochstein noten sein’;
Knut NYSTEDT (b.1949)
Immortal Bach nach ‘Komm Susser Tod’.(1988)
Franz Hauk (organ)
 Estonian
Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Ensemble Art of Brass Vienna
Mikka Uleoja; Paul Engel (conductors)
Recorded the church of St.Jakob Innsbruck, Austria October/November 2001
GUILD
GMCD 7245 [69.52]
I wouldn’t
normally recommend hearing a CD with nine works on it from beginning to end in
one sitting. Indeed I did not at first do so myself. However this is one of
those rare CDs when hearing the whole disc at a single session is a highly
desirable thing to do despite its seventy-minute duration.
Now and
again a disc comes into a reviewer’s hands, which at first may not seem to be
too promising but which proves to be exciting and fascinating. For me this has
proved to be just such a disc. It is beautifully planned, expertly recorded,
staggering well performed and in short a revelation. Guild is producing discs
with a considerably original profile. This is typical of the Guild stable,
including as it does two important composers, Engel and Kreek, little known
outside their own countries.
The
programme is shaped at the beginning and end by two major works by the Austrian
composer Paul Engel. So the plan is: a work for Brass of sixteen-minute duration
by Engel followed by three short psalm settings by Kreek for unaccompanied
chorus. Then comes a major Bach organ work and then a chorale prelude. There
follows a choral work dedicated to Bach by Nystedt and then the culmination of
the entire disc the 25 minute Te Deum for chorus, organ, brass and
percussion by Engel.
Let me put
some flesh on the skeleton.
Engel’s
work for brass is nicely entitled a ‘déjà-vu’ being based upon the Sonata XIII
by Giovanni Gabrieli for eight instrumental groups and also on the motet
‘Jubilate Deo’ I listened to both of these pieces before preparing this review
and I must say that the connections are not obvious. However there are certain
turns of melody and rhythm, which are reminiscent of both works. Anyway Engel’s
work is full of interest and life even if slightly anonymous.
Cyrillus
Kreek was an Estonian composer. If these psalm settings are anything to go by
then Kreek should be better known. He is an ascetic composer, who wastes not a
single note. These settings are beautiful, simple and austere, inspired by the
spiritual folksongs. The collecting and cataloguing of folksong was a lifelong
mission for Kreek. The Estonian Philharmonic Choir is perfect for this music,
well balanced with a touch of that typical Northern European vibrato and with
strong dynamics.
The organ
at St. Jakob’s Church, Innsbruck was reconstructed by Johann Pirchner in 1999;
its specification is given. The pedal board is particularly impressive with an
unusual 2¾ foot Mixtur VI. In my view it is not really a Bach organ but its
picture on the CD booklet gives the impression of it being a baroque-inspired
instrument. In any case it’s a small point and the two pieces work well in a
very agreeable performance by Franz Hauk, who also contributes the booklet
notes.
Knut
Nystedt is Norwegian. He has been an invigorating renewer in the field of church
music in Norway. He has an individual sound with his use of cluster chords and
speech techniques in the 1960s. Clusters are used in this work as it grows in
intensity. More recently neo-romantic elements have crept in and these are to be
found in this ‘Homage to Bach’ using a chorale melody ‘Komm Susser Tod’.
Then comes
Engel’s Te Deum where all of the above musicians come together. This is a
real masterwork. It divides the text into four sections played without break. I
am impressed by its form, shape, overwhelming harmonic sense and growth,
rhythmic excitement and overall power. It leaves one spiritually uplifted. It is
performed as well as any composer might expect and quite obviously much enjoyed.
It is not too ‘modern’ and although tough it is not forbidding.
The
booklet notes are useful if rather quaintly and anonymously translated. I
particularly enjoyed a description of the end of the Te Deum, which describes
the music as ‘lingering bells fuse with wind and organ accords, which form a
background for a large soprano solo’. I make no further comment concerning fat
ladies.
Gary Higginson
The Organ 323 March 2003
Te Deum: Music by Paul Engel,
Cyrillus Kreek, Johann Sebastian Bach and Knut Nystedt
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
- Ensemble Art of Brass, Vienna - Franz Hauk, Organ - Paul Engel, Director
GUILD GMCD 7245 – 69’ 50"
As much as a mixed bag of intrigue
this disc, on the surface, seems to be, the programme proves more structured
than a first glance suggests. Brass, Choir and Organ shine separately in
three-quarters of the disc, with Paul Engel's Te Deum uniting the whole
for the grand finale.
Engel's music opens the recording
with Venetian Déjà-vu for Brass. lt opens rather like the Open
University’s title sequence from the seventies and eighties, but quickly
ferments its ideas, settling into a long, winding exploration of timbres within
modern notions of consonance, dipped, occasionally, into a sauce of discord,
which combine with rhythmic thrusts of the fanfare variety, all sparked by the
Brass writing of Giovanni Gabrieli. This leads to Cyrillus Kreek (1889-1962)’s
Psalms of David for Choir (no.s 104,141,1-3) sensitively sung by the
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; plenty of Basso Profundo pedal, not
overly worked but adding an Eastern European character to these beautiful works.
Franz Hauk, playing the Organ of
Dom St Jakob, Innsbruck, built in the style of Johann Pirchner by Steinach
between 1999 and 2000, gives a commanding performance of J. S. Bach's
Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C minor, BWV 564, on this powerful instrument,
the two outer movements etched with a lively, crisp execution, the Adagio
elongating the harmonic sequences with languor. He continues with Bach's
Chorale BWV 641 - Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein, before the Choir
intone Knut Nystedt (b.1915)’s deeply moving lmmortal Bach nach "Komm Süsser
Tod" with its disturbing sustained harmonic dissonances that linger longer
than comfortable resolutions normally allow - simply awesome.
Paul Engel's Te Deum is a
Trinity created from the three former elements, Brass and percussion, Choir and
Organ. Nothing awkward in this setting, the music, modern in context, dating
from 1988, but equally drawn upon residual notions of earlier 20th century
Eastern European composers. The Organ part never dominates but is a potent part
of the mix that makes the work attractive to a contemporary audience looking for
new expressions of the text. DA
Page revised 06.08.03
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