Reviews
GMCD 7294 Elfenreigen
MusicWeb Monday November 21 05
This
looked like being a specialist disc, but Hilse, Pierné and perhaps Hess,
Tournier and Spohr (in that order) should make it worthwhile to a wider public.
...
Christopher
Howell
Elfenreigen
Robert Nicolas Charles BOCHSA (1789-1856)
Nocturne Concertant in G minor op.71/3 [10:26]
Marcel TOURNIER (1879-1951)
Deux Préludes Romantiques op.17 [03:37]
Willy HESS (1906-1997)
Elfenreigen op.79 [04:14]
Johann Baptist KRUMPHOLTZ (1747-1790)
Sonata in F op.8/5 [13:35]
Gabriel PIERNÉ (1863-1937)
Impromptu-Caprice in A flat op.9 for solo harp [05:25]
Louis SPOHR (1784-1859)
Sonata in C minor WoO 23 [16:03]
Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH (1714-1788)
Hamburg Sonata in G Wq.133 [09:47]
Bruno HILSE (19th/20th
century)
Suite op.6 [15:11]
 Henner
Eppel (flute), Christian Topp (harp)
Recorded at the House of Audio Studios, D-76689 Karlsdorf, Germany, October 2003
GUILD
GMCD 7294 [79:23]
Henner Eppel provides
the excellent notes for this disc and sensibly discusses the works in
chronological order. Was it his own idea to put them on the disc
higgledy-piggledy as listed above or did he have a surprise when he saw the
finished product? As a matter of fact, the chronological leaps back and forward
divide the disc up into three or four mini-programmes and, the combination of
flute and harp not being a very varied one, I took the hint and gratefully
enjoyed three mini-sessions in alternation with other discs. I recommend that
others do likewise.
The lack of variety is
no fault of the artists who play well and tastefully in music which hardly gives
scope for more. The “Elfenreigen” is a very pleasing little piece, delicately
evocative. As it is the first of 3 Tonstücke I wonder if the other two
might not have gone on the disc in preference to the longwinded and repetitive
Bochsa Nocturne. Since this latter is the weakest item on the CD (admittedly the
theme itself is ear-catching), it is rather a pity it is placed first. Sweetly
pleasant, too, are the two Tournier pieces while the more classical sonatas are
not without charm and the Spohr is actually quite strong. Until the end I was
compelled to reflect that, alas for the flautist, the beautiful Pierné
Impromptu-Caprice for solo harp was the most memorable item, but the Hilse
proved a real find, music with strength, imagination and personality, an
essential piece for this rare combination: of the works included here only the
Bochsa, Hess and Hilse were originally for flute and harp; the Tournier,
Krumpholtz and Spohr were for violin and harp and the C.P.E. Bach was for flute
and thorough bass, so the harp was only one of the several acceptable
accompaniments. But they all work perfectly well as presented here. The notes
tell us a little quaintly that “despite modern research it has not been possible
to obtain very much useful information about B Hilse and his life or about any
other potential compositions by him”. I’ve been wondering ever since what a
“potential composition” might (potentially) sound like; if anybody could find
some other actual ones (the composer of an op.6 would logically have written at
least five) I should be (potentially) very interested to hear them.
In one sense, the
chronological peculiarity of this sequence is less disturbing than it would be
with any other combination. Since the harp, unlike the piano, has no dampers,
its music tends to be accompanied by an impressionist haze no matter what period
it belongs to. Conversely, also unlike the piano, it has no sustaining pedal and
its undamped strings sustain much less long than the piano, so it tends to
reduce the impressionist haze surrounding music which might be expected to have
one. In other words, it tends to make all music sound rather similar. Or so I
was thinking until Hilse came along and showed that music for flute and harp can
have a distinct profile.
The notes, as I said,
are by Eppel himself, and they have been given a very fluent and idiomatic
translation by C. Topp and B. Meech, with the one proviso that the pair appear
not to familiar with musical terminology. The phrase “general bass
accompaniment” will be intelligible only to those English readers who know that
the thorough bass or basso continuo is called Generalbass in German.
Likewise “sonatas for flute and obligatory harpsichord” sound an unlikely prison
recreation until we realize that it must mean “flute and harpsichord obbligato”.
This looked like being a
specialist disc, but Hilse, Pierné and perhaps Hess, Tournier and Spohr (in that
order) should make it worthwhile to a wider public. But don’t hear it all in one
go if you’re not a specialist.
Christopher
Howell
-
Robert Nicolas Charles
Bochsa:
Nocturne Concertant in G minor Op. 71 #3
-
Marcel Tournier:
Deux Préludes Romantiques Op. 17
-
Willy Hess:
Elfenreigen Op. 79
-
Johann Baptist
Krumpholtz:
Sonata in F Major Op. 8 #5
-
Gabriel Pierné:
Impromptu-Caprice in A Flat Major Op. 9 for harp
-
Louis Spohr:
Sonata in C minor WoO 23
-
Carl Philipp Emanuel
Bach:
Hamburg Sonata in G Major, Wq. 133
-
Bruno Hilse:
Suite Op. 6
Henner Eppel, flute
Christian Topp, harp
Guild GMCD7294 79m DDD
Contrary to what many
may think the unique sounds of the flute and harp are not a discovery of the
French impressionists towards the end of the 19th
century. The Ancient Egyptians used them for feasts and religious celebrations
and from the many paintings of the Middle Ages, there is ample proof of a
centuries-old popularity and existence.
Still, the 19th
century is of paramount importance in the technical development of the two
instruments, as it was from 1810 onwards that vital breakthroughs were made in
both their construction and playing possibilities.
By the 1880's a level of
almost technical perfection was reached. The collection on this disc covers a
considerable array of composers and spans from the end of the 18th
century to the closing of the 20th.
The album gets its name from one of the pieces included; Willy Hess's 'Elfenreigen',
Op. 79 which, in a free translation, means 'Fairy round dance' and what a sheer
delight it is. This is angelic music of incomparable beauty by some well known
and other less famous names.
I
was particularly taken in by Krumpholz's Sonata Op. 8 #5 and Tournier's 'Two
Romantic Preludes;', Op. 17, but the remaining six pieces also manage to conjure
up an aura of almost visionary joy. Henner Eppel and Christian Topp play with
their feet on the ground, but their hearts are on a higher plain. Inspiring
interpretations filled with rarely-encountered sensitive nobility. The concise
but informative notes by Eppel are an added bonus to an album superbly
engineered and enchantingly realized. Gerald Fenech
Music Web Tuesday September 27 05
There’s little here that is intellectually taxing but a lot that is dextrous and
ear titillating. ... Jonathan Woolf
Elfenreigen – fairy round dance
Robert Nicolas Charles BOCHSA (1789-1856)
Nocturne Concertant in G minor Op.71/3 (c.1818) [10.26]
Marcel TOURNIER (1879-1951)
Deux Preludes Romantiques Op.17 (1909) [3.37]
Willy HESS (1906-1997)
Elfenreigen Op.79 (1972-73) [4.14]
Johann Baptist KRUMPHOLTZ (1747-1790)
Sonata in F major Op.8 No.5 (c.1780) [13.35]
Gabriel PIERNÉ (1863-1937)
Impromptu-Caprice in A flat major Op.9 for harp (1887) [5.25]
Louis SPOHR (1784-1859)
Sonata in C minor WoO23 [16.03]
Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH (1714-1788)
Hamburg Sonata in G major Wq No.133 [9.47]
Bruno HILSE (19th/20th
century)
Suite Op.6 [15.11]
Henner
Eppel (flute)
Christian Topp (harp)
Recorded House of Audio Studios, Karlsdorf, October 2003
GUILD
GMCD 7294
[79.23]
The
violinist Marie Hall was, so it’s said, discovered playing in the street with
her harpist father. It’s not too far away from the flute and harp combination,
though its incarnation in this disc is altogether more elegant and gratifying
than a street corner. Eppel and Topp have constructed a pleasing programme that
moves with a certain effortless élan from C.P.E. Bach to the recently deceased
Willy Hess (obviously not the Willy Hess, violinist, that Marie Hall would have
known). There’s little here that is intellectually taxing but a lot that is
dextrous and ear titillating.
Bochsa’s
contribution for instance is in effect a mini operatic scena with its rippling
harp arpeggios, a slow introduction and a faster recitative section. It makes a
suitably bold opener and is followed by Tournier’s 1909 pieces originally
written for – yes – violin and harp. The transposition works well and the music
is suffused with late Romanticism and generous lyricism. Into this milieu Hess’
1972 Elfenreigen, the work that gives the disc its title, fits very
nicely. Hess, though he died in 1997 at the age of ninety-one, was perfectly
happy writing tuneful, unpretentious music. Which is fine by me – this piece
reminded me a tiny bit of the music for the television series The Secret
Garden (Ronald Binge’s The Watermill) and that’s also fine by me.
Back to
1780 for the Bohemian suicide Krumpholtz whose sonata is rather generic, though
not unpleasant, until some perky and melodically captivating writing in the
finale. Believing in spanning the centuries and criss-crossing them with abandon
we get Pierné’s gorgeous Impromptu-Caprice for solo harp. If you disregard the
rather academic title, and it would be better to do so, you’ll hear delicious
curlicues, arpeggios – and a bag full of lyrical writing. Only a Frenchman,
writing for solo harp, could pack so many changeable moods into so short a space
of time. Next to it Spohr sounds rather dutiful, though this was a work he wrote
for himself (violin) to play with his wife (harp). It’s very classical but
sports a lovely air in the second andante of the second movement. The C.P.E.
Bach sonata is melodically attractive and the Hilse Suite is unusual. A sliver
of an introduction opens out nicely; this is an appealing work, dating possibly
from the earlier part of the twentieth century – not much is known about it or
the composer – though one can assume that he didn’t get to too many orgies if
his sedate Bacchanale is anything to go by. An appealing work however and a
pleasurable rediscovery.
The
recorded sound in the House of Studios in Karlsdorf is just – the balance
between the instruments is a good one, the acoustic is certainly neither cold
nor distant. Eppel contributes the entertaining notes.
Jonathan Woolf
24.11.05
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