Dedicated to Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) on the centenary of his death and to Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951) on the 150th anniversary of his birth
FERRUCCIO BUSONI
2 Hebräische Melodien op. 15
FRANZ SCHREKER
5 Lieder op. 4
ALBAN BERG
4 Lieder op. 2
ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY
Walzer-Gesänge op. 6
ARNOLD SHÖNBERG
Four Lieder op. 2
FERRUCCIO BUSONI
Lied des Brander KV 299
Lied des Mephistopheles KV 278a
Soprano
Sofia Pezzi
Tenore
Matteo Michi
Baritones
Matteo Armanino
Tiziano Tassi
Piano
Claudio Marino Moretti
In collaboration with the Centro Studi Musicali Ferruccio Busoni di Empoli
The centenary of the death of Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) is being celebrated this year. Although during his lifetime Busoni was acclaimed above all as a pianist, an activity for which he enjoyed almost unparalleled esteem throughout Europe, since the second half of the last century his compositions have also been revalued, becoming fully part of the Italian repertoire of the late 19th and early 20th century. To the piano, his favourite instrument, Busoni dedicated the majority of his compositions (his catalogue also includes several symphonic works and two works of musical theatre), his works of vocal chamber music are not numerous, but the composer devoted himself to them throughout his life. The 2 Hebräische Melodien date from his youth, and were both composed in Vienna in 1883. For the occasion, Busoni himself translated into German the two texts by George Byron that he then set to music (Ich sah die Thräne – I saw a tear, and An Babylons Wassern – On the waters of Babylon). The romantic inspiration is evident in the young Busoni’s writing, to which is added the exotic spirit given by the use of scales and motifs taken from traditional Jewish music. The Lied des Brander and the Lied des Mephistopheles, both from 1918, on the other hand, belong to the composer’s maturity and are both based on texts from Goethe’s Faust. Here, Busoni’s research becomes more multifaceted in terms of vocal expressiveness, also due to his recent experience with the composition of the operas Harlequin and Turandot, and conveys the lively and ironic spirit of the two Goethean texts.
The works of Franz Schreker (1878-1934) were also little considered for a long time, in the case of the Austrian composer the reason being the Nazi regime’s heavy anti-Semitic censorship. In recent times, however, much of his catalogue – in particular operatic titles such as Der ferne Klang and Die Gezheichneten – has been rediscovered, bringing to light the composer’s valuable sensibility, linked to the post-Romantic and Impressionist developments of the late 19th century but also open to the search for new harmonic solutions. During his active years, Schreker composed around fifty Lieder, which bear witness to his stylistic evolution step by step. The five Lieder Op. 4 for soprano and piano were composed around 1899 on texts by Leo Tolstoy, Karl von Lemayer, Theodor Storm, Julius Sturm and Ernst Scherenberg centred on the theme of love. The writing draws mainly on the late Romantic tradition, but also incorporates various references, including Saint-Saëns and Liszt.
The four Lieder op. 2 by Alban Berg date back to 1910. The composer had recently finished his studies and started teaching. At that time, his research was deeply marked by the need to find alternative patterns to the tonal system, partly due to the influence of Arnold Schönberg. The Lieder op. 2 (Schlafen, schlafen on a text by Friedrich Hebbel, Schlafend trägt man mich, Nun ich der Riesen Stärksten and Warm die Lüfte on texts by Alfred Mombert) are clear evidence of the tension that characterised the transition from earlier models to the affirmation of his own style and the birth of the Second Viennese School. The intertwining of the vocal and piano lines, with frequent use of unusual chromaticism and intervals, already tends towards the principle of ‘emancipation of dissonance’ that would characterise the compositions of the years to come.
Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942) was best known during his lifetime as a conductor. In this capacity he was a stalwart defender of the avant-garde music of Schönberg, Berg and Webern, whom he conducted on several occasions. Nevertheless, in his writing Zemlinsky associated himself above all with Mahler, his main stylistic inspiration. The composer constantly frequented vocal chamber music, producing several collections of songs until his last years. The Walzer-Gesänge op. 6 for soprano and piano, on texts by the historian and poet Ferdinand Gregorovius, is a work from 1898 that the composer would complete and publish the following year. The amorous and melancholic suggestions of the texts are combined with a refined and expressive musical writing, dense and in turn tinged with a subtle nostalgia.
Arnold Schönberg (whose 150th birthday we celebrate this year) composed his four Lieder op. 2 between 1899 and 1900. The collection belongs to the composer’s first artistic period, and thus predates the development of his most famous harmonic intuitions, dodecaphonic theory and the elaboration of serialism in the broadest sense. For this work Schoenberg used three texts by the poet Richard Dehmel (Erwartung, Schenk mir Deinen goldenen Kamm and Erhebung) and one by Johannes Schlaf (Waldsonne). Particularly inspired by the poetic content, the composer composed four strikingly evocative lyrics, reminiscent of late Romantic models such as Brahms and Wagner.
Ludovica Gelpi
