Album

A few aging listeners will recall a time when the only way to hear most of the music of Anton Webern was through the recordings of Robert Craft. Few of those listeners will recall those performances with pleasure. Webern's music was new then, so most of it had never been recorded before, so no one really knew how it went. That Craft had his musicians do as well as they did is to be commended. That they didn't do it better is to be regretted. But that they set back the cause of Webern's music two decades is incontrovertible because in Craft's recordings, Webern's music sounds more like random bleeps, blips, and bloops than music.

That was then and this is now. Craft has had 50 years to live with Webern's music and two generations of musicians have grown up in the meantime. The first disc in Craft's second Webern series benefits immeasurably from both. Although Craft's Webern still sounds a bit angular, that may be an interpretative inclination rather than a technical flaw. More importantly, these performances are tremendously musical. For once, Webern's music sounds light, lyrical, witty, expressive, and tender. While some of the music on this disc is still a stiff dose of unreconstructed dodecaphonic serialism, most of it is passionately controlled, deeply emotional, and profoundly spiritual. Naxos' sound is clear and vivid.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

CD 1
Anton Webern Composer Symphony, Op.21 Work Recorded 2002 10:03 Twentieth Century Classics Ensemble Ensemble, Robert Craft Conductor
1	1.Ruhig schreitend	7:31			$1.49
2	2.Variations	2:32			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer 5 Canons on Latin Texts, for voice, clarinet and bass clarinet, Op.16 Work Recorded 2003-2004 3:40 Jennifer Welch-Babidge Soprano, Michael Lowenstern Clarinet (Bass), Robert Craft Conductor, Charles Neidich Clarinet
3	1.Christus factus est	0:36			$0.99
4	2.Dormi Jesu, mater ridet	1:04			$0.99
5	3.Crux fidelis	0:53			$0.99
6	4.Asperges me, Domine	0:38			$0.99
7	5.Crucem tuam adoramus, Domine	0:29			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer 3 Traditional Rhymes, for soprano and ensemble, Op.17 Work Recorded 2003-2004 2:34 Jennifer Welch-Babidge Soprano, Michael Lowenstern Clarinet (Bass), Robert Craft Conductor, Charles Neidich Clarinet, Jesse Mills Violin
8	1.Armer Sünder, du	0:50			$0.99
9	3.Heiland, unsre Missetaten	0:48			$0.99
10	2.Liebste Jungfrau, wir sind dein	0:56			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer 3 Songs, for soprano, Eb clarinet and guitar, Op.18 Work Recorded 2003-2004 3:59 Jennifer Welch-Babidge Soprano, Scott Kuney Guitar, Robert Craft Conductor, Charles Neidich Clarinet
11	1.Schatzerl klein	1:08			$0.99
12	2.Mein Kind, sieh an	1:17			$0.99
13	3.Ave, Regina coelorum	1:34			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer String Trio, Op.20 Work Recorded 2003-2004 9:50 Ani Kavafian Violin, Richard O'Neill Viola, Robert Craft Conductor, Fred Sherry Cello
14	1.Sehr langsam	3:55			$0.99
15	2.Sehr getragen und ausdrucksvoll	5:55			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer Quartet, for clarinet, saxophone, piano and violin, Op.22 Work Recorded 2003-2004 5:28 Jennifer Frautschi Violin, Michael Lowenstern Clarinet, Daniel Goble Saxophone (Tenor), Christopher Oldfather Piano, Robert Craft Conductor
16	1.Sehr mäßig	3:02			$0.99
17	2.Sehr schwungvoll	2:26			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer Variations, Op.27 Work Recorded 2003-2004 6:00 Christopher Oldfather Piano, Robert Craft Conductor
18	1.Sehr mäßig	1:56			$0.99
19	2.Sehr schnell	0:42			$0.99
20	3.Ruhig fließend	3:22			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer 6 Pieces, Op.6 (revised version) Work Recorded 2002 13:07 Philharmonia Orchestra of London Orchestra, Robert Craft Conductor
21	1.Langsam	1:25			$0.99
22	2.Bewegt	1:24			$0.99
23	3.Mässig	1:07			$0.99
24	4.Sehr mässig	4:43			$0.99
25	5.Sehr langsam	2:46			$0.99
26	6.Langsam	1:42			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer 4 Pieces, for violin and piano, Op.7 Work Recorded 2003-2004 5:41 Christopher Oldfather Piano, Robert Craft Conductor, Jesse Mills Violin
27	1.Sehr langsam	1:22			$0.99
28	2.Rasch	1:37			$0.99
29	3.Sehr langsam	1:43			$0.99
30	4.Bewegt	0:59			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer Little Pieces, for cello and piano, Op.11 Work Recorded 2003-2004 2:27 Christopher Oldfather Piano, Robert Craft Conductor, Fred Sherry Cello
31	1.Mäßige	1:04			$0.99
32	2.Sehr bewegt	0:24			$0.99
33	3.Äußerst ruhig	0:59			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer Concerto for 9 instruments, Op.24 Work Recorded 2003-2004 6:52 Sunghae Anna Lim Violin, Richard O'Neill Viola, Stephen Taylor Oboe, David Fedele Flute, William Purvis Horn, Christopher Gekker Trumpet, Robert Craft Conductor, James (Jim) Pugh Trombone, Charles Neidich Clarinet, Stephen Gosling Piano
34	1.Etwas lebhaft	2:51			$0.99
35	2.Sehr langsam	2:40			$0.99
36	3.Sehr rasch	1:21			$0.99
Anton Webern Composer 6 German Dances (arr. from Schubert) Work Recorded 2002 9:29 Philharmonia Orchestra of London Orchestra, Robert Craft Conductor
37	No.1	1:06			$0.99
38	No.2	1:31			$0.99
39	No.3	1:31			$0.99
40	No.4	1:14			$0.99
41	No.5	1:39			$0.99
42	No.6	2:28			$0.99