Album

Wolfgang Brunner, pianist and director of the Salzburger Hofmusik, put together this Friends of Schubert collection of music by a circle of composers from the Carthinia province of Austria who actively promoted the greatness of Schubert's music after his death. He chose a variety of historic instruments and a variety of recording venues (maybe unavoidably as these were recorded over an eight-year period), which makes for some intonation problems and an overall uneven sound quality for the album. Nevertheless, it's a decent sampling of music that would probably never be heard otherwise outside of its homeland.

Albert Tonitz is best represented, with works ranging from chamber to vocal music. His La Romanesca for cello and piano is not a very inventive realization of a dance by sixteenth century composer Claude Gervais, but Brunner and Peter Sigl play it on well-matched instruments, going from delicate elegance to ferocious tenacity. Similarly, Consolation, a song without words for flute, has an almost continuous Alberti bass accompaniment. Tonitz's Paraphrase on Carinthian folk songs is like any number of nineteenth century fantasies for keyboard, more frequently based on opera themes, except that his has the carefree animation of ländlers and Viennese swirling waltzes instead of virtuoso ostentation. Johann Eduard Kreiner's Sechs Deutsche are very reminiscent of Schubert's many dances for piano: animated but not overly energetic, optimistic but not too lighthearted. And Hüttenbrenner's brief elegy shows that composer's admiration not only for Schubert, but also for Beethoven in the way it modulates and changes mood efficiently and subtly.

It's in the vocal works that the influence of Schubert is felt most. Tonitz had an ear for melody, not only in the way his music flows, but also in the way he used character to give it life. In Weiter gieh ich, immer weiter and Des Geistes Nachtlied he tries to make the piano part more of a scenic backdrop for the lyrics. Tonitz's songs and Ihr blauen Augen by Josef Tomashoviz for male vocal quartet are steeped in the tradition of German part singing that goes back to Schütz. On n'en meurt plus and the two romances by Graf Ferdinand Eggar, all for soprano and piano, are unusal in that they use the original French poetry rather than German translations. The culture of Carinthia is usually thought of as solid middle class, but these songs show these composers reaching for a more cosmopolitan art and audience. They are sung wonderfully by Verena Krause. She has a flexible voice with good vibrato, and she knows how to find the personality in these songs. Bass Werner Bind also stands out, with a depth to his voice like that of a Russian bass, that stands as a firm foundation for the quartets.

The final two selections on the album are the song Se solen sjunker—credited to Isak Albert Berg, who may or may not have written it—and the Andante of Schubert's Piano Trio in E flat major, D. 929, that uses the song as its theme. Even though the performance here of the trio movement isn't deeply expressive, its juxtaposition with the song conveys the extent of Schubert's skill at taking a simple tune and transforming it into a much more emotionally complex and satisfying work.

© Patsy Morita, All Music Guide

CD 1
Albert Tonitz Composer La Romanesca, for cello & piano Work Recorded 1996 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Peter Sigl Cello, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
1	La Romanesca, for cello & piano	4:06			$0.99
Albert Tonitz Composer Paraphrase on National Songs of Carinthia, for piano, Op.3 Work Recorded 1997 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
2	Paraphrase on National Songs of Carinthia, for piano, Op.3	11:39			$1.99
Albert Tonitz Composer Consolation, for flute & piano, Op.18 Work Recorded 2004 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble, Reinhard Czasch Transverse Flute
3	Consolation, for flute & piano, Op.18	9:00			$1.49
Albert Tonitz Composer On n'en meurt plus, for soprano & piano, Op.4 Work Recorded 1996 Verena Krause Soprano, Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
4	On n'en meurt plus, for soprano & piano, Op.4	4:15			$0.99
Albert Tonitz Composer An die Natur, for male vocal quartet & piano Work Recorded 2000 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Klaus Eibensteiner Tenor, Werner Binder Bass, Bernhard Berchtold Tenor, Tadeusz Milewski Baritone, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
5	An die Natur, for male vocal quartet & piano	3:53			$0.99
Albert Tonitz Composer Ich liebe dich, for male vocal quartet & piano Work Recorded 2000 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Klaus Eibensteiner Tenor, Werner Binder Bass, Bernhard Berchtold Tenor, Tadeusz Milewski Baritone, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
6	Ich liebe dich, for male vocal quartet & piano	2:50			$0.99
Albert Tonitz Composer Weiter geh ich, immer weiter, for tenor & piano Work Recorded 2000 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Bernhard Berchtold Tenor, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
7	Weiter geh ich, immer weiter, for tenor & piano	2:13			$0.99
Albert Tonitz Composer Des geistes Nachtlied, für bass & piano Work Recorded 2000 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Werner Binder Bass, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
8	Des geistes Nachtlied, für bass & piano	3:22			$0.99
Johann Eduard Kreiner Composer 6 German Dances, for piano Work Recorded 1996 6:20 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
9	No.1 in G	2:30			$0.99
10	No.2 in A	1:51			$0.99
11	No.3 in E	1:59			$0.99
Ferdinand Egger Composer 3 Romances, for soprano & piano, Op.3 Work Recorded 1996 8:44 Verena Krause Soprano, Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
12	Ange Gardien	4:01			$0.99
13	Stances	4:43			$0.99
Johann Eduard Kreiner Composer 6 German Dances, for piano Work Recorded 1996 6:15 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
14	No.4 in C	1:52			$0.99
15	No.5 in G	2:26			$0.99
16	No.6 in D	1:57			$0.99
Josef Tomashoviz Composer Ihr blauen Augen, for male vocal quartet Work Recorded 2000 Wolfgang Brunner Conductor, Klaus Eibensteiner Tenor, Werner Binder Bass, Bernhard Berchtold Tenor, Tadeusz Milewski Baritone, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
17	Ihr blauen Augen, for male vocal quartet	3:44			$0.99
Anselm Hüttenbrenner Composer Nachruf an Schubert in Trauertönen, for piano Work Recorded 2000 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
18	Nachruf an Schubert in Trauertönen, for piano	2:40			$0.99
Isak Berg Composer Se solen sjunker (See the Setting Sun), for bass & piano Work Recorded 1997 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Werner Binder Bass, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
19	Se solen sjunker (See the Setting Sun), for bass & piano	1:35			$0.99
Franz Peter Schubert Composer Piano Trio No.2 in Eb, D.929, Op.100 Work Recorded 1997 Wolfgang Brunner Hammerflugel, Veronica Kröner Violin, Peter Sigl Cello, Salzburger Hofmusik Ensemble
20	2.Andante con moto	9:36			$1.49