Customer Reviews

Karl Höller: Symphonische Phantiasie; Sweelinck-Variationen

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I bought this CD not knowing what to expect (but always happy to explore). What a terrific surprise to find classical works that are not only enjoyable to listen to, but are well-crafted and expertly written. From these two examples, I would venture to say that Holler is a composer well worth rediscovering. His inventiveness with developing the theme in various variations is astounding.
Holler seems to belong to the generation of composers in the 1940s and 50s who wrote "modern" music that still was accessible and used the traditional classical forms. They had solid technique, yet still communicated with the audience. This generation was quickly forgotten in the late 60's and 70's when it was terribly out of fashion to write anything tonal. At that time their music was considered hopelessly "old-fashioned". Just as many American composers from this period are now being rediscovered, it seems like now would be a good time to rediscover this German composer Holler (and hopefully this CD will help). Performanes are solid (the first piece was recorded in the 1950's, so that sound is not up to modern standards, but still very acceptable). Highly recommended.

Karl Höller's (1907-1987) chosen instrument was the organ but he composed a wide variety of music for various forces, including two symphonies (and two `little symphonies'), several other orchestral and concertante works, and lots of chamber music (the eight violin sonatas and six string quartets constitute only a part of it), piano music and vocal music. His music is relatively conservative; the most obvious comparison is Hindemith, but Höller's music really belongs to a tradition growing right out of the legacy of Reger and Pfitzner. The tone is generally late romantic with a penchant for archaic forms, contrapuntal and characterized by polyphony, firmly tonal though with some impressionistic harmonies. It is, in fact, pretty appealing, and as opposed to what the composers mentioned as influences may suggest to some, there is nothing indigestible or overly heavy about the two orchestral works recorded here.

Both works on the disc reflects Höller's interest in the music of past masters. The Symphonic Fantasy from 1934 is developed out of a theme by Frescobaldi, and it is a very appealing work; expertly crafted and resourceful - it doesn't in any way point toward any new directions in music but it is sufficiently full of good ideas and imaginative details to sustain interest. The Sweelinck Variations dates from 1951 and is based on "Mein junges Leben hat ein End". As with the Symphonic Fantasy it is a very compelling and splendidly constructed work that truly grows on the listener even if it contains few real surprises. In short, these are both "academic" works, but that epithet should not be understood in any pejorative sense, and I sincerely think that anyone who enjoys tonal twentieth century music would be amply rewarded by the music on this disc.

At least Höller could hardly have hoped for much better advocacy than he receives here. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra plays with verve and dramatic energy, and Eugen Jochum does his best to imbue the music with life and spirit (and he succeeds). The mono sound is of course not up to the standards of today but it is definitely more than acceptable (the Symphonic Fantasy was recorded in 1957 and the Sweelinck Variations probably around the same time even though the notes aren't very helpful on that point). In short, this is a rewarding release definitely worth checking out - nothing here will rock any boats, of course, but not all music needs to do that - and the only substantial drawback is the stingy total playing time of 49 minutes.

The title is a jest, of course. Karl Höller is no pen name for Hindemith. You won't find much biographical fodder in the short paragraph that serves as liner notes on this DG reissue, other than the fact that Höller was Bavarian like conductor Eugen Jochum and studied in Munich with Joseph Haas. His dates are 1907-1987, making him a near-contemporary of Jochum (1902-1987). If you read German, you'll find more on Deutsch Wikipedia, including the fact that he received from Josef Goebbels the National Prize for Composition in 1940, that (unlike Jochum whose career in those years was notwithstanding very similar) he joined the Nazi Party in 1942, and that in August 1944 he was added by Hitler on the so-called "God-Blessed List of Important Composers", enabling him to escape conscription.

Anyway, all those dubious acquaintances didn't prevent him from becoming Professor of music at the Munich Conservatory in 1949, and Dean from 1954 to 1972. The Germans in those years were very forgiving. Questions came later.

Going from link to link I've been able to establish that the "Symphonic Fantasy" opus 20 on a theme of Frescobaldi was written in 1935 and revised in 1956 and that the Sweelinck Variations op 56 were composed in 1950/51: that's much more info than you'll get on this CD.

Quite honestly, I had never heard of Höller (the only Höller I know is contemporary German composer York - I don't know if there is a relation, although York, born in 1944, could very well be Karl's son) and I chanced upon this CD on one of my now very rare outskirts to the "real" store. The disc's production info gives June 1957 as recording date for the Frescobaldi Fantasy, but October 1987 for the Sweelinck-Variations, which is obviously a typo: 1957 seems more likely.

The title about Hindemith wasn't JUST a jest. Seeing that Jochum conducted these two works I expected that I wouldn't be hearing any cutting edge contemporary music, nothing like Bernd-Alois Zimmermann and possibly nothing even like Karl-Amadeus Hartmann. Orff and Hindemith seemed as far as Jochum might go. Spot on. Hearing these two sets of orchestral Variations, it is striking how much they sound as if they had been composed by Hindemith, particularly in their fast sections. All the hallmarks of Hindemith' style are present: the boisterous, forward-momentum, the dotted rhythms of fast marches, the piercing-woodwind dominated or brassy textures (try track 2 & 4 of the Frescobaldi Fantasy, and about all of the Sweelinck Variations except 12 & 15). You could be in the Weber-Metamorphoses or Mathis-Symphony. I guess the Nazis were content to ban Hindemith and still have his music played, provided it was written by someone else (this of course is valid only for the Frescobaldi Fantasy). The slow sections don't sound as Hindemithian. They are mostly elegiac, well-crafted which doesn't mean they display much more personality. They sound like the slow movements of the symphonies that some of the less original and distinctive American composers of those days might have written (let me mention no names here).

I'm not saying that the music isn't pleasurable. I personally love the music of Hindemith and I enjoyed this. Still, it is derivative.

As mentioned, there are as good as no notes, and TT is a short 49:21. Sound is mono but clear and well-defined. So this must be reserved to collectors of the off-the-beaten-track. The "lay" music-lover should be redirected to the original: Hindemith himself.