Schmidt: The Book of the Seven Seals

Franz Schmidt (Composer), Franz Welser-Most (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Franz Welser-Most
• Composer: Franz Schmidt
• Audio CD (October 6, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: EMI
• ASIN: B00000C2JB
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,930 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Book Of The Seven Seals: Gnade sei mit euch

2. Book Of The Seven Seals: Ich bin das A und das O

3. Book Of The Seven Seals: Und eine Tur ward aufgetan im Himmel

4. Book Of The Seven Seals: Heilig, heilig ist Gott der Allmdchtige

5. Book Of The Seven Seals: Und ich sah in der rechten Hand

6. Book Of The Seven Seals: Nun sah ich, und siehe, mitten vor dem Throne

7. Book Of The Seven Seals: Organ Solo

8. Book Of The Seven Seals: Und als das Lamm der Siegel erstes auftrat

9. Book Of The Seven Seals: Und als das Lamm der Siegel zweites auftrat

10. Book Of The Seven Seals: Und als das Lamm der Siegel drittes auftrat

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Book Of The Seven Seals: Organ solo; Nach dem Auftun des siebenten der Seigel

2. Book Of The Seven Seals: Ein Weib, umkleidet mit der Sonne

3. Book Of The Seven Seals: Und sie gebar einen Sohn

4. Book Of The Seven Seals: Im Himmel aber erhob sich ein grober Streit

5. Book Of The Seven Seals: Und als die große Stille im Himmel vorüber war

6. Book Of The Seven Seals: Vor dem Angesichte dessen, der auf weibem Throne sab

7. Book Of The Seven Seals: Ich bin das A und das O

8. Book Of The Seven Seals: Hallelujah!

9. Book Of The Seven Seals: Wir danken die, o Herr, allmächtiger Gott

10. Book Of The Seven Seals: Ich bin es, Johannes, der all dies hörte

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The last Great Oratorio, February 14, 2000

By 

V. Wilson (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Schmidt: The Book of the Seven Seals (Audio CD)

If there's one thing this overwhelmingly powerful oratorio proves, it's "don't mess with the Big Man upstairs!" In setting the nearly-complete Apocalypse as revealed to John the Divine, the Austrian composer Franz Schmidt produced a masterpiece and, perhaps, the last great oratorio.

This is music that really ought to be in your collection. It is an easy piece to follow, as it is laid-out in the classic oratorio design, with John the narrator introducing the various events which occur as the seven seals are opened. Musically, Schmidt doesn't move much past chromatic late romanticism.

However, lest I make it sound like a retread of earlier pieces, I must reiterate that this is strong stuff. Schmidt wrote it right before World War II as he was dying of cancer and it has a truly prophetic feel about it.

The music for the Four Horsemen sequence is amazing. The War sequence contrasts a lamenting women's chorus with a brutal, vicious men's chorus based on a rhythmic figure that is pounded home. It's truly terrifying. This is followed by a heartbreaking mother/child duet describing the Horseman of Famine. The last horseman, Death, features two worn-out soldiers commenting about the last horsemen to music which aptly describes a silent, body-ridden battlefield.

The Amazon reviewer suggests that this is tuneless, but that is inaccurate. The melodies used are designed for contrapuntal development of which there is plenty. You won't soon forget the War chorus, I guarantee.

This performance is terrific, although with such a complicated piece some of the details get lost in the shuffle. Nevermind. Get this and be blown away by the end of the world and the coming heavenly kingdom. The power (& terror) of this music might just make you reconsider religion.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ...could be better, but get the Horst Stein!, December 23, 2003

By 

Ryan Kouroukis "In 1882 Richard Wagner said: ... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Schmidt: The Book of the Seven Seals (Audio CD)

I bought this recording after hearing it live in Toronto with the TSO and Ben Heppner, I forgot who was conducting(someone not so well known)...it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life and the key moment was the "Hallelulia" chorus at the end. It was overwhelming! When it was over, I was shaking all the way home! I was dissapointed when I heard Welser-Most doing the same chorus...It's a bit slow and not dramatic enough. (That moment should be absolutely overwhelming, and swift-like, taking you up up and away!) I listened to it many times and even bought the Mitropoulos version to compare (which suffered terrible sound, but good interpretation and cast). But I still wasn't fully satisfied with the oratorio as a whole. Welser-Most does have some nice moments, especially in the "hell scenes" (full of dramatic thrust, weighty fire and powerhouse sound). But I still couldn't see the structure of the work, I needed to understand the work structurally and musically, and he didn't do that for me. Welser-Most just "walks the work on by".

EDIT ADD-ON: (Feb 14 2008)

I recently found a version that blows all others into the water! HORST STEIN with the Vienna Symphoniker and the Vienna Singverein live from 1996. It is spine-tingling, and earth moving! Plus the sound is in full blooded stereo!

Finally a version that does justice to Schmidt's Book of Seven Seals!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding recording . . . but where is the text?, July 24, 2000

By 

Ahmed E. Ismail (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Schmidt: The Book of the Seven Seals (Audio CD)

This is an outstanding recording of Schmidt's last masterpiece. The Amazon reviewer who cites the lack of melody might have missed some of the "big tunes"--they are there, but one cannot really incorporate "haunting melodies" in a fugue or in some of the faster movements of the piece. However, even if the work is not particularly melodic, it is certainy quite lyrical.

The performance is wonderful, particularly in the opening "Prelude in heaven" and the concluding sequence, starting with "Hallelujah!" The solo quartet (Oelze, Kallisch, Odinius, Reiter) make an excellent team, and Pape is quite commanding. The true "star" of the piece, however, is St. John--the nearly twenty-minute monologue at the beginning of Part II is quite without equal in the classical repertoire. Luckily, Stig Andersen is quite up to the demands of this enormously challenging part.

The only criticism I had was that (in my copy at least) there is a translation of the libretto, but not the libretto itself. Curiously, the Mitropoulos recording on Sony features the libretto but not the translation. However, at full price, texts and translations should be standard. One only need look at the Schubert Hyperion series for countless examples of good production design.