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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quite remarkable music, decent performances, objectionable sound,
By
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This review is from: Stefan Wolpe: Quartet No. 1; Piece for Two Insturmental Units; Drei Lieder Von Bertolt Brecht; ; Musik for Hamlet (Audio CD)
I suppose this disc present a fair, diverse portrait of the multifaceted, enigmatic Stefan Wolpe (1902-72); at least you get an idea of the stylistic variation and development. Wolpe was an important teacher for American modernists from the 1950s onwards, and the two most uncompromisingly modern works here, Piece in Two Parts and Piece for Two Instrumental Units (both from 1962) should give you a clue. This is music as abstract as it gets, take-no-prisoners post-Webern avantgardism, exceedingly complex but surprisingly engaging and even more surprisingly witty and imaginative - perhaps in part because, despite the complex studies of pitch and rhythm the music, through unconventional formal means, builds up something nevertheless resembling old-fashioned climaxes and sustains a certain momentum.
In complete(?) contrast, the Drei Lieder von Bertolt Brecht, from 1943, are socialist, cabaret-influenced, declamatory popular songs with the piano line emphatically doubling the vocal line. Yet they are extremely effective and quite beautiful works, and they are more harmonically original and stylistically individual than one might initially think. They are certainly more striking than the early Musik for Hamlet (1929) in which a dark, Weill-like style with elements of Busoni certainly herald an original talent but little intrinsic merit. The short To the Dancemaster (1938) is one of Wolpe's songs to Israeli texts, but never really manages to register. The transition from the early, political to the later, modernist Wolpe is nowhere better displayed than in the Quartet no.1 (1950), a passionate, personal journey from despair to triumph. The musical language is often stark, but the elements of wit and light make it a rewarding experience. Last on the disc we get two very late works written for trumpeter Ronald Anderson. The small solo piece (1966) makes more of an impact than you'd think, but isn't anything I would return to very often. The Piece for Trumpet and Seven Instruments (1971) was Wolpe's very last work, energetic, optimistic and humane, less uncompromising than his most avant-garde music, to be sure, but still a strikingly original work. Throughout the instrumental performances are very good, committed and idiomatic, even though there are one or two rough patches. Joyce Castle's singing is not beautiful by any stretch of imagination, but isn't supposed to be I guess. The main drawback is the recorded sound, which is extremely close and grainy - the music was recorded at several venues over a three-year period of time, and varies a bit, but the drawbacks mentioned are consistently present. Most unfortunate is Piece in Two Parts where the piano sounds tinny (thus undermining some of the aural effect). It is also difficult to properly balance a solo trumpet in a chamber ensemble, apparently. Still, this is a valuable release of some quite remarkable music. A pity about the sound, but this must be recommended nonetheless.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Track Listing,
By Dmitrirex (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Stefan Wolpe: Quartet No. 1; Piece for Two Insturmental Units; Drei Lieder Von Bertolt Brecht; ; Musik for Hamlet (Audio CD)
Stefan Wolpe Piece in Two Parts for Six Players, for trumpet, clarinet, violin, cello, piano & harp, C. 155 1988 9:05
Performed by: Anthony Korf, Edmund Niemann, Cyrus Stevens, Raymond Mase, Allen Blustine, More Performance Details... Stefan Wolpe Drei Lieder von Bertholt Brecht (3), song cycle for voice & piano, C. 102 1990 7:46 Performed by: Anthony Korf, Edmund Niemann, Joyce Castle, Raymond Mase, George Rothman, More Performance Details... Stefan Wolpe Quartet, for tenor saxophone, trumpet, percussion & piano, C. 122 1991 13:26 Performed by: Anthony Korf, James Preiss, Albert Regni, Raymond Mase, Edmund Niemann, More Performance Details... Stefan Wolpe Musik zu Hamlet: Langsamer Satz, for flute, clarinet & cello, C. 30 1989 4:10 Performed by: Anthony Korf, Allen Blustine, Chris Finckel, Keith Underwood, Theoniek Verdurmen, More Performance Details... Stefan Wolpe Piece for Two Instrumental Units, for flute, cello & piano; oboe, violin, double bass & percussion, C. 158 1987 12:13 Performed by: Anthony Korf, Edmund Niemann, Stephen Taylor, Chris Finckel, Keith Underwood, More Performance Details... Stefan Wolpe To the Dancemaster, song for voice, clarinet & piano (2 Songs of Bialik No. 1), C. 75 1990 4:43 Performed by: Anthony Korf, Alan R. Kay, Joyce Castle, Edmund Niemann, Raymond Mase, More Performance Details... Stefan Wolpe Solo Piece for Trumpet, C. 167 1989 2:42 Performed by: Raymond Mase, Anthony Korf, David B. Hancock, Theoniek Verdurmen, George Rothman, More Performance Details... Stefan Wolpe Piece for Trumpet and Seven Instruments, for trumpet, horn, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, cello & double bass, C. 172 1989 7:48
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