Hans Werner Henze

(1926-2012

mode 202

Musica da Camera

$14.99

mode 202 Hans Werner HENZE: Musica da Camera – Ein kleines Potpourri aus der Oper “Boulevard Solitude”; Sonatina aus dem Märchen für Musik “Pollicino”; Carillon, Récitatif, Masque; Toccata Mistica; Drei Tentos; Sonatina; Neue Volkslieder und Hirtengesänge. Ensemble Dissonanzen.

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Musica da Camera
Includes program notes in Italian with English, French, and German translations linked to from resource. Ensemble Dissonanzen (Tommaso Rossi, flute ; Luca Incoronato, bassoon ; Daniele Colombo, violin ; Francesco Solombrino, viola ; Lorenzo Ceriani, cello ; Avi Avital, mandolin ; Lucia Bova, harp ; Marco Cappelli, guitar ; Alessandro Tomassetti, vibraphone ; Ciro Longobardi, piano) ; Claudio Lugo, conductor. Recorded in 2006.

Ein kleines Potpourri aus der Oper “Boulevard Solitude” (2000)*
for flute, vibraphone, harp and piano
   Berceuse – Gavotte – Galop   (3:28)
   Manon Lescaut schriebt einen Brief   (3:02)
   Perpetuum mobile   (3:07)

Sonatina aus dem Märchen für Musik “Pollicino” (1979)*
for violin and piano
   Allegretto   (2:43)
   Moderato assai   (2:16)
   Passacaglia – Moderato   (3:37)

Carillon, Récitatif, Masque (1974)
Trio for mandolin, guitar and harp
   Carillon   (7:03)
   Récitatif   (3:00)
   Masque   (2:02)

Toccata Mistica (1994)   (4:35)
for piano solo

Drei Tentos (1958)
for guitar solo
   I   (2:07)
   II   (1:43)
   III   (2:14)

Sonatina (1947)
for flute and piano
   Moderato – Allegro molto vivace   (3:02)
   Andantino   (2:53)
   Presto   (3:25)

Neue Volkslieder und Hirtengesänge (1983/96)
for bassoon, guitar and string trio
   Pastorale   (2:45)
   Morgenlied   (0:50)
   Ballade   (3:36)
   Tanz   (1:31)
   Rezitativ   (0:55)
   Abendlied   (2:48)
   Ausklang   (1:59)

Ensemble Dissonanzen
Claudio Lugo, conductor (1-3, 17-23)

The selections of chamber music on this CD by Hans Werner Henze tends toward his lyrical side, and with an emphasis on compositions derived from his theater pieces.

The repertoire suits the Naples based Ensemble Dissonanzen, one of Italy’s leading contemporary music groups, also allowing various members to be showcased as soloist – Marco Cappelli, guitar; Tommaso Rossi, flute;Luca Incoronato, bassoon; Daniele Colombo, violin; and Ciro Longobardi, piano.

The Sonatina for flute and piano was written in 1947, its style owes something to both Fortner (Henze’s teacher in Heidelberg at this time) and Hindemith.

Boulevard Solitude, composed in 1952, established Henze as one of the leading composers of his generation, particularly in the field of music theatre. Ein kleines Potpourri was concocted from the opera for chamber ensemble. The driving Perpetuum mobile movement is a transposition of the opera’s savage Intermezzo.

The Drei Tentos are from Kammermusik for tenor, guitar and octet composed in 1958, when Henze, who had been living in Italy for years, spent some time in Greece. Here, fragments of Hölderlin’s text are musically evoked without being enunciated.

The kaleidoscopic Carillon, Récitatif, Masque is scored for the unusual plucked trio of mandolin, guitar and harp.

Toccata Mistica is one of only a handful of works Henze composed for piano. Its fluid, impetuous tidal waves of sound allude to a disfigured seascape, with the grand piano cast adrift like a raft amid the breakers.

The seven Neue Volkslieder und Hirtengesänge are derived from Henze’s stays in Styria, an Austrian region where folksongs feature the bassoon. Here the folksong melodies are transformed verse by verse and influenced by a complex harmonic and contrapuntal texture in which the bassoon has a soloistic role.

Liner notes by Alessandro Mastropietro.


Reviews

Hans Werner Henze
Musica da Camera

Ensemble Dissonanzen
Mode 202

Henze is best known for bulky stage works, but his catalogue includes much chamber music, of which this disc provides an enjoyable selection. Two items are operatic spin-offs: Ein kleines Potpourris aus der Oper “Boulevard Solitude” is three movements for flute, vibraphone, harp and piano, and is followed by a violin-and-piano Sonatina, based on his children’s opera Pollicino.

The sturdily dissonant Toccata mistica, for piano (Ciro Longobardi), is linked to the oratorio The Raft of the Medusa, and Neue Volkslieder und Hirtengesänge, scored for bassoon, guitar and string trio, to music Henze wrote for Oedipus Rex. Carillon, Récitatif, Masque is a glistening little opus for mandolin, guitar and harp.
— Paul Driver, The Sunday Times (London), 1 February 2009


Links

Also by these artists on Mode Records:
Luigi DALLAPICCOLA and Goffredo PETRASSI: Musica da camera – Ensemble Dissonanzen (mode 166)

Marco CAPPELLI: Extreme Guitar Project – works by Ribot, Sharp, Mori, Coleman, Didkovsky, Yoshide, Gosfield, Shea, Stewart, Friedlander (mode 157)

Ensemble Dissonanzen profile

Ensemble Dissonanzen online