Walter Braunfels - Organ Concerto; etc. (Iveta Apkalna; Hansjörg Albrecht)

Information

Composer: Walter Braunfels

• (01) Concerto for Organ, Boys' Choir and Orchestra, Op. 38
• (04) Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in F minor, Op. 43
• (07) Symphonic Variations on an old French children's song, Op. 15

Iveta Apkalna, organ (1-3)
Tölzer Knabenchor (1-3)
Munich Symphony Orchestra (1-3, 7)
Hansjörg Albrecht, organ (4-6) & conductor

Date: 2012
Label: Oehms Classics
https://www.oehmsclassics.de/artikel/5842/Hansj%C3%B6rg_Albrecht_Walter_Braunfels_Konzert_f%C3%BCr_Orgel_Knabenchor_und_Orchester_und_andere_Welt-Ersteinspielungen

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Review

It was a whim that led me to request this CD for review. I had never even heard of Walter Braunfels, after all. Moments after beginning to play it, however, I knew that my instincts were good, because this music is rather special, and deserves to be known by a broader audience. Braunfels was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1882. Annotator Susanne Bruse divides his life’s work into three periods, and these three works represent each one of those periods. His father was a Jew who converted to Protestantism before Braunfels was born, and Braunfels in turn converted to Catholicism after World War I because he “was grateful to have escaped the inferno.” Nevertheless, his works were banned by the Nazis in 1933, and he was silenced for nearly a decade, and relieved of his teaching duties as well.

The Symphonic Variations , the last work on this CD, is the earliest one, completed in 1909 when Braunfels was 26. This is a sophisticated yet ebullient and good-natured work that sounds, perhaps, like Hindemith at his most optimistic and appealing, with suggestions of Richard Strauss for good measure. Braunfels builds his musical edifice on varied fragments of the original folk song. The textures are diverse but usually on the lush side. There is humor, too; at one point the janissary music from Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” threatens to sidetrack the proceedings. At a bit over 16 minutes, the Symphonic Variations don’t outstay their welcome, yet the music has enough weight to feel consequential.

The Concerto was completed in 1928, the year that it was premiered in the Leipzig Gewandhaus by organist Günther Ramin, with Furtwängler conducting. This is even more impressive, as it inhabits a similar world as Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani. First, there is an extended Fantasy, notable for its drama and seriousness. The organ, aided by the orchestra, engages in a heroic struggle. The second movement opens quietly with a brief organ prelude, followed by a touchingly melodic section for divided strings. Eventually, the organ joins in, and the brass intensify the mood. After a pause, the boys’ choir enters gently, to cap the movement with a beautiful chorale. After a mysterious organ interlude, the last movement arrives with a nervous fugue, initiated by the violins, and punctuated at intervals by the organ. This is built up at length, and then there is another capstone chorale, which closes the work thrillingly.

The large Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue for organ was composed during Braunfels’s years of silence. Begun in 1933, it was not performed until 1946. Again, the Toccata impresses one with its drama and intensity. The Adagio begins seraphically, but is not saccharine; it has known human pain. In time, its texture thickens impressively. The work ends with an imposing fugue. In this work, conductor Albrecht moves to the organ, but his instrument is not as clear-sounding as the one that the excellent Iveta Apkalna uses in the concerto. I found this work to be the least attractive of the three, but I must admit that solo organ works are not high on my play list, generally speaking. Still, even for skeptics like me, it is worth a listen.

I am astonished that none of these works have been recorded previously. I am thankful that Albrecht and his colleagues have presented them so ably. These are gorgeous performances of important music. Has the time come for a Braunfels renaissance?

-- Raymond Tuttle, FANFARE

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Walter Braunfels (19 December 1882 – 19 March 1954) was a German composer, pianist, and music educator. Composing music in the German classical-romantic tradition, Braunfels was well known as a composer between the two World Wars but fell into oblivion after his death. There is now something of a renaissance of interest in his works. His opera Die Vögel, based on the play The Birds by Aristophanes, was recorded and has been successfully revived. Braunfels composed music in a number of different genres, not only operas, but also songs, choral works and orchestral, chamber and piano pieces.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Braunfels

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Iveta Apkalna (born 30 November 1976, Rēzekne, Latvia) is a Latvian pianist and organist. Apkalna studied piano and organ at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart. She has given concerts in the biggest and most famous churches and cathedrals of Europe and North America, taken part in the leading organ festivals and received numerous prizes in organ competitions. Since its opening in 2016, she has served as the principal organist of the Elbphilharmonie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iveta_Apkalna

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Hansjörg Albrecht (born 1972 in Freiberg) is a German conductor, organist and harpsichordist. Albrecht received his first musical education as a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor and studied church music and organ in Hamburg and Cologne with Gerhard Dickel and Thierry Mechler. He is Artistic Director of the Münchener Bach-Chor (since 2005) and permanent Guest Conductor of the Bach-Collegium München. Albrecht became Artistic Director of the Hamburg Sinfonietta in 2009 and, in parallel with his conducting, has also built up an international reputation as organist and harpsichordist.
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Albrecht-Hansjorg.htm
http://hansjoerg-albrecht.com/

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