Cathy Krier - Berg, Schönberg, Zimmermann & Liszt (2015) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

The early 20th century is a period that fascinates me. The prevalent musical aesthetic was disrupted by a new generation of composers who maintained their roots in tradition, but felt a great desire to expand music’s horizons: they formed a multitude of currents and embarked on a number of different paths, all driven by the idea of transfiguring everything they had previously known.

For this album I have chosen to retrace the path originally taken by Arnold Schoenberg. Born in Vienna in 1874, Schoenberg had an atypical career. Upon his father’s death, he had to leave school as the eldest sibling at the age of sixteen to take up a profession. As an autodidact he learned the essentials of com- position by sight-reading great repertoire and by playing chamber music on the cello and the violin. Married to the sister of Alexander Zemlinsky, Schoenberg took some counterpoint lessons from that composer and soon started teaching harmony and counterpoint himself, from 1903 on. His teaching activity remained central throughout his life, both in Europe and after having immigrated to the US. Profoundly aware of the continual evolution of Art as a historical necessity, Schoenberg introduced an important change into composition at the beginning of the 20th century. He took it over the brink into the unknown by dissolving the classical functions of harmony, then by eliminating all familiar points of melodic and thematic reference.

Schoenberg’s Op. 11 is the first truly atonal work for piano ever written. He composed it in 1909 and revised it in 1924, applying total freedom in terms of structure and avoiding any sort of functional harmony, resorting to intervals containing the utmost tension and deploying the greatest contrasts in terms of dynamics and by alternating melodious, tranquil sections with spirited, fiery passages. …

Tracklist:
01. Piano Sonata, Op. 1: Mäßig bewegt
02. Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11: I. Mäßige
03. Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11: II. Sehr langsam
04. Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11: III. Bewegte
05. Enchiridion I: I. Introduktion. Andante rappresentativo
06. Enchiridion I: II. Ekloge. Larghetto, con espressione
07. Enchiridion I: III. Rondino. Allegro giocoso
08. Enchiridion I: IV. Bourée. Allegro moderato
09. Enchiridion I: V. Meditation. Adagio molto
10. Enchiridion I: VI. Aria. Andante molto cantabile
11. Enchiridion I: VII. Estampida. Allegro
12. Enchiridion I: VIII. Toccata. Allegro feroce
13. Enchiridion II: I. Vigil. Larghetto molto
14. Enchiridion II: II. Hora. Moderato
15. Enchiridion II: III. Ostinato. Presto
16. Enchiridion II: IV. Matutin. Cantabile molto
17. Enchiridion II: V. Imagination. Sostenuto
18. Intermezzo: Andante con moto
19. L'après-midi d'un Puck: Allegro giocoso
20. Hommage à Johann Strauss: Tempo di valse
21. Klavierstück, Op. 33a: Mäßig
22. Klavierstück, Op. 33b: Mäßig langsam
23. Trübe Wolken, S.199: Trübe Wolken, S.199
24. Unstern, S.208: Unstern, S.208

Composers:
Berg, Alban (1885-1935)
Liszt, Ferencz (1811-86)
Schoenberg, Arnold (1874-1951)
Zimmermann, Bernd Alois (1918-70)

Personnel:
Cathy Krier, piano