Boulez: Complete Webern (6 CD box set, APE)

Performer: Francoise Pollet, Christiane Oelze, Krystian Zimerman, Gidon Kremer
Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker, Emerson String Quartet, Ensemble InterContemporain, BBC Singers
Conductor: Pierre Boulez
Composer: Anton Webern
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 6 CD box set
Format: APE (tracks+cue)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Size: 1.16 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

# Passacaglia for orchestra, Op. 1
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Movements (5) (version for string orchestra), Op. 5
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Pieces (6) for orchestra, Op. 6
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# The Musical Offering (Musikalisches Opfer), for keyboard and chamber instruments, BWV 1079 Fuga (Ricercata) a 6 voci
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# German Dances (6) for orchestra (arr. from Schubert)
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Im Sommerwind, idyll for orchestra
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Pieces (5) for orchestra, Op. posth.
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Songs (3) for soprano & orchestra
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
with Christiane Oelze
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Symphony, Op. 21
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Das Augenlicht, for chorus & orchestra, Op. 26
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Cantata No. 1 for soprano, chorus & orchestra, Op. 29
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
with Christiane Oelze
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Variations for orchestra, Op. 30
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Cantata No. 2 for soprano, bass, chorus & orchestra, Op. 31
Composed by Anton Webern
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
with Gerald Finley, Christiane Oelze
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Piano Quintet (Mässig)
Composed by Anton Webern
with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen for chorus, Op. 2
Composed by Anton Webern
with InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Songs (2) for soprano & ensemble, Op. 8
Composed by Anton Webern
with Francoise Pollet, InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Pieces (5) for orchestra, Op. 10
Composed by Anton Webern
with InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Songs (4) for soprano & orchestra (or piano), Op. 13
Composed by Anton Webern
with Francoise Pollet, InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Songs (6) for soprano & ensemble, Op. 14
Composed by Anton Webern
with Francoise Pollet, InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Sacred Songs (5) for soprano & ensemble, Op. 15
Composed by Anton Webern
with Christiane Oelze, InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Canons (5) on Latin Texts for voice, clarinet & bass clarinet, Op. 16
Composed by Anton Webern
with Christiane Oelze, InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Traditional Rhymes (3) for soprano & ensemble, Op. 17
Composed by Anton Webern
with Christiane Oelze, InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Songs (3) for soprano, E flat clarinet & guitar, Op. 18
Composed by Anton Webern
with Christiane Oelze, InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Songs (2) for chorus, clarinet, bass clarinet, celesta, guitar & violin, Op. 19
Composed by Anton Webern
with InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Quartet for clarinet, saxophone, piano & violin, Op. 22
Composed by Anton Webern
with InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Concerto for 9 instruments, Op. 24
Composed by Anton Webern
with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, InterContemporain Ensemble
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

# Poems (3) for voice & piano I. Vorfrühling: Leise tritt auf…
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Poems (3) for voice & piano, No. 1: “Vorfrühling” II. Nachtgebet der Braut: O mein Geliebter
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Poems (3) for voice & piano III. Fromm: Der Mond scheint auf mein Lager
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Early Songs (8) for voice & piano
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Songs after Avenarius (3) for voice & piano
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Songs (5) after Dehmel for voice & piano
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Songs (5) from Der siebente Ring for voice & piano, Op. 3
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Lieder (5) nach Gedichten von Stefan George, Op. 4
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Songs (4) after Stefan George for voice & piano
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Songs (4) for voice & piano, Op. 12
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Songs (3) from “Viae inviae” for voice & piano, Op. 23
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Songs (3) for voice & piano, Op. 25
Composed by Anton Webern
with Eric Schneider, Christiane Oelze

# Slow Movement (Langsam, mit bewegtem Ausdruck) for string quartet
Composed by Anton Webern

# Movements (5) for string quartet, Op. 5
Composed by Anton Webern

# String Quartet (1905)
Composed by Anton Webern

# Bagatelles (6) for string quartet, Op. 9
Composed by Anton Webern

# Rondo for string quartet
Composed by Anton Webern

# Movement for string trio, Op Posth
Composed by Anton Webern

# Pieces (3) for string quartet
Composed by Anton Webern
with Mary Ann McCormick

# String Trio, Op. 20
Composed by Anton Webern
with Philip Setzer, David Finckel, Lawrence Dutton

# String Quartet, Op. 28
Composed by Anton Webern

# Pieces (2) for cello & piano
Composed by Anton Webern
with Oleg Maisenberg, Clemens Hagen

# Movement for piano
Composed by Anton Webern
with Gianluca Cascioli

# Sonatasatz (Sonata Movement) for piano
Composed by Anton Webern
with Gianluca Cascioli

# Pieces (4) for violin & piano, Op. 7
Composed by Anton Webern
with Oleg Maisenberg, Gidon Kremer

# Little Pieces (3) for cello & piano, Op. 11
Composed by Anton Webern
with Oleg Maisenberg, Clemens Hagen

# Sonata for Cello & Piano
Composed by Anton Webern
with Oleg Maisenberg, Clemens Hagen

# Kinderstück for piano, Op. posth.
Composed by Anton Webern
with Krystian Zimerman

# Klavierstück for piano, Op. posth.
Composed by Anton Webern
with Krystian Zimerman

# Variations for piano, Op. 27
Composed by Anton Webern
with Krystian Zimerman

How to Discover Webern’s Greatness

The CD formate
and the organization of the set allows one to listen repeatedly to a single work or compare the development of Webern’s musical prowess.

I have the old version on CBS also with Boulez conducting, but the LP format (much as I prefer the true sound of the medium to the digital cd format) was not conducive to studying the music, I was interested and then listened to the album record by record, opus by opus, and when I completed listening,the records stayed on the shelf; I have not touched the album since bought it.

The new DGs cd compilation, has great performances and liner notes. It compels one compare pieces and to explore this seemingly abstruse music in more detail. I have used the new set to explore these works, revealing Webern’s brevity, concision, delicacy , depth of feeling, and above all the greatness of some of his pieces such as the 6 bagatelles for string quarter, the variations for piano and the three small pieces (or should one say tiny!) for cello and piano.

Because of this set, I can now consider Webern as a familiar composer–one of the most innovative and concise composers of all time