Composer: Wilhelm Killmayer, Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann
Performer: NDR Chor, Katharina Sabrowski, Catherina Witting, Anna-Maria Torkel, Keunhyung Lee, Fabian Kuhnen, Sebastian Breuing
Conductor: Philipp Ahmann
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Es-Dur
Catalogue: ES2078
Release: 2021
Size: 712 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Schumann R: Vier doppelchörige Gesänge, Op. 141
01. No. 1, An die Sterne
02. No. 2, Ungewisses Licht
03. No. 3, Zuversicht
04. No. 4, Talismane
Schumann R: Romanzen, Book 1, Op. 69
05. No. 1, Tamburin
06. No. 2, Waldmädchen
07. No. 3, Klosterfräulein
08. No. 4, Soldatenbraut
09. No. 5, Meerfey
10. No. 6, Die Capelle
Schumann C: 3 Gemischte Chöre
11. No. 1, Abendfeier in Venedig
12. No. 2, Vorwärts
13. No. 3, Gondoliera
Killmayer: … Wie in Welschland lau und blau …
14. No. 1, Heimweh
15. No. 2, Wenn die Sonne lieblich schiene
16. No. 3, Wann der Hahn kräht
17. No. 4, In einem kühlen Grunde
18. No. 5, Wehmut
19. No. 6, Der Bräutigam
20. No. 7, Der Freiwerber
21. No. 8, Nachtlied
Schumann R: Romanzen und Balladen für Chor Heft I, Op. 67
22. No. 3, Heidenröslein
Schumann R: Romanzen und Balladen, Book 2, Op. 75 (text by a. Von Arnim and J. Von Eichendorff)
23. No. 1, Schnitter Tod
24. No. 2, Im Walde
Schumann R: Romanzen und Balladen für Chor Heft I, Op. 67
25. No. 4, Ungewitter
Schumann R: Romanzen und Balladen für Chorgesang Heft IV, Op. 146
26. No. 4, Sommerlied
Schumann R: Romanzen und Balladen für Chorgesang Heft III, Op. 145
27. No. 1, Der Schmidt
Schumann R: Romanzen und Balladen für Chor Heft I, Op. 67
28. No. 1, Der König von Thule
Schumann R: Romanzen und Balladen, Book 4, Op. 146 (text by J.L. Uhland)
29. No. 5, Das Schifflein
30. Schumann R: Liederkreis, Op. 39
In July 2018, the NDR Choir and Philipp Ahmann gave a highly acclaimed concert at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival as part of the SHMF Chornacht, which focused on the choral works of Robert Schumann. The CD “MONDNACHT”, carefully produced during this time, is now being released as the fifth CD of the NDR Choir on ES-DU.
If one considers Robert Schumann’s works for choir, the year 1849 turns out to be an extraordinarily productive one. He himself wrote to his publisher in the spring of 1849: “With true passion I have begun to write a collection of ballads for choir; something which, I believe, does not yet exist. It seems to me that this way of treating the balladic character results in an almost more effective pronunciation than individual vocal parts” The background to this was his activity as a conductor during Schumann’s time in Dresden: he had first taken over Ferdinand Hiller’s Liedertafel at the site and had also founded a “Chorgesangsverein” himself, which he not only directed, but for which he also composed perseveringly. This is how the majority of Robert Schumann’s works recorded on the CD were created this year. A year earlier Clara Schumann had already composed her “Three Mixed Choirs” based on texts by the Lbeck poet Emanuel Geibel. Eichendorff’s poem “Mondnacht” from 1835, to which the present recording owes its title, is probably the most famous poem of German Romanticism. The CD features the solo song, originally accompanied by piano, from Schumann’s Liederkreis op. 39 in Clytus Gottwald’s version for mixed choir a cappella. The combination of Schumann songs with those of his contemporary and Carl Orff pupil Wilhelm Killmayer is only at first glance a bit of an adjustment. In fact, his eight songs for four-part male choir – they were written between 1995 and 1997 for the Renner Ensemble Regensburg, commissioned by the “Kissinger Sommer” – which are summarised under the framework quotation “…as in Welschland laude and blue…”, build a bridge back to German Romanticism, thanks to their choice of text alone: Killmayer sets poems by Eichendorff exclusively to music. Not only this: Musically, too, Killmayer’s affinity to Schumann’s choridiom is likely to strike even the most superficial listener.
Reviews “The NDR Choir is particularly impressive in terms of intonation and text comprehensibility. And one of the strengths of the excellently acting choir soloists is the ability to blend in with the homogeneous sound of the choir at all times.” (Fono Forum, May 2020)