Zemlinsky songs

[ardcarp]

Maeterlinck Songs, Op. 13 were sung fantastically by Anne Sofie von Otter with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Sakari Oramo in tonight's Live in Concert. What amazing pieces they are. It seems people find them Mahlerian. I don't. They seem more reminiscent of early Schoenberg to me. Just when you think you have got a grip on the key at any one moment, the rug slips from under you and you find yourself grappling for a new tonal centre. Wonderful! And Zemlinsky's colouristic use of profligate orchestral forces takes some beating too.

Very much worth a listen.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b052lpjh#auto

[gurnemanz]

Sorry to have missed the concert. These 2 discs containing 67 songs are irresistible.

[Roehre]

Maeterlinck Songs, Op. 13 were sung fantastically by Anne Sofie von Otter with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Sakari Oramo in tonight's Live in Concert. What amazing pieces they are. It seems people find them Mahlerian. I don't. They seem more reminiscent of early Schoenberg to me. Just when you think you have got a grip on the key at any one moment, the rug slips from under you and you find yourself grappling for a new tonal centre. Wonderful! And Zemlinsky's colouristic use of profligate orchestral forces takes some beating too.

Very much worth a listen.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b052lpjh#auto

Zemlinsky was Schönberg's teacher and a bit later his brother-in-law.
The orchestrated and orchestral songs of Zemlinsky's don't escape some Mahlerianisms, but the original piano songs show his influence on Schönberg, as IMO is clear when comparing the Maeterlink-Lieder op.13 in their piano and their orchestral versions.

[Roehre]

Sorry to have missed the concert. These 2 discs containing 67 songs are irresistible.

I got the original DGG 2CD-set, irresistable indeed (the interpretation and that voice of Von Otter's here )

[Tevot]

Thanks Ardcarp. I'll certainly be giving them a listen. Currently in the process - after an absence - of catching up on the 25 concerts on I-player. Just finished the Rattle / CBSO Beethoven Series. Now listening to Requiem Canticles and awaiting Verdi's Requiem...

Give us a week or so and I'll get back to you. I bet you can hardly wait

All the Best and Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy Chinese New Year !!)

Tevot...

[Padraig]

Maeterlinck Songs, Op. 13 .... Anne Sofie von Otter....... What amazing pieces they are.... Zemlinsky .


Very much worth a listen.

I listened to this part of the concert last night and it certainly was most enjoyable. My introduction to songs with orchestra was Strauss's Four Last Songs and I have not added to that since. These songs would certainly appeal if I were to acquire another CD.
Your description, ardcarp, puts into words some of the thoughts that flickered through my mind, which quite pleases me, as I have never listened to any of Zemlinsky's music previously.

[Serial_Apologist]

I listened to this part of the concert last night and it certainly was most enjoyable. My introduction to songs with orchestra was Strauss's Four Last Songs and I have not added to that since. These songs would certainly appeal if I were to acquire another CD.
Your description, ardcarp, puts into words some of the thoughts that flickered through my mind, which quite pleases me, as I have never listened to any of Zemlinsky's music previously.

Then may I strongly recommend to you Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony in Seven Songs of 1923, to poems by Rabindranath Tagore, and even more sumptuously orchestrated. Or perhaps you should first indulge in Mahler's Dad Lied von der Erde, which in some ways is a prequel to it .

In many ways Zemlinsky was a stylistic bridge between Mahler, the Strauss of Salome, and the mature Berg, who admired him to the point of quoting him in his own Lyric String Quartet.

[Lento]

Just when you think you have got a grip on the key at any one moment, the rug slips from under you and you find yourself grappling for a new tonal centre.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b052lpjh#auto

I, also, was struck by the feeling of tonality slipping through fingers: an interesting listen, although I think I was giving too much attention to trying to understand the words from a German/French translation. Refreshingly good diction, on top of everything else, I thought.

[Padraig]

Then may I strongly recommend to you Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony in Seven Songs of 1923, to poems by Rabindranath Tagore, and even more sumptuously orchestrated.

Thank you S_A, always the gentleman.

I have to correct my previous claim of ignorance of Zemlinsky. I have discovered an unopened CD of Zemlinsky's String Quartets to which I shall in time lend an ear. I also found another CD with the Maeterlinck songs sandwiched between songs by Mahler and Szymanovski. I feel something prodding me down an unfamiliar laneway.