Hans Sommer - Sapphos Gesänge; Goethe-Lieder

Hans SOMMER (1837-1922)

Sapphos Gesänge

Goethe-Lieder

Elisabeth Kulman (contralto) 

Bo Skovhus (baritone)

Bamberger Symphoniker

Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie

Sebastian Weigle

rec. Konzerthalle Bamberg, Joseph-Keilberth-Saal, 6 Aug 2010-14 May 2010.

This is a disc for connoisseurs of the German romantic orchestral lied. Sommer does not tip over into the expressionism of Zemlinsky and Schreker. This Brunswick-born German composer instead writes music that inhabits a toasty-warm romantic, quasi-Wagnerian idiom - dramatic and idyllic. 

On this evidence he stops short of emulating the writing of the mature Richard Strauss who, in any event, was from a later generation. If you know the orchestral songs of Granville Bantock - such as the Hafiz and Sappho cycles written years after these -just intensify them and then you know where on your shelves this disc of twenty songs belongs. The idiom may be familiar but the invention is fresh and the singing and playing is wonderfully well judged.

 

Both singers - Kulman takes the lion’s share - are ardent, engaged and completely in style. Kulman brings a ripe Janet Baker resemblance her singing: try the dreamy mists of Ach neige, du Schmezenriche. Skovhus handles cheery kindly (König und floh) and earnest (Der Fischer) with equal skill. It would be good to hear these voices also in the orchestral lieder of that other master of the idiom, Josef Marx. The orchestration is imaginative with a plethora of detailing, including fleeting spot-lit moments for solo violin (Wozu soll ich redden?), flute and clarinet. The flute line is at times like a medieval dog on the death statue of its master, entwined in affection and fidelity at the departed’s feet. The songs sometimes radiate a torrid ardour, at others a bluff humour of the sort I associate with Siegfried Wagner (Mailied and Frech und Froh). He also has cause at times to call on a more gentle muse. At times there’s a quite magical concentration as in Des Harfners Gesang and Wanderers Nachtlied and lulling hypnotics, as in Symbolum.

 

Sommer wrote numerous operas, lieder and some orchestral works. His stepfather was none other than Peter Voigtländer, whose name on vintage cameras will be well known to students of photography. Sommer’s research into lenses contributed to the development of commercial cameras through the Voigtländer company.

 

The sung words are printed in the attractive booklet alongside English translations. The notes by Carsten Niemann cover the main bases but I wish we had been given more information about Sommer and a clear list of works.

 

If you enjoy the orchestral lieder of Pfitzner, Reger, Schoeck and Marx you should hear this disc.

 

In summary then: full-flood, refulgent romanticism from these pretty-much unknown songs with orchestra. The songs are sung with commitment and the voices and orchestral treatment suit the music very well.  

Rob Barnett (Music Web)

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Hans Sommer (1837-1922) was truly a Renaissance Man. He began composing music at the age of 10, but his published Op.1 had to wait until he was 37. Part of the reason for this was that his step-father was Peter Wilhelm Friedrich Voightländer, who owned the famous Voightländer & Son optical company in Brunswick, Lower Saxony. Hans was expected to join the company, so his education concentrated on Natural Sciences, Physics and Mathematics, the latter pair being his subjects at Göttingen University. However, returning to Brunswick after his University years, Hans taught maths at the local Collegium, which he was partly responsible for elevating the college into a Polytechnic, of which he was Director from 1875.

During this period, he had time to take more piano and composition lessons. He was also involved in Natural History societies in the town, as well as the Music society, where he was regarded as an authority on musicology. The research into lenses and objectives which he did at the Polytechnic placed Voightländer's technical advancements far in advance of their competitors. But in 1884 he decided to take unpaid early retirement from the Polytechnic in order to dedicate himself more to music. He attended Liszt's Master Classes at Weimar from 1884, where, in 1889, he met and befriended the younger Richard Strauss. They were lifelong friends and had a great mutual respect.

Meanwhile, Hans continued with his own compositions, ranging from piano solos to operas. In his time, he was particularly known for his contribution to the Lied, of which he wrote many; his 1880s work was regarded as an important bridge between the pioneering arts of Schumann & Schubert and those of Mahler, Strauss and Wolf in the 1890s. This was particularly true in the orchestral lied, of which he himseld was a pioneer, adding the intense drama and harmonically bold colouration of Wagner to lyrical lines and deep poetic expression.

The 'Songs of Sappho' Op. 6 was his first set of orchestral songs, his text coming from 'Sappho' by the Rumanian Queen Elisabeth zur Wied. It tells the tale of the legendary Greek poetess from Lesbos, the songs dealing with the human condition, airing such topics as indifferent Gods, adversities in life and the difficulties of political expression. Immediately one can recognise the voice of a master here, with maturity in comprehension of the text and emotional sensitivity to express it musically with moving and thrilling effect. Clearly the Tudor producers and conductor Sebastian Weigle realise the quality and importance of these songs, as they brought in not just the splendid Bamburg Symphony Orchestra, and two stellar soloists, but recorded the programme in magnificent multichannel audio.

Austrian Mezzo-Soprano Elisabeth Kulman is allotted the Sappho songs. She has a shining timbre with a rich palette of overtones (reaching alto quality in her lower vocal regions), and at times recalls Janet Baker at her height. She is deeply committed to her reading, using a flexible rubato which is passed on to the orchestra by conductor Weigle, clear in diction and deeply expressive, with much affecting word-painting. She also sings four of the Goethe Songs.

Sommer wrote a total of 29 Orchestral Songs, of which 20 were in his most famous (in his lifetime) group of 'Goethe Songs'. This disc contains 13 of the Goethe set, prefaced by 'Odysseus' Op.11/1 (poetry by Felix Dahn). Danish baritone Bo Skovhus uses his ringing "heroic" voice wherever required, but also displays in the following Goethe Songs a wonderful range of subtle dynamic responses and emotional contouring which no doubt come from his much sought-after operatic skills. The result, combined with magnificent orchestral playing, is ravishing. Every one of these songs is imbued with Sommer's maturity, and are on a par with the best of R. Strauss' and Mahler's orchestral lieder.

As befits the great poetry they are transforming into music, the songs show a wide range of subject and style. There are several 'Das Knaben Wunderhorn' type movements for example, with light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek effect, including the story of the King who was drawn under the stream to his death by a water fairy (listen to the chalumeau clarinets gurgling enticingly away while basses and cellos express the deep undertow).

Barring one or two CDs with solo songs, this is the first major exposé of Hans Sommer's talents for some time, and I hope that other companies will be willing to explore further with his orchestral and chamber works, as well as the songs with piano. Given such committed performances and excellently realistic sonics, we could be in for more astonishing discoveries.

Treat yourself to a wonderful experience in late Romantic vocal music at its very best. It is hard to imagine singing being more lovely and communicative than in these performances. Sommer's amazingly effective, colourful orchestrations are played so enthusiastically by the Bamburgers, with every nuance captured on this well-engineered SA-CD. Snap this one up while you can, and in the meantime, listen out for other neglected orchestral songs, such as Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony (Zemlinsky: Lyric Symphony - Eschenbach) and Anna Cramer (Cramer: Songs - Mees, Voogd, Pas).

A real gem, not to be missed.

John Miller