Classical and Modern Music
Format: CD
Code: 112096
EAN: 3838898112096
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The thread that pulls together the selected sacred pieces is its chronological pattern – it starts in 1840 and finishes in 1847, the year of Mendelssohn’s death. Mendelssohn’s contribution to romantic choral literature is immense, and he is considered the first great composer for mixed choirs, from 1839 onwards when he composed his first pieces (Lieder im Freien zu singen, Opus 41, 48, 59, 88 and 100). He created a type of Lieder with an expressive melody and rounded
harmony and form, which quickly became popular and expanded throughout Europe. Amongst his large sacred works, only two have maintained their place in the choral repertory: the oratorios Elijah and St Paul. Compared to these, his smaller-scale sacred works, which he composed throughout his life, seem to be of secondary importance; nevertheless, they hold an important position in his oeuvre.
Mendelssohn was an ardent Protestant and had a good knowledge of the Bible. He was a skilled composer of polyphony; he became acquainted with vocal polyphony during his youth when he was a singer at the Berliner Singakademie. He later sought to combine counterpoint with emotional Romantic expression. His aim was not to create monumental works; rather, he sought his own subtle, emotional style. The difference in expression between his sacred and secular works is
marginal. Music is never secondary, never merely a medium for transmitting religious messages. On the contrary! The immaculate harmonic language and the economy of musical form breed new life into the texts.
Mendelssohn’s works reveal a strong connection with tradition, especially with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Johann Sebastian Bach. The influences of previous periods were not a hindrance to him. According to Mendelssohn, an artist should pick up the work where it has been left off and continue to create, rather than repeat the existing. Flirting with tradition and combining a creative continuation of it are the key concepts of Mendelssohn’s
artistic credo. Bach’s refined counterpoint and simple homophony are of equal importance to him. In this way, Mendelssohn created unique and appealing musical constructions of small degrees by combining common compositional techniques: unison passages, syllabic declamation of choral episodes and complex polyphony, often built up within solo parts. He knew how to place this in a spectrum of such rich colors like none of his contemporaries.
The Three Sacred Songs (Drei geistliche Lieder), Opus 96, were first written with an organ accompaniment; later, Mendelssohn orchestrated the organ section. The words were supposedly taken from English hymns and translated into German by the composer himself. The pieces are characterized by a peaceful dialogue between the melody of the soloist's voice and the harmony of the choir. Not until the conclusion of the third part, where he increases the
dynamics and the tempo of the dialogue, and ends the pieces with a majestic if a tad clichéd fermata in the soloist's voice.
The concept of dialogue – either between two choirs or between a choir and a soloist or a group of soloists – is the thread that runs also through the Three Psalms (Drei Psalmen), Opus 78. The antiphonal passages of the three psalm motets are written in strict form; this was the reason why Fanny proclaimed the psalm “Warum toben die Heiden” as Sistine and Gregorian. And yet, contrary to the epic dimensions of each individual piece and as a whole, the
composer managed to achieve an economy and a discipline of form, which exudes with melodramatic exaggerations. Uncommon for Mendelssohn, there are several examples of how he illustrated the text through musical symbols, in the Psalms. By alternating two choirs, he created sound stratification and a novel type of expressiveness: in “Richte mich, Gott” the expression is majestic and celebratory; in a similar style, but with alternation between the soloists, who call, and the choir who respond,
the third piece, “Mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen”, returns to the themes of asceticism and contemplation.
The deepest connection between the soloist and the choir can be found in the hymn Hear My Prayer (Hör Mein Bitten). It can be perceived as a substantial aria, as it is centered around a solo, melodic line. The choir supplements and substitutes the instrumentation and leads the solo into an intertwining resolution.
Six Anthems (Sechs Sprüche zum Kirchenjahr), Opus 79, are a collection of six choruses, associated with specific church festivals: Advent, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Passiontide, Good Friday and the Ascension. Each anthem is expressed in its own individual style; nevertheless, with its specific musical dynamics, each movement is also felt as a part of the whole: the polyphonic Allegro of “Lasset uns frolocken”, the celebratory “Frolocket, ihr Völker
auf Erden”, followed by the introverted “Herr Gott, du bist unsre Zuflucht”. The settings of “hallelujah” for Passiontide, “Herr, gedenke nicht unsrer Übeltaten”, and Good Friday, “Um unsrer Sünden willen”, build upon the previous expression, which becomes more contemplative, and the voices more individualistic. The whole composition finishes with the markedly homophonic “hallelujah” chant for the Ascension, “Erhaben, o Herr, über alles Lob”.
Sebastjan VRHOVNIK
The chamber choir of RTV Slovenia is one of the oldest European radio ensembles (1937). It performs old as well as new music – sometimes so new that it has an honor to premiere it. Often his performing partner is the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra or some other instrumental groups, so the singers are not only good at a capella.
The choir has a rich collection of awards, including the Orpheus prize, the award of the Society of Slovene Composers, the Yugoslavian order with Gold Wreath, and the award from the Let the Peoples Sing completion.
The singers have collaborated with the following conductors: Franc Kimovec and Drago M. Šijanec before the World War II, Ciril Cvetko, France Marolt and Milko Škoberne after the war. In 1962 Lojze Lebič took over the baton and developed the group into a leading Slovene choir. His work was proceeded by Marko Munih, who performed with the choir at renowned European festivals, in Brussels, Florence and Dubrovnik. The list of conductors continues with Jože Fürst, Mirko Cuderman, Tomaž Faganel,
Matevž Fabijan, Matjaž Šček, Urša Lah and Stojan Kuret.
In recent years, the ensemble has been working on different projects, recording for the archive of Radio Slovenia and hosting such conductors as Stefan Parkman, Günther Theuring (the acclaimed Euroradio Gallus Project by Radio Slovenia in 2001, 2002 and 2003 in cooperation with the SEVIQC Festival Brežice), Sebastjan Vrhovnik (the 2007 and 2008 Gallus Project), Martina Batič (the exquisite Euroradio project When Poetry Becomes Music in 2007), Dani Juris and Holger Speck (the 2010 Gallus
Project).
Polona Gantar was introduced to the organ at the Organs School at the Faculty of Theology in Ljubljana. In 1996, she graduated at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana (department of musical education). At the same time, Polona Gantar studied the organ at the Carintische Musikakademie (Prof. Klaus Kuchlig, graduated with honours in 1998). She finished her master studies of the organ at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna in 2003.
During and after her studies, Polona Gantar further developed her skills and education in Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands. She attended numerous master classes for the organ and improvisation under the tutelage of Peter Planyavsky, Michael Radulescu, Almuth Rössler, Olivier Latry, Jos van der Kooy, Ewald Kooiman, Jaroslav Tuma, Christoph Wolff, etc.
Polona Gantar has had soloist performances in Slovenia and abroad. She co-operates with the most distinguished choirs in Slovenia (Ave Chamber Choir, RTV Slovenija Chamber Choir, Ljubljanski madrigalisti choir, etc.) and with chamber groups with soloist singers and musicians.
She plays music which is recorded for the RTV Slovenija archive and also for the music label ZKP RTV Slovenia. Polona Gantar is the organ player in the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation in Ljubljana.
Compositions:
Three Sacred Songsi (Drei geistliche Lieder), op. 96 (1840)
1. Laß, o Herr, mich Hilfe finden 3.52 (listen!)
2. Choral. Deines Kinds Gebet erhöre 2.08
3. Herr, wir trau’n auf deine Güte 4.04
Solo: Nuška Zakrajšek (soprano), Edita Garčevič Koželj (mezzo-soprano)
Three Psalms (Drei Psalmen), op. 78 (1843/44)
4. Psalm 2. Warum toben die Heiden 7.57
Solo: Martina Burger, Tatjana Vasle (soprano), Alenka Bobek, Ana Plemenitaš (alto), Janez Gostiša , Metod Palčič (tenor), Klemen Šiberl, Darko Vidic (bass)
5. Psalm 43. Richte mich, Gott 4.016.
6. Psalm 22. Mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen? 8.26
Solo: Tatjana Vasle (soprano), Alenka Bobek (alto), Metod Palčič (tenor), Klemen Šiberl (bass)
7. Usliši moje prošnje (Hör mein Bitten) (1844). Himna po psalmu 55 10.15
Solo: Martina Burger (soprano)
Six Anthems (Sechs Sprüche zum Kirchenjahr), op. 79 (1843–1846)
8. Advent. Lasset uns frohlocken 1.33
9. Weihnachten. Frohlocket, ihr Völker auf Erden 1.32
10. Neujahr. Herr Gott, du bist unsre Zuflucht 2.58
11. Passionszeit. Herr, gedenke nicht unsrer Übeltaten 1.49
Solo: Valetnina Ovnič (soprano), Alenka Bobek (alto), Igor Novak (tenor), Luka Ortar (bass)
12. Karfreitag. Um unsrer Sünden willen 1.46
13. Himmelfahrt. Erhaben, o Herr, über alles Lob 1.32
