Paul Hindemith: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd (A Requiem for Those We Love)

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Whitman's poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" was his elegy on the death of Abraham Lincoln. Hindemith's setting, subtitled "A Requiem for Those We Love," dates from 1946. It was conceived as a tribute to FDR and the Americans who fought and died in World War II and perhaps also as a lament for the destruction of German culture. The composer himself--whose music was banned by Hitler's regime thus forcing his emigration from Germany--had both public and private reasons for writing this piece, and the result is extremely moving and approachable. It's a true modern counterpart to Brahms's German Requiem. Robert Shaw commissioned the music and simply "owns" it. This is a definitive performance. --David Hurwitz

Tracks:

Prelude
I. When Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloom'd
II. Arioso, In The Swamp
III. March, Over The Breast Of Spring
IV. O Western Orb
V. Arioso, Sing On, There In The Swamp
VI. Song, O How Shall I Warble
VII. Introduction And Fugue, Lo! Body And Soul
VIII. Sing On! You Gray-Brown Bird
IX. Death Carol, Come, Lovely And Smoothing Death
X. To The Tally Of My Soul
XI. Finale, Passing The Visions

Amazon.com

Whitman's poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" was his elegy on the death of Abraham Lincoln. Hindemith's setting, subtitled "A Requiem for Those We Love," dates from 1946. It was conceived as a tribute to FDR and the Americans who fought and died in World War II and perhaps also as a lament for the destruction of German culture. The composer himself--whose music was banned by Hitler's regime thus forcing his emigration from Germany--had both public and private reasons for writing this piece, and the result is extremely moving and approachable. It's a true modern counterpart to Brahms's German Requiem. Robert Shaw commissioned the music and simply "owns" it. This is a definitive performance. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2007-02-27

At first I had trouble comprehending this work. But once I became familiar with it I was awestruck.

I am a big Hindemith fan. And this is my favorite work. It tells a wonderful story, about life, yearning, sorrow and grief. And it unravels in the most marvelous way.

If you like Hindemith, add this to your collection and you'll be very happy.

A perfect compostion and recording.......2005-09-18

Robert Shaw was one of the greats of choral music, that goes without saying. Even if some of his recordings sound a bit "dated" to some ears, he was an important pioneer of American music.

The vocalists, Stone and de Gaetani, are without a doubt ideally suited to this work. They clearly grasped the poetry of Whitman and the wonderful music of Hindemith, and wove them into wonderful vocal art.

Hindemith, in my opinion a vastly underrated composer, spreads his wings and shows his overall musical talent in this requiem. Not just as the "German academician", but as a sensitive artist. He combined the genius of the German tradtion he represented as a refugee from Europe with the American genius of Whitman. In doing so, he created powerful art during some of the darkest days of the 20th century.

This recording is highly recommended. I've listened to it dozens of times and it never fails to impact me emotionally.

What an awesome team=Shaw, Hindemith ++Walt Whitman!.......2005-07-16

Altho Mr Shaw invariably knew the Soloists, best-fitted for each of his musical choices; This pair, William Stone/Jan de Gaetani are ideally chosen, awesome singers in their wondrous musical and textual roles! Whenever Shaw employed Stone, such a handsome impressive Basso, it was obvious how closely they related. This fearless bass promptly gave one huge bear hug to Caroline Shaw!

Such over-powering words of Walt Whitman demanded and received descriptive, dramatic settings by Shaw's great Atlanta Chorus, during one inspired period of later-life in Atlanta. I regret in waiting too long the enjoyment of hearing this while writing on my Computer. From an opening 4-tone theme: A up-to C- down to F, followed by E-natural, all of which give extra tension by added, unwavering, underlying C# pedal tone! All together they enhance descriptive sorrow in anguished results of a Choral Masterpience from a wondrous team of Shaw's commissioning of Paul Hindemith to adding the extra-ordinary Requiem text of Walt Whitman!

Hindemith, new resident of the USA knew of Shaw's love for Walt Whitman's Poetry, leading him to Commission Hindemith suggested Whitman Poems nearly in 1945! At that time Hindemith recalled, how he felt like the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" enough that he was caught-up in the "Trinitarian Symbolism" of W.W.'s three themes: 1) "the fallen Star of Abraham Lincoln" (Father Abraham) 2) "the profusion of Lilacs, banking the coffin of Lincoln" (Crucified as the Son) 3) "the beautiful singing Warbler entwined with the chant of my soul." Two Favorite Stanzas, No 6) Song, Oh How Shall I Warble"; No 8) "Oh Sing on! You Gray-Brown Bird" Both are greatly inspired as Symbolic of the Holy Spirit!

All of Walt Whitman's picturesque symbolism was given full sway by Hindemith and Shaw! It is Awesome hearing this carefully crafted Masterpiece after an earlier Columbia recording of N.Y. Philharmonic, Louise Parker, George London + Choral-Master, Hugh Ross. The differences become sparkling with Shaw's Carnegie Hall Preview by the Collegiate Chorale to this one of the ASO in 1990. From one who is grateful for this Love-Feast, Long-Retired Chap Fred W. Hood

Encountering an old friend.......2002-12-21

There have been some exquisite works for large orchestra and chorus composed in the last century, works that compare favorably with the great requiems and oratorios of the past. Evidence: Britten's 'War Requiem', Adams' "Harmonium", Gorecki's Symphony #2, Lauridsen's 'Lux Aeternam'. Not the least among these is the breathtakingly beautiful Hindemith WHEN LILACS LAST IN DOORYARD BLOOM'D based on the poetry of Walt Whitman. This massive yet gentle work is given a definitive performance by Robert Shaw and his Atlanta forces with the incomparable Jan de Gaetani and the fine William Stone bringing all the lonely haunting beauty to Hindemith's score. It is with a bit of sadness to remember that both Shaw and de Gaetani are no longer with us, but that adds to the power of this elegant requiem.

A recording for the ages.......2000-12-20

Robert Shaw knew "Lilacs" better than anyone--not only has he performed it more than anyone else, it was he who commissioned Hindemith to write the work in 1945 following the death of President Roosevelt.

I had the chance to hear Robert Shaw lead the Yale Glee Club in a performance of "Lilacs" in 1996, on the 50th anniversary of the work's completion (Hindemith was a music professor at Yale at the time). I was blown away from the very opening, played over a four-minute pedal point, and held with rapt attention to the very end.

This disk captured all the emotion of that performance; Stone and De Gaetani give extraordinarily warm and expressive performances, and the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, as always, is flawless. Shaw captures all the nuances of the work, from the menacing Orchestral Introduction, to the exquisite "Death Carol" ("Come, lovely and soothing Death"), to the 'sunset'-like finale ("Lilac and star and bird . . .").

Tracks:

Sehr Breit
1. Als Flieder Jungst Mir Im Garten Bluht'
Aus Dem Reid
Uber Die Hugel Im Lenz
4. O Westgestirn
Sing Weite, Du Im Ried
O Wie Werd Ich Selbst Denn Besingen
Mit Dem Frischen Wachstum Uberall
Sing Mehr! Sing Mehr, Du Vogel Dort!
Komm, Lieber Und Sanfter Tod
10. Wie Ein Gleichklang Meiner Seel'
Schwinden Die Bilder, Schwindet Die Nacht

Customer Reviews:

Revealing, noble rendering of the German version of the Requiem.......2006-01-08

Note first that this recording presents the German version of the Requiem, so you won't be hearing Walt Whitman in his native tongue. The English versions to beat are Hindemith's own stereophonic recording with the New York Philharmonic and the Schola Cantorum (originally a Columbia Masterworks LP) and Robert Shaw's digital version on Telarc (regarded by some as almost as authoritative as the composer's, given Shaw's intimate history with the work).

What is interesting about this version (which is a very good remastering of an analog recording) is the clarity Koch extracts from the orchestra, and the fascinating colors he teases out of textures other conductors have allowed to grow too thick. There is, in other words, a lighter, more transparent approach to the instrumental side of the score. I don't necessarily agree with every decision Koch makes, but most of them are more than defensible. On the other hand, we've certainly heard the final bars of the middle fugue exude much more power in the hands of others. The only problem instrumentally is the itchy trigger-finger of the percussionist handling the suspended cymbal in the "Song" -- he routine enters ahead of the beat. (Alternatively, perhaps he's watching the conductor's downbeat properly and everybody else is late -- choir included. Who's to know 40 years later?)

The choir performs very well, and despite this being an analog performance, it is easier to hear the individual choral lines in this recording as compared to the Shaw/Telarc release -- they are much more clearly delineated here. If you compared the two, not knowing which one was digitally recorded, you'd guess wrong in many choral sections. Koch looks to craft phrases by manipulating tempo, introducing ritardandi in the previously-mentioned "Song" when the vocal line (whether baritone or chorus) arches upward. I'm used to the more straight-laced reading metrically, but Koch's version isn't unpleasant and reveals an interior logic to the interpretation we don't often get with Hindemith.

The female soloist is top-notch, and sings to the level of her predecessors. The baritone, on the other hand, is a bit of a surprise -- at least, a surprise if you're used to the other soloists who've covered this part. First, his voice is almost tenor-like, rather than deep and rich. This took some getting used to at first, but one can't discount that in many passages he does bring out the emotional pain of the text. Second, he doesn't attack the text in places where his predecessors have virtually snarled out the words. This more laid-back approach might prevail at the behest of the conductor, so I don't know who specifically to blame for it -- but if you compare this to the previous versions mentioned, something appears to be very much missing. If you're not comparing, you wouldn't notice it. And, perhaps, the more aggressive treatment commonly accorded such portions of the Requiem is better suited to the original English idioms than to the German translations Hindemith created.

Since Hindemith's own recording with the NY Phil isn't available on CD (only the monaural version with the Vienna Symphony is extant, and THAT version is too flawed to serve as anything other than an historic document), the best first choice for the Requiem would be the Shaw/Telarc release. But this is a reasonably close second, and if you're only famliar with the Shaw, there are portions of this disc that are truly a revelation and a pleasure. Too bad no one version combines all the virtues of both.

If you're not familiar with this work at all, you're missing out on a profoundly moving experience. This is one of the greatest choral works of the 20th century, and deserves a larger audience. Those who've attended a live performance invariably report being moved to tears by the experience. Since the text is Walt Whitman's, this is more a secular Requiem than anything following Catholic or Protestant expectations. While the original Whitman poem was occasioned by the death of Abraham Lincoln, Hindemith's adaptation of the work was cued to the aftermath of World War II and its dead (perhaps starting with Roosevelt himself). The recent discovery of Hindemith's all-but-hidden incorporation of a Jewish hymn in the work suggests an acknowledgment of the Holocaust underlying Hindemith's intent: explicit so far as the music is concerned, but implicit in the sense that Hindemith didn't crassly point out the quotation in his lifetime.

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