Boulez Conducts Webern

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Many listeners will be surprised to learn that Anton Webern wrote choral music--and indeed, his complete output, performed here, lasts a total of five minutes and seven seconds. Two of the three pieces are rooted in Webern's familiar serial technique, but the scoring, for choir, violin, clarinet, bass clarinet, celesta, and guitar, is delightfully original. The instrumental works are given expert readings by some of this century's finest performers. --David Vernier

Tracks:

5 Pieces For Orchestra: I. Bewegt
5 Pieces For Orchestra: II. Langsam (Sostenuto)
5 Pieces For Orchestra: III. Sehr Bewegte Viertel
5 Pieces For Orchestra: IV. Langsame Viertel
5 Pieces For Orchestra: V. (Alla Breve)
3 Orchestral Songs: I. Leise Dufte
3 Orchestral Songs: II. Kunfttag III
3 Orchestral Songs: III. O Sanftes Gluhn Der Berge
Symphony, Op. 21: I. Ruhig Schreitend
Symphony, Op. 21: II. Variationen
Das Augenlicht, Op. 26
Cantata No. 1, Op. 29: I. Zundender Lichtblitz Des Lebens
Cantata No. 1, Op. 29: II. Kleiner Flugel Ahornsamen
Cantata No. 1, Op. 29: III. Tonen Die Seligen Saiten Apolls
Variations For Orchestra, Op. 30
Cantata No. 2, Op. 31: I. Schweigt Auch Die Welt
Cantata No. 2, Op. 31: II. Sehr Tief Verhalten Innerst Leben
Cantata No. 2, Op. 31: III. Schopfen Aus Brunnen Des Himmels
Cantata No. 2, Op. 31: IV. Leichteste Burden Der Baume
Cantata No. 2, Op. 31: V. Freundselig Ist Das Wort
Cantata No. 2, Op. 31: VI. Gelockert Aus Dem Schose

Amazon.com essential recording

Webern (1883-1945) was practicing his own kind of atonality and serialism before he met Schoenberg. Schoenberg taught him that his serial principles could bring order to his work. This disc contains seven short works that reflect Webern's own experimental writing. This music is neither easy to play nor easy to listen to. The rewards are immense, however. Best here is Symphony, Op. 21, (1928) and Variations for Orchestra (1940), with "best" being practically meaningless. But you can hear the beginnings of 20th-century modernism in this music. Pierre Boulez, as usual, does what he can to make the music intelligent. Only for the brave. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Romantic Webern?.......2001-01-24

Yes, yes. Anton Webern (1883-1945) took the implications of the so-called Second Viennese School to their most radical conclusions, but like his teacher Arnold Schoenberg and his fellow Schoenberg-student Alban Berg, Webern remained in touch with the Mahlerian late-Romanticism of his youth. Even the gnomic Symphony, Opus 21 (1927) looks back to Mahler and makes (I believe) specific references to the Ninth Symphony. Consider the opening gestures of Webern's Symphony: We hear harp, strings, and horn - the very same combination in evidence in the first movement of Mahler's valedictory D-Minor Symphony. This is fin-de-siècle hyper-Romanticism glimpsed through the refractory lens of post-Hapsburg modernism. Webern originally planned four movements for his Symphony but typically left only two for posterity. Had he fulfilled his plan, the existing movements would probably make more sense than they do and indeed their underlying Romanticism might be clearer. Herbert von Karajan played this music very slowly, drawing the Symphony out to over a quarter of an hour, almost as if to lend it Mahlerian proportions. Boulez, of course, takes it faster, but he grasps the link with Mahler more clearly than von Karajan. I once heard Boulez lead a rehearsal of Mahler's Ninth, and he lavished a great deal of attention to the timbres of the opening bars of the First Movement. He finds those same timbres in the corresponding bars of Webern's score. Does it seem odd to speak of Webern's Romanticism? But one only has to look at the texts that he chose for his vocal and choral music, especially the mystical poems by Hildegard Jone, with their Hölderlinian fondness for nocturnal nature-imagery and lightning-like revelations of Being, as in "Das Augenblick": "O sea of glances with its surf of tears... When the night of your eyelids silently descends / upon your depths, your waters wash / against those of death." Not even the "French" interpretations of Boulez can hide this. In fact, as they bring out the convergence of Webernian minimalism with Debussy's late style, also an outgrowth of Romanticism, they reinforce the intuition. This is the best Webern anthology ever, with crisp, luminous playing from the Berlin Philharmonic, beautifully recorded. Despite Boulez's reputation for uncompromising Cartesian coldness, what we have here is Webern the sensualist, Webern the mystic, Webern the devotee of Mahler. Of the Big Three atonalists, Webern is the least intimidating and Boulez makes for him a very user-friendly case.

Average customer rating:

Webern for people who don't like Webern
Boulez's Romantic View of Webern
Subjective
Ill-conceived collection of things better left alone

Boulez conducts Webern, Vol. 2

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
ASIN: B000001GPO
Release Date: 1996-02-13

Tracks:

Passacaglia For Orchestra, Op. 1
5 Movements Op. 5: I. Heftig bewegt
5 Movements Op. 5: II. Sehr langsam
5 Movements Op. 5: III. Sehr lebhaft
5 Movements Op. 5: IV. Sehr langsam
5 Movements Op. 5: V. In zarter Bewegung
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: I. Etwas bewegte Achtel
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: II. Bewegt
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: III. Zart bewegt
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: IV. Langsam. Marcia funebre
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: V. Sehr langsam
6 Pieces For Orchestra Op. 6: VI. Zart bewegt
The Musical Offering: Fuga (Ricercata) a 6 voci
German Dances Op. posth. D 820: No. 1 - No. 2 - No. 3 In A Major
German Dances Op. posth. D 820: No. 4 - No. 5 - No. 6 In B Flat Major
Im Sommerwind

Customer Reviews:

Webern for people who don't like Webern.......2003-12-01

This collection of Boulez conducting Webern (now subsumed as part of his second 'complete' Webern edition--it isn't complete, though it's more so than the first) concentrates on early works and arrangements of works by other composers. Accordingly, it's an ideal introduction to Webern for those who are afraid of atonal music.

The Passacaglia was Webern's first published work, and is a striking essay in late Romanticism. This work is bursting at the seams with suppressed energy and chromatic lyricism, and Boulez and the Berlin Phil let rip here. It's not the more subtle reading that Webern's later scores merit, but I think the overheated interpretation is entirely appropriate to this work.

The Five Movements are one of Webern's early atonal pieces--there are still occasional hints of tonal harmony here--and we hear the lush transcription for string orchestra rather than the original version for string quartet. Here, Boulez's more romantic approach is more of a mixed blessing--the first movement gains from the extra broadness but the finale is a little slack.

The Six Pieces are the last works Webern wrote before turning to hyper-concise forms in the Four Pieces for Violin and Piano. Once again, there are still a few hints of tonal harmony in these pieces, particularly the powerful monolithic funeral march (the last such work in Webern's entire oeuvre) that forms the fourth piece of the set. I slightly prefer Boulez's earlier recording of this--the extra tightness of ensemble outweighs the broader sound for me.

The disc then moves onto arrangements. Webern's orchestration of Bach's Ricercare a 6 from the Musical Offering is one of his finest achievements. The melodies move from one instrument to another every few notes, creating an ever-changing coruscating range of colour. This is one of the few arrangements that really add to the original work--what we here is not Bach or Webern but a fusion of the two, both at their best. Both of Boulez's recordings are basically the same, clear and crisp, avoiding the lushness that other conductors have brought to this work.

Less ambitious is the orchestration of Schubert's German Dances. Unlike the Bach transcription, Webern here avoids writing in his own style and instead opts for a generically classical style. The work is thus a touching homage to Schubert, but it is not as powerful as the Bach.

Finally, Im Sommerwind is a early unpublished nature idyll in the style of Wagner or Strauss. It will probably appeal to fans of late Romanticism, but I found it left me somewhat cold, even though it is surprisingly well-written for a 20-year-old.

This would make an excellent introduction to Webern from the point of view of a lover of late Romanticism. Convinced Webern fans may be less attracted.

Boulez's Romantic View of Webern.......2001-05-01

Admittedly this isn't a recording for everyone. Those who are devout admirers of Webern as a 20th Century composer might be taken aback with how Boulez and the Berlin Philharmonic perform these works. Boulez views Webern here as a composer more at home in late 19th Century romanticism, paying homage to Mahler. So Boulez does emphasis the lush, crisp playing of the Berlin Philharmonic's string section throughout these works. And he emphasizes Webern's links to 19th Century romanticism and earlier musical periods by conducting Webern's orchestrations of Bach's and Schubert's music. Deutsche Grammophon's state of the art recording technology does a splendid job capturing the rich textures of Webern's music.

Subjective.......1999-06-15

Reviews are so subject that it is almost a waste of time writing them. What matters is that you experience the music and let it take you on a magnificent journey. Too many classical music critics and reviewers analyze the music to death until it loses what it was meant to do and that is entertain the listener.

Ill-conceived collection of things better left alone.......1999-04-04

Webern has known no greater intepreter than Pierre Boulez. Webern inspired this post-war generation of composers those who found sustenance in the European preservation of a new musical language. Anything American was inferior and continues to be do to our proclivities for pure entertainment and self-indulgence in our concert halls. It's bizarre that it was an American soldier during World War 2 that shot Webern while he was out for a cigarette from his modest cottage. This is an oddly conceived CD with Webern couched between his orchestrations of Bach and Schubert. We know Webern was an learned man, who kept a place of history always within his thinking. But he was also a visionary composer who had a very private introspective pallette of compositional ideas. And this CD does not really serve that side of Webern. The early "Passacaglia" I've heard better. Here Boulez rakes up the sonoric dirt so that the snarling trombones are in the forefront. I also thought this reading was too surface oriented something Boulez frowns upon, at least before. Webern's music is really not a social affair and when you make the "Five Movements" Op.5 here for string orchestra it is like letting someone into your diary. The large massive Berlin sound has to be controlled at least in Webern, and Boulez certainly knows where the pitfalls occur in this work."Im Sommerwind" was an early Idyll, an immature excursion into Strauss and Wagne which will equal them so why bother?. Webern's ultimate power is the distance placed between the orgies that was late Romanticism. Webern found the crumbs of this vast Romantic feast and there is not point revealing it.

Average customer rating:

Totally captivating & imaginative performances
Splendid Performances of Webern's Early Works

Boulez Conducts Webern

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
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Boulez Conducts Webern, Vol. 3

ASIN: B000001GIU
Release Date: 1995-03-14

Tracks:

Piano Quintet (1907)
Entflieht auf leichten Kahnen, Op. 2, For Mixed Choir
2 Lieder Op. 8 For Voice And Eight Instruments: 'Du, der iches nicht sage' - Langsam
2 Lieder Op. 8 For Voice And Eight Instruments: 'Du machst mich allein' - Sehr langsam
5 Pieces for Orchestra op. 10: I. Sehr ruhig und zart
5 Pieces for Orchestra op. 10: II. Lebhaft und zart bewegt
5 Pieces for Orchestra op. 10: III. Sehr langsam und erst ruhig
5 Pieces for Orchestra op. 10: IV. Fliend, erst zart
5 Pieces for Orchestra op. 10: V. Sehr fliend
4 Lieder op. 13 For Voice And Orchestra: I. Wiese im Park
4 Lieder op. 13 For Voice And Orchestra: II. Die Einsame
4 Lieder op. 13 For Voice And Orchestra: III. In der Fremde
4 Lieder op. 13 For Voice And Orchestra: IV. Ein Winterabend
6 Lieder op. 14 For Voice, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Violin And Cello: I. Die Sonne
6 Lieder op. 14 For Voice, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Violin And Cello: II. Abendland I
6 Lieder op. 14 For Voice, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Violin And Cello: III. Abendland II
6 Lieder op. 14 For Voice, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Violin And Cello: IV. Abendland III
6 Lieder op. 14 For Voice, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Violin And Cello: V. Nachts
6 Lieder op. 14 For Voice, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Violin And Cello: VI. Gesang einer gefangenen Amsel
5 Sacred Songs op. 15 For Voice, Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, Harp, Violin And Viola: I. Das Kreuz, das mu' er tragen
5 Sacred Songs op. 15 For Voice, Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, Harp, Violin And Viola: II. Morgenlied
5 Sacred Songs op. 15 For Voice, Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, Harp, Violin And Viola: III. In Gottes Namen aufstehn
5 Sacred Songs op. 15 For Voice, Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, Harp, Violin And Viola: IV. Mein Weg geht jetzt vor
5 Sacred Songs op. 15 For Voice, Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, Harp, Violin And Viola: V. Fahr hin, o Seel', zu deinem Gott
5 Canons op. 6 For High Soprano, Clarinet And Bass Clarinet On Latin Texts: I. Christus factus est
5 Canons op. 6 For High Soprano, Clarinet And Bass Clarinet On Latin Texts: II. Dormi Jesu, mater ridet
5 Canons op. 6 For High Soprano, Clarinet And Bass Clarinet On Latin Texts: III. Crux fidelis
5 Canons op. 6 For High Soprano, Clarinet And Bass Clarinet On Latin Texts: IV. Asperges me, Domine
5 Canons op. 6 For High Soprano, Clarinet And Bass Clarinet On Latin Texts: V. Crucem tuam adoramus, Domine
3 Traditional Rhymes op. 17 For Voice, Violin, Viola, Clarinet And Bass Clarinet: I. Armer S du
3 Traditional Rhymes op. 17 For Voice, Violin, Viola, Clarinet And Bass Clarinet: II. Liebste Jungfrau, wir sind dein
3 Traditional Rhymes op. 17 For Voice, Violin, Viola, Clarinet And Bass Clarinet: III. Heiland, unsre Missetaten
3 Lieder For Voice, E-Flat Clarinet And Guitar op. 18: I. Schatzerl klein
3 Lieder For Voice, E-Flat Clarinet And Guitar op. 18: II. Erlg: Mein Kind, sieh an
3 Lieder For Voice, E-Flat Clarinet And Guitar op. 18: III. Ave, Regina coelorum
2 Lieder op. 19 For Mixed Choir Accompanied By Celesta, Guitar, Violin, Clarinet And Bass Clarinet: I. Weiwie Lilien
2 Lieder op. 19 For Mixed Choir Accompanied By Celesta, Guitar, Violin, Clarinet And Bass Clarinet: II. Ziehn die Schafe
Quartet op. 22 For Violin, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone And Piano: I. Sehr mg
Quartet op. 22 For Violin, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone And Piano: II. Sehr schwungvoll
Concerto op. 24 For Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Violin, Viola And Piano: I. Etwas lebhaft
Concerto op. 24 For Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Violin, Viola And Piano: II. Sehr langsam
Concerto op. 24 For Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Violin, Viola And Piano: III. Sehr rasch

Amazon.com essential recording

Many listeners will be surprised to learn that Anton Webern wrote choral music--and indeed, his complete output, performed here, lasts a total of five minutes and seven seconds. Two of the three pieces are rooted in Webern's familiar serial technique, but the scoring, for choir, violin, clarinet, bass clarinet, celesta, and guitar, is delightfully original. The instrumental works are given expert readings by some of this century's finest performers. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

Totally captivating & imaginative performances.......2007-03-25

Boulez' masterful readings of Webern's early chamber and choral works are well worth adding to his complete survey of the composer's opus. All works are performed by the finest musicians including the pianist P-L Aimard renowned for his Debussy and Ravel recordings, two outstanding sopranos with pure-toned voice and BBC singers, each performance totally captivating and very imaginative. Beautifully recorded with details and realistic sound image.

Splendid Performances of Webern's Early Works.......2002-03-27

Pierre Boulez leads his Ensemble InterContemporain and pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard in a series of elegant performances of these early Webern pieces; many of which are also composed for choirs and/or single vocal soloists. Although these are early works, they are by no means juvenile marginalia, but instead, are well-thought expressions of Webern's interest in Serialism. I strongly recommend this CD as an excellent introduction of Webern's early scores from the intriguing perspective of Boulez, Webern's foremost interpreter. The sound quality is quite superb.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

On a Rolling Ball [Enhanced]

Spa

Sunday Nights - The Songs of Junior Kimbrough

Making Love, Vol. 1

Have a Good Time But Get Out Alive

The Very Best of Leroy Hutson [Import]

The Comedian Harmonists

Schubert: Symphonien Nos. 5-9 (Box Set) [Box set]

Talking With the Taxman About Poetry

Schubert: An den Mond (Chants nocturnes)

Solo [Live]

Sabor a Mi

Protagonistas De La Fama V.1 [Import]

Journeyman Blues

Complete Recordings