Classical and Modern Music
Format: Komplet 2 x CD + DVD
Code: 112478
EAN: 3838898112478
This portrait of the conductor Marko Munih, a doyen of Slovene music interpreters, a connoisseur and subtle interpreter of vocal or vocal and instrumental music, is a collection of some of the finest recordings Munih has made with various Slovene ensembles for audio media in the past four decades.
This music box includes two CDs with recordings of three great vocal and instrumental compositions and representational compositions for choral ensemble, which was chosen from the rich pool of world and domestic music, and also includes a DVD with the TV programme Od glasbe do večnosti (From Music to Eternity), directed by Dušan Hren. The recordings are an exceptional document with specific reference to the Munih's musical career, its development and his
abundant legacy.
Marko Munih always paid special attention to the noble choral sound, either in compositions for choir or in great vocal and instrumental compositions. In the 1970s, he conducted the RTV Slovenija Chamber Choir and recorded an incredible number of compositions with it.
Marko Munih worked as an Editor-in-Chief for the Radio Slovenia music programme for over 16 years. As someone wrote, "he set the course of popular music tastes in many ways and indirectly also the course of development within Slovene music. He incessantly tried to connect and coordinate various programme segments for RTV Slovenija". Nevertheless, he never forgot his personal musical development and activities. During that period, Marko Munih had numerous well-received concerts accompanied by
the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra, and co-created numerous albums, published under the ZKP RTV Slovenija music label.
Munih's musical career started in earnest after he had concluded his studies at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where he took the conducting classes under Mr. Danilo Švara. Munih then became the assistant of the famous Lovro von Matačić in Frakfurt-am-Main and their collaboration left an indelible mark on the young conductor. When he returned home, he became resident conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted the APZ Tone Tomšič for no less than 10 years. Under his
leadership, the choir achieved one of their greatest achievements in their development.
Marko Munih received several important awards for his work: twice the Prešeren Award, once the Betteto Award and once the honourable badge of freedom of the Republic of Slovenia for his long-standing music contribution. Slovene cultural and music life was for several decades permeated with Munih's spirit and influence. With his peaceful, but nevertheless persistent and consistent dialogue with his counterparts, he set the course of music development in Slovenia in creating
original compositions and in interpreting existing ones, since Slovene composers willingly and happily obliged his appeals and concepts for new compositions. Every composer is happy to write music, if he knows that his compositions are going to be performed professionally and at a high professional standard. Both composers and music interpreters were well received by audiences and – equally as important – professional reviewers.
As the critic and composer Pavel Mihelčič wrote: "His arms are like the breath of a chorus: if his arms take a breath, the chorus takes a breath, too; if they make a soft move, the chorus sings softly and gently... This can of course be achieved only in coordination with all the performers. Their collaboration bore rich fruit."
On the first CD, we find the recordings of three great vocal and instrumental compositions Schicksalslied (The Song Of Destiny) for chorus and orchestra by Johannes Brahms, Christnacht for soprano, tenor, mixed chorus and orchestra by Hugo Wolf and Integrals (seven poems by Srečko Kosovel) for tenor, mixed chorus and grand orchestra by Vilko Ukmar.
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) had a special rapport with literary works throughout his life. He wrote that beside music literature was his great love and passion. Therefore it's not surprising that he always chose the best literary texts for his vocal or vocal and instrumental works. When setting them to music, he always paid the greatest attention and respect for each piece. In 1871, he set to music Schicksalslied (The
Song of Destiny) by Friedrich Hölderlin's novel in letters Hyperion, depicting the liberation battle of the Greeks, after 350 years of Turkish oppression.
Hugo Wolf (1860–1903) started to compose his Christnacht in 1886 and finished it three years later, in May 1889. The story about the birth of Jesus combines important elements, which Wolf considered in his music: the simplicity and vulnerability of the event taking place in a humble barn, and at the same time the birth of God personified. The composition consists of very refined, gentle and subtle sections on the one
hand and sections shrouded with dignity, and superiority, internalisation and then the mystery of Christmas on the other.
Marko Munih excellently interpreted these characteristics of Wolf's style with his chorus and orchestra: he proved himself as a master of both contemplative and deliberate interpretation.
In 2011, we commemorated the 20th anniversary of Vilko Ukmar's death (1905–1991), a prolific artist, who left his mark in numerous spheres of the Slovene musical history: as a composer, writer, critic, author of the first world music history in the Slovene language, an organiser of musical life and as an excellent lecturer at the Academy of Music and the Musicology Department of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana. His musical style originates in the Late
Romanticism period, which is later enriched by Impressionism and culminates in Expressionism. As Ukmar himself wrote, music was his faithful companion from a young age and gave meaning to his life. He actualised his reflections in an in-depth, emotionally coloured and lyrical opus.
Vilko Ukmar had a special relationship with the literary world, and used Srečko Kosovel's poems as his source of inspiration. In 1972, he set to music Kosovel's Integrals, a collection of seven poems. With this collection, Kosovel represents himself as an innovator and a Slovene Constructivist poet. He always tried to instil a depth of meaning and an aesthetical effect within his words. And this is exactly the point where Ukmar and Kosovel met artistically.
The second CD consists of domestic and international choral music. The recordings are in a way a review of Munih's eight year period (1971–1979) of being the conductor of the RTV Slovenija Chamber Choir. During this time, Munih focused mainly on new Slovene original works. At the same time, he studied and conducted compositions from international composers with an Impressionist style and whose works were almost
completely unknown to Slovene audiences at that time. All the compositions on the CD had their premier in Slovenia.
Uroš Krek (1922–2008) wrote his Four Songs with lyrics by Jože Udovič in 1974. Krek is considered one of the most relevant contemporary Slovene composers and had a special attitude, especially towards string instruments and vocals. He became estranged from his original compositional school very early on in his career. "The world of sounds which floated in front of his eyes and ears was the world of formal clarity, cheerfulness and a new or renewed or not yet lived Slovene
Neoclassicism." Later, the composer went a step further and wrote: "The break with the past is one of the main slogans of the so-called 'experimental courses'... The rediscovered world of folk music has become one of the fountains, which together with new sounds fed the creative inventions and allowed for the creation of a new style of European music, especially within those nations who haven't been burdened with the cult of the frightening tradition." Krek throughout his life was intertwined
with European trends, and with him Slovenes played an equivalent role in the wider world of music. At the same time, Krek kept his typical Slovene roots, as he felt a special connection with folk traditions in its broadest sense. Krek's choral compositions have a special quality due to his choice of the finest lyrics: the composer took the poems of the greatest Slovene poets and as a rule set to music only existential and lyrical poems.
Samo Vremšak (1930–2004) left a deep impression in the fields of vocal and organ music, although "we can find composition of all styles and music in his opus," as Marjan Gabrijelčič writes. "The imitation ranges from free to strictly directed voices, motivic structure, recitatives and symmetry of form and impressionist turns that combine into original wholes in Vremšak's compositions. Vremšak is one of the few in the field of original vocal music who builds upon traditional
elements, but nevertheless transforms them into new, vigorous works of art." The three songs based on Romany poetry were created in 1975 and surprise us with their lyrical power. Their origin is undoubtedly the closest connection between music and lyrics, which is followed by the composer in both melodic and rhythmical structures. Marko Munih's affinity for Impressionism and later Neoclassicism is reflected in the next two recordings. The French composers Claude Debussy
(1862–1918) and Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) are the most important representatives of these styles and they also left their mark within choral music. Claude Debussy wrote his Trois chansons (Three songs) in the second decade of the 1900s. He brilliantly combined the old style with the new harmonic language. Even the lyrics are old, written by a Duke and poet Charles of Orleans around 1415. Debussy composed three songs with a very refined impressionistic touch and sensitivity
for sound.
Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) wrote his own Trois chansons and wrote the lyrics for them as well. The composition was created between December 1914 and February 1915, when the composer was waiting to be drafted into the army, as WW1 in Europe was already in full swing by then. The choral works were printed in 1916 and performed for the first time one year later. The first and the third songs are full of humour and wit, while the second is connected with the composer's drafting to the army.
According to numerous experts, Francis (Jean Marcel) Poulenc (1899–1963) is, besides Debussy and Ravel also one of the five most important French composers of the first half of the 20th century. Although Poulenc joined the "Les six" movement, which – following the example of Russian "The five" – consisted of six composers, he was never keen on compositional innovations, which interested his friends. In a way, he remained all his life a sort of a "classicist", and followed the
Neoclassicism of Ravel's kind. Amongst his important works are the Sept chansons. At the end of 1930s, Poulenc heard some of the best madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi and this vocal music left a profound impression on him. Contrary to Debussy, who used old poems for his Trois chansons, and Ravel, who wrote his own lyrics, Poulenc chose his contemporary Paul Eluard and the slightly older Guillaume Appolinaire.
The cycle offers appreciative and important concert literature. Each composition has a different character and represents a true jewel with its rich sound colouration and originality of music ideas.
Contrasting in style are the Vier Temperamente (Four Temperaments), a humorous scene for mixed chorus, contrabass, vibraphone, cymbals and gong by the Austrian composer Heinz Kratochwill (1933–1995). "My development as a composer led me from the Late Romanticist and Expressionist beginnings into a pronounced expressive style, marked by the twelve-tone technique of Schoenberg and others. In my sound fantasies, I search through the free tonality of various realisations in the
synthesis of the past and the present, where I like to use jazz and Avant-garde elements," stated the composer. These words represent Kratochwill's Vier Temperamente aptly and which premiered in Vienna's Musikverein in 1973.
The CD ends with a brilliant Neo-classical work by the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959). Legenda z dýmu bramborové nati (Legend of the Smoke from Potato Fires), cantata for soli, mixed chorus and instrumental accompaniment with lyrics by Miloslav Bureš, and is from 1959. Martinů was in 1955–56 a professor at the American Academy in Rome, after he received American citizenship in 1950. Besides Leoš Janáček, Martinů was undoubtedly the most important Czech composer
with a very original and distinctive musical language. He found his key influence in Czech folk music, early English Renaissance and Debussy's impressionism, which he came upon during his studies in Paris. We must not ignore the influence by the young Stravinsky and the composer's sincere interest for the Baroque legacy of Vivaldi, Corelli and Bach.
In the 1950s, Martinů returned to his home roots, regarding his musical style. In the following four years he composed four cantatas, where he celebrates his beloved Czech landscape and takes his ideas from folk traditions and customs. The music is based on simple lyrics by his fellow-citizen from Martinů's home town Polička, Miloslav Bureš, who was inspired by folk traditions. The contents and the musical expression are close to the folk tradition, while the musical style is of course modern
and close to Neoclassicism.
Monika Kartin
Translated by Polona Mertelj
CD 1:
1. Johannes Brahms: Pesem usode / Schicksalslied op. 54 14.38
– za zbor in orkester (Friedrich Hölderlin) (listen!)
2. Hugo Wolf: Božični oratorij / Christnacht 18.21
(August Graf von Platen)
Urška Žižek – sopran
Marjan Trček – tenor
3. Vilko Ukmar: Integrali
– kantata za solo tenor, mešani zbor in veliki orkester 28.42
(Srečko Kosovel)
Mitja Gregorač – tenor
CD 2:
Uroš Krek: Štiri pesmi (Jože Udovič)
1. Vedro je lice stvari 2.41 (llisten!)
2. Znamenja 2.54
3. Kakor resa 2.01
4. Pismo 3.15
Samo Vremšak: Tri pesmi iz ciganske poezije (prev. Ivan Minatti)
5. Jesen svatuje 1.49
6. Jagnedi in smrt 2.27
7. Navkljub 1.00
Claude Debussy: Tri pesmi / Trois chansons (Charles d'Orleans)
8. Dieu! Qu'il la fait bon regarder! 2.26
9. Quant j'ai ouy le tabourin 2.04
10. Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villiain 2.04
Maurice Ravel: Tri pesmi / Trois chansons (Maurice Ravel)
11. Nicolette 1.50
12. Trois beaux oiseaux 3.06
13. Ronde 1.43
Francis Poulenc: Sedem pesmi / Sept chansons
14. La blanche neige (Guillaume Apollinaire) 1.05
15. A peine défigurée (Paul Eluard) 1.35
16. Par une nuit nouvelle (Paul Eluard) 1.16
17. Tous les droits (Paul Eluard) 2.26
18. Belle et ressemblante (Paul Eluard) 1.56
19. Marie (Guillaume Apollinaire) 2.01
20. Luire (Paul Eluard) 1.27
Heinz Kratochwill: 4 temperamenti / Die vier Temperamente op. 81
21. Flegmatik 1.38
22. Kolerik 1.28
23. Melanholik 1.49
24. Sangvinik 1.41
Bohuslav Martinŭ: Legenda iz dima po pečenem krompirčku / Legenda z dỳmu bramborové nati
25. – kantata za soliste, mešani zbor in instrumentalno spremljavo 18.53
Marjana Križman – sopran
Marjana Lipovšek – alt
Samo Vremšak – bariton
DVD
1. Richard Wagner: Tannhäuser, uvertura 15.31
2. Peter Iljič Čajkovski: Simfonija št.6, op.74, Patetična
Adagio, Allegro non troppo 17.59
Allegro con grazia 7.54
Allegro molto vivace 9.11
Finale: Adagio lamentoso 10.00
RTV Slovenija Chamber Choir
RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra
the conductor Marko Munih
