musica Dei donum
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Franz LISZT (1811 - 1886): Via crucis
Karin Selva, soprano;
Svetlana Skvortsova, mezzo-soprano;
Mauro Borgioni, baritone;
Chiara Bertoglio, fortepiano
Coro Maghini
Dir: Claudio Chiavazza
rec: March 26 - 28, 2021, Turin, Chiesa di Santa Pelagia
Da Vinci Classics - C00453 (© 2021) (69'07")
Liner-notes: E; no lyrics
Cover, track-list & liner-notes
Scores
Spotify
Albumblatt: Fragment on B.A.C.H. (S 166t);
Ave verum corpus (S 44);
Deutsche Kirchenlieder (S 669a);
In festo transfigurationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi (S 188);
Le crucifix (S 342);
Stabat mater (S 172b);
Via crucis (S 53)
Before the French Revolution sacred music was an important part of the oeuvre of almost any composer. That was very different in the 19th century. Most composers did not have a position which required the composition of sacred music. Quite a few had a problematic relationship with the Church - either Protestant or Catholic - or dissociated themselves with Christian faith as such. If they wrote sacred music, it was not intended for a performance within a liturgical framework, but rather for the concert hall or for performances by choral societies, which flourished in their time. Examples are the Requiems by Brahms and Verdi.
The main exception was Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who was a confirmed Lutheran. Another one was Franz Liszt, but - unlike Mendelssohn's - his connection to the Christian faith and (in his case) the Catholic Church is largely overshadowed by his reputation as a piano virtuoso and his many compositions which reflect his skills. Religion played an important role in his life from early on, but it was especially in the last decades that he focused on the composition of sacred music.
In the 1850s he already expressed some of the ideals of what was to become known as the Cecilian movement, which aimed at the reform of Catholic church music. Among these ideals were the importance of Gregorian chant as the basis of liturgical music. In particular the music by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was used as a hallmark of sacred music as it should be. Some early sacred works by Liszt reflect these ideals. However, the love of Liszt for the Cecilian movement was not mutual. Their representatives did probably find his music too poetic, too 'secular' and too complicated. His musical language may have made it not easy for the Cecilian movement to see him as one of their own. His defence of Richard Wagner may also have played a role. However, in Rome, where Liszt lived during the last decades of his life, he did not meet much sympathy either. His works were not performed, and if they were, he was often dismayed by the bad quality of the performances.
It is telling that when in 1885 he offered the Regensburg publisher of church music Pustet three manuscripts, among them Via crucis, for publication, without even asking to be paid for it, they were rejected. And he never saw a performance of Via crucis, today considered one of his masterworks: the first performance took place in 1929.
This work is the main item on the programme that was recorded by Claudio Chiavazza with his Coro Maghini, three vocal soloists, and Chiara Bertoglio, who plays a fortepiano by Blüthner of 1866. That was also the year Liszt started the composition; it was finished in 1878. It consists of fifteen sections; the opening section is followed by fourteen stages, Stationen in German. The numbers fifteen and fourteen are not coincidental: the Rosary comprises fifteen prayers, and the fourteen stages of Jesus's Passion are depicted in many Catholic churches, usually seven on each side. In this work we encounter two of Liszt's fascinations: Gregorian chant and Johann Sebastian Bach. The opening section is a setting of Vexilla regis, a hymn written by Venantius Fortunatus (c530-c600/09) and part of the Vespers on Passion (or Palm) Sunday. In three sections, which are about Jesus's falling, the opening lines of the Stabat mater are sung, but in different keys. And then Bach: Liszt uses two hymns which refer to him. In Station VI he includes O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden, which is an important element in the St Matthew Passion. In Station XIII, which is about Jesus's death, we hear the hymn O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid, which Bach did not use in one of his oratorios or cantatas, but is only known in a harmonisation, which is part of a collection published by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel. In both cases the harmonisations are by Liszt himself. He also makes use of the BACH motif, in Station VI in its original form - not coincidentally preceding O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden - and in Stations II and V in inversion. Some sections are for piano solo (Stations IV, V and XI); Station V is about Simon of Cyrene's helping Jesus to carry the Cross, and in the piano part one clearly recognizes the footsteps of Simon.
Whereas Via crucis is one of Liszt's better-known works, most other pieces are seldom performed. Ave verum corpus is another token of Liszt's interest in music of the past, in this case Mozart, whose setting of this text he had studied and transcribed. Its style may be an example of what the exponents of the Cecilian movement had problems with, as it is loaded with chromaticism. With the Deutsche Kirchenlieder we return to Bach and further back into history. They have their origin in a collection of hymns for piano solo; these seven hymns are for solo voice or four-part choir with organ, harmonium or piano. Two of them are specifically connected to Passiontide: O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden and Oh Lamm Gottes unschuldig.
Piano music is mostly not associated with sacred music, but the oeuvre of Liszt includes a number of exceptions. One of them is the Stabat mater, which probably dates from 1847; it has the form of a theme with variations. Material from this work was later included in the introduction to Liszt's arrangement of Rossini's Stabat mater. From the last stage of his life is In festo transfigurationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi (1880). It is a token of the asceticism that is a hallmark of Liszt's latest sacred music.
The disc ends with a setting of a song by Victor Hugo; Liszt knew him personally and set a number of his songs. This is a spiritual song, which opens with the words "Vous qui pleurez, venez à ce Dieu, car il pleure" (You who weep, come to this God, for he weeps). It is scored for a low voice and piano.
In the Via crucis the voices can be accompanied by either piano, organ or harmonium. It seems that recordings with organ are in the majority. The present recording may be the very first in which the accompaniment is allocated to a contemporary piano, of the kind Liszt knew and played. It lends this performance a unique character. Chiara Bretoglio deserves much praise for the way she explores the features of the Blüthner piano. Its colour palette substantially contributes to this performance's impact. The loudest passages are never too loud, which is one of the advantages of a historical instrument. I did not know this choir, but it is a really good ensemble. The version that I had heard before was the one by the Collegium Vocale Gent, directed by Reinbert de Leeuw (Alpha, 2019). This choir is hard to beat, but unfortunately De Leeuw plays a modern piano, and that is one of the reasons that the present recording deserves its own place. The rest of the programme is also quite interesting. The German hymns are very well sung, with a decent German pronunciation. The three soloists are doing a fine job here; Mauro Borgiani, who takes the main part of the solo episodes, deserves an honourable mention.
Johan van Veen (© 2023)
Relevant links:
Mauro Borgioni
Karin Selva
Chiara Bertoglio
Coro Maghini