Ernst KRENEK: Piano Music, Volume Two
This first extended survey of the piano music of Ernst Krenek (1900–91) continues with a range of works showing his craftsmanship and imagination – and humour. The early Toccata and Chaconne, Op. 13, has its origins in a joke intended to pull the legs of musicologists and music critics, but it develops into a massive contrapuntal essay of astonishing ambit. Krenek’s treatment of Baroque and contemporary dances in the three early suites reveal a fondness for learned whimsy – and that wry dispassion informs even the elegiac and brittle Fifth Sonata, written a quarter-century later in American exile. The closing Sechs Vermessene are kaleidoscopic miniatures with an improvised quality, as if advanced musical modernism were meeting the freest of free jazz.
Stanislav Khristenko, piano
Listen To This Recording:
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Toccata und Chaconne über den Choral ‘Ja ich glaub’ an Jesum Christum’, Op. 13 (1922)
- I Toccata
- II Chaconne
- I Allemande
- Sarabande
- III Gavotte
- IV Waltz
- V Fugue
- VI Foxtrot
- I Andante
- II Andante sostenuto
- III Allegretto
- IV Andante sostenuto
- V Allegretto
- I Allegro moderato
- II Andantino
- III Allegro agitato
- IV Adagio
- V Allegretto
- I Allegretto con grazia
- II Andante appassionato
- III Introduction and Rondo
- No. 1
- No. 2
- No. 3
- No. 4
- No. 5
- No. 6
Eine kleine Suite von Stücken über denselbigen Choral, verschiedenen Charakters, Op. 13a (1922)
Zwei Suiten, Op. 26, No. 1 (1924)*
Zwei Suiten, Op. 26, No. 2 (1924)*
Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 121 (1950)
Sechs Vermessene, Op. 168 (1958)
*FIRST RECORDINGS
MusicWeb International :
‘Ernest Krenek certainly has a sympathetic campaigner in Ukrainian-born pianist Stanislav Khristenko. […]
I look forward to further volumes in what I hope will eventually become a complete cycle of Ernst Krenek’s piano music. Meanwhile, I must get myself up to speed with this rewarding composer’s catalogue of music.’
—John France, MusicWeb International
American Record Guide :
‘As in the first volume of the series, all the performances have the utmost clarity and integrity. He seems deeply engaged with the music—so important for music that remains little known.’
—Haskins, American Record Guide
Fanfare :
‘Overall, I consider Křenek’s music to be highly compelling, and certainly unduly neglected. For those with a taste for solid, accessible mid-20th-century Modernism, along the lines of Prokofiev and Stravinsky, this release is highly recommended.’
—Fanfare
Sunday Times :
‘An interesting mini-conspectus of his career.’
—Sunday Times
Stretto :
‘Khristenko’s spel getuigt van een koele helderheid. Hij articuleert lijnen met melodische welsprekendheid en heeft een bewonderenswaardige, lichte aanslag.’
English translation:
‘Khristenko’s playing exhibits a cool clarity. He articulates lines with melodic eloquence and has an admirable, light touch.’
—Michel Dutrieue, Stretto
Art Music Lounge :
‘What I liked about it, particularly the toccata, was its vital rhythmic thrust; at least in Khristenko’s hands, the music almost bounces off the walls in a sort of moto perpetuo.
Nonetheless, even with the weak moments in the music mentioned above, this is clearly a fascinating album, perhaps more representative of Krenek’s musical thinking in a nutshell than any other single disc I’ve heard. He may well have been more a craftsman than a genius, but taking this album in toto one is impressed by his range. Even when he’s not great, he at least never really fails.’
—Lynn René Bayley, Art Music Lounge