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NEOS 11209CD
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"In the avant-garde scene of the 1960s, graphic scores were very much in fashion. The American Earle Brown had started the trend with December 1952 -- a score that is legendary today, consisting merely of horizontal and vertical lines. Heinrich Ernst Erwin Walther (1920- 1995) must not only be considered one of the pioneers of graphic scores, as the phenomenon was far more than a passing fad in his case. Correlations between visual art and music had been a central aspect of his work from the start. He had made his first attempts at graphic notation as early as 1938, while still a student of conducting at the Wurzburg Conservatory. In 1949, after the war and captivity, he made his debut as a pianist in Nuremberg with improvisations on drawings by Franz Xaver Fuhr. From the mid-1950s on continuing until his death -- Walther produced what he termed 'audiograms.' More than 300 of this graphic scores have survived -- and, as can be heard on the present CD, they are among the most inspiring examples of the genre. That they have remained virtually unknown is due not least to the character of a composer who scarcely seemed interested in any more than regional renown; one could almost say that he stubbornly obstructed the dissemination of his own works. It is about time to introduce this creative composer to a broader public." Performed by: Ib Hausmann, clarinet; Peter Bruns, violon cello; Frank Gutschmidt, piano.
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NEOS 11210CD
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"H.E. Erwin Walther's oft-quoted statement that, as a composer, he was a colorful character, is especially appropriate in the case of his songs. In his output for voice and piano, spanning over 50 years, one finds romantic lieder alongside Tragodie vom Huhn und vom Kirchturmhahn ('The Tragedy of the Hen and the Church Tower Rooster'), chansons on text by Wilhelm Bush as well as the settings of Spanish poets featured on the present recording, while a single song 'Tag Ist' ('It Is Day,' from the Emmerig cycle) might include both twelve-note procedures (in the broader sense) and aleatory elements." Featured works: "Vier Lieder nach spanische Texten," "Drei Gasange fur Tenor und Klavier," "Sechs Lieder fur Soprano und Klavier," "Zwei Lieder fur Tenor und Klavier," "Vier heitere Lieder fur Soprano und Klavier," "Zwolf Sprechlieder fur Sprecher und Klavier." Performed by: Yvonne Friedli, soprano; Joachim Vogt, tenor; Wolfram Tesmer, baritone; Frank Gutschmidt, piano.
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