The Austrian composer Wilhelm Kienzl (1857–1941) – also a pianist, conductor, musicologist and writer on music – enjoyed the esteem of his contemporaries particularly for his vocal music. But his star has waned over the past century, and only a handful of his 238 songs have had recent recordings. In style they range from the simple and folk-like to the dramatic and quasioperatic; their harmonic world likewise embraces both the diatonic and chromatic, with hints of the influence of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner and a foretaste of later composers. The four song-cycles recorded here treat the grand themes of life: love, loss, death and man’s interaction with nature.
Works:
•Kienzl: Aus Friedrich Rückerts "Liebesfrühling", Op. 11
• Kienzl: Drei Albumblätter für Gesang mit Klavier, Op. 24
• Kienzl: Vier Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, Op. 44
• Kienzl: Fünf Gesänge für eine hohe Singstimme mit Klavier, Op. 82