Zilcher: Choral Works

Featuring

Matthias Beckert
Julia Sophie Wagner
Ulrike Mayer
Markus Schäfer
Konrad Jarnot
Reinild Mees

Monteverdichor Würzburg
Hermann Zilcher

Did you know?

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Zilcher's late Romantic-impressionist aesthetic, taught by Bernhard Scholz (a friend of Brahms), shaped his work and made him resistant to 'emotionless' modern music.

Composer Biography

Hermann Zilcher, the composer, began playing piano as a child, with his father allegedly writing down his first compositions at age four.

Historical Context

Zilcher's use of texts from 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' for his 'Deutsche Volksliederspiel' reflected a broader European trend during World War I to recall national musical traditions.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Zilcher's 'Deutsche Volksliederspiel' deliberately countered the trend towards solo songs and orchestral songs by composers like Mahler and Strauss.

Composer Biography

As a ten-year-old, Zilcher lived one floor below Engelbert Humperdinck, the composer of 'Hänsel und Gretel', who allegedly predicted Zilcher would become a great musician.

Composition History

The 'Deutsche Volksliederspiel' (German Folk Song Play), a central work on this album, premiered in Munich in 1915 and was performed in over 100 cities shortly after.