Tag Archives: Paul Frankenberger

Dmitri Klebanov: Music from Exile


Chandos CHAN 20231

A wonderful trend was begun by London/Decca in the early 1990s with the release of their “Entartete Musik” series. It featured music by composers whose work had been suppressed by the dictates of the Nazi regime. It brought to light a great deal of wonderful music by mostly but not entirely Jewish composers many of whom died in concentration camps or were forced to live in exile. These recordings sparked a trend which continues today and this time the Chandos label hosts the efforts of the Toronto based ARC Ensemble whose scholarship and performance skills bring this, the fifth album in this important series. It is saddening to see the sheer volume of these oppressed works evidenced by the seemingly endless flow of new releases in this genre but there is some joy to be had in the fact that this music is slowly getting performances and recognition.

Previous releases featured premiere recordings by Jerzy Fitelberg, Szymon Laks, Walter Kaufmann, and Paul Ben-Haim. Haven’t heard these names? Well, maybe you’ve heard of Paul Ben-Haim, the Jewish/German composer who changed his name (Paul Frankenberger) when he emigrated to Palestine in 1933. The importance of projects like this one is to bring to light the art of composers lost to history and unknown in concert halls due to political oppression and/or outright murder.

This release features music by Jewish/Ukrainian composer Dmitri Klebanov (1907-1987), a composer whose work displeased the Stalinist regime. He wasn’t put in a concentration camp, he wasn’t killed, he wasn’t even sent into exile in the Gulag. Rather he was forced into a sort of intellectual exile in which he produced music which pleased the regime. But he had been cast as a sort of “whipping boy” by the regime and used as an example in the hopes of preventing others from straying to more liberal and outspoken paths such as those of Prokofiev and Shostakovich.Fortunately he outlived Stalin and was able to return to his own personal style of composition. It is this music which is presented here.

The three works from 1946, 1958, and 1965 respectively seem to have been chosen to reflect three fairly distinct eras in Klebanov’s artistic development. Whether these are ultimately representative of those chosen eras seems beside the point which is, I believe, to present a representative sampling of his work to give listeners a taste of his work and to help guide interesting performers and record companies to decide what to record next.

These works will serve to represent this neglected composer for now. There do exist some recordings of this music but these are mostly on small labels and very difficult to find. The hope for this recording and for a project like this is to provide good recordings with authoritative performances which may inspire musicians to explore the remainder of the composer’s work and, hopefully, bring these gems to audiences.

The disc begins with the nearly classical sounding fourth quartet from 1946. Cast in the classical four movements it’s difficult, in 2021, to imagine how this very accessible music could offend Soviet leaders but that is another issue entirely. All music ultimately exists within a variety of contexts but it is only possible to hear this music as it is today, listening with ears that did not exist at the time the music was written. Suffice it to say that this is eminently listenable music played with insight and dedication by the wonderful ARC Ensemble (Erika Raum, violin; Marie Berard, violin; Steven Dann, viola; Thomas Wiebe, cello; and Kevin Ahfat, piano).

The second selection is the Second Piano Trio of 1958. It is cast in three movements, some of which will remind listeners of Shostakovich whose fame and mastery loomed brightly at this time. But neither the rather conservative classical form of a piano trio nor the basically tonal idiom is likely to have charmed Kremlin leaders of the time. This is intelligent music that show the composer at the height of his powers and this, generally speaking, was not appreciated by the powers that be at the time of the work’s genesis.

The last work on the disc is the composer’s fifth string quartet from 1965. Like the two works that precede it in this recording this is music of both substance and charm. It is as listenable as the other two works and would doubtless entertain the average concert goer. It bears comparisons to Shostakovich, yes, but also to Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.

Completists, such as your reviewer here, will wonder at the music not included on this disc: the first three string quartets, the first piano trio, the other chamber music, nine symphonies, and various concerti along with five operas and two ballets. It is both fitting and sad that this overdue review be published at at this moment in history when, as I write, the Russian army advances into the Ukraine leaving death and destruction in their wake. There is doubtless much more music yet to be uncovered/discovered, rescued from oblivion but the sad fact is that the forces which suppressed this Ukrainian composer’s works continue to oppress artists today.

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Auréole: Embracing the Wind and the Strings


aureole

American Modern Recordings AMR 1050

Auréole consists of Laura Gilbert, flute; Mary Hammann, viola; and Stacy Shames, harp.  It is an ensemble seemingly based on the instrumentation of Debussy’s justly famed sonata (1916) for that combination of instruments.  It is like the instrumentation of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (1912) whose instrumentation (flute, clarinet, violin, piano, and voice and/or percussion) has become a sort of standard grouping and has had much written for it (much more than the flute, viola, and harp combo).

Nevertheless this ia a charming chamber ensemble and they’ve chosen their repertoire well for this recording.  Here are four works which share the instrumentation of the aforementioned Debussy sonata.  They also share a similar musical aesthetic in their basically tonal and romantic style. This ensemble has chosen works dating from therapy twentieth century to the early twenty first. Two are by Israeli composers and two by Americans. 

The album opens with a trio simply entitled, “Chamber Music” (1978) by the late Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984).  He was born Paul Frankenberger and was born in Germany. He, like many Jewish refugees from the horrors of WWII, settled in what was then Palestine where he became known (for better or worse) as the Israeli Aaron Copland.  His music is overdue for a new reckoning and this is a fine example of his work. This lovely trio is cast in three movements and is bound to please and entertain. 

Next up is Robert Paterson’s (1970- ) “Embracing the Wind” (1999).  Cast in one movement it has a touch of modernism but remains a predominantly post-romantic work which takes its inspiration from the wind and the way it moves objects. It traverses several moods as it spins its tale but remains compelling throughout, a very strong piece of music which fits the general sound and ethic of this program.  And it leaves this listener wanting more.

“Veiled Echoes”(2000) is the second work by an Israeli composer on this disc.  Lior Novak (1971- ) would seem to be a worthy successor to Mr. Ben-Haim.  This three movement trio is a meditation on the composer’s perception of links between mountains, sky, and other nature phenomena. Very enjoyable music.

The album concludes with what is described as a tone poem.  It is based on one of Frederico Garcia Lorca’s (1898-1936) stories, “Thamar y Amnon”. The composer is Ian Krouse (1956- ).  This rather harrowing romance is in a single movement with many moods which evoke the tale.  In a nice touch the story is reproduced in its entirety in both Spanish and English.

This is a beautifully conceptualized and performed disc which introduces music which would compliment the Debussy sonata in spirit as well as instrumentation.  Brava and now tell us of your next project.