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This song goes back to 1814 when it was published as a tribute to Körner whose death had seemed to represent all the patriotic bravery of the younger German generation who had fought to free themselves from French domination. This must be one of the most unusual songs in (or rather, not in) the repertoire—a nightmare conjunction between the emerging romantic lied and the world of the virtuoso pianist. Of course Weber could have played this devilish accompaniment, with its roulades of demisemiquavers (the noise of battle) with the greatest of ease, but it is clear that such frenetic and unrelenting pianistic activity, while impressive for a while, does little to lift the words to a higher plane. If Goethe were critical of the modern tendencies of song-composition, this song would have made him faint in horror (he was, in any case, not a Weber fan, neither musically nor personally). My copy of these Körner songs by Weber once belonged to Robert Schumann who quickly learned to curb his own pianistic virtuosity in order to allow a song, and its lyric, to breathe. Schubert’s setting is not nearly so extravagant as Weber’s, but it has a tremolo accompaniment throughout that is most unusual, and not quite his style. It is not impossible that he allowed himself to be influenced by this Weber setting published the year before his own.
comparative Schubert listening:
Gebet während der Schlacht D171. 12 March 1815
from notes by Graham Johnson © 2006
Schubert: The Complete Songs ‘This would have been a massive project for even the biggest international label, but from a small independent … it is a miracle. An ideal Christ ... ‘Please give me the complete Hyperion Schubert songs set—all 40 discs—and, in the next life, I promise I'll "re-gift" it to Schubert himself … fo ...» More |