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Track(s) taken from CDJ33051/3

Adieu

First line:
Voici, l’instant suprême
composer
author of text

Susan Gritton (soprano), Graham Johnson (piano)
Recording details: March 2004
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: October 2005
Total duration: 3 minutes 20 seconds
 

Reviews

‘This enterprising, often revelatory set should intrigue and delight anyone interested in the development of the Lied’ (Gramophone)

‘Since making music with friends was Schubert's whole raison d'etre, this 3-CD box is an inspired idea … led by the soprano Susan Gritton, the performances are pure A-list’ (The Independent)

‘Anyone who loves lieder will find here a rich, diverse, and delightful offering. There isn't a bad song among the 81 songs by 40 composers who wrote during Schubert's lifetime, and there's a lot of fine music here by well-known and also practically unknown composers and poets. The singing is consistently excellent… anyone interested in this genre will find here a broad-ranging and generous collection’ (American Record Guide)

‘If 81 songs are too many to mention individually, sufficient variety exists and enough songs are receiving a first recording for this set to be indispensable for anyone interested in the genre’ (International Record Review)

‘Graham Johnson once again demonstrates that he has few peers today in his combined function as scholar-musician’ (Fanfare, USA)
Very little, if anything, is known about Weyrauch apart from his authorship of this song. It was published as Adieu! in Paris, circa 1835. The title page mentioned ‘Mr. F Schubert’ as the composer with ‘paroles françaises’ by Mr. Bélanger, and there is a dedication to Mr. A Nourrit (the famous tenor who did so much to advocate Schubert’s lieder in France). The song actually dates from 1824, and it was privately published by its composer, Weyrauch, with the title Nach Osten, and a poem by Wetzel. We do not know whether Weyrauch played any part in the original falsification, or its eventual discovery. The music was re-imported to Germany in 1843 under Schubert’s name as a solo piano piece. Even Schumann seems to have believed the song was by Schubert himself. No doubt on account of its popularity the song was reprinted in Volume 6 of Max Friedländer’s Schubert Edition for Peters (1873) together with a warning that the song had been incorrectly attributed to Schubert. As the only song in French by even a phoney ‘Schubert’, and a lyrical manner that suited the contemporary taste for the cavatina, it received many performances—and Schubert’s name was usually given, willy-nilly, as the composer. In this music one can hear a prophecy of the long-breathed melodies of Gounod (said to be influenced by Schubert); songs like Fauré’s Après un rêve were the final flowering of a particularly French genre initiated by Adieu!.

from notes by Graham Johnson © 2006

Other albums featuring this work

Schubert: The Complete Songs
CDS44201/4040CDs Boxed set + book (at a special price) — Download only
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