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Track(s) taken from CDJ33051/3

Sehnsucht

First line:
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
composer
Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814)
author of text
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Susan Gritton (soprano), Gerald Finley (baritone), Graham Johnson (piano)
Recording details: October 2004
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: October 2005
Total duration: 1 minutes 32 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)
The closeness between composer and poet had peaked by the time Reichardt composed songs from Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre; these were published as fold-out supplements in the four-volume set of the novel’s first edition (Unger, Berlin, 1795). The duet Sehnsucht (Goethe describes it in the novel as an irregular duet between Mignon and the Harper) is the fifth out of eight of these fold-outs and appears in Volume 2 of the novel. It is clear from a later printing that the composer envisages a harp accompaniment, also in keeping with the novel.

comparative Schubert listening:
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Sehnsucht“ First setting, first version, D310. 15 October 1815
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Sehnsucht“ First setting, second version, D310a. 15 October 1815
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Sehnsucht“ Second setting, D359. 1816
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Sehnsucht“ „Lied der Mignon“ Third setting, D481. September 1816
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Sehnsucht“ Fourth setting, D656. April 1819
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Mignon und der Harfner“ Fifth setting, No 1 of Gesänge aus „Wilhelm Meister“, D877
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt „Lied der Mignon“ Sixth setting, No 4 of Gesänge aus „Wilhelm Meister“, D877

from notes by Graham Johnson © 2006

Other albums featuring this work

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

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