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| The AGP celebrates its
jubilee installment with a personal favorite, and one of the first
pieces of Twentieth Century music that I fell in love with. Paul
Hindemith's Das Marienleben was one of the key works of his first years
of neoclassical composition. It is set to a cycle of poems by Rainer
Maria Rilke and is written for soprano and piano. Hindemith completed
it in 1923 and then thoroughly revised and reconceived it in 1948.
While I appreciate the professionalism of the 1948 version, I much
prefer the poignancy of the original. This installment features complete recordings of both the original 1923 version and the 1948 version. The 1923 version is performed by Peggy Bonini and Ingolf Dahl, and makes up volume 7 of the Paul Hindemith Anthology, released by GSC Recordings in 1977. The recording has warmth and immediacy that goes nicely with the music. This performance contrasts markedly with the only recording currently available on CD, with Glenn Gould on piano and Roxolana Roslak singing. That performance is taken MUCH more slowly, enabling one to appreciate the harmonies at leisure, but losing some of the spirit and vitality of the work. The 1948 version is performed by Janet Wagner and John Cobb, and was released on Spectrum in 1984. Both LPs are in excellent condition, but they are American pressings and so have some level of pressing noise. The intallment includes a text file with the liner notes from the GSC LP. If you would like just one CD of material, the 1923 version and the first six tracks of the 1948 version will fit. NOTE: These songs are sung in German. I used the English titles below, largely because it was easier for me. The lyrics are from Rilke's poetry collection of the same name. To download AGP50 files, right-click on each of the following links and select SAVE LINK AS. 01 - Birth of Mary [2:51] 02 - The Presentation of Mary in the Temple [6:21] 03 - Annunciation to Mary [3:29] 04 - Visitation of the Virgin [2:04] 05 - Joseph's Suspicion [1:38] 06 - Annunciation Above the Shepherds [4:06] 07 - Birth of Christ [3:08] 08 - Rest on the Flight into Egypt [3:54] 09 - Of the Wedding at Cana [3:45] 10 - Before the Passion [4:51] 11 - Pieta [3:17] 12 - Consolation of Mary [1:55] 13 - Of the Death of Mary I [6:37] 14 - Of the Death of Mary II [5:09] 15 - Of the Death of Mary III [2:30] 16 - Birth of Mary, 1948 [2:11] 17 - The Presentation of Mary in the Temple, 1948 [4:46] 18 - Annunciation to Mary, 1948 [3:43] 19 - Visitation of the Virgin, 1948 [2:06] 20 - Joseph's Suspicion, 1948 [1:52] 21 - Annunciation Above the Shepherds, 1948 [5:41] 22 - Birth of Christ, 1948 [3:48] 23 - Rest on the Flight into Egypt, 1948 [3:01] 24 - Of the Wedding at Cana, 1948 [6:01] 25 - Before the Passion, 1948 [5:13] 26 - Pieta, 1948 [3:02] 27 - Consolation of Mary, 1948 [1:42] 28 - Of the Death of Mary I, 1948 [5:42] 29 - Of the Death of Mary II, 1948 [6:59] 30 - Of the Death of Mary III, 1948 [2:53] Liner notes from LP |
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