This is just incredibly beautiful, sensual music. Although billed as “vocal works with orchestra”, conductor Heinz Holliger offers two orchestral works: the dreamy and mysterious nocturne Vers la Plage lointaine (Op. 43 No. 2), and the deliciously archaic but sophisticatedly scored Études antiques Op. 46. The concluding Chant funèbre à la mémoire des jeunes femmes défuntes Op. 37 also is a large tone poem for orchestra, organ, and chorus, in which the words are taken from the Requiem Mass and contribute atmosphere and texture more than any significant verbal meaning. This is a harrowing piece whose grinding harmonies and directness of expression at times seem miles away from the gauzy impressionism of much of Koechlin’s other work.
Koechlin wrote a large number of songs, many of which he orchestrated. Most date from early in his career–between about 1890-1910–and it’s clear from the size and richness of these settings that he was well on his way to outgrowing the simple song format. For example, the second of the Poèmes d’Automne Op. 13, “Les Rêves morts”, is a dramatic concert aria, while “Le jeune Tarentine”, the first of Deux Poèmes d’André Chénier, also is an extended setting, in this case for voice and chamber ensemble. Both pieces last more than eight minutes, and this tendency culminates in Le Sommeil de Canope Op. 31, from a set of six songs to poems by Albert Samain, a marvelous work lasting nearly a quarter of an hour.
Not all of these settings are oversized, however. Each of the Quatre Poèmes d’Edmond Haraucourt Op. 7 (the opening works in this two-disc set) are modest in length but exquisite in both orchestration and melody. The last two songs in particular, “Dame du ciel” and “Aux temps des Fées”, would bring the house down in concert, and this cycle deserves to enter the repertoire forthwith. The same holds true for the Trois Mélodies Op. 17, only two of which are included here. It’s nice to have Koechlin’s orchestration of Fauré’s Chanson de Mélisande, but his own work is so wonderful that I can only regret not hearing even more of it. Soprano Juliane Banse does a magnificent job encompassing the wide range of expression in this music, while Holliger and his orchestra deliver exceptionally well-recorded accompaniments that are fully up to the exalted standards of this superb series. A sampling of such extraordinary music can only whet the appetite for more–much more. [12/07/2005]
