Miloslav Kabeláč (1908-1979)
Complete Chamber Music
rec. 2021/22, Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal, RBB Fernsehzentrum Saal 3, Berlin, Germany
Capriccio C5522 [3 CDs: 172]
Miloslav Kabeláč may be best remembered as a significant symphonist of the 20th century – he penned eight substantial, noteworthy symphonies – but he also wrote a fair bit of chamber music which has yet to get its due. This release of his complete chamber oeuvre will help appreciate his achievement. Surprisingly, he wrote no string quartets. His work has been reasonably well served on disc. Let me note a recording of most of his piano music (Panton 81 9022 131), a fine release of essential orchestral works (Supraphon – review), and an ear-opening recording of all symphonies (Supraphon SU 4202-2).
Kabeláč wrote chamber music throughout his composing life. The earliest are the Sonata for Horn and piano, the weighty Cello Sonata and the luminous Wind Sextet. The unusual Sonata for Trumpet, Percussion, Piano and Narrator was his last chamber work. The list at the end of this review reveals the diversity of his chamber output.
The Ballata for Violin and Piano comes from Kabeláč’s mature years. He wrote this fairly large piece for the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poland. The music, at first dark and mysterious, soon unfolds in a series of contrasted episodes. The whole is often technically challenging, as expected of a competition piece. Remarkably, it can be quite demanding but never gratuitously so, and it calls for subtle musicality.
As noted, the Wind Sextet is sunny, almost light-hearted. Somewhat atypically, it is scored for flute doubling piccolo, oboe doubling cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet doubling alto saxophone, horn and bassoon.
The Improvisation on an Original Theme for solo flute is based on one of the works in Six Cradle-Songs Op.29, a cycle for alto and piano. As in the Wind Sextet, one may spot the influence of folk music. (The composer also arranged the cycle for contralto, female voices and instrumental ensemble, recorded in 1960 and reissued on Supraphon SU 3020-2.) The piece is a reflection on the original tune, not an actual improvisation. This fine, accessible piece may win its composer new admirers.
The war years were difficult for Kabeláč. He was married to a Jewish woman and refused to divorce, so he lost his job at the Czech Radio. He kept his family afloat as a private music teacher. Even so, he managed to complete the generous Cello Sonata, perhapshis most impressive chamber work. It is an example of his uncompromising, strongly committed music-making. (In the late 1930s, he wrote a short cantata for male voices, wind instruments and percussion Do not retreat!, his Opus 7). The Sonata is a big-hearted, gripping piece of music fit for any cellist’s repertoire.
The Suite for Saxophone and Piano is different in many ways. It is the most striking that the composer has opted for a strongly limited musical vocabulary. The music is more ascetic and less expansive than that of the Cello Sonata.
One cannot think of a greater contrast than with the next piece, the Sonata for Horn and Piano. Kabeláč wrote it when he was very active at the Czech Radio, so had little time for composition. The Sonata is rather compact. The composer explored the many facets of the instrument in dialogue with its partner.
The next work, yet another attractive gem in this collection, is the Hunters’ Songs for baritone and four horns. The texts are based on folk poetry, and the music breathes simple earthiness and fresh air. One may sometime be reminded of Janáček’s delightful opera The Cunning Little Vixen.
In the middle of the World War, Kabeláč was fully immersed in his Second Symphony but found time to compose the lovely Short Suite (Partita piccola) for solo flute. It is a brilliant, unpretentious piece of music. He managed to keep it free of any all-too-easy neoclassicism.
The third disc contains mostly mature works. The earliest are the Two Pieces for Violin and Piano. Kabeláč wrote this short diptych in a few days but the music has many traits, above all a remarkable concision allied with expressiveness. Ballada is, as might be expected, lyrical, whereas Capriccio is appropriately animated, full of twists and turns along the way, and even includes a short cadenza. This is another fine but all-too-rarely heard work which deserves wider exposure.
Much the same can be said about the Sonatina for Oboe and Piano in three compact, varied movements. The first opens with a slow introduction leading into a more varied section. The second is rather straightforward, sustained by a persistent oscillating piano figure. The third is a brilliant Prestissimo. The work eschews pastoralism, which often associated with the oboe, is also too rarely heard.
Kabeláč’s richly varied output normally adheres to the typical musical forms, but the weightiest in his chamber output is the Sonata for Trumpet, Percussion, Piano and Narrator “Fated Dramas of Man”, one of his latest works. He appears to have poured into it everything that was meaningful to him. He assembled texts or text fragments; the music often refers obliquely to some of his own pieces. The sonata has four movements separated by three brief spoken interludes. (This was not the first time he had spoken words in his orchestral music. The most striking example is Symphony No.7 from 1967/1968 – even if itsonly recording does not include the spoken words…) One can say that the movements roughly correspond to the traditional sonata form.
Hamlet, the first movement, is mostly on the words “to be” or “not to be” repeated in different intonations; the music draws on the composer’s Hamlet Improvisation from 1962/1963. The spoken Interludium I is followed by Golgotha with music from Symphony No 7. Interludium II precedes three stanzas from the traditional Stabat Mater with music from Lamenti e risolini which I will discuss in a while. This movement, as far as I am concerned, is the most impressive here, with utter formal simplicity and deep feeling.
Interludium III leads into Comenius, a movement on the words from The Labyrinth (1623/1631) by Jan Amos Komenský (1592-1670). It is a hymn of acceptance and forgiveness, ending with the words “Lead me through the doleful darkness of this world up to the eternal light. Amen and amen.” It may take some time to absorb the way these beautiful and powerful words are set, but it is well worth the effort. Fated Dramas of Man are undoubtedly one of the most humane, deeply felt statements that Kabeláč ever expressed in his music. (The work has been recorded by Czech musicians on Panton 81 1146-2931, along with Kabeláč’s two substantial works for percussion Eight Inventions Op 45 made famous by Les Percussions de Strasbourg, and Eight Ricercari Op 51, both from 1966/1967.) The texts, except the Stabat Mater, are recited in German here but the lavish booklet also includes the original Czech texts and an English translation. The earlier Czech release has texts recited in Czech (Latin in the Stabat Mater) and does not include any texts.
This unusual, gripping work sums up all of the composer’s preoccupations. His life that started under the best auspices was later fraught with violent upheavals, personal and political, which he faced with unfaltering courage. He strongly opposed any compromise, and his intellectual honesty was never in doubt, whatever the price he had to pay.
The third disc also includes Lamenti e risolini for flute and harp, subtitled Eight Bagatellles, a late work made up of eight very short pieces, the longest ones a little over the two-minute mark. Never mind their epigrammatic nature, much is said in a short time. The set comes from just after the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968, when the Czech and Slovak people thought that they were rid of the Soviet occupation. This protest music was only premiered in 1983.
This is an important set. All pieces have been meticulously prepared, and are played with commitment. The recording is very fine. Elisabeth Hahn wrote excellent, useful notes. This is an essential purchase for Kabeláč followers. His strongly felt, sincere and deeply honest music must not be ignored. This important composer had much to say, and said it without any compromise. That alone is remarkable when one considers the historical and political upheavals he and his country went through for many years. I am sure it will feature high on my list of Recordings of the Year.
Hubert Culot
Buying this recording via the link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free.
Contents and performers
CD 1
Ballata for Violin and Piano Op.27 (1955)
Markéta Janoušková (violin), Robert Kolinsky (piano)
Wind Sextet Op.8 (1939/1940)
Jelka Weber (flute, piccolo), Dominik Wollenweber (oboe, cor anglais), Alexander Bader, Erich Wagner (clarinet), Kathi Wagner (saxophone), Václav Vonašek (bassoon), Andrej Žust (horn)
Improvisation On an Original Theme Op.29b (1956)
Jelka Weber (flute)
Sonata for Cello and Piano Op.9 (1941/1942)
Jan Vogler (cello), Robert Kolinsky (piano)
CD 2
Suite for Saxophone and Piano Op.39 (1958/1959)
Kathi Wagner (saxophone), Robert Kolinsky (piano)
Sonata for Horn and Piano Op.2 (1935/1936)
Stefan Dohr (horn), Robert Kolinsky (piano)
Hunting Songs Op.37 (1958)
Jan Martiník (baritone), Stefan Dohr, Paula Erneskas, Johannes Lamotke, Sarah Willis (horn)
Short Suite (Partita piccola) Op.13 (1944)
Jelka Weber (flute)
CD 3
Sonatina for Oboe and Piano Op.24 (1955)
Albrecht Mayer (oboe), Robert Kolinsky (piano)
Lamenti e risolini Op.53 (1969)
Jelka Weber (flute), Marie-Pierre Langlamet (harp)
Two Pieces for Violin and Piano Op.12 (1942)
Markéta Janoušková (violin), Robert Kolinsky (Piano)
Sonata for Trumpet, Percussion, Piano and Narrator Op.56 (1975/1976)
Andre Schoch (trumpet), Jan Schlichte (percussion), Stefan Kaminski (narrator), Robert Kolinsky (piano)
