A new biography sheds light on Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957), who was “notoriously unpunctual and disorderly, with holes in his socks.” But when the Swiss composer applied himself fully, he rivalled the best of his time, alexrossmusic writes.
” , sets the tone: “True, there are times I can sing / as if I were cheerful and happy / but tears come unbidden in secret / and then my heart is set free.”
At the outset, we are deposited in a bewitching nowhere: a chord of B minor, with a B-flat hanging above it, followed by a ghost procession of harmonies that fail to resolve the clash of the opening. Most of these chords are major or minor triads with extra notes attached, giving the feeling of a smudged or blurred tonality. Arnold Schoenberg, in his book “Harmonielehre,” designated such music “hovering tonality”—tonality without solid roots.
The vocal line is dominated by quarter notes, in an even, chant-like motion. Gerhaher, born to sing such music, applies burnished tone, precise diction, and a hint of a cabaret artist’s arched eyebrows. The ensemble weaves dark magic around him.
In its cyclical patterns and fixed ostinatos, “Elegie” borders on emotional claustrophobia. Walton writes: “It is at times as if the very building blocks of melody and harmony were themselves receding into distant memory, with the singer/narrator holding on obsessively to the only fragments over which he has any control.” It’s all the more startling, then, when a lush, expansive, lullaby-like tune surfaces in the final song, “” .
Are any members of the Othmar Schoeck Memorial Society for the Preservation of Unusual and Disgusting Music prepared to reconsider the butt of their scorn? At least one is. When I sent Penn Jillette a query and a link to Schoeck’s “Notturno,” he wrote back, “This is so sad and beautiful.
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