| Label: Rondeau Productions Catalog: ROP6044 Format: CD Klaus Mertens, baritone; Susanne Rohn, organAntonion Dvorak (1841-1904) Biblical Songs op. 99 (sung in Czech) Josef Klicka (1855-1937) Sonata for Organ f-sharp minor Antonín Dvorák may have been thinking of the "Deutsches Requiem" by his friend Johannes Brahms when he, in March 1894, very consciously chose individual lines from different psalms for his "Biblical Songs" ("Biblické písne"), ten songs with piano accompaniment. However, he did not use the Bible translation then commonly used by Czech Catholics, but employed the Protestant "Kralitz bible" from the late sixteenth century. Its metaphoric language typical of the early Baroque period has, moreover, an exceptional musicality of its own. In these settings of lament, prayer, fear, hope, praise of God, and confidence in his salvation, Dvorák expresses in opus 99 his very own religious avowal. In the "Biblical Songs", and in opposition to the romantic tradition of songs with piano accompaniment, the voice and piano parts are often antagonistic to each other. The voice presents the text in a declamatory recitative manner, creating a melancholic meditation. The accompanying piano does not support the voice throughout, but rather seems to answer to its thoughts, or to belatedly emphasize the previously voiced ideas. Only rarely do both share a hymn-like parallelism. Dvorák himself arranged five of the "Biblical songs" in a setting for voice and orchestra. Others later created arrangements for further instrumentations as well as settings for choir rather than a soloistic voice. The replacement of the piano part by an organ is not only justified by their religious content, but also suggested by the compositional design of the "Biblické písne". |