Draeseke Christus

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Any wise fellah out there with thoughts about Draeseke's Christus?

I was fortunate enough to be able to obtain the stomping big Bayer box containing this tetralogy of oratorios across five CDs, together with thick booklet of full notes & translations, for an irresistible £20 (on Amazon it nearly always attracts a price that would involve extending the mortgage!).

To my complete embarrassment I've spent 2 weeks peeling off the cellophane and idly reading the notes, and finding every excuse to delay listening to it. I provide an absolute assurance that I am immensely looking forward to exploring the work(s). I know the symphonies via the CPO recordings, and some of the (rather good) piano music. But this ain't the kind of thing you can get a crude and basic hang of within 30 minutes before settling down to more serious listening.

I hope others recognise the phenomenon. Maybe I'm by nature a serious ditherer. After all this is the person who read the first 14 pages of Proust 7 times before venturing on - I didn't want to miss out on anything! So what is the way into it? Any clues or pointers? Contributions most gratefully received!

[Mark Thomas]

Draeseke's magnum opus is indeed a daunting box and, if I'm honest, I found the listening experience hard work. Draeseke is, for me at least, a composer who appeals to the intellect, rather than one whose music tugs at my heart. He's a very rewarding listen, but I have to invest a lot of concentration and put aside time to do so - you can't "multi-task" and get much out of his music. For this reason I found Christus heavy going, because the demands which it makes on the listener are substantial. I always liken it to The Ring in that respect; you build up to it, you pace yourself and you must be prepared to immerse yourself in the piece. It's serious music and is a serious listen. I guess that I've had the set for 10 years and have listened to it all the way through twice. The first time I was overwhelmed and rather bewildered by it, the second I got much more out of it, but was still relieved when I'd finished. I think it's marvellous, but I wouldn't pretend yet to have come anywhere near understanding it.

I imagine that Alan, our Draeseke guru, will be able to give you more practical help.

[chill319]

I'm by no means a Draeseke guru, and my only exposure to Christus is through the website snippets (I have had a daughter in college, which rules out sets like the Christus). But since Peter mentions knowing Draeseke through the CPO recordings, let me put in a plug for the Hanson/Wuppertal versions of symphonies 1 and 3 on MDG. Weigle on CPO gives short shrift to the slow movement of the First, which is the emotional heart of the work. And in the Third, I find Hanson's performance riper, more operatic, which allows the finale (the heart of *that* symphony) to relate to the previous movements more trenchantly. Another emotionally ripe performance of Draeseke is Thiem's of the the cello sonata, opus 51, on AK Coburg, and the Hölderlin Quartet's performance of the C# minor quartet on the same label.

Some works, like the Ring and probably Christus, are best experienced for the first time live, with others, so that the music unfolds in an atmosphere of community anticipation. If that's not possible, one's own expectations and hopes have to do. In the case of Christus, when the day comes that I hear it, my own expectations will be all the keener for having heard recordings like those personal favorites mentioned above.  I'll try to follow Mark's open-minded example, and I will certainly hope for a good deal more from Christus than high craftsmanship.

[Alan Howe]

This is one of the more indigestible works by a great unsung. Certainly for aficionados only!

[eschiss1]

I haven't heard Christus so it is probably offtopic to say so, but what I have heard of his chamber music- especially the two string quintets, that cello sonata, the two viola alta sonatas - has seemed to have the strongest - my opinion - future possible hold on the repertoire; moreso to my ears (again) than the orchestral music of his I've heard, though that has grown on me.  Both quintets are worth a try.  (All on the AK Coburg label again. I've heard the piano quintet on MDG once and believe it has the same qualities- lyrical, apparently Schubert-influenced? while being clearly of its time, for example- as well.)

Eric

[Alan Howe]

The Violin Concerto is an astonishing piece too - unfortunately it's only come down to us in violin and piano form. One of the truly great VCs, though, and word has it that it's being orchestrated by a Draeseke expert...

[eschiss1]

The Violin Concerto is an astonishing piece too - unfortunately it's only come down to us in violin and piano form. One of the truly great VCs, though, and word has it that it's being orchestrated by a Draeseke expert...

There is or was a video (three- one for each movement) on YouTube of parts of that violin concerto in piano reduction, and on the basis of those, I can't wait, myself.

[Alan Howe]

The whole VC can be downloaded in mp3 format here...

http://www.draeseke.org/news/IDG2009VC/index.htm