Serenade: Chamber Music by Krenek, Gál and Penderecki

Austrian-born Ernst Krenek’s development as a composer was wide-ranging. Beginning his career in the music salons of Weimar Republic Berlin, he explored diverse styles. He developed a post romantic idiom, neo-classicism, atonality, his own brand of serialism and even electronics. In 1938, due to the political situation, he emigrated to the United States. His catalogue included symphonies, operas, and chamber music. His best-known work was the jazz-inspired opera Jonny Spielt Auf (1926).

Krenek’s Serenade for clarinet, violin, viola and cello, op.4 was completed in 1919, whilst he was studying with Franz Schreker in Vienna. It was premiered two years later at the Donaueschingen Chamber Music Performances for the advancement of contemporary music.

The Serenade is in two movements, however the second has five sections, which in this recording are labelled individually. It is in a late romantic style, with some neo-classical overtones. Yet here and there, Krenek becomes harder edged, reflecting the post-First World War situation. Overall, the mood is lyrical and approachable. Many years ago, the critic Tom Cleman remarked that the stylistic parameters are “delineated by the landmarks set up by Claude Debussy, Max Reger, Richard Strauss, and perhaps Alexander Scriabin.” This holds good, but I would add that there are hints of expressionism, as exemplified by the slow movement’s nod to Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht.

This is a world premiere recording. It is splendidly played by the present ensemble, who are great advocates for this “forgotten” piece.

Hans Gál was a Viennese composer, who like Krenek found it impossible to live under the Nazi regime. In 1938 he fled to Britain, was interned, but later took up residence in Edinburgh. At the behest of musicologist Donald Tovey, he worked at Edinburgh University, where, in 1945 he was appointed a lecturer. Without being demeaning, much of Gál’s catalogue could be regarded as being “retro.” He looked back rather than forward in his aesthetic. Brahms had a major impact, but so did the “playful humour of early classicism,” and the “extended tonality of early 20^th century music.”  He never adopted serial technique. His music is nearly always lyrical and restrained.

The present Serenade for clarinet, violin and cello, op.93 is a pre-war piece, having been written in 1935. Its four movements are typically relaxed. The opening Cantabile balances an almost pastoral opening with a prickly second subject. The scherzo, Burletta, is the other way round. Here the ‘trio’ presents the lyrical mood whilst the ‘minuet’ section is sarcastic and dark. The slow movement, a short Intermezzo is lugubrious, with its pizzicato strings and sad melody. This leads to a cadenza, before the Giocoso brings the Serenade to a happy-ever-after conclusion, but not before a lovely little tune is expounded.

People of a certain age will recall Krzysztof Penderecki’s impact as an innovative disciple of the avant-garde. Making his name with the Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra (1960), and later the St Luke’s Passion (1966) he used various techniques such as the “juxtaposition of sound masses,” extended instrumental techniques and graphic scores. Yet, in the mid-1970s his style made a major change. To the chagrin of his progressive fans, he looked back to Bruckner and Liszt for inspiration. An early indication of this was his 1977 Violin Concerto.

The Quartet for clarinet, violin, viola, and cello was completed in 1993. Penderecki declared that he had been encouraged to write the Clarinet Quartet after “rediscovering Schubert’s great C major Quintet” while attending a concert of that work performed by Mstislav Rostropovich and the Emerson Quartet. Although not a precise model for the present piece, both share a sense of melancholy and tenderness.

The opening movement’s gentle dialogue between clarinet and viola provides a sad start. The Scherzo is rapid, quicksilver and is followed by a parody of a Viennese waltz. The final movement, Abschied, does echo the elder composer’s sadness visible towards the end of his life.

In preparing for this review, I came across an excellent summation of the Clarinet Quartet’s stylistic parameters: “[it] creates the impression of a retrospective of European art music from the first half of the twentieth century, perhaps the missing link in Penderecki’s own oeuvre.” Composers that have infused this Quartet are Beethoven and Schubert, but also that of Schoenberg, in its wayward waltz, and even Alban Berg. In this Quartet, Penderecki combines austerity of sound with a deep emotional statement. It was premiered on 13 August 1993 in Lübeck, Germany.

The star of the show is clarinettist, Kilian Herold, but the three other performers are integral to the disc’s success. The liner notes by Johannes Jansen give an outstanding introduction to the music, concentrating on context. The recording is clear, dynamic, and well balanced.

These are convincing accounts that explore these rare but rewarding works.

Track Listing:
Ernst Krenek (1900-91)
Serenade for clarinet, violin, viola and cello, op.4 (1919)
Hans Gál (1890-1987)
Serenade for clarinet, violin and cello, op.93 (1935)
Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020)
Quartet for clarinet, violin, viola, and cello (1993)
Kilian Herold (clarinet), Florian Donderer (violin), Barbara Buntrock (viola), Tanja Tetzlaff (cello)
rec. September/October 2021, Hans-Rosbaud-Studio, SWR Kultur Baden-Baden, Germany
AVI Music AVI8553537
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.