Wilhelm Weismann Rudolf Wagner-Régeny Das ferne Lied (The Distant Song)

With songs by Wilhelm Weismann and Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, some arranged for tenor voice, tenor Patrick Grahl and pianist Klara Hornig present a thematic cross-section of the extensive compositional work of two 20th-century composers whose works undoubtedly deserve more attention.

All the pieces are united by their character: melancholically sentimental, quietly simple, yet by no means lacking in tonal complexity. Wilhelm Weismann's songs captivate with occasionally archaic echoes on medieval texts, while at other times they are delicately impressionistic, interspersed with elements of extended tonality. Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, whose operas still receive somewhat more attention today, is characterised by his very personal settings, sometimes of his own lyrics, which increasingly place the composer's loneliness at the forefront as a central theme, and stylistically oscillate between neoclassicism and free tonal elements.

Patrick Grahl and Klara Hornig create a special chamber music atmosphere that is more than fitting for the songs of Rudolf Wagner-Régeny and Wilhelm Weismann.

 

Patrick Grahl
Klara Hornig