Antonín Dvorák: Biblical Songs

Recordings of Antonín Dvo?ák’s Biblical Songs are everything but few and far between. That the renowned Bach performer Klaus Mertens sings the ten songs in the original Czech version, however, is remarkable. His recording was preceded by an intensive study of the composer and the work. In his composition, Dvo?ák sets verses from the Kralice Bible, which was created at the heart of the Moravian Unity of Brethren at Kralice nad Oslavou, situated to the west of Brno, and which represents a constitutional document of the Czech language far beyond its religious significance. Its early Baroque style, rich in imagery, has a unique musicality to it. The Czech language is the starting point for the composition and its facture. Klaus Mertens is here accompanied by the organist Susanne Rohn. Replacing the intended piano with an organ is legitimate not only because of the work’s religious content, but even more so because of the compositional structure of the Biblical Songs.

The second work on the present CD was written by the Czech composer Josef Kli?ka. Composed in 1917, the sonata for organ in F-sharp minor was considered lost for almost a century. Susanne Rohn’s present recording is only the second interpretation of the work. The conditions for this project were ideal: Rohn explores the musical expression called for by Kli?ka in almost ideal manner at the Sauer organ at the Erlöserkirche Bad Homburg - the ideal instrument for this large-scale Romantic work.

Klaus Mertens
Susanne Rohn