Carl Loewe Herr Oluf and the Sea

The program presented on this Album, featuring songs and ballads by Carl Loewe along with texts and poems by Heinrich Heine, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Max Frisch, and Ingeborg Bachmann, reflects the human relationship with the sea in various ways. Carl Loewe, who as cantor and organist was an important figure in Stettin in the mid 1800s, was so inspired by the sea during his travels that he wrote many songs and ballads that thematise the sea. The fortepiano No. 231 by Carl Julius Gebauhr from 1841 heard on this recording dates from Loewe's creative period, and although it is not known on which instruments Loewe played in Königsberg, it is at least possible that it was an instrument by Gebauhr, whose workshop was located in Königsberg. This live recording of a song recital is one of the programs where the art forms of song interpretation and recitation complement each other to create a comprehensive dramaturgy. Nina Röder‘s paintings also inspire the listener visually, expanding the horizons of the program. The viewer is led to enchanted places in the works from her series „Über das Verschwinden” (About Disappearance) and encounters mysterious beings. This visual yet poetic perspective completes the circle by confronting the transience of humanity and nature – a theme more relevant than ever in times of climate change and rising sea levels.

Felix Rathgeber
Christian Rohrbach
Clemens Nicol
Nina Röder