''Notturno'' (german: Notturno: Fünf Sätze für Bariton und Streichquartett) is a song cycle for

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

and

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

by Swiss composer

Othmar Schoeck Othmar Schoeck (1 September 1886 – 8 March 1957) was a Swiss Romantic classical composer, opera composer, musician, and conductor. He was known mainly for his considerable output of art songs and song cycles, though he also wrote a number of ...

(1886-1957). It was composed between 1931 and 1933, and was published as his Op. 47. It consists of musical settings of nine poems by the Austrian poet

Nikolaus Lenau Nikolaus Lenau was the pen name of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau (13 August 1802 – 22 August 1850), a German-language Austrian poet. Biography He was born at Csatád (Schadat), Kingdom of Hungary, now Lenauheim, Banat, then p ...

(1802-1850) and of one by the Swiss poet

Gottfried Keller Gottfried Keller (19 July 1819 – 15 July 1890) was a Swiss poet and writer of German literature. Best known for his novel '' Green Henry'' (German: ''Der grüne Heinrich'') and his cycle of novellas called ''The People from Seldwyla'' (''Die Leu ...

(1819-1890). It is in 14 sections: the German title ''Fünf Sätze'' (i.e. "Five pieces", or "

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

s") refers to the fact that the vocal settings fall into five groups, four of poems by Lenau and one of the poem by Keller, separated by instrumental interludes. # "Sieh dort den Berg mit seinem Wiesenhange" (Lenau) # "Sieh hier den Bach, anbei die Waldesrose" (Lenau) # Andante appassionato (string quartet alone) # "Die dunklen Wolken hingen" (Lenau) # "Sahst du ein Glück vorübergehn" (Lenau) # Presto (string quartet alone) # "Der Traum war so wild" (Lenau) # "Es weht der Wind so kühl" (Lenau) # "Rings ein Verstummen, ein Entfärben" (Lenau) # "Ach, wer möchte einsam trinken" (Lenau) # Allegretto (string quartet alone) # "O Einsamkeit! wie trink' ich gerne" (Lenau) # Allegretto tranquillo (string quartet alone) # "Heerwagen, mächtig Sternbild der Germanen" (Keller) The cycle is late romantic in style, dark, chromatic and expressionist in character. It falls into five sections: ''Ruhig'', a nature scene, on the death of love; ''Presto'', a nightmare; ''Unruhig bewegt'', memories of a dead friend; ''Ruhig und leise'', birds and nature remind the poet of the death of a friend; ''Rasch und kräftig, quasi recit.'', the poet seeks solitude, looks to the stars, and begs for rest. According to Schoeck's biographer Chris Walton,

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

had words of praise for ''Notturno''. The work was premiered in 1933. It remained almost unnoticed until 1967, when

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, ...

and the

Juilliard Quartet The Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York by William Schuman. Since its inception, it has been the quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School. It has received numerous ...

introduced it to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Critic Miles Kastendieck wrote that, "''Notturno'' stems from

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

", and that the work evidenced "a surprisingly sustained melodic strength. ... Schoeck communicated something of himself, so that frequently at the end of a song he fashioned its cadence quite beautifully. Thus his final evocation achieved a tranquility most sensitively expressed". The same artists made the premier recording, in 1968.Liner notes to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

72687 Music critic

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wi ...

has described the final section, in which the poet addresses the ''Heerwagen'' (army wagon, the constellation

Ursa Major Ursa Major (; also known as the Great Bear) is a constellation in the northern sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear," referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa ...

), as "wrenchingly beautiful". A typical performance takes about 38 minutes.

Discography

* 1968: Juilliard Quartet and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

) * 1987: Berner Streichquartett with Niklaus Tüller (Accord) * 1989: Amati Quartett with Kurt Widmer (Atlantis) * 1992:

Cherubini Quartet The Cherubini Quartet (German: ''Cherubini-Quartett'') was a German string quartet from Düsseldorf, founded in 1978. It is named after the Italian composer Luigi Cherubini, who wrote six string quartets. The Cherubini Quartet has won internation ...

with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (

EMI Classics EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded musi ...

) * 1995: Quatuor Stanislas with

François Le Roux François Le Roux (born 30 October 1955) is a French baritone. Le Roux began vocal studies at 19 with François Loup, winning prizes in Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro. He was a member of the Lyon Opera Company from 1980 to 1985, before appearing in ...

(Gallo) * 1995: Carmina Quartett with

Olaf Bär Olaf Bär (born 19 December 1957) is a German operatic baritone. Life Bär received his musical training in his home city of Dresden, studying at the city's Hochschule für Musik. His career has concentrated on lieder and on the lyric baritone ...

(Denon) * 2003: Minguet Quartett with

Klaus Mertens Klaus Mertens (born 25 March 1949, in Kleve) is a German bass and bass-baritone singer who is known especially for his interpretation of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach for bass voice. Career Klaus Mertens took singing lessons ...

(

New Classical Adventure New Classical Adventure (NCA) is a classical music record label based in Hamburg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after R ...

) * 2009: Rosamunde Quartett with

Christian Gerhaher Christian Gerhaher (born 24 July 1969, in Straubing) is a German baritone and bass singer in opera and concert, particularly known as a Lieder singer. Career Christian Gerhaher studied with Paul Kuën and Raimund Grumbach at the Hochschule ...

(ECM Records GmbH) * 2013: Leipziger Streichquartett with Stephan Genz (MDG Gold)

References

{{reflist 1933 compositions Classical song cycles in German Compositions by Othmar Schoeck Musical settings of poems by Nicolaus Lenau Musical settings of poems by Gottfried Keller