Search - Hermann Goetz, Adrian Ruiz :: Goetz: Complete Works for Solo Piano

"THROUGH FIELDS AND HALLS OF BEECH"

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 11/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chances are you've never heard of the tragically short-lived Hermann Goetz (1840-1876), nor any of his music, piano or otherwise. Such a simple flickering of a man. An unambitious, unambiguous wisp, the gentlest of souls amongst the grandest German Romantic composers. Such a man, especially a composer, comes rarely through life. No, chances are you've never heard of Hermann Goetz.



I hadn't, either, until the mid-70s, when Genesis Records, Inc., those incredibly enterprising champions of obscure Romantic composers, released the vinyl of the present CD, performed by Adrian Ruiz, the champion of obscure Romantic piano works. Well, I didn't waste much time buying the Goetz (almost twenty-five years ago!) and scurrying home to listen to same.



It was love-at-first-hearing.



When we are impressed and moved by music, we want to share our feelings immediately. I think this is, primarily, what Goetz held in his heart. What we hear, and what is so attractive about his music, is, well, Goetz. The man, not the composer. In these contagiously original and lyrical pieces, which comprise his entire ouvre for piano, we hear Goetz: poignant and tragic, mellow and life-affirming, hopeful, fearful, melancholy and joyous--- the compleat Romantic. With titles like "Fresh Out in the World," "Solitude," "With You!," "Ye Fleeting Winds, Where to, Where to?," "Auf Wiedersehen," and "Through Field and Halls of Beech," we hear more than piano music alone.



[Running time: 55:45]





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