Search - Frank Martin, Herbert Bock, Wiener Singakademie :: Martin: Golgotha

Stunning

Wayne A. | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 07/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All the years I've been listening to it, I've never been able to fully understand what it is about Martin's music that leaves me so...well, in quiet awe. His style is distinct, he has his own voice that some have related to Second Vienna (which doesn't convey the reality well, it's tonically complex but always immediately beautiful). Others say he's a classicist and that's not fully right either. There is a calm seriousness of purpose combined with impeccable craftsmanship and a lack of ego that is somwhat unique in music of the last century, or any other for that matter. His spirituality is unselfconsciously of the plainchant variety without sounding one bit derivative. The outward simplicity--and I think humility--of this music (and it really isn't simple at all, and often it's very dramatic) makes Messiaen, in comparison, seem inappropriately eccentric, almost hysterical. There are no catchy tunes but something deeper and finer melodically stays in the memory. For some reason, when I listen to his music I think of artists like Chagall--those who always seem to have an angel standing at their sides. I'm still not quite conveying it.



The only problem I've found so far with his music is that after listening to a fair bit of it in an unbroken stretch it's hard to listen to anything by nearly anyone else. He makes other composers, especially his contemporaries, sound forced, insincere, or cartoon-like.



Anything by Martin is worth owning and listening to frequently, even the early works. Golgotha may be his masterpiece and the setting of the Passion that represents the best and most humane values of the West during the last century. I would call this life-affirming but not in the way Nielsen or Martinu can be. This is not music about titanic battles with darkness or joyous celebrations of life. It's about dignity and those qualities that make us better than mere animals. It's man as half-angel striving to be whole. It's an intellectual, emotional, and artistic stance sadly absent during this new century. This is a comforting and inspiring stuff these days.



This recording and performance are excellent on all counts. It breaths fully and naturally, sounds spontaneous yet reasoned, as Martin's music should. I haven't heard the competition (and how wonderful that the masterpiece status of this work has been recognized with multiple recordings) but this version seems first-rate, especially at the bargain price.



"

Powerful performance

musikwissenschaft | 10/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nicholas Deutsch is, as always on his many fine reviews of Martin, spot on here -- this is an extremely dramatic performance, with faster tempi and higher tension (i.e. sharp dynamic contrasts) than others. I had known the Hayko Siemens version now on Audite, which Deutsch rates last among available performances, and which is slower, more frieze-like in effect. My only disagreement with Mr. Deutsch is that, in the German version (offered by Siemens), the family connection between Martin's opening chorus and the Bach Passions may come out more strongly: the outcry of "Vater!" and "Herr!" can't help reminding one of the beginning of the St. John Passion, but Martin is not thereby diminished."