Kaufmann: Chamber Works (CD Review)

Includes: String Quartet No.11; Sonata No. 2, Op. 44 for Violin and Piano; String Quartet No. 7; Sonatina No. 12 for Violin and Piano (arranged for clarinet and piano); Septet for Three Violins, Viola, Two Cellos, and Piano. ARC Ensemble (Erika Raun and Marie Berard, violins; Steven Dann, viola; Thomas Wiebe, cello; Joaquin Valdepenas, clarinet; Kevein Ahfat, piano) with Jamie Kruspe, violin, and Kimberly Jeong, cello (in the Septet). Chandos CHAN 20170.

By Karl W. Nehring

This new release from Chandos is the first commercial recording devoted to music by the Czech-born Jewish composer Walter Kaufmann (1907-1984). Not the first recording of these particular pieces, mind you, but the first commercial recording of any of Kaufmann’s music. All of the pieces on this release were composed between 1934 and 1946 when Kaufmann was a refugee in India, having fled Europe in response to the rise of National Socialism.

His story is a fascinating one. He was first taught music by his uncle, a violinist and music historian who ran a local music school. After graduating from his local school, he attended the Musikhochschule in Berlin, where he was introduced to the music of India, which was at that time largely unknown in Europe. The music sounded strange to him, but he was curious to learn more about it. While still in his early twenties he was an assistant to the famed conductor Bruno Walter, and some of his early compositions began to get some recognition from performances in Prague, Vienna, and Berlin. In 1927 he enrolled in the German University in Prague. He rented a room from Franz Kafka’s mother and eventually married one of Kafka’s nieces. While a student in Berlin, Kaufmann met and befriended an amateur violinist named Albert Einstein, whom he would accompany on the piano. The two remained friends until Einstein’s death. But with the rising threat of anti-Semitism in Europe, Kaufmann decided to get an Indian visa. He wound up staying there for 12 years. In 1946 he moved to Canada, then on to the United States in 1956, where he taught at the Indiana University School of Music for the remainder of his career.

Walter Kaufmann

The ARC Ensemble consists of senior faculty from the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School in Toronto, Canada. They have made a specialty of recovering and recording music that has been suppressed and marginalized under the 20th century’s repressive political regimes, releasing a series of recordings under the heading of “Music in Exile” on the Chandos label, this being the fourth (the others featuring music by composers Paul Ben-Haim, Jerzy Fitelberg, and Szymon Laks).

The program opens with Kaufmann’s String Quartet No. 11, which consists of four movements. The listener can sense a non-Western undertone to the music, even though it also sounds clearly European in style. After the first movement comes to a close with an accelerando, the second movement evokes a softer, more plaintive mood, with a brief march-like interlude before coming to a quiet ending. The third movement opens energetically, with the music shifting to a more non-Western feeling again, with melodic figures running up and down with invigorating energy. The finale opens briskly, played with decisive flair. There is a strong rhythmic underpinning to this music, a driving pulse that can be felt as well as heard, winding down toward the end but then ending with a final flourish.

Next up is the Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, which opens quietly with the piano in the lead, the violin then joining in with a yearning melody. As the movement continues, there is an element of Dvorak-like sound (Dvorak was also Czech, of course), ending with a frantic dash to the finish. The second movement is more somber, becoming tender and touching, a subdued and quiet flame that dims to a peaceful, subdued ending. The final movement, by contrast, opens with a start and sustains an energetic, dancelike motion culminating in an exuberant ending.

ARC Ensemble

The centerpiece of the album is Kaufmann’s String Quartet No. 7, which provides ample evidence that the composer truly had a knack and a feel for quartet writing. The movements display a variety of moods, from the opening movement with its energetic opening and oft-repeated four-note theme, the quieter but extremely beautiful second movement, the fleet third movement, the yearning fourth movement, all the way through to the finale, its whirling, dancing, up-tempo energy interwoven with a more stately second theme. This is truly an impressive string quartet.

The next piece, his Sonatina No. 12 for Violin and Piano, is presented here in an arrangement for clarinet and piano. The three short movements include the gently melodic first movement, a spritely and perky second movement, and a final movement that is softer in tone, exuding an atmosphere of happiness and contentment. (Oh, I’m a fool for a clarinet…)

Closing out the program is the one-movement Septet for Three Violins, Viola, Two Cellos, and Piano. Over its nearly 15-minute length it changes moods and sonorities, but tends for the most part to maintain a consistent pulse. There are moments of dance, movements of mystery, moments of reflection, and moments of song before the piece finally fades into peaceful silence as the program ends.

The sound quality on this recording is exemplary. Especially noteworthy is the sonic soundstage, which is stable and sized right, with no huge violins or other such anomalies such as sometimes emerge on recordings of chamber music. The liner notes present a wealth of information about Kaufmann, including a number of photographs of the composer at various stages in his life. With more than 77 minutes of music that has never been recorded before, this recording presents a compelling case that the music of Walter Kaufmann deserves to be heard. What other musical delights might be hidden away in the Kaufmann archives?  

KWN

To listen to a brief excerpt from this recording, click below: