Item Number: EC.5891
Text: Rainer Maria Rilke.
"Julian Wachner, (b. 1969) has taken six of Rilke's poems, set them for SATB chorus with divisi and given birth to a musical product that is well worth noting. Wachner's settings are text driven and completely immersed in the descriptive color of the native tongue in which the Rilke poems are set. Thick and dense textures give way to unison and simple four-part homophony. Wide tessituri are explored but not exploited. Bi-tonality permeates much of his writing style. Although his writing can seem dissonant, it is imbued with a soft sense of tonal color that embraces Rilke's fascination with the flow of the movement of animals and more important, the deeper meanings of the text. Performed in its entirety, or two or three as a set, they are an outstanding contribution to choral literature." -Choral Journal Vol. 44 Nr. 9
"Mr. Wachner's "Rilke Songs," six settings of poems about animals real and legendary, showed an imaginative flair for allusive text setting, evoking a caged panther's restless stalking and contrasting a swan's clumsy gait on land with its elegance in water. The chorus handled the silken complexities of Mr. Wachner's close harmonies gracefully." -The New York Times
" the light and transparent "Flamingos" and angular "Black Cat," which starts interestingly with low male voices, are impressive." -The Washington Post, Mark J. Estren
"Highly descriptive, the six poems of Rainer Rilke deal with birds and animals, Wachner treating them with an almost reverential atmosphere, though he does introduce clashing harmonies to highlight a point." -David Denton [Blog]
