Schubert: Ständchen. Werke für Männerstimmen (Carus Classics)

Chronique

This is a superb, even breathtaking introduction to a corner of Schubert's output that started out obscure, became somewhat better known in an altered form, and then dropped back into obscurity. Schubert composed these vocal quartets and quintets (some a cappella, some with piano) for small musicales involving his friends and like-minded artists. They were then picked up by German and Austrian all-male choirs (some of which established themselves in America) and often performed by large groups -- which, hearing this disc, you realize must have diluted their impact although it could work in certain cases. With the decline of these choirs the works were put back in the drawer; college glee clubs, for whatever reason, haven't sung them much.
There have been occasional modern performances by quartets and quintets, but this one, by the curiously named Schubert hoch vier (Schubert High Four), really stands out. The overall strength of the reading is that the group shrinks the works down to quiet, personal dimensions, allowing many details of Schubert's responses to these invariably highly introspective poems to show through. Tenors Markus Schäfer and Hubert Mayer deserve a major share of the credit; it is their very carefully delivered quiet high notes, not edging over into falsetto but landing in a very specific region of the throat, that make the sound of the group so effective. The other singers give sensitive executions of Schubert's accompanimental lines, which often set the text rhythmically and chordally (listen to the almost barbershop-like sound of bass Cornelius Hauptmann [he's the main man!] in Wehmut, track 3). The best news here is that, based on the musical evidence, Schubert in no way considered these songs to be everyday works. They are full of daring harmonic touches, and there is one really mind-boggling work: Grab und Mond (Grave and Moon, track 11). The poet addresses a moonbeam shining on a grave and asks whether there is darkness or light therein. The moonbeam is silent, whereupon the poet speaks then to the grave itself. It answers simply "Komm und schau" -- come and see. The silence of the moon and especially the grave's ominous answer draw forth from Schubert some positively Brucknerian harmonies, and he rarely seems so in love with easeful death as he does here. The quartet's tension-ridden execution of this slow piece is masterful. The program is a varied one, with quintet works with and without piano; a setting of Ständchen for alto, male voices, and piano; and even a song at the end accompanied only by a horn quartet. This disc should be in any Schubert library, maybe even in any classical music library.

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