Der Nächtliche Wanderer | Abschied

Album review

Reinbert de Leeuw was better known as a conductor of avant-garde music than as a composer; in the latter medium, he seems to have expressed himself mostly in gigantic orchestral works of great complexity, which he found difficult to complete. The title of the second of the two large works here, Abschied (1973), means "farewell," and it indeed was intended to bring down the curtain on de Leeuw's compositional career, but he returned after a 40-year hiatus with the opening work, Der nächtliche Wanderer, which clocks in at 46 minutes plus. It is a monster work, with two orchestras (one playing offstage), tape elements, including an accordionist playing a piano work by Wagner, and an actor reading the poem by Friedrich Hölderlin that inspired the piece. Der nächtliche Wanderer means "The Wanderer at Night," and even if the overall structure of the work, based on the prime numbers 11 and 23, is unlikely to be divined by many listeners, this aspect is pleasing enough; the work opens with the sound of barking dogs. Abschied is subtitled Symphonische Dichtung für großes Orchester (or "Symphonic Poem for Large Orchestra"), and both works might be considered avant-garde exegeses on late Romantic themes. The performance of Der nächtliche Wanderer was conducted by de Leeuw himself, while Abschied is led by Edo de Waart, an expert conductor in this kind of music; the performances may be taken as definitive. While this may not be for listeners with no patience for avant-garde music, it makes a fitting memorial to a composer and conductor who was an important part of the Dutch contemporary scene.

© James Manheim /TiVo