My Life In Widening Circles

R. Murray Schafer is a Canadian national treasure, composer, philosopher, scholar, scientist, poet, author, artist and renaissance man. A labour of love, this is the first Centrediscs recording devoted to his chamber music, instrumental and with soprano, including works from three distinct periods of his life. Kinderlieder, an early work from the 50’s, remains innocent and fresh more than five decades later, Wild Bird is a compelling tone painting from the 90’s. The disc also contains three rich and mature works from the recent past, including Six Songs from Rilke’s “Book of Hours”. This is the premiere recording of Six Songs, and also Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello.

Work / Tracks

1 Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello (13:29)

2 Wild Bird (8:31)

Kinderlieder
3 i) Mailied (1:34)
4 ii) Der Pflaumenbaum (2:02)
5 iii) Die Maske des Bösen (1:23)
6 iv) Hollywood (0:45)
7 v) Wer ist zu Haus? (1:00)
8 vi) Patriotisches Lied (1:03)
9 vii) Die Vögel im Winter (3:50)
10 viii) Die Pappel vom Karlsplatz(1:18)
11 ix) Wiegenlied (1:42)

Duo for Violin and Piano | Duo pour violon et piano
12 i) Brightly (6:38)
13 ii) Very slowly, expressively (5:37)
14 iii) With great vigour and intensity (3:49)

Six Songs from Rilke’s Book of Hours
15 I (2:29)
16 II (3:25)
17 III (2:53)
18 IV (3:10)
19 V (1:01)
20 VI (2:56)

Specific credits for the instrumentalists on this CD:
Elizabeth Bergmann, piano, tracks 2 – 11
Marcel Bergmann, piano, tracks 15 – 20
Stacie Dunlop, soprano tracks, 3 – 11, 15 – 20
John Lowry, violin, tracks 1, 2, 12 – 20
Andrea Neumann, viola, tracks 1, 15 – 20
Beth Root Sandvoss, cello, tracks 1, 15 – 20
Akiko Tominaga, piano, tracks 12 – 14

Taking up the challenge is Land’s End Chamber Ensemble, an unusual collective of excellent musicians from Calgary devoted to Canadian and international new music, as well as classics from the 20th century; and Stacie Dunlop, soprano, a well-known performer in contemporary circles who commissioned Six Songs.

The first line of Six Songs from Rilke’s “Book of Hours” is “I live my life in widening circles” no doubt an apt description of the manner in which Mr. Schafer has lived his life.

“Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello is constantly gripping and richly satisfying in exploring the tonal resources of the three instruments. Schafer’s economy of instrumental means achieves -though the committed, precise and incisive playing of the Land’s End Chamber Ensemble- a maximum effect at every turn. […] There is much intense beauty in these six songs based on Rilke, in part because of the courage inherent in the poetry, in part because Schafer’s settings are strikingly and brilliantly appropriate, in part because Dunlop is a committed and accomplished singer who intuitively comprehends her vital place as a creative vehicle in expression of human depth. […] One outstanding feature of this CD is the search for truth one senses in both the compositions and their respective performances; another outstanding feature is the top-notch quality of music-making here. We have much intelligence and passion implicit in these five performances and much occasion for discovery.” – James Strecker, Reviewer

“…much lyric beauty and variety… Dunlop sings the songs with fine style and intonation, and the players play with considerable polish.” David W. Moore, The American Record Guide

“… the performance and recording quality are superb, and the whole CD is highly enjoyable.” John Wagstaff, CAML Review.

PERFORMERS
Land’s End Chamber Ensemble
Stacie Dunlop, soprano