Helmut Rilling Personal Selection: Indeed the best of the best

Helmuth Rilling Personal Selection 
10 CD Set
Hänssler Classic

Conductor Helmuth Rilling has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with the Hänssler Classic. To celebrate Rilling's 70th birthday, Hänssler released this 10-CD set, Rilling's hand-picked favorites from the over 240 recordings he's made with the label. With that much material to choose from, it's safe to say this set is indeed the best of the best.

Rilling is perhaps best known for his traversal of Johann Sebastian Bach cantatas and oratorios. That cycle is well-represented in this collection. In addition to the St. John Passion and the "Peasant" Cantata, there are also some shorter works by Bach in the set.

Rilling takes a straight-forward approach to Bach. He tends to keep things moving briskly along, with tight, clean ensembles that make the counterpoint easy to follow. Rilling lets the music speak for itself, and in these recordings, it has a lot to say.

That same type of unadorned, no-nonsense direction is equally effective in Rilling's recording of the War Requiem by Benjamin Britten.

The collection includes many works by romantic masters, and Rilling adjusts his style appropriately. César Frank's Les Béatitudes shimmers with a soft glow. Rilling lingers lovingly over each beautiful turn of phrase in Schubert's Gesang der Geister. His performance of Bruckner's Te Deum is emotive, with just the right amount of gravitas and portent.

Also featured in the collection is Haydn's Harmoniemess in B-flat. Rilling's precise interpretation captures the classical era's ideal: the perfect balance between form and emotion. Mendelssohns' Heimkerh aus der Fremde is full of good humor. The work was written for private performance (to celebrate an anniversary), and Rilling maintains a light hearted and casual mood throughout this seldom-heard work.

Hänssler's crystal-clear recording techniques perfectly match the style of this remarkable conductor. If you're not familiar with Helmuth Rilling, this collection is an excellent place to start. It spans a good portion of his time with Hänssler, and shows a remarkable consistency of quality throughout.

Introducing The Diabelli Project

Even composers can have writer's block -- and that's exactly where I was a few years ago. After a long dry spell, I decided to do something about it. Ira Glass' talk on the Creative Process inspired me to get over my writer's block and start posting to this blog daily (that month-long experiment started in 2011 continues to this day). (click on images to enlarge)

 My first flash composition from 2011. You'll see a legible version
of this in next Monday's post.

I always enjoy attending our church services; the time before the service invites contemplative thought. One Sunday I had a modicum of inspiration, and scribbled the opening to a canon on the bulletin. It was the first thing I'd written in quite a while. The next Sunday I did it again, and over time it's become part of my Sunday worship routine.

It's starting to work. Without the pressures of needing to complete a work, or even worry overmuch about the quality of the piece, I find I can dash off little ideas on a regular basis. It's sort of the equivalent of flash fiction -- save that I don't complete the work because I don't want to limit myself to a 4-bar composition week after week.

Over the past 2 years, I've accumulated a lot of church bulletins with these little musical sketches on them. And it's been interesting to see how they've developed over time.

My most current offering. I went from pencil to pen
as I gained confidence.

The Diabelli Project

In 1819 the publisher and composer Anton Diabelli wrote a short theme that he sent out to all the leading composers of the day -- Franz Schubert, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, et al. -- to write a variation to be published in a collection. Ludwig van Beethoven took the idea and ran with it. His 33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op. 120 is considered one of his masterworks.

So here's the deal. I'll be Diabelli, and you can be Beethoven (or Hummel, if you prefer). Each Monday I'll post one of my Sunday sketches. And you can use them as you wish. Write your own theme and variations, or fugue, or whatever. It doesn't have to be a classical work. Think there's a catchy melodic hook buried in there somewhere? Use it.

I just ask a few things:

1) If you use any of these sketches, just let me know.
2) If possible, please send me a recording or notated score.
3) Please credit me appropriately if you offer your work to the public

That's it! I'll post the first excerpt next Monday. And there's another personal challenge in this for me. I used to be a professional music copyist -- another skill I've neglected over the years. I'll be writing these sketches out by hand to bring back those chops. 

CCC 075 - Pascal Bentoiu

Romanian composer Pascal Bentoiu is this week's subject of the Consonant Classical Challenge. Bentoiu (b. 1927) has had a long and successful career as a conductor, educator, and a composer. Among his accomplishments, he has created performing editions of Georges Enescu's symphonies. And it seems he's absorbed some of Enescu's style as well.

Bentoiu is a modernist. The forms he casts his music in are only loosely based on earlier models. His music can be highly chromatic, with some strong dissonances and aggressive sounds. Bentoiu has collected Romanian folk music, and composed a number of art songs, choral works and operas. His affinity for lyrical melody extends to his instrumental works as well.

The Prelude to his opera Hamlet is a good example of his compositional style. The wordless chorus effectively sets the scene for the drama to follow.



Bentoiu has an impressive catalog of major works. He's written eight symphonies, six string quartets, and two piano concertos. His second piano concerto may appear somewhat thorny, but there's a strong tonal underpinning that keeps the work on track.

Te slavesc pe Tine is a setting by Bentoiu of  a traditional Romanian chant. It shows how effectively  Bentoiu can work creatively within the constraints of tradition.


Within Romania, and throughout Eastern Europe, Pascal Bentoiu is a well-respected and influential composer.  I wish he were better-known in this country. I'd especially like to hear his symphonic output. Unfortunately, there are no recordings available of his music (at least that I could find). So for now, Romanian concert-goers have the advantage over us. Based on the few examples here, I would say that our concert programs are much the poorer for the omission.

The Phantom Insider 3

Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan have been subtly making Lee Falk, the creator of the The Phantom, a recurring character. Over the past few years, Lee Falk has appeared in the strip as a narrator. He always talks directly to the reader (see: The Phantom Insider -- Revealed!) either summing up what's happened in the current story arc, or introducing a new storyline.

In a recent sequence, Falk's New York City address was cited. (click on image to enlarge)

And now Mr. Falk stands outside his residence to summarize the action. He looks quite dapper with his skull head cane (referencing the Phantom's skull ring) and amulet (the same skull symbol as on the Phantom's belt buckle).

It's a sequence that works on three levels:

1) Those with little knowledge of the strip get a synopsis.
2) Those who have been reading the strip will recognize the background as one of the story locations, and will get added meaning from the sequence.
3) Those who are comics scholars will recognize Lee Falk and get the full flavor of the homage.

Sure, you can read a comic strip in a few seconds. But see what you're missing?