Pfitzner: Das dunkle Reich - Chorfantasie op.38

Compositions for choir with or without orchestra occupy Hans Pfitzner throughout his entire composer life cpo has now produced three of the most important new ones The Dark Realm, The Flower of Revenge and Fons salutifer Similar to the cello concertos, for whose production with David Geringas we have just received the 1994 Annual Prize of the German Record Critics, these three works exemplify the composer's early, mature and aging styles With the youth work Der Blumen Rache auf eine Ballade by Freiligrath, Pfitzner directly takes up Robert Schumann's work: a flourishing, soft poetry fills the piece, the first recording of which is tantamount to a real discovery Pfitzner composed the choral fantasy The Dark Empire three years after his wife's death: it is undoubtedly a requiem for her, "a kind of literary mass for the dead," as he writes in a letter. Apart from the "Palestrina", this work in its dark glow is for me the most valuable gift this so difficult artist has given to the music history of the 20th century The Hymnus Fons salutifer is an occasional work for the consecration of a new spring in Karlsbach in 1942. This is also a first recording Our soloists are Yvonne Wiedstruck, Yvi Jänicke and Yaron Windmüller, the Rundfunkchor Berlin sings and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under the Pfitzner specialist Rolf Reuter plays.