HUGO DISTLER (1908-1942): DIE WEIHNACHTSGESCHICHTE OPUS X

Description: The inspiration for Hugo Distler’s gem of a Christmas narrative can be found in the German-language protestant sacred music of the early baroque era, especially the music of Heinrich Schütz. Drawing on Schütz’s example, Distler composed his Christmas story exclusively for vocalists – soloists and a 4-8-voiced ensemble – in what is, in Distler’s own words, described as an “Oratorium mit kammermusikalishem Charakter." We also hear parts of the beautiful choral Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, which appears seven times during the course of the narrative. – every time in a new harmonic colour. The story of Hugo Distler’s life is a tragic one. Born in Nuremburg in 1908, he would go on to teach at the School for Church Music in Spandau before being appointed professor of church music in Stuttgart in 1940. Distler, who was a deeply religious man, has been recognized as a forerunner of the New German Church Music, an important musical movement which developed in the 1930s. The Nazis stigmatized Distler’s compositions as “degenerate art”, and when he received his conscription papers, he took his life. Sadly, Distler’s music is seldom performed outside of Germany even to this day. Hailed by Gramophone as “a choir worth listening to for their beautiful singing, which can deliver performances of pure, natural eloquence,” the 16 voices of the award-winning vocal ensemble Concert Clemens, founded by conductor Carsten Seyer-Hansen in 1997, has established itself as one of the leading vocal ensembles in Scandinavia. Their stylistic versatility has been seen in numerous collaborations exploring the connections between jazz and classical music as well as note-perfect interpretations of standard repertoire. The evangelist, tenor Adam Riis, is one of Denmark’s leading voices. Recorded in the DXD format by the Danish “Wizard of Sound”, Preben Iwan, in the resonant sonics of Skt. Markus Kirken, Århus. Hugo Distler (1908-1942) lived a short, turbulent and hardworking life. When he was four years old, his mother left his family to live with a toy vendor from Chicago, leaving Hugo Distler to grow up with his grandmother. His musical talent manifested itself very clearly in his teenage years, and at the age of 17, he entered the music academy of Leipzig where he was taught by the most influential educators of the time. In addition to that, going to the Thomas Church exposed him to a wealth of early music. The impact of this period was absolutely defining for his much too short career as a composer, educator, and conductor. After three years of studies in Leipzig, Distler’s step grandfather died. This meant a loss of funding for his studies, and Distler was forced, therefore, to seek paid employment. With the warm recommendations of Günter Ramin among others, he was hired as an organist in the former church of Dietrich Buxtehude, St. Jacobi in Lübeck. He worked there from 1931 to 1937, and in many ways, these years were the happiest ones in his life. He started a family, had two children and was part of a thriving collaboration with the cantor of the church (who inspired Distler to take up conductorship) and the priest of the church (together with whom Distler selected the texts for his own vocal compositions). Distler’s enthusiasm for work was remarkable. In 1933 (when the Nazi party came into power and Distler chose to join the party), he worked as an educator for twenty hours a week at the music academy in Berlin – in addition to serving as the organist at St. Jacobi and the conductor of two choirs! Neverthe- less, he also managed to find the time to compose his own music, such as for instance his opus 10, Die Weihnachtsgeschichte. The inspiration for Hugo Distler’s gem of a Christmas narrative can be found in the German-language protestant sacred music of the early baroque era, especially the music of Heinrich Schütz, whose St. Mat- thew Passion was performed at St. Jacobi every year on Good Friday. The musical style of Schütz had a most rousing effect on Distler when he heard the composition for the first time in 1931. Inspired by Schütz, Distler composed his Christmas story exclusively for vocalists – soloists and a 4-8-voiced ensemble – in what is, in Distler’s own words, described as an “Oratorium mit kammermusikalishem Charakter”. A recurrent character in the composition is the evangelist who connects the narrative, which is based on the Gospels of St. Luke and St. Mat- thew. Alternating with this, we hear parts of the choral Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, which appears seven times during the course of the narrative – every time in a new harmonic colour – and freer turba-choruses and solo lines from Virgin Mary, the angel, King Herod and Simeon who sings his song of praise at the end. In 1937, Distler left Lübeck to work, at first, in Stuttgart and, for the final two years of his life, in Berlin. To an increasing extent, Distler was a tormented soul. The idyl of his family life was crumbling away, and leading a professional ca- reer concurrently with the Nazi regime was hard on him. He lived in fear of being called up for military service, and at the same time, he was shuffling to be able to work as an artist and an educator on the terms of Nazism. On All Saints Day 1942, Distler took his own life. The month before, he had visited his beloved Lübeck, which had been bombed to pieces on Palm Sunday that same year, and reportedly this sight made him lose hope definitively.