Anna Cramer

LKO Orchestra, Nathalie Mees, Stephan Pas, Wim Voogd

19,9928,49
(2 press reviews)
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Original Recording Format: DSD 64
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Anna Cramer was born in Amsterdam on July 15th, 1873. She studied at the Conservatory of Music in Amsterdam, and on her graduation in 1897 she travelled to Germany to study composition with Wilhelm Berger and Max von Schillings. She enjoyed some early successes, and in 1906-07 several of her songs were performed in The Netherlands and Germany. Between 1907 and 1910 her songs op.1 – 4 were published in Germany. 
From 1910 until 1925 Cramer lived in Munich and Berlin, but at the end of this period she moved to Vienna. This proved to be important for her development as a composer, for while in the Austrian capital she worked closely with folksinger, poet and composer Walter Simlinger. 
He wrote the libretti for her two operas, Der letzte Tanz and Dr. Pipalumbo (1926-1927). 
Cramer suffered recurrent money and health problems and in 1930 she was committed to a mental institution. After her release in January 1931 she returned to The Netherlands but withdrew entirely from public life, avoiding all contact with other Dutch musicians, and no more of her songs were published in her lifetime. However, she did not stop composing and over the years she also revised several of her earlier songs. In 1958 she deposited a suitcase full of manuscripts at a bank in Amsterdam. 
Her mental health problems persisted and she was forcibly hospitalised once again in 1960. 

 

She remained in a nursing home until her death on June 4th, 1968 at the age of 94. The suitcase containing her manuscripts then came into the possession of the Haags Gemeentemuseum, and nowadays her compositions are kept in the Nederlands Muziekinstituut in The Hague. 

Tracklist

Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.
1.
Sechs Lieder opus 4, Erwachen in den grellen Tag
08:40
2.
Sechs Lieder opus 4, Ave Rosa
02:56
3.
Sechs Lieder opus 4, Michel mit der Lanze
02:06
4.
Sechs Lieder opus 4, Vale
02:43
5.
Sechs Lieder opus 4, Auftrag
02:40
6.
Sechs Lieder opus 4, Waldhornkl?_nge
02:18
7.
Wenn die Linde bluht
01:04
8.
Funf Gedichte opus 1, Bispill
01:32
9.
Funf Gedichte opus 1, Bussemann
02:01
10.
Funf Gedichte opus 1, Wa heet se doch?
02:12
11.
Funf Gedichte opus 1, De Juger
01:46
12.
Funf Gedichte opus 1, Int Holt
02:54
13.
Schlafliedchen fur's Peterle
02:28
14.
Zehn Gedichte, Souvenir de Malmaison
03:21
15.
Zehn Gedichte, In einer grossen Stadt
02:55
16.
Zehn Gedichte, Blumekens
02:52
17.
Zehn Gedichte, Briefwechsel
02:19
18.
Zehn Gedichte, Spruch
02:18
19.
Zehn Gedichte, Meiner Mutter
03:25
20.
Zehn Gedichte, Auf einer grunen Wiese
02:52
21.
Zehn Gedichte, Nach dem Balle
02:55
22.
Zehn Gedichte, Siegesfest
01:08
23.
Zehn Gedichte, Fatinga
05:18
24.
Zwei Notturnos, Im Pavillon
04:40
25.
Zwei Notturnos, Am Meer
05:05
26.
Wenn der Abend sinkt
01:41

Total time: 01:16:09

Additional information

Label

SKU

ACDBH051-2

Qualities

Channels

, ,

Artists

, , ,

Composers

Genres

,

Digital Converters

Sphinx by Merging Technologies

Mastering Engineer

Jos Boerland

Mastering Equipment

Marren Media

Instruments

, ,

Original Recording Format

Producer

Stephan Pas

Recording Engineer

Hessel Veldman, Stephan Pas

Recording location

Blauwe Zaal of the Hogeschool Helikon, The Hague, The Netherlands / Bach Zaal of the Conservatory of Music Amsterdam

Recording Software

Merging

Recording Type & Bit Rate

DSD64

Release DateSeptember 11, 2015

Press reviews

Presto Classics

“It has been a privilege indeed to discover Anna Cramer’s work, released here by Aliud for the first time. If you enjoy late romantic lieder, then there are some fine examples on this disc.”

HRAudio.Net 5 out of 5

The path of musical history is of course marked by familiar and stellar names, but it is easy to forget those uncountable musicians, who, although highly talented, were not allowed into the Canon because of vagaries of fashion or personal circumstance. Anna Cramer (1873-1968) was one such.

She trained at the Amsterdam Conservatory, and on graduation moved to Germany to study composition with Wilhelm Berger and Max von Schillings. Gaining some early success between 1906 and 1907, some of her songs were performed in The Netherlands and Germany, and between 1907 and 1910 groups of songs comprising Op. 1-4 were published in Germany. Until 1925 Cramer lived in Munich and Berlin, but then she moved to Vienna, crucible of modernistic developments in music which had a major influence on her. She worked with Walter Simlinger, a poet, folksinger and composer, who wrote the libretti for her two operas, Der letzte Tanz and Dr. Pipalumbo (1926-1927). In Vienna she came under the influence of Wolf, Berg, and Mahler, and although her music was based in the German Late Romantic style, she developed her own voice by adding touches of cabaret, folk-music, and some of the adventurous harmonic progressions characteristic of the period.

By 1930, however, recurrent money and health problems caused by her struggle to gain acceptance brought on mental illness, and she was committed to a mental institution. Released in 1930, she returned to her home in The Netherlands, becoming a recluse, although she carried on composing and even revised some of her earlier songs. In 1958 she took a suitcase full of manuscripts and deposited them at a bank in Amsterdam. Continuing mental health issues caused her to be forcibly institutionalized again in 1960. Living in a nursing home, she died in 1968 at the age of 94. Her bundle of manuscripts entered the care of the Hague Gemeentemuseum, and thence passed to the Netherlands Music Institute in The Hague.

In 1995, the Globe label issued an RBCD with a selection of Cramer’s songs, sung by Rachel Ann Morgan with pianist Marjès Benoist. However, the present project by Aliud mostly includes songs which are world premières, and this new disc offers a generous 76’20” of Anna’s music. I prefer soprano Nathalie Mees’ fresher, lighter voice to Rachel Morgan’s slightly matronly tones, and Aliud also feature a new orchestration of the Six Songs, Op. 4 by Jeppe Moulijn, played with total commitment by the Leiderdorps Chamber Orchestra (based in Leiden) under the baton of their director, Stephan Pas. Scholars have remarked that Anna Cramer’s piano accompaniments seem to suggest she had an orchestra in mind, and Moulijn has followed the example of several composer/conductors who orchestrated songs by Richard Strauss.

Anna Cramer had a strong melodic gift, a pre-requisite of Romantic composers, beautiful cantilenas but never saccharine and capable of a wide emotional range. These melodies were enhanced by her choice of poets; she seems to have been fond of the Expressionists, of whom Otto Julius Bierbaum was one (a poet also favored by Richard Strauss). Like Mahler, she was also attracted by German folk poetry. It is fun to listen to her music and note the allusions; Wagner in the first of the Six Songs Op.4, where she repeatedly uses a phrase (on the flutes in the orchestrated version) uncannily like the famous Tristan und Isolde motif, Mahler for a circling motto in the piano part of Ave Rosa (Op.4 no.2), uncannily like one from the Abschied of his Lied von der Erde (not published until two years after she wrote the song) and Debussy, present in the harmonies and textures of several of the Zehn Gedichte (1910). This is not mere imitation but reflects the common pool of resources available to all the composers at that time, especially folk material.

After the heady and beautifully rendered orchestrations of Op.4, Nathalie Mees continues with songs with piano accompaniment. Anna Cramer followed both Schumann and Schubert in the belief that the piano part should be at least equal partners in Lieder. Her piano parts can be very tricky, but they are always eloquent, mirroring the poetry as well as supporting the vocal line. She writes some lovely preludes and postludes for the piano, the postlude of ‘Souvenir de Malmaison’ from the Zehn Gedichte being an exquisite example. Pianist Wim Voogd’s pianism is superbly matched to Mees’ flowing lines, and every nuance is captured by Aliud’s pure DSD recording, which has admirably judged balance and ambience.

It has been a privilege indeed to discover Anna Cramer’s work for the first time, especially when interpreted with such artistry and evident relish by her contemporary Netherlanders as recorded on this disc. My only real criticism is that there are no translations of the German texts, despite having the notes in three languages including English. My rudimentary German allowed me to get the broad gist of the poetry, and some of Google’s often chaotic translations also helped. Nevertheless, if you enjoy Late Romantic lieder, there are some first-class examples here. It is a pleasure to know that Anna Cramer lives on in her music. Despite mental illness, her writing is mostly positive and generous, although she is not afraid to portray the darker sides of life as dictated by her poets. She also had a wicked sense of humor, judging from her mischievous satirical side displayed on Track 20, ‘Auf einer grünnen Wiese’.

Well done to the Aliud team for such a convincing and worthwhile musical exhumation of Anna Cramer.

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