The Belgian pianist ThÃ©rÃ¨se Malengreau has a particular interest in the relationship between music and the visual arts. With her first release on BIS she offers us a rare opportunity to acquaint ourselves with the music of Hans Erich Apostel, banned as 'degenerate' by the Nazis in 1938, and a rarity in performance ever since. At the same time, her album allows us insight into the interplay between composers and artists in other disciplines during the first decades of the twentieth century, in the context of movements such as Der Blaue Reiter, the arts magazine Der Sturm or the Vienna Workshop. The three works here were inspired by artwork by Otto Kokoschka and Alfred Kubin, two of them appearing on album for the first time. In his Op. 1, the Zehn Variationen, Apostel translates 10 drawings by Kokoschka into sounds - but as Malengreau suggests in her own liner notes, what the music describes is the varying degrees of expressivity and intensity of the drawings, rather than the images themselves. The closing work consists of 60 very brief sketches (less than 40 seconds on average), in which Apostel is reacting to Kubin's drawings (caricatures rather than portraits) of nuns and witches, generals or huntsmen. Apostel completed it in 1948-49, but as early as 1945 it provided material for what is probably his best-known work: the ten pieces that make up the 15-minute long Kubiniana.

Tracklist:

10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1: Thema. Andantino
10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1: Var. 1, Un Poco Mosso
10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1: Var. 2, Andante Semplice
10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1: Var. 3, Vivace Giocoso E Lesto
10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1: Var. 4, Moderato, Sostenuto E Dolce
10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1: Var. 5, Marcia Grave E Tragico
10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1: Var. 6, Vivace
10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1: Var. 7, Allegro Furioso
10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1: Var. 8, Allegro Con Fuoco
10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1: Var. 9, Andante Sostenuto
10 Variationen Über Ein Eigenes Thema, Op. 1 Var. 10, Vivace Furioso
Kubiniana, Op. 13: No. 1, Lento Assai
Kubiniana, Op. 13: No. 2, Marcia Moderato
Kubiniana, Op. 13: No. 3, Allegretto
Kubiniana, Op. 13: No. 4, Grave
Kubiniana, Op. 13: No. 5, Andante Molto
Kubiniana, Op. 13: No. 6, Tempo Di Marcia
Kubiniana, Op. 13: No. 7, Allegro Molto
Kubiniana, Op. 13: No. 8, Lento
Kubiniana, Op. 13: No. 9, Moderato
Kubiniana, Op. 13: No. 10, Andante Molto
60 Schemen Nach Zeichnungen Von A. Kubin, Op. 13a: No. 1, Lento - No. 2, Lento - No. 3, Maestoso - No. 4, Andante Molto - Allegr
60 Schemen Nach Zeichnungen Von A. Kubin, Op. 13a: No. 7, Moderato - No. 8, Marcia Moderato - No. 9, Allegro Moderato - No. 10,
60 Schemen Nach Zeichnungen Von A. Kubin, Op. 13a: No. 14, Mäßig - No. 15, Behäbiges Marschzeitmaß - No. 1
60 Schemen Nach Zeichnungen Von A. Kubin, Op. 13a: No. 22, Andante Commodo - No. 23, Langsam - No. 24, Allegro Moderato - No. 25
60 Schemen Nach Zeichnungen Von A. Kubin, Op. 13a: No. 29, Andante Molto - No. 30, Moderato - No. 31, Andante - No. 32, Lento -
60 Schemen Nach Zeichnungen Von A. Kubin, Op. 13a: No. 37, Moderato - No. 38, Adagio Misterioso - No. 39, Andante - No. 40, Mode
60 Schemen Nach Zeichnungen Von A. Kubin, Op. 13a: No. 44, Molto Lento - No. 45, Vivace - No. 46, Marcia - No. 47, Moderato - No
60 Schemen Nach Zeichnungen Von A. Kubin, Op. 13a: No. 50, Moderato - No. 51, Andante - No. 52, Tempo Di Menuetto - No. 53, Mode
60 Schemen Nach Zeichnungen Von A. Kubin, Op. 13a: No. 54, Andante - No. 55, - - No. 56, Marcia - No. 57, Maestoso - No. 58, Tem

UPC: 7318599924052
Label: Bis
Release Date: 1.4.19
Format: CD

Apostel / Malengreau - Apostel & Kokoschka & Kubin (CD)