Songs for Choir, Woodwind and Harp, arranged by PROF. ANDREAS N. TARKMANN
Vocalconsort Leipzig
ensemble diX
Gregor Meyer - Conductor
Mendelssohn gave the heading „To be sung outside“ („Im Freien zu singen“) to a total of three song-cycles ('Liederzyklen' in german) for choir – this is not suprising considering that nature and freedom were closely connected in romanticism.
Prof. Andreas N. Tarkmann was inspired by precisely these songs to put Mendelssohn's works into a new context. Based on the ideas of romanticism, the cycle of seasons and the cycle of human life were combined – nature mirrors human soul. These are the images of life („Jahresbilder“). Andreas Tarkmann chose a total of 24 of Mendelssohn's mucial pieces, combined and rearranged them for two ensembles – Vocalconsort Leipzig and ensemble diX from Gera. Originally for a-capella choir, the structure of the songs remained more or less unchanged but the voices are now supported and carried by the four woodwind players of ensemble diX. What used to be songs for solo voice, accompanied by piano, is now turned into choir music, whereas some solo piano pieces from „Songs without words“ return to the listener as beautifully arranged woodwind music.
First performed in 2015 during the Mendelssohn-Festival in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, this programme was recorded two years later on CD in cooperation with Coviello Classics.