Aribert Reimann: Zyklus für Bariton & Orchester auf CD

Among the German composers who came to prominence during the 1960s, Aribert Reimann occupies a special place both as a composer and as the piano accompanist of well-known singers including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. His predilection for vocal music, with the poetry of Paul Celan as his most frequent source of inspiration, takes the form of Lieder or pieces with orchestra. Zyklus employs an orchestra rich in woodwind and brass, but without violins and with a prominent rôle for percussion. Kumi Ori is a forceful yet understated setting of the poem Du sei wie Du, immer, which ends with the (Hebrew) words of Isaiah 'kumi ori' (arise and shine). Similar in expression but even more austere in character, Die Pole sind in uns, for voice and piano, opens with plangent sonorities from inside the piano as well as on the keyboard, the voice then entering with sustained phrases that emphasize the sheer emotional force of Celan's poem.