Elegie (Schoeck) Explained

Elegie, Op.36 is a 1922 song cycle for baritone and chamber orchestra by Othmar Schoeck. The cycle consists of 24 German-language settings of Nikolaus Lenau and Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff. The Elegie is the earliest of Schoeck's song-cycles, coming after his opera Venus (1919–21).^[1]

Recordings

• Peter Lagger, Camerata Zürich, cond. Räto Tschupp, 1975
• Arthur Loosli, Berner Kammerensemble, cond. Theo Hug, Jecklin
• Klaus Mertens, Mutare Ensemble, Gerhard Müller-Hornbach, NCA 2003
• Andreas Schmidt, Musikkollegium Winterthur, cond. Werner Andreas Albert, CPO
• Christian Gerhaher, Kammerorchester Basel, cond. Heinz Holliger, Sony, 2022.

Notes and References

1. Chris Walton Othmar Schoeck: Life and Works 1580463002 - 2009 - Page 115 "Venus and the Elegie also provide the first intimation that Schoeck's gift for drama in music, with few exceptions, found its finest expression when it tended to monodrama. At the time that Schoeck wrote his Elegie, its modest instrumentation meant that it was not difficult to program, whereas today, an hour-long cycle with chamber orchestra is seen as too short for an evening's concert and too long for one half of a program. "