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| One of the mysteries surrounding Jesús Rueda is the question how he was able to find a voice of his own, the various influences to which he was exposed during his development as a composer notwithstanding. He bid farewell to the constructivist rigor of Francisco Guerrero, and his pieces to do not immediately betray influences by Luis de Pablo, Giacomo Manzoni and Luigi Nono. Characteristic of his compositions are fast tempos, present in “slower” parts as brisk figurations, his sense of harmony and consonance (which is not to be mistaken for tonality!) and his fondness for high registers and transparent instrumentations. Rueda, an excellent pianist, puts his pianistic expertise to use in Cadenza with breathtaking sections and a technically skilled ensemble. In Ítaca, his attention turns to the constant play of forces between piano and ensemble, a game from which both players, utterly exhausted, eventually have to resign. But center stage on the present recording belongs to Mas la noche, which is based on a poem by the Andalusian poet Ibn al Zaqqaq. Rueda ingenuously transforms the “chase through the night” described therein into sound and energy. |
1CD | Contemporary | Special Offers |
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| Recommendation |
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Wolfgang Rihm sets poems from Heiner Müller, Hermann Lenz and Rainer Maria Rilke to music. Listen to a living document about one of the most important lied composers of our time.  |
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| The Swiss musician and theater maker writes miniatures for »four well- prepared one-hand pianos«, supplying us with refreshingly light and clever pieces. |
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| Even before he became Arnold Schönberg’s student, Alban Berg wrote some 40 Jugendlieder, ’early lieder’: Romantic poetry as mirrored by the Fin de Siècle. |
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