Various: Goethe in songs - CD

Kamila Mazalová – mezzo-soprano (1–3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31)
Monika Knoblochová – fortepiano (1–3, 5, 7–9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22–25, 27, 29, 31)
Saša Rašilov – artistic recitation (4, 6, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 30)
Recorded on 5th–6th April 2014 at the Parish of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in Prague-Vinohrady.
Václav Jan Tomášek (17th April 1774, Skuteč – 4th April 1850, Prague) was one of the most significant Czech musical figures of the first half of the 19th century – a respected composer, a proficient pianist, and a sought-after teacher. However, he achieved this status, which he greatly valued, as a self-taught musician. He received the foundations of his musical education as a boy from the choirmaster Wolf in Chrudim and during his high school studies in Jihlava (1787–1790) as a vocalist in the Minorite monastery, but then he purposefully, tenaciously, and systematically studied piano, music theory, and acquainted himself with musical literature. From 1790 he studied in Prague – by around 1795 he was known there as a music teacher and had also begun to compose. After completing his university studies (1797), he hesitated between a career as a lawyer and a musician. Tomášek's decision was influenced by his student, Count Georg Buquoy, who in 1806 offered him lifetime financial security if he entered his service as a composer and musician. Buquoy continued to pay him an annuity even after Tomášek married Wilhelmina Ebert in 1824 and established his own household. The most important figures of the cultural society of that time – especially in Prague – would then gather at Tomášek's home: for example, musicians, poets, writers, linguists, and historians. In addition, Tomášek participated in the activities of the Association for the Advancement of Sacred Music in Bohemia and the Žofín Academy, and also contributed to the Prague newspaper Ost und West. Tomášek dedicated himself to teaching music throughout his life, especially after his marriage in 1824. He was among the most in-demand piano teachers, even though his lessons were quite expensive and a significant competitor appeared in Prague in the 1830s – Josef Proksch's piano institute. Towards the end of his life, Tomášek became more reclusive but continued to teach and hold domestic musical academies. In 1844, he began working on his autobiography, which was published in Klar's yearbook Libussa from 1845 to 1850. In it, he not only writes about the events of his life (up to 1823) but also conveys his perspective on contemporary musical events – evaluating performers, works he had heard, and describing meetings with various personalities. Tomášek's fame extended beyond the borders of Bohemia – he was appointed a member of the then-important musical societies in Innsbruck, Vienna, Rotterdam, Budapest, Stuttgart, and Lviv. Musicians passing through Prague, such as Richard Wagner, Ole Bull, Clara Wieck-Schumann, and Hector Berlioz, also gladly visited him. Tomášek is the author of about 175 compositions (114 of them have an opus number) – he composed piano, chamber, concertos, symphonies, sacred works, operas, dramatic scenes, and various forms of vocal compositions. Songs and piano pieces clearly predominate in his work – songs constitute almost half, and piano compositions about a quarter of his oeuvre. His fundamental compositional contribution is the development of a new musical form of short poetic pieces (eclogues, dithyrambs, rhapsodies) – the so-called character piece. In the song genre, Tomášek has no equal in Bohemia until the 1830s. Eighty-five authors have been identified for his vocal compositions, but his favourite poets include Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. Tomášek set a total of forty-nine of Goethe's texts to music – forty are included in nine books titled Gedichte von Goethe under opus numbers 53–61 (he began composing them in 1815). Almost all are for solo voice with piano accompaniment, with occasional appearances of solo vocal ensembles. The seventh book (op. 59) is dedicated to Goethe himself. The two men met in 1822 in Cheb and in 1823 in Mariánské Lázně. Goethe greatly appreciated Tomášek's style of setting his poems to music, as evidenced by both their surviving correspondence and Tomášek's own account in his autobiography.

Tracklist

Goethe in Songs
Die Spinnerin / Sorge / Das Geheimnis / Meeting of V. J. Tomášek and J. W. Goethe in Cheb/recitation / Erster Verlust / Letter from J. W. Goethe to V. J. Tomášek/recitation / Eclogue in F major Op. 83, No. 2 / Rastlose Liebe / Die Nacht / Erlkönig/recitation / Erlkönig / An die Entfernte/recitation / An die Entfernte / Eclogue in E-flat major Op. 47, No. 6 / Der Fischer/recitation / Der Fischer / Schäfers Klaglied/recitation / Schäfers Klaglied / Das Veilchen/recitation / Das Veilchen / Am Flusse/recitation / Am Flusse / Eclogue in G major Op. 83, No. 5 / Hochzeitlied/recitation + music / Nachgefühl / Der Rattenfänger/recitation / Der Rattenfänger / Vorschlag zur Güte/recitation / Vorschlag zur Güte / Wanderers Nachtlied/recitation / Wanderers Nachtlied