Album review: Ulrike Anton, Russell Ryan, David Parry, Lost Generation: Schulhoff, Ullmann, Tauský (exil.arte)

Ulrike Anton, Russell Ryan, David Parry, Lost Generation: Schulhoff, Ullmann, Tauský (exil.arte)

The Austrian label exil.arte is dedicated to unearthing lost works by forgotten composers deemed “degenerate” by the Nazis – in most cases, simply a synonym for “Jewish”.

Erwin Schulhoff didn't help his case by setting the Communist Manifesto to music in 1933, though his Double Concerto for Flute, Piano and String Orchestra with Two Horns pursues more apolitical, flights of fancy. Viktor Ullmann's Chamber Symphony, Op 46a sounds like the precursor of Bernard Herrmann's scores for Vertigo and Psycho. By comparison, Vilem Tausky's “Coventry – Meditation for String Orchestra” has a pastoral sensibility.

Download: Chamber Symphony, Op. 46a; Double Concerto for Flute, Piano and String Orchestra with Two Horns