Upon hearing these works I was wondering, “Why am I just discovering this wonderful composer?” Thank you Chandos, for bringing to collectors examples of the work of this amazing German composer who died in the German trenches in WWI in 1915. The liner note writer even goes so far as to say had Stephan lived the entire course of Western music might have been different. He was born a few years after Webern, Berg and Stravinsky, and did not create many works before his untimely death because he worked in a very slow and deliberate, painstaking manner on his compositions.
His Violin Concerto of 1911 is diatonic in nature and sounds almost like a Mahler violin concerto. But there is also a strong quality of Richard Strauss, as in most of his works – even the more slightly atonal ones. The concerto is a powerful one-movement work which deserves a place in the concert repertory. This is the premiere recording of the first of Stephan’s pieces titled simply Music for Orchestra; the composer eschewed any programmatic or descriptive terms in this compositions’ titles. Its “nocturne” section creates a dreamlike setting of the same folk tune used by Mahler in his First Symphony – Freres Jacques. The later Music for Orchestra has a lush opening section, some heroic Richard Strauss music, and the final section is distinguished by a massive fugal exposition. There is another composer’s influence which I heard strongly in this music, and that is the ecstatic Scriabin. Fascinating stuff, more than worthwhile hearing and appreciating!
– John Sunier
