Brilliant performances of newly discovered concertos by a Ukrainian maverick.
Editor’s Choice – November 2024
by Phillip Scott on 2 October, 2024
Thomas de Hartmann was born into an aristocratic family in Ukraine in 1884. After showing musical talent as a child, he studied in Moscow with Anton Arensky and Sergei Taneyev. His earliest music was in the style of Rimsky-Korsakov (who was director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory where Hartmann studied), but his aesthetic became more modernist through the influence of contemporary painters such as his personal friend Wassily Kandinsky.
The composer’s later career was sidetracked when he and his wife attached themselves to an itinerant spiritual guru, the Georgian mystic George Gurdjieff. They literally followed him around until 1929. During this time, Hartmann collaborated with Gurdjieff (who was musically illiterate), notating and arranging the mystic’s improvised melodies for use in spiritual exercises.
After leaving Gurdijieff, and suffering the upheavals of war and revolution, Hartmann’s early reputation had evaporated. He turned to writing film scores for a living under the pseudonym Thomas Kross, composing over 50. He settled in France until World War Two and ended his days in 1956 in America.
Hartmann was either posthumously forgotten or exclusively associated with the chants he notated for his ersatz guru. That is, until recently. A Hartmann Project is now underway to rediscover and record original compositions from all periods of his creative life. His orchestral music has previously appeared on other labels, but this Pentatone release marks a step forward in terms of big name musicians. The fact that Hartmann was Ukrainian also gives it a political context.
The Violin Concerto was composed in Paris during the Nazi occupation, an anxious time for the composer. Hartmann dubbed the work his “klezmer” concerto, and dedicated it to his friend, the Jewish violinist Albert Bloch. The melodies certainly contain a Jewish flavour; The composer’s wife Olga referred to them as “macabre and sorrowful songs”. These alternate with virtuosic fast passages of great urgency, and also moments of tender yearning.
Each change of mood is beautifully projected by Joshua Bell’s sweet-toned violin. The second movement is a heartfelt theme and variations, while the third movement is a spry minuet and trio, effectively scored for the violin with string pizzicato accompaniment. A frenetic, dancelike finale utilises a traditional melody played at Ukrainian weddings, Kamarinskaya (also the subject of an orchestral scherzo by Glinka). Bell and the orchestra are tremendously exciting here.
The Cello Concerto, though dating from earlier (1935) has a similar tone—more Russian-Jewish in this case—and was inspired by similar concerns. It is unusual in several ways: In the 20-minute first movement, the introduction contains an extended cadenza for the solo instrument. Another cadenza comes towards the end. A solemn slow movement with a prominent xylophone part follows, then a brisk finale in 5/8. Matt Haimowitz brings great expressivity and personality to the cello part, and the Leipzig orchestra under Dennis Russell Davies is even more impactful than its companion ensemble.
Superb performances of two immediately attractive works make this release a real find. Thomas de Hartmann deserves a permanent place in the repertoire: this may be the recording to do it.