Songs of a Lifetime

Songs of a Lifetime – The Vocal Cycles of Iván Eröd

He liked to see himself as an opera composer, although in view of three substantial symphonies and numerous other orchestral works, he was equally regarded as a symphonist; and, on the basis of three string quartets, piano trios and much more, as a master of chamber music; and, in view of his most frequently performed piece, the one-minute choral setting “Viva la musica”, he could be described as a virtuoso choral composer. By comparison, Iván Eröd may be relatively little known to the public as a composer of song cycles. And yet it was precisely this genre that perhaps lay much closer to his heart than one might initially think.

Song composition often accompanied Eröd in connection with significant external events. The young father dedicated his firstborn children, Adrian and Juliette, the Milchzahnlieder op. 17 (1969/1973), based on the cheerful texts of his friend Richard Bletschacher. They are melodically in the style of simple children’s songs Despite all the harmless playfulness that the original second song ‘Radau in China-Town’ sought to express around 1970, it may seem inappropriate by today’s standards of ‘political correctness’, which is why it has been omitted from the current recording.

Both a continuation and a further development of the idea behind the “Milchzahnlieder” are the Krokodilslieder op. 28. They were composed in 1979 and define a new chanson genre aimed equally at children and adults.

A key work in Eröd’s output of the 1980s was the second Piano Trio, Op. 42, composed around the turn of the year 1981/82, which is deeply serious in tone and atmospherically represents a reaction to the imposition of martial law in Poland in December 1981. This seriousness is also particularly striking in the Four Songs, Op. 44 from 1983, with texts by Sergei Yesenin and Osip Mandelstam in translations by Paul Celan.

Also of a consistently serious character is To Sing Over the Ashes for mezzo-soprano and piano, Op. 65 (1994). The song cycle ties in with an earlier plan to work on a Requiem with Bletschacher. The songs take up this idea indirectly, whereby the emotional content of the five songs corresponds to a lament for the Jews persecuted and exterminated during the Second World War and thus also autobiographically scenery of Eröd’s childhood. The voice often forgoes cantabile in favour of speech-song, whilst the piano part appears reduced to the bare minimum.

The poet who had accompanied Eröd since his early creative years, Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970), appears in the Canti di un ottantenne op. 95 (2018/2019). As a work for baritone and string quartet, these “Songs of an Eighty-Year-Old” capture the poet’s feelings and moods exactly as they were very personally interpreted by the composer. The composer has left us a puzzle with the string part of the final song, “La tua luce”, which bears a delicate yet scarcely overlookable resemblance to Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony”. Coincidental resemblance, intention – or rather the only possible interpretation arising from the compositional arc?

One day before a long-planned heart operation in June 2019, from whose complications he died, Eröd completed this, his final work. Commissioned by the Society of Music Friends for the 150th anniversary of the Vienna Musikverein, the world premiere took place almost exactly one year later, on 18 June 2020 at the Vienna Musikverein, performed by Adrian Eröd and the Artis Quartet.

Christian Heindl
Vienna, 2023

Adrian Eröd Baritone
Adrian Eröd is an Austrian Kammersänger and one of the most successful Austrian singers of his generation. In addition to his home theatre, the Vienna State Opera, he performs at international opera houses, is a sought-after concert singer and devotes himself with great passion to the art song.

Christoph Traxler Piano
The versatile Austrian pianist has established himself both as a soloist and as a chamber musician on the major stages and in the musical centres of the world.

Michael Nagy Baritone
The Stuttgart-born baritone with Hungarian roots began his musical career with the Stuttgart Hymnus Boys’ Choir and studied singing, art song interpretation and conducting

Susanna Klovsky Piano
Susanna Klovsky is a graduate of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich and of the soloist class at what is now the Haute École de Musique Genève-Neuchâtel.

Wiebke Lehmkuhl Mezzo-soprano
The Oldenburg -born alto Wiebke Lehmkuhl is a sought-after soloist on international opera stages and concert podiums

Paul Rivinius Piano
Paul Rivinius studied horn and piano and was accepted in 1994 into Gerhard Oppitz in Munich in 1994.

Louise Alder Soprano
The British soprano studied at the Royal College of Music and was the first Kiri Te Kanawa scholarship holder.

Gary Matthewman Piano
Gary Matthewman is one of the leading Lied accompanists in the UK.

Æon Quartet
The Æon Quartet was founded in 2010 by graduates of the Conservatory and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. The ensemble plays on 18th-century instruments; the delicate yet direct sound of the gut strings makes the string quartet an unusual, very vibrant experience.