Several albums have sought to capture the spirit of a music-historical juncture through the device of recording works from a single year, but this one by pianist
Yaara Tal
is exceptionally effective.
Tal
offers a sequence of 29 short pieces; they go by quickly, and they carry the flavor of a recital that might have occurred at the time, perhaps giving a sampling of the musical ideas that were in the air. There are a few well-known works, but
leans heavily toward pieces related to those but not necessarily known in themselves. Thus, there is
Schoenberg
's
Fuenf Klavierstuecke, Op. 23
, but also a string of pieces by the much less familiar
Josef Matthias Hauer
, who developed his own 12-tone system independently of
. Pieces by the giants of the day,
Leos Janacek
and
Frederick Delius
mix with up-and-comers like
Federico Mompou
, and insights into the relevance they had in their own day are abundant. There are spiritual pieces, like the mysteriously gorgeous
Nirvana
of
Ernest Bloch
, and futurism in the form of
Die Maschine, Op. 1
, of
Fritz Heinrich Klein
. The program would seem likely to fall apart, but
moves nimbly from style to style, capturing the ferment of the era vividly. The album would make an ideal basis for a university course centered on the era, and it offers plenty of food for thought to general listeners. ~ James Manheim