RARITIES OF PIANO MUSIC AT SCHLOSS VOR HUSUM 2024: PATRICK HEMMERLÉ Piano Recital / Review

 

PATRICK HEMMERLÉ Piano Recital 

Rarities of Piano Music 

at Schloss vor Husum 2024 

Monday (19 August 2024)

7 pm (via live-stream) 

An August summer used to mean something special for me. Alas, that was in a past pre-pandemic life when a stretch of eight balmy evenings were spent in the company of piano music and similarly rabid pianophiles. 

I am referring to none other than the Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum piano festival in the north German town of Husum (Schleswig-Holstein), the Mecca of arcane and rarely heard piano works. There is no other festival like it in the world. You won’t find the likes of Lang Lang or Yundi anywhere in sniffing distance, and someday Yunchan Lim and Yuja Wang might even have a chance to play here, if they get lucky. 

The opportunity to attend a Husum recital, even remotely and six time zones away, represents a privilege for me and there is no way I was going to miss a performance of the complete Java Suite by Leopold Godowsky. French pianist Patrick Hemmerlé, presently based in Cambridge, is a new name for me and I was astonished at his grasp of the idiom to be found in its twelve movements or phonoramas (musical journeys in Godowsky’s words). Conceived as four suites of three pieces each, this is the Indonesian answer to Isaac Albeniz’s Iberia. 

Hemmerlé did not play all 12 pieces in a single gulp, but wisely separated each suite with choice words in English (apparently his German was not strong enough) which helped break the ice between him and the audience. Each third piece was a loud and festive one, rewarded with the rightful applause that was proof he was getting his message across. 

Each suite and each piece had a distinct feel of its own, and it was a pleasure to hear these in succession. Although Godowsky did not compose with authentic Javanese / Indonesian idioms in mind, his were impressions of an exotic land with requisite pentatonicisms sprinkled here and there. Much like Abram Chasins’ Three Chinese Pieces or Richard Rodgers’ March of the Siamese Children (The King and I), which sound naive for today’s ears but were quaint during their time. 

Suite 1: Gamelan possessed the dizzying counterpoint that had so impressed Debussy. Wayang Purwa is a droll and retiring impression of a dalang (puppet master), while Hari Besaar, the only piece to quote a genuine Javanese melody, had the hustle-bustle of a major market day. 

Suite 2: Chattering Monkeys at the Sacred Lake of Wendit is a gamboling Mendelssohnian scherzo, while Borobudur By Moonlight resembled some Ravelian nocturne. The eructations of Bromo Volcano and Sand Sea at Daybreak were of a joyful kind, with no reference to natural disaster. Thus far, Hemmerlé was fully in control of the technical intricacies, while playing completely from memory. 

Even Sviatoslav Richter (bottom left)
was compelled to attend this recital.

Suite 3: Perhaps the least authentic were the Three Dances, short inconsequential diversions but did one notice that the third dance closes with the very phrase that opens the next number, Gardens of Buitenzorg? This was Godowsky’s most famous piano piece besides Alt Wien and his Chopin Etude conflations. Time stood still for three minutes of utter sensuousness, with Hemmerlé’s melting legato lines being something to savour, before another rousing romp in the Streets of Old Batavia. 

Suite 4: I am in total agreement with Hemmerlé that In the Kraton is the best piece of the dozen. A sense of mysticism and ancient ceremony is totally palpable and its melody one to die for. I was less enamoured of Ruined Water Castle at Djokja which caused my mind to drift a little before the awakening caused by Court Pageant in Solo, which brought the suite to a loud clangourous conclusion. 

This Husum premiere of the full set was truly a pleasure to behold. Until Hemmerlé makes a recording of this (he ought to!), one can still luxuriate in Esther Budiardjo’s miraculous recording on ProPiano. 

The recital’s second half opened with Nikolai Medtner’s Sonata in G minor (Op.22), not so much a rarity these days because of numerous recordings. However, how often does one encounter this in recitals? Said to have been “born with the sonata form”, Medtner crafted a single movement of 18 minutes with thematic ideas that reach their logical conclusions such that one is floored by its sheer cogency. Hemmerlé’s performance was one of overflowing passion, such a satisfying one that one need not miss the famous 1954 recording by Emil Gilels in antiquated sound. 

Hemmerlé concluded his recital with Czech composer Vitezslav Novak’s Variations on a Theme by Schumann (Op.4) from 1893, a true rarity by Husum’s lofty standards. Even its theme is little-known, taken from the Album for the Young (Op.68 No.34), a movement so forgettable that it makes a perfect subject for variations. By its end, you cannot get it out of the system, the literal ohrwurm or ear worm. 

It is a charming work with eight variations (each with titles like Feuillet de Album, Serenata, Scherzo, Elegia and Alla Schumann, of course) and an extended finale, clearly a tribute to Robert Schumann himself. Its inventiveness comes through very well in Hemmerlé’s hands, who appears to have made the only commercial recording available. When people come to Husum, it is for performances like this! 

Hemmerlé’s sole encore was a substantial one, his own arrangement of the opening aria from J.S.Bach’s cantata Ich Habe Genug (BWV.82) which was utterly beautiful and great way to end this varied and fascinating recital.

Many thanks to Nathalie Gerstle for linking me to the livestreamed performance, which may be viewed here:

(17) Raritäten der Klaviermusik - YouTube

JAVA SUITE: The Temples of Prambanan

Leopold Godowsky did not write any music in his Java Suite about the mysterious ruins of Prambanan, just located northeast and about a 45-minute drive from central Yogyakarta. That was probably because the temple complex had fallen completely into disrepair for centuries. These temples were built in the 9th century, contemporaneous with Borobudur, and are scattered across a wide plain. To be honest, Borobudur as a single monolithic structure is more impressive but there is a certain mystery and mystique about the temples of Prambanan that is worth exploring. 

All tourist groups will stop at Loro Jonggrang, a complex of Hindu temples which boasts the tallest Hindu religious structure in the world. That is the 47 metre tall Shiva temple which is the centrepiece of Loro Jonggrang. Partially damaged by earthquakes in recent years, it still stands proudly (above) although tourists are not allowed within its walls for safety reasons. However the surrounding temples dedicated to Brahma and Vishnu are readily accessible. 

Carvings along the walls of the Brahma temple.

A view of Loro Jonggrang
from the Brahma Temple.

View from the northern end of the complex.
The Shiva and Vishnu temples
stand out on the right. 

Just 10 minutes north of Loro Jonggrang is the Buddhist temples of Sewu. Also built around the same time, these temples have been more recently restored. The rubble around are the remnants of smaller temples littered around this very impressive looking complex. Two pot-bellied temple guards (left foreground) guard the premises. Tourists are encouraged to wander around the ruins and meditate. 

A headless Buddha fronts
the main temple of Sewu.

One of the best kept secrets of Prambanan is the Buddhist temple of Plaosan, located 5 minutes east of the Sewu Temple, and outside of the main tourist complex. There are hardly any visitors here, but the views are no less fine. There are two main temples separated by a perimeter wall. These pictures were taken just before sunset, and lend an aura of mystique to the surroundings.

A view of Plaosan North temple,
from Plaosan South.

The fact that Buddhist and Hindu temples could exist such in close proximity during the 9th century was an indication of religious tolerance of the times. If only we could learn something from these ancients, the world would certainly be a better place. 

JAVA SUITE: Following the Footsteps of Leopold Godowsky in Yogyakarta and Solo

Temple guardian at the Kraton
(Sultanate Palace) of Yogyakarta.

If one follows the lovely Java Suite for piano by the great Polish pianist-composer Leopold Godowsky closely, the last three movements vividly depict scenes from Yogyakarta and Solo (now Surakarta) which have been immortalised in his music. Silly me for leaving my MP3 player at home when I should have brought it to accompany my sightseeing at these historical sites! Nevertheless, I played the music in my mind while walking on the same path that Godowsky did way back in the 1920s when he visited Asia on a grand tour.

A European-styled bandstand
and the ubiquitous gamelan.

Movement No.10 of the Java Suite is titled In The Kraton, which is the sultanate palace of Sultan Hamengkubuwono. The present Sultan is Hamengkubuwono XI who is now in his 60s, which means his grandfather was the sultan when Godowsky visited the isles. This is perhaps the most oriental sounding of the 12 pieces, but the melody is his very own and not borrowed from Javanese folk or traditional music.

The ornate gilded ceiling
for the Sultan's meeting room.
A portrait of the present sultan as a young man
(It's the headgear which makes him look like
someone from the cast of True Blood)

Fantastical mythological creatures
and monsters guard the Kraton
(presumably from truly evil spirits).

Movement No.11 is The Ruined Water Castle of Djokja, which is now called Taman Sari, located a short distance west of the Kraton. There are three royal swimming pools in this complex, and a viewing tower where the sultan of old would choose his bathing beauty, who would then make her way to a more private and intimate pool located nearby. This is the Javanese equivalent of the legendary grotto at Sultan Hefner's Playboy Mansion.

More views of the Water Castle.

The sabre-toothed denizens
that guard the Water Castle.

A truly fanciful doorway
to the Water Castle.

The mysterious Underground Mosque,
located just north of the Water Castle.
This M.C.Escher-like labyrinth is
connected to the Water Castle by a
maze of underground passage-ways. 

Movement No.12 of the Java Suite concludes the musical travelogue in the city of Solo (now Surakarta), with The Court Pageant in Solo. This piece was probably inspired by scenes of pomp and ceremony in Kraton Surakarta, which we did not visit. We instead visited the smaller and more intimate Kraton Mangkunegara, home of a prince rather than the actual sultan. His family still stays there, but we were allowed to view its royal collections and treasures. So this concludes a music journey in the footsteps of Godowsky in Java.

The sultans loved chandeliers from Europe.

Gilded statues from the West and East.