Frank Martin: Le vin herbé (2007)

It's not surprising that when Frank Martin, one of the twentieth century's most devout composers, began a work based on the legend of Tristan and Iseult, he turned not to Thomas Malory's Le morte d'Arthur or to Wagner's source, Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan, both of which depict the lovers as totally abandoned to their passion, but to Joseph Bédier's Le roman de Tristan et Iseut (1900), which was based on sources earlier than Malory or von Strassburg, in which the lovers, in spite of their passionate love, remain ... Read More

It's not surprising that when Frank Martin, one of the twentieth century's most devout composers, began a work based on the legend of Tristan and Iseult, he turned not to Thomas Malory's Le morte d'Arthur or to Wagner's source, Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan, both of which depict the lovers as totally abandoned to their passion, but to Joseph Bédier's Le roman de Tristan et Iseut (1900), which was based on sources earlier than Malory or von Strassburg, in which the lovers, in spite of their passionate love, remain chaste for the sake of their honor. The combination of chastity and passion aptly characterizes Le vin herbé, Martin's 1941 secular chamber oratorio for 12 singers, seven strings, and piano. The modesty of the performing forces and the intimacy and understatement of Martin's musical language give the lovers' dilemma a more human dimension than Wagner's overwhelming epic. Martin's lovers are far closer in affect and musical reserve to Pelléas and Mélisande, innocents whose passion for each... Read Less

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2007, Harmonia Mundi UPC: 794881834525 CD See All