Hermann Max - Joseph Eybler: Die vier letzten Dinge (2005)

Joseph Eybler (Joseph Leopold Edler von Eybler to give you the full name) belongs to that unfortunate group of composers who were popular and musically influential while alive but have vanished from the spotlight to become mere historical footnotes. Although Eybler showed early promise as a pianist, he began studying law. However, the family’s fortune was lost when their home burned and it was necessary to abandon law studies and earn his way as a musician. He studied under Albrechtsberger (teacher to Beethoven and Hummel) and Joseph Haydn, to whom he was distantly related. Through Haydn, Eybler met Mozart, who offered further musical instruction. Mozart was so impressed with Eybler’s skills that Eybler assisted with coaching the singers in, and later conducting performances of Cosi fan tutte. Mozart’s widow, Constanze selected Eybler to complete the Requiem after her husband’s death. Speculation continues to surround Eybler’s contribution to the Requiem. It has long been held that Eybler returned the manuscript to Constanze and the work was completed by Sü?mayr, but recent research raises the possibility that Eybler and Franz Jakob Freystéädtler were, in fact, involved.

In 1792, Eybler was appointed choir director at the Carmelite Church. Two years later, he became choir director at the Vienna Schottenkloster, a post he held for 30 years, until he replaced Salieri as Court Kapellmeister. Eybler began serving as court music teacher in 1810; a number of his compositions, including Die vier letzten Dinge, were written as part of his courtly duties. Emperor Francis commissioned Eybler to compose an oratorio for his wife, Empress Maria Theresa. The 1810 premiere of Die vier letzten Dinge (“The Four Last Things”) was a private performance for the imperial family, but soon a public performance in Vienna was arranged by the Tonkünstler-Societät. The work is divided into three parts depicting the end of the world, the resurrection of the dead, and the redemption of the blessed. Die vier letzten Dinge was part of the emerging German-language oratorio tradition begun in the later part of the 18th century and established by such works as Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten. Eybler had previously contributed to this genre in 1794 with his German-language Christmas oratorio Die Hirten bei der Krippe zu Bethlehem (“The Shepherds at the Crib in Bethlehem”).

Die vier letzten Dinge is best in the orchestral and choral portions that lean more toward the emerging Romantic style rather than looking back to the Classic. A very atmospheric and interesting overture depicting fear at the end of the world, followed by a fugue for Chorus of the Angels, opens the work. The invention Eybler displays in the orchestral and the choral numbers is so superior to the solo numbers it’s a shame there aren’t more. The bulk of the oratorio is assigned to the three singers (soprano, tenor, and bass) who have a series of arias, two duets, and two terzettes. Ample recitative precedes many of these numbers. The recitatives are mostly accompanied and infused with enough melody so they often flow smoothly into the numbers. Typical of this genre is a massive amount of music attached to rather brief texts with little conversation between the characters, who offer sermons to humankind and prayers to God. The first two sections are darker and more portentous than the brighter third section. A few of the transitions are rather blunt, such as the chorus that concludes with “The thunder rolls—Jehovah comes!” immediately followed by the terzett “Jehovah, in your mildness.”

This is not a rare gem rediscovered, nor is it deserving of the obscurity it has suffered for nearly 200 years. There is enough musical meat here to warrant interest and an occasional listen. The work is another example of good music grafted onto a text of lesser merit. The performers on this cpo recording make a good case for the work. It is a studio recording with excellent sound. At present, this is the only recording of Die vier letzten Dinge available (cpo has also recorded Eybler’s Christmas Oratorio—see Fanfare 23:6). Fortunately, it does the work justice and can be recommended without reservation. It will probably be of interest to devotees of early 19th-century German oratorios, collectors of musical rarities, or fans of the artists. -- David L. Kirk