Ensemble Acht - Schäfer: Lieder (2020)

Composer Stefan Schäfer has an undeniable and audible affinity to images. As a theatre musician, and even more so as principal double bass of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, he lives music as theatre, images, associations - music as part of an inspiring total work of art that takes up our world, our thoughts, illusions and, perhaps most strongly, our questions.

Schäfer's catalogue of works includes numerous compositions for his own instrument, songs, chamber music and orchestral works, which have been performed in renowned concert halls and won composition prizes. The present song cycles reflect Schäfer's fascination for lyric poetry and theatre as well as for chamber music. He is attracted by the colourfulness of an entire instrumental ensemble in various formations. Gabriele Rossmanith, Kammersängerin of the Hamburg State Opera, sings and whispers, cheers and tells stories with the variably cast Ensemble Eight. This recording deals on the one hand with the comic lyrics of a Ror Wolf or Daniil Charms. Enigmatic words of the impressionist Max Dauthendey lead through the night on the tracks of the moon. The music floats around, removed from the weight of the earth.

Following the aesthetics of words and images, impressionistic timbres are played out, giving a distant glimpse of turn of the century Paris. The word creations of the young Gertrud Kolmar conceal an expressive depth behind their simplicity and lightness, which also appealed to the composer in particular. "In her poems about longing, dream and beauty, the sensual and subtle tone of voice fascinates as much as her seemingly inexhaustible imaginative wealth," says Schäfer.