STEFAN WOLPE (1902-1972): 10 Early Songs, 6 Arrangements of Yiddish Folk Songs, 6 Songs from the Hebrew, Der faule Bauer mit seinen Hunden, Epitaph, Excerpts from Dr. Einstein's Address about Peace in the Atomic Era.

Description: Dating from 1920, the early ten songs are a polystylistic group (even within individual songs) which, nevertheless, generally adhere to the objectivity of the current Neue Sachlichkeit. The same goes for the Yiddish songs from 1925 - spare, cool and very modern but also quite inventive in their textures and harmony. Der faule Bauer (1926) is an 11-minute setting of a Hans Sachs fable which is percussive and motorically intense throughout while the 1938 (and a couple from the 40s) Hebrew Songs and the Einstein setting of 1950 share elements of pre-World War II kampfmusik and the aforementioned "objectivity". German/Hebrew-English texts. Patrick Mason (baritone), Tony Arnold (soprano), Leah Summers (mezzo), Ashraf Sewailam (bass-baritone), Robert Shannon, Jacob Greenberg, Susan Grace (piano).