JOSEF MATTHIAS HAUER (1883-1959): Apokalyptische Phantasie, Op. 5, Romantische Phantasie, Op. 37, Suite No. 7, Op. 48, Violin Concerto, Op. 54, 2 Zwölftonspielen.

Description: The first appearance of any of Hauer's orchestral music on CD will alter most collectors' perceptions of what they've digested via the solo piano works and small ensemble Zwölftonspielen which have appeared on MD&G. Since Hauer's twelve-tone method was built on pairs of hexachords, each allowing 44 "tropes", and assigns retrogradation and transposition to relative unimportance (compared to Schoenberg), his orchestral pieces not only can and do sound "tonal", they tend to chug along in a genial fashion which very much anticipates the later genre of "minimalism". "Apocalyptic" and "Romantic" have no real meaning and a piano could play the violin concerto almost as easily (in fact, the orchestral piano is a prominent agent in determining the velocity of the twelve-note series. The two Zwölftonspielen are very late - both from September 1957 - and show the natural result of Hauer's work: a mechanical, mathematically-determined sequence which, oddly, sounds like nothing as much as a melancholy Bach chorale which seem to start as arbitrarily as they stop (after around six minutes). Anyone can find a comfortable pleasure in this music, especially those who dislike Schoenberg, although one might feel sated with no more than one full disc of it! Thomas Christian (violin), Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; Gottfried Rabl. SACD hybrid.