Walter Braunfels composed his setting of the Te Deum hymn in thanksgiving for his conversion to Catholicism after witnessing the horrors of the First World War from the front line. Though called a Te Deum, it is more aptly described as a choral symphony and was premiered under Hermann Abendroth in Cologne in 1922. According to one review, it received "the greatest success ever enjoyed by a world premiere in Cologne." Indeed, so impressive was the Te Deum that Braunfels was offered the directorship of the city's recently ...
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Walter Braunfels composed his setting of the Te Deum hymn in thanksgiving for his conversion to Catholicism after witnessing the horrors of the First World War from the front line. Though called a Te Deum, it is more aptly described as a choral symphony and was premiered under Hermann Abendroth in Cologne in 1922. According to one review, it received "the greatest success ever enjoyed by a world premiere in Cologne." Indeed, so impressive was the Te Deum that Braunfels was offered the directorship of the city's recently opened Musikhochschule -- a position he held until the Nazis seized power and they banished the half-Jewish, half-Catholic composer from his post and forced him to retire from public life. And that was that for Braunfels' Te Deum until this Orfeo release of a 2004 recording with Manfred Honeck leading the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, and the Swedish Radio Choir with soprano Gitta-Maria Sjöberg and tenor Lars-Erik Jonsson. With the light, energy,...
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