Prior to this 2008 release by Ingo Metzmacher, there had been five legitimate recordings of Hans Pfitzner's oratorio Von deutscher Seele listed in the international catalogs: the 1945 Clemens Krauss, the 1952 Eugen Jochum, the 1959 Joseph Keilberth, the 1986 Heinrich Hollreiser, and the 1999 Martin Sieghart. From this discography, two things are immediately apparent: first, Von deutscher Seele was much more popular in the 15 years after the war than at any time since, and second, there does seem to be some signs of growth ...
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Prior to this 2008 release by Ingo Metzmacher, there had been five legitimate recordings of Hans Pfitzner's oratorio Von deutscher Seele listed in the international catalogs: the 1945 Clemens Krauss, the 1952 Eugen Jochum, the 1959 Joseph Keilberth, the 1986 Heinrich Hollreiser, and the 1999 Martin Sieghart. From this discography, two things are immediately apparent: first, Von deutscher Seele was much more popular in the 15 years after the war than at any time since, and second, there does seem to be some signs of growth in interest in the work over the last 20 years. For those who don't already know the work -- which would presumably include most classical listeners -- Von deutscher Seele (On the German Soul) may require a brief introduction. Written in 1921 by avowedly nationalist German composer Hans Pfitzner, the work sets poetry by Joseph von Eichendorff for four soloists, mixed chorus, and large orchestra with its 24 movements divided into two equal parts: "Mensch und Natur" (Man and Nature) and...
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