The value of the Naxos label's Schubert-Lied-Edition, which here reaches its 34th volume, has never been clearer than with the several volumes devoted to the composer's part-songs, for four male voices. Some of these have become popular among male choirs and were even staples of community German music in the U.S., but others waited for years after Schubert's death for publication and never really gained a foothold in the repertoire. Among these oddities one finds some gems, and several have shown up on each of the Naxos ...
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The value of the Naxos label's Schubert-Lied-Edition, which here reaches its 34th volume, has never been clearer than with the several volumes devoted to the composer's part-songs, for four male voices. Some of these have become popular among male choirs and were even staples of community German music in the U.S., but others waited for years after Schubert's death for publication and never really gained a foothold in the repertoire. Among these oddities one finds some gems, and several have shown up on each of the Naxos part-song albums. One here is Die Advokaten, D. 37 (The Lawyers), a comic vocal trio dating from Schubert's student years. It is apparently based on a work by composer Anton Fischer, although it's not really made clear to what extent. In any event, the piece, which concerns a pair of lawyers dunning a delinquent customer for a bill (the customer asks for credit for bribes already paid), could serve as an ideal curtain-raiser for Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury, which itself often...
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