Alphons Diepenbrock (1862-1921, Dutch)

Diepenbrock more or less reached the wider public’s attention when he was championed by Riccardo Chailly, then music director of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra. My first encounter with the music of Diepenbrock was when I bought Chailly’s Decca Mahler 7th, and Diepenbrock’s orchestral song “Im grossen Schweigen” was the set’s complement. Very few works of Diepenbrock trickled into my collection, from collection CDs with various works, until I acquired Chandos’ two volumes of orchestral works and symphonic songs with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague under Hans Vonk, Chandos 8821 barcode 095115882122 ad 8878 barcode 095115887820, and then the great 8-CD / 1-DVD Diepenbrock retrospective set on Etcetera, KTC 1435, barcode 8711801014357 (which reissues most of the Chandos material, as well as Chailly’s various recordings). Haven’t listened yet. So far the only piece of Diepenbrock I’ve reviewed is his a cappella Cælestis Urbs Jerusalem (1897) on Daniël de Lange: Requiem. Alphons Diepenbrock: Cælestis Urbs Jerusalem. Julius Röntgen: Motetten. Netherlands Chamber Choir, Uwe Gronostay. NM Classics 92039 (1994). Not a very memorable piece, but the De Lange Requiem, which is the CD’s highlight, is an unknown masterpiece.

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