Скачать или смотреть Max Gulbins, Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden Op. 105 No. 1 (1918) - James Garratt

The Drei Festfantasien Op. 105 is the second of Max Gulbins’ publications for organ that was directly connected to the war. The mood of Op. 105 is very different from that of his War Sonata (Kriegssonate) Op. 98 (   • Max Gulbins, Sonata No. 5 (War Sonata) Op....  ), composed three years earlier at a time when German triumph still seemed assured. While the War Sonata offers an anticipatory celebration of victory, Gulbins’ Op. 105 fantasias commemorate the German dead: more specifically, his son Erich, an officer cadet who was killed at Merville on 24 June 2018.

The first two works in the group are settings of popular German funeral chorales, while the third (Ich hatt’ einen Kameraden) is a traditional soldiers’ song. Both ‘Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden’ and ‘Ich hatt’ einen Kameraden’ were commonly sung at military funerals during the First World War, and remain a standard element within Remembrance ceremonies.

It seems likely that all three pieces originated as improvisations in the autumn of 1918, and it is hard not to be moved by the thought of Max Gulbins seeking solace at the organ following the death of his ‘valiant eldest son Erich’.