v/a - BAUHAUS REVIEWED 1919-1933

This full-length archive CD explores the highly influential Bauhaus school of art and architecture, which operated in Germany between 1919 and 1933.

The spoken word element is centred on a revealing talk by Walter Gropius, the architect and theoretician who founded the Bauhaus in 1919. The album also includes contributions from the school's third and final director, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, as well as teacher Josef Albers. All interviews are in the English language.

The musical content features piano pieces written between 1919 and 1925 by six composers associated with the Bauhaus: Arnold Schoenberg, Josef Matthias Hauer, George Antheil, Stefan Wolpe and H.H. Stuckenschmidt. Several reflect serialism and 12-tone technique; most are performed by Steffen Schleiermacher on piano.

With a running time of 72 minutes, the CD booklet also features archive Bauhaus images and liner notes by James Hayward.

Tracklist:

1. JOSEF MATTHIAS HAUER Phantasie, Op. 17 (1919)
2. WALTER GROPIUS On the origins of the Bauhaus
3. STEFAN WOLPE Variation (1923)
4. WALTER GROPIUS On Form and Totality
5. GEORGE ANTHEIL Shimmy (1923)
6. WALTER GROPIUS On Klee, Itten, Kandinsky, Feininger and Moholy-Nagy
7. STEFAN WOLPE Stehende Musik (1925)
8. JOSEF ALBERS On Handling and Texture
9. WALTER GROPIUS On Albers and Functionalism
10. H. H. STUCKENSCHMIDT Marsch Alexander (1923)
11. WALTER GROPIUS On Selection and Students
12. ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Piano Piece No. 1, Op. 23
13. WALTER GROPIUS On Meyer and Mies van der Rohe
14. JOSEF ALBERS On Politics and Meyer
15. WALTER GROPIUS On Industrial Contracts
16. ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Suite for Piano, Op. 25
17. WALTER GROPIUS On Utopianism
18. MIES VAN DER ROHE On Architecture as Language
19. WALTER GROPIUS On the Future of Architecture

Reviews:

"The relevance of the Bauhaus on design and architecture and its vast legacy resulted in an extensive collection of works documenting the intricacies of the school's philosophy and production, but few have taken the immersive approach this record dares to take. By interpolating seminal speeches by some of the most important members of the Bauhaus with the music that figuratively and literally echoed throughout the halls of the school, this CD presents us with a tour de force of easy-listening learning experience about one of the most influential moments of the 20th century" (Docomomo, 12/2019)

"This excellent selection of recordings goes deep into the mythos of the Bauhaus school and the artists involved. The music is stunning and offers up some great examples of 12-tone and serial composition. A really unique disc which gives you a lot more than a simple history textbook" (Boomkat, 03/2007)

This unique CD is an oral history of the school and of the movement, consisting of interviews by the group's leaders interspersed with musical examples by composers associated with the movement. The bulk of the narrative is by Gropius, an articulate and passionate advocate for this remarkable experiment in education. Artist Josef Albers and architect Mies van der Rohe also contribute commentary. James Hayward is credited with "curating" the CD, and it must be his editing that gives the album such a clear and informative narrative structure - one comes away with a vivid understanding of the development of the movement, both philosophically and pragmatically. Stefan Wolpe was the only professional composer who studied at the school, and the CD includes several brief pieces of his, as well as works by other composers more loosely related to the school - Josef Matthias Hauer (who developed a twelve-tone system independently of Schoenberg), George Antheil, and H.H. Stuckenschmidt, played by Steffen Schleiermacher. Schoenberg is represented by his Piano Piece No. 1, Op. 23, and his complete Suite for Piano, Op. 25, in historic performances by Eduard Steuermann made in 1957. A fascinating documentation of the movement and should be of strong interest to anyone intrigued by the art, architecture, design, and music of Germany between the wars. (All Music Guide, 2008)