Portrait of the great-granduncle

When Karl Köhl, honorary citizen of Chur, died in 1919, the obituary in the Neue Bündner Zeitung as the "spiritual center of the entire musical life" of the city. He was born in 1855 in Odessa (Ukraine), where his parents had emigrated from Bergün. He lost his sight a few weeks after birth and his mother died when he was two years old. In 1862, the family moved to Chur, where Köhl attended school. He then studied organ at the conservatory in Stuttgart, in the class of Immanuel Faisst. Back in Chur, he worked for 42 years as an organist and church choir director, as a concert organizer and, above all, as a composer; a cheerful personality despite the heavy blows of fate.

The pianist Carlo Köhl, great-grandnephew of the composer, has undertaken to release this CD with a cross-section of Köhl's song and piano works. The twelve songs and duets, which are more classical than romantic in their genre, are interpreted with lightness and freshness by the young voices of Jeannine Camenzind, soprano, and Mattias Müller-Arpagaus, baritone. From the collection of piano works, Carlo Köhl plays three character pieces with the same delicate sensitivity as the song accompaniments, which do not conceal their proximity to Schubert and Schumann, especially in the choice of a title such as Moment musical.

Surprisingly, Karl Köhl himself is also present on the recording as a performer. Guilmants March on a theme by HandelHesse's variations on God save the King op. 67 and Mendelssohn's second organ sonata were recorded by him on Welte rolls and played for the CD on the "Britannic Organ" in the Museum of Music Automatons in Seewen. The organist can be heard playing precisely but extremely carefully - which is not surprising given the recording situation at the time.

A very interesting production, especially from a historical point of view, whose cover is adorned with a portrait drawing of the composer by the hand of Albert Anker.

Karl Köhl. Portrait of the musician from Chur. Historical recordings on organ rolls; songs and piano pieces. Jeannine Camenzind, soprano; Mattias Müller-Arpagaus, baritone; Carlo Köhl, piano.