Plucked and strummed instead of sung

Duo Praxedis unites the harp with the piano. The two performers Praxedis Hug-Rütti (harp) and Praxedis Geneviève Hug (piano) dedicate their latest CD to the composer Carl Rütti, who is celebrating his 70th birthday. This is not just a "family" gesture for their brother and uncle, but an interesting and musically committed joint work.

Carl Rütti has made a name for himself internationally as a composer. Although he has extended his work to all musical areas except opera, his focus is on polyphonic, technically demanding and tonally refined works for top British choirs. Since studying in London, Rütti has been closely associated with the choral scene there, often writing on their behalf.

As a versatile pianist, Rütti was also a sought-after piano teacher at the Zurich Conservatory and works as an organist in Oberägeri. As a composer, he has so many requests that he can pick and choose. No wonder, because his music is tonal yet modern, rhythmically refined, has drive and poetry, and it sounds good. In 2005, Rütti received the Canton of Zug Recognition Award and in 2015 the Orlando di Lasso Medal for his extensive artistic output.

To mark his milestone birthday, oratorio concerts with various world premieres in Zug, Zurich, Basel, Germany, Sweden and the UK are planned. He will also be presenting his latest CD. The recorded pieces are mainly arrangements of his choral works. Rütti has always been interested in unusual instrumentations, such as the harp and piano in this case. With subtle intuition, he knows how to cleverly combine the plucked and strummed string sound. The booklet reveals another of Rütti's "spiritual" sources of inspiration: the poet and nun Silja Walter (1919-2011), many of whose works he set to music. Her poems are printed, although the pieces are not sung. Another "spiritual" poet of his taste is the pastor Ulrich Knellwolf.

What is surprising is that these arrangements hardly suggest the limitation to the small instrumentation of harp and piano. The harpist Praxedis Hug-Rütti knows how to use Rütti's broad spectrum of moods and tone colors, for example in the piece dedicated to her Harp booklet with a sure instinct. The inclusion of the piano, carefully and sparingly handled by Rütti, also reveals its poetic power through the pianist's sensitive playing. An appealing birthday present, also for harp fans.