In Search of Ondine

Fairytale pictures from 6 centuries

Clemens Müller Piano
forwardback forwardto the catalog
CD album cover 'In Search of Ondine' (GEN 25886d) with Clemens Müller

GEN 25886d EAN 4260036258868

Release 10.1.2025

-- digital release --

Available on all streaming and download platforms

link to streaming services

For centuries, the tragic tale of the mermaid or water nymph falling in love with a human has been told around the world. On his new GENUIN album, pianist Clemens Müller interprets this story of love and death through piano works from six centuries. The oldest piece by Jan Sweelinck predates the piano itself, while the newest was completed just days before the recording. At the heart of the album is a triptych featuring three settings of the psalm “By the Waters of Babylon”: from the perspectives of three different religions, Thomaskantor Johann Sebastian Bach, Jewish piano virtuoso Charles-Valentin Alkan, and Iranian composer Shadi Kassaee each reflect on this famous hymn about longing for a lost homeland.

textura
"Muller's touch and pacing do much to maximize the material's impact." Review by Ron Schepper, March 2025

Clemens Müller Piano

For centuries, the tragic tale of the mermaid or water nymph falling in love with a human has been told around the world. On his new GENUIN album, pianist Clemens Müller interprets this story of love and death through piano works from six centuries. The oldest piece by Jan Sweelinck predates the piano itself, while the newest was completed just days before the recording. At the heart of the album is a triptych featuring three settings of the psalm “By the Waters of Babylon”: from the perspectives of three different religions, Thomaskantor Johann Sebastian Bach, Jewish piano virtuoso Charles-Valentin Alkan, and Iranian composer Shadi Kassaee each reflect on this famous hymn about longing for a lost homeland.

textura
"Muller's touch and pacing do much to maximize the material's impact." Review by Ron Schepper, March 2025

Audio Player

Play

off
0:00
/
1:00

Tracklist

  1. Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
    Stimmungsbilder, Op. 9
    An einsamer Quelle
  2. Julius Schulhoff (1825–1898)
    L’Ondine, Op. 35
  3. François Couperin (1668–1733)
    Premier Livre de Pièces de Clavecin, Cinquième Ordre
    Les Ondes
  4. George Crumb (1929–2022)
    Makrokosmos, Vol. 2, Part 1
    Rain-Death Variations (Pisces)
  5. Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
    Gaspard de la Nuit, M. 55
    Ondine
  6. Nikolai Medtner (1880–1951)
    Improvisation No. 2, Op. 47
    Gesang der Wassernymphe
  7. Cécile Chaminade (1857–1944)
    L’Ondine, Op. 101
  8. Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
    Préludes, Livre 2
    ...Ondine
  9. Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
    Années de pèlerinage III, S. 163
    Les jeux d´eaux à la Villa d´Este
  10. Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1561–1621)
    Vluchtige Nymph SwWV 331
  11. Ludovico Einaudi (*1955)
    Le Onde
    Lontano
  12. Leander Ruprecht (*1999)
    Eine Handvoll Wasser
  13. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
    An Wasserflüssen Babylon, BWV 267
  14. Charles Valentin Alkan (1813–1888)
    Super flumina Babylonis, Op. 52 (An Wasserflüssen Babylon)
  15. Shadi Kassaee (*1999)
    Rudhāye Bābel (An Wasserflüssen Babylon)
  16. Anton Rubinstein (1829–1894)
    Ondine, Op. 1
  17. Ruth Schönthal (1924–2006)
    5 Oceanic Préludes
    Oceanfront at Sunset
  18. Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
    Schwanengesang, D 957
    Am Meer

For centuries, the tragic tale of the mermaid or water nymph falling in love with a human has been told around the world. On his new GENUIN album, pianist Clemens Müller interprets this story of love and death through piano works from six centuries. The oldest piece by Jan Sweelinck predates the piano itself, while the newest was completed just days before the recording. At the heart of the album is a triptych featuring three settings of the psalm “By the Waters of Babylon”: from the perspectives of three different religions, Thomaskantor Johann Sebastian Bach, Jewish piano virtuoso Charles-Valentin Alkan, and Iranian composer Shadi Kassaee each reflect on this famous hymn about longing for a lost homeland.

textura
"Muller's touch and pacing do much to maximize the material's impact." Review by Ron Schepper, March 2025

More albums featuring this artist

CD album cover 'Like the Sky in Rome' (GEN 16402) with I-chiao Shih, Clemens Müller

Like the Sky in Rome

A Journey to Italy in Songs by Franz Liszt

I-chiao Shih Mezzo-soprano
Clemens Müller Piano

GEN 16402  –  5.2.2016

CD album cover 'Voyage down the Danube' (GEN 15334) with Rie Koyama, Clemens Müller

Voyage down the Danube

Works by L. van Beethoven, C. M. von Weber, J. W. Kalliwoda, W. A. Mozart and F. Doppler

Rie Koyama Bassoon
Clemens Müller Piano

-- digital release --

GEN 15334  –  7.1.2015