World-Premiere Recording: Jan van Gilse's Opus Maximum

Jan van Gilse's Lebensmesse was performed at the Muziek Centrum Vredenburg in Utrecht in May 2013, and it is now our pleasure finally to be able to present to you this impressive oratorio based on a poem by Richard Dehmel and scored for four soloists, two choirs, and orchestra on this CD release forming part of our extensive van Gilse edition. At the Netherlands Music Festival in 1912 van Gilse met with great recognition for his imposing work. Daniël de Lange wrote that the work had originated at a time »during which pieces like ›Wandrers Sturmlied‹ by Richard Strauss became more popular and Wagner's influence had reached its absolute zenith. In a worthy manner van Gilse's work follows the current musical trend. The orchestration is masterful […]. From purely musical standpoints one can describe van Gilse's work as very successful and even absolutely superb.«