Martin Stadtfeld – Piano Folk Songs (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:02:18 minutes | 565 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical
Whether “Der Mond ist aufgegangen” or “Es klappert die Mühle”, whether “Der Mai ist gekommen” or “Schlafe, mein Prinzchen” – when you hear the titles of these folk songs alone, you immediately have the corresponding melody in your ear and the lyrics in your head. After all, generations of children have grown up with these catchy songs, and even as an adult, one likes to be touched again by the timelessness of these songs: “Folk songs seem to correspond to a kind of primordial tone of the human soul,” finds the German master pianist Martin Stadtfeld.
He, too, grew up with many folk songs, of course, and as the father of a child, he has been increasingly occupied with folk songs again in recent years. So he had the idea to arrange 30 of his favorite songs (and those of his son) for piano himself and record them for Sony Classical.
The new album features piano arrangements of well-known songs such as “Guter Mond, Du gehst so stille”, “Ännchen von Tharau”, “Muss i denn, muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus” or “Die Gedanken sind frei”. With the piano version of the famous “Steigerlied”, Stadtfeld pays homage to his adopted home in the Ruhr region.
The arrangements of the German folk songs were written in the second Lockdown. “The folk song was like a lifeline for me,” Stadtfeld explains. “These melodies made something in me ring out, and their brilliant simplicity probably touches every soul. Even though I didn’t know some of these wonderful songs before, they seemed familiar to me, too. For the feelings that folk songs negotiate are ancient and yet always new.”
For the arrangements, Stadtfeld resorted here and there to the old passacaglia form. He also arranged “Guter Mond” for piano four hands (it can be heard with a 12-year-old junior pianist). In addition, Stadtfeld gave expression to his personal feelings about the subject of each song in his own preludes and postludes. And in some of them, the proximity to the music of great composers is also recognizable. For example, Stadtfeld interwove melodies by Mozart and Beethoven in the two songs “Der Mai ist gekommen” and “Es, es, es und es,” respectively.
And what are his favorite folk songs? “”Es waren zwei Königskinder” and “Ade nun zur guten Nacht,” a heartfelt farewell song,” says Martin Stadtfeld.
Tracklist:
1-01. Martin Stadtfeld – Guter Mond (02:02)
1-02. Martin Stadtfeld – Auf auf zum fröhlichen Jagen (01:38)
1-03. Martin Stadtfeld – Aber heidschibumbeidschi (01:41)
1-04. Martin Stadtfeld – Kein Feuer keine Kohle (01:31)
1-05. Martin Stadtfeld – Weißt du wieviel Sternlein stehen (03:12)
1-06. Martin Stadtfeld – Es klappert die Mühle (01:32)
1-07. Martin Stadtfeld – Es waren zwei Königskinder (02:23)
1-08. Martin Stadtfeld – Es dunkelt schon in der Heide (02:15)
1-09. Martin Stadtfeld – Steigerlied (02:18)
1-10. Martin Stadtfeld – Wer hat die schönsten Schäfchen (02:08)
1-11. Martin Stadtfeld – Die Gedanken sind frei (02:12)
1-12. Martin Stadtfeld – Wenn alle Brünnlein fließen (01:22)
1-13. Martin Stadtfeld – Zwischen Berg und tiefem Tal (02:47)
1-14. Martin Stadtfeld – Bald gras ich am Neckar (00:56)
1-15. Martin Stadtfeld – Im Krug zum grünen Kranze (02:59)
1-16. Martin Stadtfeld – Ade nun zur guten Nacht (01:35)
1-17. Martin Stadtfeld – Es es es und es (01:51)
1-18. Martin Stadtfeld – Freiheit die ich meine (02:51)
1-19. Martin Stadtfeld – Geh aus mein Herz (01:01)
1-20. Martin Stadtfeld – Der Mai ist gekommen (01:55)
1-21. Martin Stadtfeld – Muss i denn, muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus (02:28)
1-22. Martin Stadtfeld – Das Lieben bringt große Freud (01:12)
1-23. Martin Stadtfeld – Im Märzen der Bauer (02:34)
1-24. Martin Stadtfeld – An der Saale hellem Strande (01:54)
1-25. Martin Stadtfeld – In einem kühlen Grunde (03:37)
1-26. Martin Stadtfeld – Der Mond ist aufgegangen (00:47)
1-27. Martin Stadtfeld – Schlafe mein Prinzchen (02:55)
1-28. Martin Stadtfeld – Guter Mond (Fassung für Klavier zu vier Händen, arr. by Martin Stadtfeld) (01:16)
1-29. Martin Stadtfeld – Kein schöner Land (02:41)
1-30. Martin Stadtfeld – Ännchen von Tharau (02:38)
