Karl Höller Music for Violin, Cello and Organ

Reviews

“These pieces are colorful, polyphonic, and beautifully crafted, employing a tonal idiom redolent of Hindemith and Reger, with a hint of the 20th Century French school. The combination of organ and strings works very well, and the recorded balance is excellent. Precuil and Christiansen are fine players, and Harbach offers excellent accompaniments”
Delcamp, American Record Guide [May/June 2017]

“Barbara Harbach, a very fine organist as well as a skilled composer in her own right, clearly finds the music of Höller congenial… Höller’s integration of the stringed and wind instruments is so well done that listeners may wonder why the combination is so rare.”
Mark J. Estren, InfoDad [April 2017]

“[Höller’s] Fantasie for Violin and Organ begins with an extended violin solo, effectively showcasing Preucil’s incomparable artistry… Of course, the superlative artistry of Preucil and Harbach could make the phone book sound like a masterpiece, were it somehow transcribed to musical pitches… Höller’s Tryptichon for solo organ forms the centerpiece of this recital. Here, Harbach is allowed to pull out all the stops, and the opening almost knocks the listener out of his chair. The M. P. Moller organ found in the First Church of Christ Scientist in Buffalo, NY, is an impressive [instrument]
I found [Höller’s Improvisations] very satisfying… Not many composers have written for the combination of cello and organ, but the combination works exceedingly well, and Roy Christiansen’s consummate artistry is on full display throughout the 23-minute suite… I find no fault in any aspect of [this disc’s] production… I consider Höller’s music elegant and profound, and the performances it receives here simply cannot be surpassed.”
David DeBoor Canfield, Fanfare [May/June 2017]

“[the Fantasie, Improvisations and Triptychon] show Höller’s main characteristics: late Romantic tonal language with elements of the mature Hindemith’s neo-classicism and an interest in baroque forms and structures. The recording quality handles the combination of string instrument and organ with such balance and clarity that it makes you woder why more composers don’t try this interesting genre.”
Records International [January 2017]

[ * * * * / 4 Stars] “[Christensen’s instrument] sports a lovely, burnished tone.”
Gary Lemco, Audiophile Audition [January 2017]