BARBARA HANNIGAN soprano
& members of the EBONY BAND

WERNER HERBERS artistic leader
JACQUES MEERTENS clarinet
BRAM VAN SAMBEEK bassoon
MARLEEN ASBERG violin
ROLAND KRÄMER viola
DANIËL ESSER cello
GERARD BOUWHUIS piano

   My quest of many years for unknown but worthwhile 
   repertoire has seldom yielded such outstanding works as the Polish 
   masterpieces on this recording. 
   Koffler and Regamey are such unknown names that one would be 
   inclined to conclude that they must be typical 'musiciancomposers', 
   but even that is not the case. Among musicians too, their names 
   do not usually ring a bell. But never before have I seen my 
   musicians react so enthusiastically and 
   emotionally to music I had placed before them. 
   The Quintet by Konstanty Regamey, to which 
   Katarzyna Naliwajek-Mazurek drew my attention during a 
   visit to the library of Warsaw University, is a fascinating 
   journey through a most varied and colourful landscape; 
   one forgets the 12-note technique completely when faced with so much imagination and 
   creativity. 
   Józef Koffler's music, in particular the cantata Die Liebe, 
   is of the greatest conceivable purity: one cannot sing of love, 
   as expressed in this biblical hymn, in a purer and more 
   intimate manner.
   Why are these pieces hardly ever heard in our concert halls? 
   Does Regamey make too heavy technical demands on the performers? 
   Is Koffler's music too subtle for our time?
   W.H.