Chamber Cantatas & Songs (1998)

"During the exile years in New York and Hollywood, Eisler moved away from the aggressive Kampflied idiom he invented for Brecht and other left-wing writers, and returned for about a decade to the twelve-tone and atonal styles of his teacher, Schönberg. These nine chamber cantatas, mostly set to texts by Ignazio Silone, along with a selection of songs by Brecht, demonstrate Eisler's particular adaptation of the twelve-tone method intended to communicate more readily with the listener. Although these are sophisticated compositions far removed in musical style and social location from the political fight songs of the early 30s, Eisler's choice of texts nevertheless reflect his belief that music must have a connection with the hope for human liberation. Like the Brecht/Eisler Hollywood Songbook, the texts from Silone reflect the complex experience of a generation of exiles from Nazi-dominated Europe. The sample is from the Roman Cantata based on a novel by Silone."