Joseph Marx: Complete Songs For Voice And Piano Vol. 1 – Katharine Dain & Mitch Raemaekers

Joseph Marx is one of the leading Austrian composers of the early 20th century and is particularly known for his lieder. He composed the majority of his 156 lieder between 1901 and 1912. This double album presents a selection from this extensive body of work, including 19 previously unpublished lieder in world premieres. The songs are performed by soprano Katharine Dain and tenor Mitch Raemaekers, accompanied by Reinild Mees on piano. Joseph Marx’s songs combine sweeping melodies with colorful harmonies and a close interplay between music and poetry. Influences from Hugo Wolf, Gustav Mahler, Max Reger, Claude Debussy, and Alexander Scriabin are discernible, yet Marx never abandons his own musical language. At the heart of his work is the expressive vocal line, which he maintains even where many of his contemporaries were already placing greater emphasis on the rhythm of speech and declamatory interpretation.