Hoelderlin
Hölderlin's Traum

LA RECENSIONE

Everything always blossomed from the ice [...]*

Nineteen-seventy-two, Germany.

A country with robust economic composure, massive cities paved with reinforced concrete, and a phantom liberty of expression never denied [...]*

From here, from wealthy Germany, amidst the roars of the hardest rock and the atrocious discographic banalities, emerged, at the end of the Sixties, some fundamental examples of sonic intelligence [...]*

Wuppertal, about thirty kilometers east of Düsseldorf.

Sublime example of creativity and inventiveness, "Hölderlin's Traum", is the first and fundamental (master)piece by the ensemble Hoelderlin, creators of folk rock sprinkled with delicate exotic nuances, intangible Progressive streaks (use of mellotron, breaks, time changes, "epic" atmospheres) and subtle psychedelic suggestions.

Bold experimenters, innovators, Hoelderlin "expand" with remarkable success and good taste the narrow and stagnant idioms of folk rock.

[...] It's no coincidence that from the homeland of musical heaviness the thirst for experimentation will arise. [...]*  

Melancholic melodies, rarefied atmospheres, multicolored sounds, and oriental contaminations (use of tablas, sitar, and percussion) make Hölderlin's Traum an splendid and unrepeatable work.

Majestic, fascinating and with bucolic flavors, "Waren Wir" and "Traum", soft ballads "elevated" to the paradigm of the work itself, underscore a refined, sober, and precise style enriched by changing "autumnal" chromatisms and romantic-baroque arrangements that are never cloying or tedious; the languid and notably "relaxed" pace is adorned with splendid instrumental arabesques, excursions with exotic flavors, suggestive percussive peaks, and a gentle lyricism full of poetry and candor.

Enchanting, fascinating and notably crystalline, the voice of Nanny De Ruig captivates, enchants (Waren Wir; Requiem für einen Wicht) and evokes wonder; the harsh, acidic and not very "malleable" Teutonic language resonates prodigiously fresh and free of rough edges.

Of great charm and elegance, the interweaving of winds, strings, and percussion unfold throughout the entire work among compositions of irrefutable mystical-medieval taste (Erwachen) or with veiled Indian nuances (Stronhalm).

An epic journey among pastoral atmospheres and twilight landscapes.

Unique.

"O happy nature! I do not know what becomes of me when I lift my gaze before your beauty, but all the joy of heaven is in the tears I shed before you, like a lover before his beloved". [...]*

*: From "Hyperion", Friedrich Hölderlin.

*: All other quotes from: "European Progressive Rock Music" Al Aprile, Luca Majer