Hajo Weber
Ulrich Ingenbold
Winterreise
Hajo Weber guitar
Ulrich Ingenbold guitars, flutes
Recorded March 1982 at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg
Engineer: Martin Wieland
Produced by Manfred Eicher
I came as a stranger; as a stranger now I leave.
I know nothing of Hajo Weber and Ulrich Ingenbold beyond the incandescent duets these two guitarists buried in the snowy recesses of Winterreise (Winter Journey), one of ECM’s greatest forgotten treasures. The title, of course, evokes Schubert, and the comparison may not be so arbitrary, for like the famous song cycle it speaks with hushed clairvoyance. Weber and Ingenbold bring distinct flavor to this session, dividing themselves at four compositions apiece.
Weber’s are meandering. Filled with pauses and reflections, they measure the passage of time in breaths. Ingenbold gilds the wood-grained lily of “Der wundersame Weg” (The Miraculous Way) with a trembling flute. Gentle footsteps trade places with an unfamiliar cry, meditating on a horizon which, once distant, is now close enough to pluck and make music out of. “Zweifel” (Doubt) plays like its shadow, dancing through dreams as if this were the only possible means of expressing itself. The tides shift with “Drehung in der Luft” (Rotation in the Air), a floating reverie insulated from the cold, while the flamenco kiss of “Filmmusik” washes up on Aegean shores. The air is moist, glowing in the moon’s lantern light.
Ingenbold’s sound-world is more continuous, treating Weber’s backdrops as canvases for a virtuosic appliqué. His “Karussell” is the session’s masterstroke, and puts me in mind of the early cinematographs, spun into impossible animation through a gallery of slits, each the promise of an ephemeral life. The title cut teeters on a whisper. Amid a rustling of wings and tail feathers, the blade of uncertainty falls from the throat of time behind a shining veil of recollection. A child dances where children cannot be seen, but is safe beneath the snow, where spring hides from all. “Sommerregen” (Summer Rain) fulfills the promise made at the album’s outset. It is the Golden Fleece without curse, the light of better days without the pain of absence. We feel the wind on the rims of our ears, hoping for sunlight, but instead experience something far more invigorating: the song of melting ice. Ingenbold dons a flute’s clothing again in “Son’s Song.” A lullaby wrapped in dawn’s brittle skin, it wishes away evil even as Weber chases away the nightmares with his light. The music becomes flesh, the flesh becomes music, and the music becomes love.
Winterreise is a poetic diary that deserves only poetry in return, and ranks alongside Bill Connors’s Theme To The Gaurdian and Ralph Towner’s Solo Concert as one of ECM’s most evocative guitar dates. As long as a reissue seems unlikely, make this your first vinyl rediscovery.
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I still regret the day I saw the LP on sale in Seattle many years ago and failed to pick it up! Hence there is great value in reading this revue. I hope to find/hear it some day!
It’s delectable, really. I know ECM can’t reissue everything, but the fact that this one remains so elusive just baffles me.
I really can’t understand why they haven’t re-issued it. It is an ECM classic. There is a vinyl rip available on a Russian site, but I would rather buy a CD replacement for my vinyl copy. It’s even more odd when you consider that the ‘Music Improvisation Company’ is at least available on iTunes.
My favorite lp to listen to on a snowy winter day.
Indeed! Perhaps it’s no coincidence that I heard it for the first time in January…
I’m one of the lucky owners of this LP. I’ve been uselessly looking for years for a digital reissue of this masterpiece. I would instantly buy it, although I think it would take great technical and musical skill in doing such conversion. I think that at this point in time, given the total ECM carelessness, I’d feel no guilt of sort in planning for a private digitalization and public sharing of this music. I’m happy to have found out here I was not alone.
Carlo
one of my all-time favorite ecm records!
Soon ripped from vinyl on http://musicadegradata.blogspot.it/
Stay tuned!!!!
I love this album especially for a soothing, relaxing quality. I got it borrowed from a friend number of years ago and it is already here http://inconstantsol.blogspot.cz/2013/01/hajo-weber-ulrich-ingenbold-winterreise.html — mp3@320 / flac, carefully cleaned good condition vinyl rip. But much thanks for your effort, Stefano – I discovered your blog and it is a real pleasure to see so many lost treasures available!
for me it is a pleasure to read your excellent reviews. thanks
I listen to this lp every year in the dead of winter. I usually choose a cold snowy day when I’d rather stay indoors. This really sets the mood for what these 2 guitarists have to offer. ECM never did much to promote this lp, and so it remains a very underrated gem.
One of my desert island ECM disks, a treasured piece of vinyl. Now at last available on streaming platforms, perhaps it will find a new generation of listeners to fall under its spell.
So glad that many new listeners will be able to absorb this album at long last.
Hi there. Have been a fan of guitar based ecm releases for over 3 decades. Metheny, Abercrombie, Towner, conners, ect…. managed to purchase the vinyl a couple of years ago from discogs. Not cheap even at second hand. Love this album. Some say they like to play during the winter time. I get that but I play mine at least once a week sometimes more,simply wonderful under stated acoustic guitar playing with atmosphere in abundance. I know it’s available on amazon and others as a download. I personally would love this on cd cause I’ll soon be needing another vinyl copy at this rate. Sent message to ecm about a cd being released of this forgotten treasure but not to hopeful. Perhaps if we all inundated them with messages about this special album they might sit up and take notice. This album should rank amongst some of the ecm greats. Kind regards to all quality music lovers.