One can only do justice to Joseph Haas’ oeuvre by judging it by what he himself said about the purpose of music: ”Music is to delight, not offend; it is to shake up, not shatter; it is to refine, not trivialize”. Together with Paul Hindemith and Heinrich Burkard, Joseph Haas co-founded the “Donaueschinger internationale Kammermusikfeste für Neue Musik” (Donaueschingen International Chamber Music Festival for New Music) in 1921. The works show the mastery of variation and the peculiarities of the compositional style of Joseph Haas.
Joseph Renner studied organ and composition with Joseph Rheinberger in Munich and worked mainly in Regensburg/Bavaria. He was particularly appreciated by his contemporaries as a composer of spiritual and organ works. Der geigende Eremit from Max Reger's Böcklin-Suite as program music can be heard on this album, as one of his best-known works, and from the point of view of its content it is almost suitable for a version for violin and organ.
These works for violin and organ, and organ solo, by Joseph Haas (1879—1960), Max Reger (1873—1916) and Josef Renner, jun. (1868—1934) are very interesting musical oeuvres, interpreted by internationally well-known artists Sreten Krstic, Violin, Norbert Düchtel and Ludwig Schmitt, Organ. © Toccata Classics