Unsung Composers

I recently had an opportunity to read the autobiography of Adolf Reichel "Lebenserinnerungen" (1892), edited and written down in a private typescript by his great-granddaughter in 1981. In the foreword she mentions that his work list numbers over 500 pieces in strictly classical form, and that he wrote a textbook on harmony [published in 1862].

Here is a summary of interesting (from an UC point of view, I hope) aspects:

He was born in Turcznitz, Graudenz, West Prussia, on 30 August 1816, and died in Berne, Switzerland on 4 March1896.
From 1829 he lived in Berlin, and in 1835 he received his father's permission to study music full time. His first teacher was Ludwig Berger (1777-1839), who had been Mendelssohn's and Taubert's teacher. Music director Carl Theodor Hahn introduced Reichel to Siegfried Dehn, who immediately accepted him as his pupil. He then followed a call to the court of the Duke of Meiningen and in 1840 he left for Dresden. There he studied instrumentation with Reissiger – without great enthusiasm on either side – and composed a string quartet and an eight-part double fugue for solo and choral voices with orchestral accompaniment on the text 'Kyrie Eleison, Cristo Eleison'. Reichel's sister encouraged him to attend the first performance of Rienzi, but he left after the first act because 'I simply could not bear such music'. It was in Dresden that Bakunin and Reichel met and became friends, and they lived together for years: in Geneva, Bern, Brussels, and, from 1844, in Paris. Reichel also lived in Vienna for a short time from March 1842. Here he met Gounod; the violinist and close companion to Beethoven, Karl Holz; and the music historian Raphael Kiesewetter. In 1844 Reichel accompanied Bakunin to Paris and stayed there for 13 years. In Paris he composed more, amongst other things a Salve Regina and a mass for choir, soloists and small orchestra. He saw Gounod again and made Chopin's acquaintance. He soon found that he was able to make a living teaching the piano and later he gave concerts as pianist also featuring his own works. In the mid 1850s Reichel realised that he was no longer able to support himself and his family – he had got married in 1850 – and decided to leave Paris for Dresden. In Dresden he taught counterpoint and harmony at the newly founded conservatory and became the director of the Singing Academy. In the 1860s Reichel was seriously ill and went to Bern to recover. In January 1867 he followed a call from Bern to take over as musical director of the symphony orchestra and leader of the music school. Bern was just starting to institutionalise its musical life, and Reichel became an enthusiastic pioneer in helping to establish a regular symphony orchestra and other bodies. In 1884 he had to retire from all positions because of ill health.
An obituary in the 'Intelligenzblatt' in Bern refers to the well known fact that he was a representative of the old school. It mentions string quartets, lieder and a German Requiem that was performed by the Cäcilienverein in Bern in 1894. (I have not been able to find any other reference for this, though).

Ah, no idea he was so prolific. The biography sounds interesting. We have a broadcast of his 2nd symphony, and scores/parts of a few works of his (string quartet, piano trio, some songs, etc.) are at IMSLP, so the name is familiar, anyway (I'd like to hear the quartet sometime.)

As Eric says, Reichel's Second Symphony has been broadcast, and a recording is in our archive here (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,5206.0.html).

I have downloaded the recording from the archive and enjoyed the music. I just wanted to add some details about his biography.

For which thanks- didn't mean to seem unappreciative, sorry!

I never did think you were unappreciative! I was actually prompted to write at some length because Mark had written in another thread that he'd be glad to have more information on Reichel. I have been in touch with one of Reichel's descendants who is himself a musician and very kindly let me borrow the autobiographical text. I'll try and see if any scores or other interesting materials are available in archives here in Switzerland. If there is a Second Symphony, then presumably there was a First and perhaps other orchestral works...

Well I was remiss in not thanking you for researching the extra information about Reichel,, and I'm very happy to put that omission right now. Very many thanks, Wheesht.

Thank you, Mark - I was happy to share what I have found. Unfortunately it was only a little as Reichel does not have much to say about his own compositions in his autobiography. I have just had a quick look at the Bern University Library online catalogue and out of the three pieces they have by him, one is actually on loan at the moment: Divertimento for 2 Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, in B, 2 Basset horns, 4 horns, and 2 bassoons with the support of 1 cello and 1 bass. Somebody else is apparently interested in Reichel. Surely, this is good news.

It's good to know there's at least a handful of people who are interested in Adolf Reichel. My wife is his great-great-granddaughter, and our two sons are the sixth consecutive generation of professional musicians in the Reichel dynasty. A couple of months ago, after decades of search, we received Adolf Reichel's compositional heritage, a dozen heavy boxes of manuscripts that we are currently inventorizing. My wife just finished reconstructing the score of Reichel's 1st symphony in D minor from the orchestral parts. It sounds beautiful and fascinating. We also own the 2nd symphony in C  you are referring to. We are convinced that both symphonies (and more works) deserve being performed, unfortunately, persuading an orchestra or conductor to do so is another story ... Reichel's memoirs, preserved in Amsterdam (the autograph, apart from the typescript which is an abridged version) is one of the most exciting testimonials of musical (and political) life in 19th century Europe, as thrilling as a novel, and would deserve being published in extenso. I am currently preparing Wikipedia articles on both Adolf Reichel and his son Max (1863-1930), a violinist and pupil of Joseph Joachim. He later called himself "Henri Ern" and was a soloist, composer and professor in the U.S.A.. It's all going to be a huge of work and we are looking for help from universities, publishers and libraries but have only met with total disinterest so far.
Would anyone kindly help me with the Wikipedia articles, like proof-reading them ?
Again, thank you very much for your interest.

Florestano - welcome to Unsung Composers, and thank you for telling us your part in the Reichel lineage. It is heartening to know that you are working with such dedication on the musical heritage. On UC, we frequently bemoan the lack of interest in less well-known composers, and especially in the U.S., so I am saddened but not surprised by the responses you have had so far. Needless to say, I think the response here will be quite different, and it will be interesting to see what develops....

Once again welcome to Unsung Composers.  :)

Florestano, welcome indeed. I can only echo what semloh has written, and add that I have re-uploaded my recording of the broadcast of Reichel's Second Symphony. It's now available again, here (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,5206.0.html). The best way to tackle the indifference you mention is persistence, believe me. I have been plugging away in the cause of Raff for quite a few years now, but it is beginning to bear fruit, I think. In the shorter term, I'm sure that we have one or two denizens of Wikipedia who will be happy to help you.

Indeed, welcome, Florestano! I have the broadcast of Adolf Reichel's 2nd Symphony, which is a most enjoyable and interesting work. As Mark has said, do be encouraged to persist with your efforts on behalf of your ancestor. These days you never know who might be interested: there has never been so much neglected music recorded...

By the way: I lived for a year (76/77) in Detmold where I was an English Assistant at the Leopoldinum Gymnasium (Grammar School) before returning to England to do my teacher training. Small world!

Thanks likewise!
I've uploaded a few works by Reichel- portions of his string quartet and piano trio, e.g.- to IMSLP and would like to hear more of his work.
Re Wikipedia- can only try of course.

I have been listening to Reichel's 2nd Symphony again and I must say it is a most winning work. The idiom is Beethoven/Schubert via Mendelssohn, with a real fund of memorable melodic material. I don't think it's an undiscovered masterpiece, but the writing is certainly distinguished and it really ought to have been recorded commercially by now.

Does anyone have any idea when Reichel 2 was written?

Dear Florestano,
  Welcome! Other question, have You piano concertos in your heritage musical? You have reason some much conductors are very lazy (lazies?, excuse my poor english), And they don't want learn, research, etc. about this forgotten composers  :'(, What Other work(s), do You know is (or are) important in Reichel's legacy?

Yes, does anything like a catalogue, or partial catalogue, of his work exist? I've never seen one.

The tempo of the finale (of Symphony No.2) is Allegro.  I haven't been able to find a score to see the designation for the scherzo.

[This refers to the download available here (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,5206.0.html). MT]

Florestano, do you have the tempo indication for the 3rd movement scherzo of the C Major Symphony?

out of curiosity- I gather some here have had the opportunity to read his autobiography - not asking someone to go through the substantial amount of trouble of digitizing it, even assuming all the ducks are in a row in that regard; just have a question -does he mention much about his symphonies (I'd say either, but I don't know if he wrote more than 2) - composition, performance details, dates, etc., any or all at all- in that autobio?... Or other compositions for which some information might be useful to augment what information is available (publication date and such)?

Thanks :)

... was Friedrich Reichel (who composed a Spring Symphony in D, Op.25, published 1878 by Kistner, Leipzig) a relative of his, any idea?...

btw for such performers as are interested and like the symphony, imslp.org has performance material for Adolf Reichel's string quartet and some piano music (and score and parts to his piano trio in E-flat, Op.17, also.) Also a small amount of choral music (4-part lieder). So far, anyway. :) (see category. (http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Reichel,_Adolf))

QuoteThe tempo of the finale (of Symphony No.2) is Allegro

Thanks, Jim. I've amended my post.

Without checking, I downloaded this symphony, listened to it on my computer etc. and then tried to save it in my music folder, only to be told I already had it! Mark did of course say it was already in the archive and I obviously forgot that I downloaded it first time round. No matter. It made me listen to the symphony again and I have listened to it 3 times in the last 2 days. It is a most enjoyable work, as has been said, in the Beethoven/Schubert/Mendelssohn vein and I can't think why I didn't re-discover this symphony earlier! Listening to this symphony again, with fresh ears, has made all the difference!Is there any chance Florestano, that Reichel's first symphony (and also the second symphony) will be commercially recorded in the near future?

Dennis' experience reflects my own with Reichel's Symphony in C. I too already had the work, but had pretty well forgotten about it. Now this may be because it's not a masterpiece of the front rank; I'd simply thought of it as a fairly typical, if very attractive mid-century symphony in the broad conservative German tradition. But actually it may simply be that I hadn't 'placed' it adequately in terms of its character and ambition...
...And so a thought: Reichel lived in Paris from 1844 to 1857 and knew Gounod there. Gounod apparently wrote his own two symphonies in 1855. So could Reichel have been influenced by Gounod? Or might it have been vice versa? After all, Gounod's idiom seems very close to Reichel's. Do try a comparison and see what you think...

 :-)Thank you all for accepting me into your illustrious society. My wife, Regina Reichel, and I are not only pleasantly surprised but downright moved to get this amount of feedback and encouragement. We badly needed it... Isn't the world much better than we had thought. Of course we are fully aware that Reichel was not a genius composer but a profoundly conservative mind, musically as well as politically (which makes his selfless support for anarchists and revolutonaries all the more amazing) but he was a musician who thoroughly knew his trade, and not only his own - he also wrote poetry ! Incidentally, apart from his Harmonielehre that appeared in print in 1862, he wrote a book on form, "Allgemeines und Besonderes über musikalische Form und Formen", finished in 1891, the manuscript of which is among our papers. However, writing the Wikipedia articles has priority - a person without such an article is simply nonexistent.

Semloh: Thank you ! I am interested in unsung composers because I was an orchestral musician for many years, playing the "sung composers" so often that nowadays I prefer a Nobody's symphony over one by Beethoven that I know by heart.

Mark Thomas: Thank you so much for uploading the 2nd symphony again. It used to be on YouTube but was removed there a couple of weeks ago, God knows why. Perhaps by the orchestra, for copyright reasons. As to the catalogue of Reichel's works, my wife is in the process of making it (see below) and I'll be happy to post it here when it is finished. By the way, I don't think we have ALL - some of the manuscripts, such as two unfinished symphonies, are in libraries.

Alan Howe: One year in Detmold (or Wetmold, as Anglosaxon students call it) may be O.K. but 28 years were more than I could take - I'm recovering from that in Italy now.

Reichel/Gounod: A very interesting idea of yours, especially since Reichel had a misgiving that Gounod didn't like him, for having offended him in some way. I'll have to check the Gounod symphonies !

Aramiarz: We do own the score of a piano concerto in B-flat major with the complete orchestra parts but the piano part is incomplete, it has gaps (maybe Reichel, like Beethoven, did not fully write out his part but play from sketches). We know that the concerto was performed in Berne on March 7, 1868, with Reichel himself as a soloist. As to Reichel's other works, we're still busy making a list of them and haven't had time to thoroughly assess and evaluate them. Most of the stuff is vocal or chamber music, but there are a short opera, "Jery und Baetly" after Goethe (also set to music by other composers), and two concert ouvertures. There is a 10-piece wind ensemble that sounds interesting.

eschiss1: We are planning to have symphonies 1 and 2 published. We, too, shall scan a few printed works and put them on IMSLP later on. Thank you for laying the foundation !
Quite some printed music by Reichel is in the Swiss National Library in Berne.

Symphonies in the autobiography: Reichel does mention a symphony he wrote at age 19 (we have it, it has remained a torso). There are two more unfinished symphonies, plus the two completed ones. Reichel conducted his 1st symphony in D minor in 1869 in Berne (that whas not the premiere, however), and #2 in C major also in Berne, in 1870. In his memoirs, Reichel does not write much about his own works. I must admit that we own and have read only the typescript of the work (made by Reichel's great-granddaughter Suzanne Reichel) which is an abridged version of the autograph. The latter is a thick book filled with neat but tiny handwriting. We shall have it scanned as soon as we have time. I'll keep you updated. Dates of composition etc. will be in the catalogue of his works that we are preparing. (By the way, Reichel's second wife, the Russian Mariya Ern, wrote two versions of her own memoirs, one in German and one in French, that aren't less interesting than her husband's.)

Friedrich Reichel was not a relative of Adolf's.

JimL: The tempo marking for the scherzo of Reichel's C major symphony is Allegro non troppo presto.

DennisS: My wife just finished the score of symphony #1 with Finale, and we can hear the midi. It is a very "intellectually" composed work - no catchy tunes to hum on the way home after the concert :-( but well written and fascinating. My wife had played the symphony under her father as a child but then her dad left the family and gave all the manuscripts to someone whose name he couldn't remember when he was old. We found the stuff 3 months ago by coincidence and are only just beginning to really check it out. Of course we want to have the two symphonies recorded, together with one or two more orchestral works (there is, for instance, a concert overture "Arnold of Brescia") but this means having to find a conductor, an orchestra and sponsors. I have done that with other composers I unearthed and believe me, it takes time and perseverance.

As I said, I'll keep you updated but that might take some time as I'am still working as a music teacher.

Again, thank you so much for your interest and support ! 

 

Thank you for such a full reply - and update. Very good of you. I would certainly be interested to know when Symphony No.2 was written. To me it's very much in the 'lighter' mould of the Gounod symphonies. Anyway, I'd be glad of your opinion in this regard...

And so do keep in touch. There's a lot of interest in Herr Reichel out there!

Florestano, I'm touched that you've been so encouraged by our interest in Reichel. Believe me, you truly are amongst friends here  and I'm sure that we'll be able to help you in promoting Reichel's music when the time comes. Quite a few of us have experience in different ways of how best to get a hearing for an unsung composer.

I'm getting the impression from all the discussion that it was not published (yet, anyway. Reichel would not have been alone in not having gotten his larger-scale works published while getting many smaller-scale ones accepted. Thinking of an emigrant American named Frederic Louis Ritter who had, among his manuscripts, quite a few concertos, symphonies, etc. but whose published work output was almost entirely rather less "ambitious", iirc ...)

JimL, the tempo designation for the Scherzo (of Symphony No.2) is "Allegro non troppo presto".
Florestano

Thanks, Florestano: I have duly added this to the information which accompanies the download.
Alan Howe

Florestano, do you have any materials that might help Aramiarz with the piano part of the concerto?

Moderator's note: all posts in the thread on Symphony No.2 have now been merged with this general thread about the composer.

Alan Howe

I am really happy to see that there is so much interest in Reichel here at UC and I do hope that some of that momentum can be carried beyond this forum and that perhaps, with some careful planning ahead, someone involved in music in Bern could be persuaded to 'do something' on the occasion of the composer's 200th birthday in 2016...

Wheesht: Thank you very much for starting the discussion, for coming forward again and for your excellent tips !
Yes, we are going to contact the Berne Orchestra about the Reichel anniversary. I even happen to know their principal conductor, he recorded a disc with me, way back ... well, we'll do all we can !
JimL and Aramiarz: As I wrote earlier, the problem with the piano concerto is that the solo part is fragmentary and that the work can therefore not be performed - not yet, at least.

Dear Adolf Reichel community,

for those of you who are curious to get an idea of Adolf Reichel's other finished symphony, no. 1 in D minor, I posted a MIDI recording in Dropbox.

MIDI, in this case, means that the sound is computer generated by the notation programme used for the score (Finale in this case). Sounds horrible of course, but better than nothing. Fortunately all of you have sampled and saved nice orchestral sounds in your heads.

The curious thing is that symphonies 1 and 2 have exactly the same duration - 37' or half a CD each - as if the composer had foreseen things to come.

Reichel 1 is even more beethovenian than no. 2. The unabashed quote of Beethoven 7 at the outset of the last movement is worth a smile. Almost a gag. Like Beethoven, Reichel likes simple themes, such as the initial nine-note-motive of the 1st movement, that allow him to show off his skills in developing banal material.

It's music written by a good teacher of composition, and a conservative one, showing his virtuosic craftmanship to advantage, but not in an merely academic way. I find the piece quite charming and romantic.
   
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mi6ecx7p1c4p9me/AAAUSE-U5n8uCuBPoaOFwqZOa?n=110958608 (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mi6ecx7p1c4p9me/AAAUSE-U5n8uCuBPoaOFwqZOa?n=110958608)

Enjoy.

Florestano

Thank you!! It's heavy and hard the work for transference to the sw!! I use "Sibelius" for piano scores.it's better that we have the sound in this source comparate with nothing!!

Tangentially: a thread about (computer) typesetting (generally, not just as regards sound and MIDIs) might not be a bad idea ...

Good news: Sinnaj just informed me that Reichel 2 is on back YouTube:

]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d80zIb5KIow]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d80zIb5KIow]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d80zIb5KIow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d80zIb5KIow%5B/b)

Touch wood !

 :-\ Sorry, folks, and thanks, eschiss1. The YouTube link was triplicated. I HAD previewed it but must have been shaky when pushing the "post" button  ;). Here it is again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d80zIb5KIow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d80zIb5KIow)

Enjoy.

Hello Florestano, if I may suggest, it may be worth getting in touch with the conductor Martin Yates in London. Not only does he seem to have the ear of the record label Dutton Epoch, with whom he has recorded some 40 CDs during the past 6 years or so, but he does seem genuinely interested in unsung composers. He has also recently released his own completion of the Mendelssohn E Major Piano concerto which is absolutely superb. A conversation with him would not be a bad idea in my opinion. I don't have contact details but they can't be difficult to find through his management.

I am preparing a performing edition of Reichel's set, Six Four-Part Songs if anyone is interested.  My source is the IMSLP reprint from the Berlin (formerly Royal) Library.  They will be coupled with my own translations into English and settings for 4-part chorus. 

Dear christopherjhoh,
of course we are interested and find it extremely exciting that there's somebody in Virginia working on Adolf Reichel and even going to the trouble of translating the lyrics of his works !
I'll get check our archive of mss. for "your" piece and get back to you ASAP !
Thank you for joining the Reichel community which is extending from Greece to Puerto Rico by now ! Not bad.
With kind regards
Florestano

Hi Florestano,

I was just wondering whether you have any more information us as to performances or recordings of Reichel's music?

For those who can read German, here's an appreciative article, containing an analysis of Symphony No.2:
https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/musik/der-schweizer-komponist-adolf-reichel-der-klassizist-und-der-revolutionaer-ld.125138 (https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/musik/der-schweizer-komponist-adolf-reichel-der-klassizist-und-der-revolutionaer-ld.125138)

Dear Alan,
thank you very much for posting the link to the article I wrote for the NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) to commemorate Adolf Reichel's 200th birthday. It is one of three similar articles I penned on that occasion.
A more detailed one, focussing more on Reichel's amazing lifelong friendship with the Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin appeared in the Swiss review "Dissonance":
https://www.dissonance.ch/upload/pdf/136_19_hb_mso_reichel.pdf
A little breakthrough is that, on the basis of these articles, an author (unknown to me) wrote a German Wikipedia article on Reichel (I hope we'll soon find time to complete it):
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Reichel
Last but definitely not least, Sinnaj (who is working on a doctoral thesis about Reichel as you know) published a wonderful, fascinating book in Greek on Bakunin's relationship to music, with emphasis on Reichel, of course:
https://www.politeianet.gr/books/mallouchos-giannis-eleutheriaki-koultoura-to-tragoudi-ton-okeanidon-265457
Sinnaj is currently preparing a German version of this work.
What else? Adolf Reichel's manuscripts are now preserved in the library of the Hochschule der Künste in Bern, Switzerland, and being inventoried for the RISM.
An additional pile of Reichel works was found in the archives of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hannover and donated to the Bern Hochschule.
My wife Regina is preparing printable versions of several works, including one of Reichel's magna opera, the Piano Quintet Op.30 of 1864, dedicated to his student Duke George II. of Sachsen-Meiningen, a weighty and brilliant work, apt to belie the common opinion that Reichel disliked Brahms.
A concert with live broadcast planned by the Bern Hochschule in cooperation with the Swiss Radio had to be cancelled for illness but one of the artists involved, the young French 'cellist Mathieu Gutbub, and pianist Jean-Jacques Dünki will at least perform one of Reichel's 'cello sonatas at the Wildt'sches Haus in Basle, Switzerland, on Sunday, September 10 at 11 a.m..
The undersigned is working on articles on the erratic life of Reichel's son Max, a.k.a. Henri Ern, while Regina is copying Ern's virtuoso pieces for solo violin that we found in Puerto Rico, and has performed one of them so far.
In short, things are progressing, not as speedily as we'd hoped, but pretty steadily.
Thank all you for your continued interest in A.R. and please excuse me for my lengthy silence, due to the vicissitudes of life.
With best wishes to all,
Florestano

Thank you very much indeed for that full update. Please do let us know if and when any further performances/recordings of Reichel's music are planned.

I would personally very interested in the score of the Piano Quintet, Op.30...

The quintet in A minor for piano and strings by Adolf Reichel was performed in 1865 and a note ("Hierauf folgte eine Novität: Quintett (Amoll) für Pianoforte, 2 Violinen, Viola, und Violoncell von Adolf Reichel" in correspondence from Dresden in p.93 of the 10 March 1865 issue of the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (reporting on the Tonkunstlerverein concert, 18 February 1865, Hotel d. Saxe.) No idea offhand if it's been published (haven't yet checked that wiki, maybe it survives in manuscript, though where?) Ah, I see. Florestan above notes that an edition of the piano quintet (I assume the A minor, but anyway his Op.30 which may be the same work?) is in prep. Thanks!

(Not to be confused with the (piano and winds) quintet in E-flat of 1897 by Alexander Reichel or the string quintet Op.29 (published 1937) by Anton Reichel (@ÖNB) though I can see how one could make that confusion. The former work is in a (piano and winds) group's current repertoire and the latter as noted is @ÖNB library, and my curiosity is mildly piqued even though I know nothing about those two composers ... yet.) (Alexander Reichel wrote a piano and winds quintet and two woodwind quintets, in E-flat, E-flat and D respectively.)

I just noticed that Reichel's birth date is given as 1820 on IMSLP.  Are we certain enough about 1816 to go and correct this?

Yes.

1816 is sure. I copied Reichel's entry in the civil register of his community.

Eric: can you change the details at IMSLP, please? His dates should read: 30 August 1816 - 5 March 1896.

Thanks!

Done.

Incidentally, we heard a wonderful performance of Adolf Reichel's Sonata in D major, Op.33, for violoncello and piano yesterday in Basle, Switzerland, by Matthieu Gutbub ('cello) and Jean-Jacques Dünki (piano), in a "period" rendition (played from Reichel's autograph on a classical 'cello without endpin, with very sparse vibrato, and a gorgeous Blüthner grand piano of 1859). The piece was composed in Bern in 1867 (the year when Reichel moved there from Dresden) and dedicated to the legendary cellist Friedrich Grützmacher who was active in Dresden at the same time as Reichel and had presumably been teaching Reichel's son Alexander, 14 years old at that time and later a prominent left-wing politician and judge in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, playing chamber music (and drinking) with painter Paul Klee in his spare time. This sonata is a first-rate composition, exciting and dramatic, and we are confident now that Adolf Reichel wil be "sung" more often soon. The performance was recorded, and we hope we'll be allowed to post it.

Thank you, Eric.

We definitely look forward to hearing the Cello Sonata here, Florestano!

Yes, that's an exciting prospect.

Sorry for staying away from UC for such a long time, the reason being, as usual, mundane annoyances of all kinds.
Anyway, as to Adolf Reichel, we have stayed active and there are some news that are not quite unexciting:
(1) Some time ago, Regina (Reichel) finished engraving the score of the Piano Quintet Op. 30 in A minor of 1864 and, as we are fed up with going door to door for a publisher, we'll post in in the Petrucci Library sooner or later. We'll also post a MIDI recording somewhere ASAP. We think this work is sensational and bet it will be international repertoire pretty soon. It has surprising touches of Brahms (whom Reichel is said to have disliked, though he never said he did) and a splendid neo-baroque finale based on the favorite hymn of duke George II of Saxony-Meiningen to whom it is dedicated, Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten.
(2) The Hochschule der Künste in Bern that preserves Reichels mss. is encouraging young ensembles to perform Reichel's works, resulting in a few performances of chamber music that sounded more than promising - we're becoming aware that even we might have been underestimating Reichel.
(3) eschiss1: Anton Reichel (1892-1984) is my grandfather-in-law, Adolf's grandson, violinist and composer, and yes, his compositions are in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. Alexander Reichel (1853-1921) was Adolf's second-born son, a thoroughly trained musician, cellist, pianist, conductor and composer who was playing chamber music and drinking with painter Paul Klee but was a lawyer by profession, judge at the Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne.
(4) Sinnaj's book on Adolf Reichel and Mikhail Bakunin is now also available in German: Mallouchos, Jannis: Der Gesang der Okeaniden. Michail Bakunin und die Musik.Vienna: bahoe books 2017, ISBN 978-3-903022-66-9 . Sinnaj keeps working hard on his doctoral thesis, making one incredible discovery after the other.
(5) We have opened TheReichelChannel in YouTube and are gradually posting compositions and performances by all six generations of the Reichel dynasty.
Thank all of you for reviving Adolf Reichel. You'll keep hearing of him.

Here's the YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmDULd3IB1fRZoX9nh1JyOA (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmDULd3IB1fRZoX9nh1JyOA)

Great to hear from you, Florestano!

There is now an Adolf Reichel Society, founded in December of last year. The website, which is work in progress, can be found here (https://www.adolfreichel.ch/en/).

On 28th October 2016, Max Sommerhalder published an article on Adolf Reichel (alias Henri Ern) in the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" - on the occasion of the composers' 200th birthday. Online this article is only accessible against payment or to subscribers. The text is slightly different from the one Sommerhalder wrote in Reichel's Website. Reichel's legacy is deposited at the RISM section of the Swiss National Library in Berne.
The performance of his 2nd Symhpony was uploaded on YouTube again in 2018, but the old link is still in there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d80zIb5KIow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0y_qcyhoFk

Conductor Niklaus Aeschbacher is the brother of the pianists Adrian Aeschbacher and Rudolf am Bach. The latter changed his name in order to avoid confusion. Rudolf was a friend of mine for many years.

Thank you for this interesting information about the three brothers. May I make two corrections? 1) Henri Ern was the name Adolf Reichel's son, the violinist Max Reichel (1863-1920) used (I have no idea why he doesn't appear on the Adolf Reichel Society website), and 2) as far as I know, Adolf Reichel's estate is held by HKB, Bern University of the Arts.

Thanks - and sorry, Wheesht. I should take care in the future in order not to tell such nonsense :-)
It's one of those days, anyway, where everything goes wrong...
Since I was researching at RISM some time ago, and their address is the upper floor of Berne's National Library, I thought everything was there. In fact, many manuscripts of Swiss composers are there - like, for example, Peter Fassbänder's (who was one of Fritz Brun's Lucerne teachers). In other words, RISM has just made the inventory of Rechel's estate.

PS: There is another conductor from the Aeschbacher family: Matthias Aeschbacher, a son of Adrian Aeschbacher...

Not to worry, Adriano, I'm sure we all have such days. I didn't know about Peter Fassbänder, glad to have learned something new – also about yet another member of the obviously truly musical Aeschbacher family.

... and the three brother's papa was Carl Aeschbacher, a choir leader and quite e prolific vocal composer...