Topics

I stumbled on this curiosum on youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiBjbYWSW3o

It is a performance of the overture in D by Mayer (University of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Magdalena Pawlisz).  Quite fine for a university orchestra except for the often sticky tempi.

But the Rossini imitations that appear in the piece are rather surprising to me.  I would have expected Mayer to share the contempt that German musical elites generally had for Italian music and Italian opera.

This was posted to youtube 3 moths ago.  I just found it by happenstance.  It is a live recording of a concert* by a quartet called Carpe Diem String Quartet.  The acoustic quality of the recording is quite good.

More about Mayer's e-minor quartet can be found on this (somewhat meandering) thread. 

I don't actually agree with many of their choices.  There is overall too much rubato**, the adagio is too slow and the melody is over-prioritized over the "accompaniment" which obscures for example the almost persistent triplets in the scherzo.  But they play well and the piece comes across as impressive nonetheless.

* unfortunately sparsely attended as far as visible in the video...

** in the adagio the reprise is led by the viola and for once the player played 16 bars at constant tempo.  What a relief!

As already announced I have now posted a transcript of Mayer's other string quintet. 

As already mentioned there are two autograph scores that differ significantly from each other, one in the Berlin Staatsbiblothek in Mayer's estate, the other in Liszt's estate, a gift from Mayer to Liszt.  (There is a third autograph, a set of parts in Mayer's handwriting which (almost) matches the Berlin manuscript).  I decided to transcribe both autographs to be better able to compare them.  To me it seemed that the Berlin score was the more mature and concise composition overall so the Berlin score is the one that the new transcribed version is based on.

There are four movements, in (): differing data in the "Liszt version" (the links get you to the artificial sound on Musescore.com):
1. Allegro maestoso (Allegro con brio), d-minor, 4/4, 237 measures (234)
2. Adagio (Adagio ma non troppo), C, F-Major, 91 measures (100)
3. Scherzo. Vivace (Allegro vivace), 3/4, d-minor with trio in B flat Major, 274 measures (355)
4. Allegro, 2/4, D-Major, 339 measures (398)

Both versions are based on the same or very similar themes with the exception of the second theme of the first movement.  The Berlin version has generally shorter movements (it still clocks in at about 35 minutes for a full performance with the repeat played--there is only one repeat, the first part of the first movement; no repeats at all in the scherzo), especially in the scherzo there are some unnecessary repetitions in the Liszt manuscript.

The piece features more contrast than the D-Major work, also more dissonance and lots of chromaticism.  I particularly like the Adagio, somewhat Beethovenian with its slow tempo and sustained tension.  The scherzo is less aggressive than the one in the D-Major work.  It ends surprisingly in D-Major, four measures of stressing the minor third are followed immediately by the last three that feature an upward racing D-Major scale.  The finale is a rondo and concludes the whole piece in Major.  Both quintets begin with an introductory passage based on upward arpeggiated chords.  The two quintets seem to be planned as belonging together.

If anybody wants to second guess my decision to use the Berlin version or thinks both versions ought to have been published please feel free.  I am not awfully certain about this.  I may be convinced to correct it as far as possible.  For the version dedicated to Liszt Pdf files and mp3s for each movement are here.  Be warned:  They are not proof read which is audible occasionally in the mp3s.

Some time ago the autographs of Mayer's two string quintets were posted on IMSLP.  They are written for 2 violins, 2 violas and violoncello and are in D-Major and d-minor respectively--maybe as companion pieces?  They are dated "ca. 1853 - 57", contemporaneous with Mayer's string quartets.

I have now posted a transcript for practical use on IMSLP.  I also posted electronic renditions on Musescore.com, trying to make sure the leading voices are favored--within the range of what is possible to do with Musescore:  Movement 1, movement 2, movement 3 & 4.

The work is attractive, rather upbeat in mood (as one would expect in D-Major) and ambitious:  A first allegro of twelve minutes with nicely contrasting themes, then a robust scherzo (g-minor), allegro vivace with a slow trio (E-flat Major), followed by variations on chorale-like theme (B-flat Major), somewhat reminiscent of the ones in Haydn's "Emperor" quartet, with a coda that leads attaca into the final allegro in sonata form.

I am now working on the d-minor quintet but this is more complicated: There are two autographs with some significant differences between them:  One in Mayer's estate in the Staatsbibliothek Berlin, the other in the estate of Franz Liszt, beautifully bound and dedicated by Mayer to Liszt, maybe in an effort to elicit some response.

This quartet came up in this thread about a recording of the composer's etudes op. 63. 

My typeset is now finished but not completely proofread.*  For anybody who is curious it is on the Musescore.com website.  It can also be played back there for anybody to listen.  The tone quality is not good but the balance is much better than in the mp3s that I have been trying to make myself.  For best insights read along in the score.

My personal opinion:  I like the piece; it is nicely written, relaxed (as you'd expect in D-Major) and entertaining.  All four parts are nice to play.  And it is not too demanding technically (as Matesic said) though there are some passages in the first violin that make awkward fingerings unavoidable.  There are also some rhythm and ensemble problems if you have amateurs tackling it.

The andante (3rd movement) has a slow introduction, which is almost nothing but a chord progression.  There are hints of cyclic form:  Movements 1 and 3 are both in the rather rare 9/8 meter (rare especially for first movements).  Movements 2 and 4 share a crucial motif.

There will be one more round of proofreading and the extraction and formatting of parts before the whole thing can be uploaded to IMSLP.

The files are here:  1. mvmt, 2. mvmt, 3. mvmt, 4. mvmt

*  The first edition from which I am working is rather slapdash for the 1870s:  Notes that may as likely be gs as fs.  The cello part has an extra measure in the scherzo.  Dynamic markings are inconsistent between the voices at times.  Sometimes a ff or f obviously must mean sf.  Decrescendo signs (hairpins) and accents are not clearly differentiated.  Plus the engraver (or the composer?) didn't know how to spell Italian words.  Not to mention quite a few missing accidentals, numerous unnecessary courtesy accidentals and also quite a few missing ones.  This stuff costs extra time for typesetting.

It seems I need some advice.  I have been typesetting this quartet, composed 1835, from Fröhlich's autograph (digitized by the Basel university library) for IMSLP.  Right now I am bogged down in proof reading but the scherzo keeps bugging me.  From the beginning I had a feeling I had heard this music before.  It is somewhat reminiscent of Weber's "Invitation" but that's not it.
If anybody has time on their hands or is curious enough:  Could you have a look at the score (my typeset--not quite finalized) and see if it rings any bells?  Especially the section beginning at measure 60.
Let me know if the second link works for you.  I'd appreciate any ideas.

[Concerto en forme de Concertino pour Violoncell avec l'Accompagnement de l'Orchestre ou du Piano]

This started with my desire to transcribe an orchestral work for a change and to see if I am up to the challenge.  I chose this concerto because the parts of the first edition were available complete on IMSLP and because I have come to appreciate this composer.
The score is now finished and can be viewed here.  There is also set of parts going along with the score.  The piano reduction will follow shortly.

I decided also to post a computer generated sound track--a recording won't be available any time soon so this is the best acoustic representation presently available.  There was an attempt to achieve something in the neighborhood of "balance"; one could tinker endlessly with these files but time is limited and it is the way it is.

The piece strikes me as worth listening to (if we had a recording that is).  It is titled on the title page of the first--presumably only--edition (Breitkopf & Härtel, ca. 1832):  Concerto en forme de Concertino pour Violoncell avec l'Accompagnement de l'Orchestre ou du Piano.  The three movements are played attacca, hence probably "en forme de concertino". 

In an idle moment I downloaded the two sonatas for unaccompanied violin by Benjamin Godard from IMSLP and started trying them out on my fiddle to discover how they sound and how hard they are to play.  I have been practicing them somewhat seriously for a while now and got to know them and like them.

Both sonatas are in 4 short movements, no. 1 (op. 20) in b-minor (Prélude--lento, in free meter almost all the way through like a cadenza, Gavotte, Adagio, Minuet--the only movement where maybe the inspiration failed a little) and number 2 (op. posthum) in a-minor (Sarabande, Rigodon, Adagio ma non troppo, Bourrée).  They were composed early and late in the composer's life, but look like companion pieces all the same.

There is a recording of both of them on a CD called "The Hidden Violin" with Vaughan Jones (soundbites here:) along with other late 19th century solo violin compositions.  As far as I can tell it has not been mentioned on this forum (it appeared in 2014). 

There are reviews here, here and here.

All of the reviews stress the influence of the 6 sonatas and partitas by J.S. Bach.  And the influence is obviously there in all the dance movements.  All three reviewers see Godard's works more or less as "under the shadow" of Bach, one even used the word "musically tongue-tied" to describe this.  I disagree with that judgment and would like to hear what others think about this.  To me the tongue is not tied so much as it is in cheek.  The music is delightful rather than ambitious and envelope pushing.  In that sense it seems to me much closer to Telemann's also delightful 12 "Fantasias" for solo violin than to Bach though Godard knew almost certainly nothing about the Telemann pieces. 

The tempo marking on the first movement of the second sonata for example is "Sarabande, molto moderato and pomposamente".  Observe that by using the adverb of "pomposo" Godard managed to add two more pompous syllables.  Can you imagine Bach marking a tempo like this?  The two adagios are more serious though and very beautiful.  All movements contain detailed if not always exactly consistent articulation markings, for example in the gavotte of sonata 1 where some crotchets are marked staccato, others tenuto, some quavers staccato, others legato.  There are also numerous dynamic markings, often asking for sharp dynamic contrasts such as in the Bourrée of sonata 2 where the theme is presented with the last and first quaver of the measure played forte and the semiquavers in the middle of the measure piano.  This creates a loud-soft-loud-soft switch every half measure (Jones appears to largely ignore these dynamics judging by the soundbites).  The sonatas also feature the deliberate use of open strings for sound effect (sonata 1, gavotte, trio section).  Bach has no such markings with the exception of forti and piani to mark echo effects in a few places.

Another important difference to Bach is the care Godard took to keep the sonatas playable.  While they require a sound technique they are not asking for many unconventional and/or uncomfortable fingerings; the vast majority of the double stops and chords can be played in first position.  The level of difficulty is held down for a decent amateur to play for his/her own pleasure if maybe not for performance (probably at least in part due to economic considerations).  Godard's two sonatas are about playing for pleasure.  Interpreters I think ought to feel free to use rubato generously, they ought to stress dynamic contrasts and obey the articulation markings--or if they do not want to follow all the markings slavishly they ought to find their version of spicing things up by means of articulation and dynamics.

Judging from the soundbites, which cover a reasonable percentage of the short movements Vaughan Jones is missing out on this.  He plays mostly quite slowly (often about in the tempo of Bach's corresponding dances), with little rubato, quite the way one would play Bach (which is why I ended up not buying the CD).  The reviewers might just have taken a cue from him.

To be complete:  The first sonata is also on youtube in a transcription for viola here, played by Mikhail Bugaew (who is the author of the transcription).  This interpretation is more to my liking than the CD except the adagio is rather fast.  The pizzicati in the second trio of the minuet on the other hand sound a lot better on the viola than on the violin.  Also on youtube:  A recording of the adagio of the first sonata here.  This one is rather weak:  Way too fast and with unstable tempo, i.e. the fluctuations in tempo one hears appear to be random and unplanned rather than a deliberate rubato.

Finally I do think that while these sonatas are inspired by Bach's masterpieces they are very much part of another (small) "tradition" as well:  Imitation baroque music of the nineteenth century (romantic neo-baroque?).  The most famous example of this category is of course Grieg's Holberg suite.  There are also Respighi's "Antiche Danze et Arie" and there are unsung pieces by Raff as well as Spohr's "Historic Symphony" which expands the concept to include several historic styles not to mention the other pieces on the CD above.  All of these pieces are not true reconstructions of "ancient" music; they use modern techniques (modern violin bows for example that allow articulations that were inaccessible to Bach) and are more about recreating the spirit of the times as their composers saw it than about imitating outdated models.  I guess it might be a good learning experience to try and play the Holberg suite on 18th century period instruments...

BTW we had a little debate in another thread about how to call these works.  Godard made it simple:  He titled them "Sonate pour le violon"--when no other instrument is mentioned no other instrument is to be expected.

In the recent thread on Gerald Walter Crawford a few of us got sidetracked into a discussion of the issue of quality.  Alan Howe quite rightly reminded us to stay on topic.

Since I believe we might have been onto something on that sidetrack I am trying to continue the "debate" in a new thread.  As a reminder and starting point here is the last post on this sidetrack by Matesic:

Unfortunately not many of us are qualified to judge whether a piece of music is "well written" or not. Reading a string quartet score there are certain criteria which prompt me to make such a judgment with a reasonable chance of not perpetrating a gross injustice, but when confronted with a piano piece I wouldn't have a clue. And in the context of this forum, with certain exceptions that can be argued over another day, there frankly aren't many pieces that would qualify as "truly great". The best we can hope to do is try to separate the good (stimulating, pleasurable, memorable etc) from the mediocre.  All subjective, of course, but very necessary when so many competent, well-trained, even professional composers of all ages have turned out so much music that wouldn't be missed.

(Sorry, I can't figure out how to format as a quote if it comes from another thread.)

Read the rest in the thread on Crawford if you are interested, starting with post 4 or 5 where things started to get away from Crawford. 

I am interested to hear what people think about questions like the following:
What constitutes "good" music (restricting ourselves to the period we are always talking about here)?
Do we always want to listen to "good" music?  Do we always want to listen to great music?  And how does the passion for unsung music come into this?  In other words:  Given a good sized sung repertoire which is generally good, much of it great (or do you disagree with this premise?) why hunt for unsung stuff?  Matesich has a point when he says that much of it "wouldn't be missed", doesn't he?  (Though Mozart wouldn't be missed if he had never lived or the Parthenon wouldn't be missed if the Greeks had never built it...) 

The floor is open...

My typeset of this work (i.e. the score) is now here.  When everything is finalized it will be posted on IMSLP.

In the mean time those who are interested can look at it and listen to the synthetic realization at the link above.  I'd recommend to read along; the system tends to suppress faster passages and over stresses accompanying voices.  Just expand the score to cover the whole screen, button top right.  Of course this is not more than a first impression.

I find it interesting how different the work is from the almost exactly contemporary Mendelssohn op. 12 and 13--in spite of the identical opus numbers (Hiller and Mendelssohn were friends at the time).  On an older thread we find the opinion:  "Hiller must be re-evaluated."  This quartet IMO confirms the feeling. 

Quartet 2 will follow in due time.

A quick post to alert people who can read German that a Kindle edition of Hiller's memoir ("Erinnerungsblätter") is presently available for $1.69 from Amazon.  (They advertise it as $1.00, but then charged me 69 cents for the download, maybe if you happen to be in the US--or Germany?--they let you download for free).  From initial browsing I'd conclude that the book is written in a significantly more refined language than Spohr's.  If it is as entertaining as Schnyder von Wartensee's remains to be seen.
Typesets of Hiller's quartets 1 and 2 are presently underway--I can't find any commercial source for the sheet music, so they'll be posted on IMSLP.  Once I know more about the music I'll report.

About half a year ago I finished a typeset of this quartet--or rather two typesets as there are two versions of it (incidentally it was by googling the name of Emilie Mayer that I first became aware of this forum.  Also the source I used was posted to IMSLP by Eric Schissel).  The typesets are here.

I think this quartet is brilliant, especially the second version and I'd like to get the word out about it.  So I wrote a piece about it which tells the story of the two versions and contains a fairly detailed description of them.  Those who are interested can read it here.

Does Mazas count as sung or unsung? 

As a composer of violin etudes and duos for students he is certainly well established.  I have always liked his etudes and use them regularly for my daily practice sessions.  To me they are much better compositions than the other "classic" etudes (mainly Kreutzer and Fiorillo, Rode--I admit it--is too hard for me). 

His duos on the other hand (I know only a fraction of them) for all the melodic charm often present seem a little simple minded:  Most of the time one violin plays the melody, the other some simple accompaniment, than they switch roles, often literally repeating the music in sections of maybe 16 measures or so.  Maybe because they are written for children they tend to be much simpler harmonically than the etudes (where more advanced harmony must be used to provide opportunities for the training of intonation if for no other reasons).

Wondering what other compositions of his are around I checked IMSLP and found his three quartets op. 7 (parts from about 1822; together with the trios op.18 for 2 vln and viola they seem to be the only chamber pieces for more than two players in Mazas' output).  I don't think there is a modern edition available, so I typeset the score to get a better picture and I was struck by the quality of these fully grown up pieces.  Beyond the charm of his melodies we find:  Imaginative use of the quartet medium, the four voices mostly nicely individualized.  They are not quatuors brillants.  Being a violin virtuoso Mazas included virtuoso episodes for the first fiddler--sometimes truly virtuoso like a whole variation in double stops--but so did Haydn and even Beethoven.  These quartets remind me of Onslow--three quartets to an opus, each quartet with its individual character, similarities in the use of the medium, heavy use of chromaticism.  However only Onslow's earliest quartets were already published when Mazas composed his set.

These quartets seem to have been completely forgotten--are therefore clearly unsung--and I think they ought to be played.  I will post my finished scores and sets of parts on IMSLP when they are properly proof read and cleaned up (the copy of the old parts on IMSLP has not very good print quality and contains rather many errors--accidentals forgotten, incorrect dynamics, measures with too many beats in them, inconsistent articulation markings etc.--so a new typeset will help people who want to play). 

A name so far missing on this forum.
Full name:  Friedrich Theodor Fröhlich
1803 Born in Brugg, Switzerland
1822 / 23 Law student at the university in Basel; abandoned out of health concerns (?).  Started studying composition with local teachers.
1823 / 24 and again 1826 - 30 Studies in Berlin with Carl Friedrich Zelter (Mendelssohn's teacher and Goethe's friend) and Bernhard Klein.  For these studies he received a stipend from the cantonal government in Aarau.
Returned to Aarau and had jobs as music teacher, choir director and conductor of an amateur orchestra to make ends meet.  Died by suicide (drowning in the river Aare) in October 1836 at least in part from feeling artistically isolated in very provincial Aarau (even Fröhlich's compatriot Schnyder von Wartensee failed to mention him in his autobiography).
Fröhlich's brother Abraham Emmanuel was a well known preacher, writer and politician and supplied the texts for many of the songs.

Interesting parallels to Schubert's life:  Father wanted him to study a "serious" profession and resisted music; inability to earn enough money; left a large body of songs.

Works (summary):   

Vocal:  Numerous songs for voice(s) and piano as well as for choir with or without instruments.
One mass (the other mass is actually by J. G. Naumann [1741 - 1801] which Fröhlich appears to have copied for unknown reasons) and other sacred music.
Orchestral:  One fragment of a "sinfonia in A" (finale missing); several overtures.
Chamber:  4 String quartets, 1 string quintet, 2 piano quartets plus a quintet for piano, 2 horns, 2 celli.
Several works for violin and piano, one cello sonata.
Piano music:  Sonata op. 11 in A-Major; 6 "Elegien" op. 15 and smaller works.

Reception:  The critics have strangely mixed judgements (source: German Wikipedia):  He gets designated the most compelling romantic composer in Switzerland, credited for "simple, yet effective melodies" and "surprising turns in harmony" and at the same time criticized for "schematicism" and "vielfache Satzfehler"--I don't know the English word for "Satzfehler".  Note that "vielfache" may mean either "many" or "all kinds of".  (I don't have the kind of eye that notices parallel 5ths on first sight, but they can be found occasionally in his scores.  I do wonder if he may have suffered from dyslexia based on other aspects in his manuscripts.)  Personally I love what I know of his music, specially recommended: the "6 Elegien" for piano.  Also: "Wem Gott will rechte Gunst erweisen" has become a folk song (i.e. people sing it without knowing the author) and is really good (you find it on IMSLP).

Fröhlich's estate is at the university library in Basel, its musical part contains the autographs (as well as copies by other people) of the surviving works; there were no printed editions at the time as far as I know.  Some (few) of the autographs have been digitized and may be downloaded from the library's web site.  (You may also pay them to digitize the document you need.)

Available sheet music (not including the mass by Naumann):

String quartet E-major; Cello sonata f-minor; both by Amadeus Verlag, Winterthur, Switzerland; Pastorale and Rondo for Oboe and Piano; Kunzelmann GM143; various songs for choir from several publishers.  IMSLP: very slim pickings as of today.

Discography (again not including the mass by Naumann):

String quartets c-minor, E-Major, g-minor; Beethoven Quartet; MGB DDD 2015
Miserere for 12 voices and piano (plus 4 motets for choir); Basler Vocalsolisten etc.; MGB DDD 2006
Sonata for cello and piano; 6 Elegien for piano; Pastorale and Rondo for oboe and piano; MGB ADD 92; 1999
Romantische Chormusik (both sacred and worldly); Vocalensemble pro musica, Winterthur; Pierre Sarbach; Jecklin; 1998

Having grown up in Switzerland I searched his name on the forum, not expecting any mention and found several hits.  This rather surprised me as my fondness for him is mainly motivated by patriotic nostalgia.  I was more surprised that I encountered quite positive judgements about his music.  What I have heard of his compositions (the third symphony and the piece for two clarinets and orchestra on LP and some other things on the radio) struck me as sometimes original (the Adagio introduction to the symphony), but overall I found the musical material stretched too thin and the music became uninteresting on repeated listening.
Schnyder was a multitalent who also published verses (mostly written for a specific occasion if I remember correctly).  He was a virtuoso on the glass harmonica.  He did not play it too often in public though because--as he says--it touched the nerves of the gentle ladies too much and made them cry.
More memorable than his music is certainly his autobiography, one of the most entertaining autobiographies I have read.  It is not in print as far as I am aware; if you are German speaking and get a chance, I recommend you try it!  The Zentralbibliothek in Zurich has a copy and other Swiss libraries may have one too.  Schnyder appears in the book as a person with an extraordinary talent for happiness, charming and easygoing.  He went to Vienna to finish his studies and and claims to have befriended Beethoven.  His anecdotes remind us sometimes of "Jägerlatein" though.

A search on the forum for George Onslow found few mentions:  Two threads on his symphonies, mentions of Onslow in threads on other topics, a few concerts and recordings.  On the threads about Onslow's symphonies great praise is given to them.  However, Onslow was first and foremost (quantitatively and qualitatively) a composer of chamber music: string quartets, piano trios, sonatas for violin or cello/viola and piano etc. and of course the many string quintets in various combinations.  It feels as if Onslow were (almost) unsung even on this forum.
I first encountered Onslow's music in a chamber music workshop where we worked on his quartet op 21/1 in e-minor (sheet music available from Ourtext and from Silvertrust editions.  No recording appears to be available).  The piece is truly remarkable and well worth rehearsing.
Inspired by this experience I set out to find out more about Onslow using mostly IMSLP as my source.  I focussed in on less "sung" works:  The violin sonatas and especially the piano trios.  Since the old editions posted on IMSLP are hard to play from I typeset a number of them to facilitate playing them.  This got me to get to know them quite well (you can find the typesets on IMSLP; indeed you can find most of his chamber music there).  It turns out that Onslow must have been a serious man and an ambitious composer.  He obviously worked with care and strove to keep up the quality--and succeeded.  I mention this because there is an idea out there that he was an amateur on the cello and wrote music to play for himself and friends--maybe he did but he had greater ambition.
Let me just recommend a few highlights from the trios: 
1.  The first movement of op. 3/3 opens with a "beginning before the beginning" (Hans Keller):   The strings in octaves lead crescendo up to the entry of the piano where the piece starts in earnest.  Pay attention to how the passage is modified in the recapitulation.  The movement also features a witty second theme with smart use of hemiolas. 
2.  The variations on a folk song from Auvergne (Onslow's birth province and almost lifelong residence) in op. 14/2. 
3.  The slow movement from the trio in c-minor op. 26 where almost no melodic material is used somehow to build up great tension.
As to recordings:  The recording of all the trios by the Trio Cascades (CPO) is very good indeed.  You will find quite a bit of it on youtube though they have taken some of it down by now.
All of Beethoven's contemporaries (Onslow, Hummel, Spohr, Fesca, Weber) appear to have disappeared in Beethoven's shadow (with the exception of Weber's "Freischütz").  Of these Onslow is to me the most undeservedly unsung.