Philipp Scharwenka symphonies

[eschiss1]

this is probably covered in some standard reference work, apologies - besides the opus 96 symphony in D minor, Philipp Scharwenka is said ( somewhere or other ...) to have written two others. Are they unpublished? Anyone have any details about their key, dates, dispositions?

[Balapoel]

Well, there is:
Symphonia brevis in E flat major for Orchestra, Op. 115
but I don't have a record of opera 1-2, 4-5, 7-9, 14-15, and 119.

[eschiss1]

op.119 seem to be 3 songs for women's chorus...

[Mark Thomas]

As well as the Symphony and Symphonia Brevis themselves there's the Dramatische Phantasie op.108 which is certainly symphonically conceived. I wonder if that's what's being counted as a third symphony? My copy of the Philipp Scharwenka work list, with the same gaps I'm afraid, is here.

[Martin Eastick]

Mark - many thanks for the works lists here. I can fill your gap at Op51  namely: Arie for violin (or cello) and piano. As to the Op3 - Polish Dance; I have my suspicions here - this is probably a reference to his brother' most famous creation! Of course, I stand to be corrected if anyone could provide a copy of Philipp's work!

The early missing works to the best of my knowledge were never published and the manuscripts appear not to have survived unfortunately. However it may be worth getting in touch with Evelinde Trenkner at the Scharwenka Society in Lubeck to see if anyone there can help.

[Ilja]

Allow me to resurrect this thread. At present, I'm looking for the score of Philipp Scharwenka's D minor symphony, Op. 96 - his second. The Scharwenka society appears to be inactive, and I can't really find a trace of the score's whereabouts. If someone could give me some pointers, I'd be grateful.

To reply to the ten-year old question raised in the thread: I believe that Scharwenka's symphonies are these:

   
• Symphony No. 1, Herbstfeier, for Soli, Choir and Orchestra on a text by Friedrich Timpe, Op. 44
• Symphony No. 2 in D minor, Op. 96
• Symphony No. 3, Sinfonia Brevis in E flat major, Op. 115

The confusion may be caused by the facts that a) Herbstfeier is sometimes referred to as a "symphonic poem", while the Arkadische Suite, Op. 76 is also called Arkadische Symphonie in some newspaper reports of the time. And the Dramatische Phantasie is of course a symphony in all but name.

p.s. you will also find these works on Wikipedia, which I updated yesterday.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks, Ilja.

[Gareth Vaughan]

The Library of Congress lists Scharwenka's Op. 96 symphony in D minor - Shelf No. M1001 .S31.  It also lists the Symphonia Brevis, Op. 115 with the same shelf number, which I assume is either a mistake or indicates the two are bound together. Worth an enquiry.

[Ilja]

... and of course, I found one more locally (in Heidelberg) only an hour after I'd posted my question.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Ah. That's a bit nearer home. I see they are also both in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.
I would love to hear all three of his symphonies. Do you know if a full score of "Herbstfeier" is extant? I can find only the vocal score.

[Reverie]

Interesting discussion this ..

I'm currently transcribing Traum und Wirklichkeit. Although it's known as a tone poem it is actually a four movement symphony of sorts.

Allegro moderato - allegretto scherzando - andante tranquillo - vivo allegro

I'm only at the start of the slow movement and I'm on 16 mins already.

[Alan Howe]

Drools...

[Mark Thomas]

Oh, the anticipation....

[Ilja]

I'm definitely staying up for that! To be honest, I generally prefer Philipp's work to Xaver's - less boisterous perhaps, more contemplative and atmospheric. Quite close in style to Moszkowski in fact - whom he knew, drawing cartoons for Moszkowski's brother Alexander, particularly his satirical series Anton Notenquetscher.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I was hoping, Ilja, that you might have an idea as to the whereabouts of the full score of "Herbstfeier".