Gernsheim cello and piano concertos

[Alan Howe]

Coming back to this recording after a few weeks, it seems to me that what the Triendl/Bäumer partnership has done is to position Gernsheim's PC half-way between Schumann and Brahms. A very clever move, in my view, and one which vindicates the work as the masterpiece of his early maturity. In other words, it's more than Schumann, but not quite Brahms.

[terry martyn]

The MusicWeb site has been challenging for some of us to access recently, but I have just seen a very warm recommendation in a review posted this week by Mr Welsh.   

[Alan Howe]

Here's a link to the review - thanks, terry:
https://musicwebinternational.com/2025/07/gernsheim-piano-concerto-cello-concerto-cpo/

Just the sort of recommendation that the CD deserves!

[Jonathan]

Thank you Alan - I may know the writer...

[Alan Howe]

Thanks are due to the 'writer you might know' for such a splendid review.

[terry martyn]

Jonathan, like myself, failed to understand why the Piano Concerto isn't a repertoire staple.  Gernsheim's Second Symphony is another work of this composer that I would put into that category.

Which has left me musing: there are very many compositions that we, as individuals, would ,in an ideal world,like to hear in the concert-hall.  But far fewer which most of us would agree on are such strong contenders that it is a mystery that they are not heard,and not heard regularly. (I would put a number of Raff's symphonies into that category,maybe a couple or so of Brull's compositions, the Bortkiewicz First....)

[Jonathan]

Thank you both! It was an absolute pleasure to get to know the works on the disc.

[terry martyn]

On the Kauffmann thread, Ilya has just categorised Gernsheim alongside that composer and also alongside Grimm as composers working in a backwater and,thereby, fallen into obscurity

I am going to stick my neck out a long way here when I say that I believe that Gernsheim could mount a recovery and obtain, a bit like Volkmann, a toehold in the repertoire. Certainly, CD recordings of his works are starting to proliferate, which might be a harbinger of better times ahead.

{EDIT} Scrolling down through the last 10 pages on this part of the site, only topics on Raff and Lachner appear to have had more viewings. Another straw in the wind,perhaps?

[Ilja]

Marketing-wise, Gernsheim is tricky. On the one hand his work is of a very high standard indeed; stylistically, however, he is fairly conventional. And in a market that rates artistic innovation above anything else that makes it difficult to make a viable case for his resurrection. A real shame, but also a reality.

[Alan Howe]

in a market that rates artistic innovation above anything else

Well, while you have a point, it's not entirely the case otherwise Bruch's VC1 wouldn't have reached such dizzy heights among ordinary music lovers. Why couldn't Gernsheim's PC, which we have been longing to have a recording of for decades and is chock-full of memorable tunes, make a similar splash?

[Ilja]

I think that case is a bit different since it was popular since day one, so much so that even Bruch complained about it (or rather, how it dominated the perception of his entire body of work). A performance tradition of more than a century is an important advantage. However, I'm convinced that if someone were to resurrect a forgotten Bruch VC1 nowadays they would probably not succeed. Which is perhaps proven by the lack of success of Bruch's other two concertos, both of which I'd rate over the first on purely musical merit.

[Alan Howe]

You're correct, of course, as to the popular history of Bruch's VC1; I was simply making the point that artistic innovation needn't be the sole criterion necessary for the popularity of a piece of music. Good music can and should be its own raison d'être.

What about Korngold's VC which was buried by the critics as trash for years? Now it's as popular, seemingly, as any other mainstream VC and just as marketable.

[Ilja]

I don't think the critics matter all that much. They trashed Rachmaninoff as well, and he never left the limelight. Moreover, the Korngold VC's success didn't come out of thin air; it was pushed by none other than the very influential Jascha Heifetz, and the composer was both stylistically (because of the link to film music) and biographically (as someone fleeing nazi persecution to find success abroad) interesting.

Anyone trying to get "just" a good piece enter the concert halls on musical merit alone is facing an impossible battle. Particularly if the composer's identity (specifically gender, ethnicity an sexual orientation) is not currently "attractive" in terms of marketing. 

Having said that, why do we even care? Concert audiences are often only tangentially interested in the music anyway, so I never understand why they should be the golden standard of repertory innovation. Meanwhile I'm privately cheering for every recording of an unsung work that I get the chance of hearing.

[Alan Howe]

They trashed Rachmaninoff as well, and he never left the limelight.

Korngold's VC, however, was almost completely forgotten post-Heifetz, despite his recording. Its rediscovery has been nothing short of astounding.
Bruckner 6 has gone from being a barely-known problem child 50 years ago to more than 100 recordings today and an honoured place in the concert hall.

[Alan Howe]

Anyway, back to the Gernsheim CD...