Raff piano work "Le Fugitif" - Pensée Musicale

[Martin Eastick]

I have just "rediscovered" this work, which was published as the first number in the collection entitled "Le Nouveliste", Revue Musicale pour le piano par M Bernard. 6me Année, St Petersbourg. I am trying to establish whether this belongs to one of Raff's many multiple work opus numbers, possibly known under another title perhaps ..... It is 72 bars in length, in the key of G minor, and with a tempo marking of Allegro agitato quasi presto!  The other composers included in this volume are Liszt, Gutmann, Damcke & Döhler. Can anyone here please help identify this short work?

[Mark Thomas]

It's No.3 "Il Fuggitivo" of Raff's Douze Romances en Forme d'Études Op.8, Martin, which dates from 1843 when Raff was 21 and still a school teacher.  The set was publshed by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1845, and then again in 1874, carrying a dedication to Mendelssohn, who had not only recommended this work and several others to Breitkopfs, but also advised Raff to give up the day job and concentrate on composing. The Douze Romances have been recorded by Tra Nguyen, and were the main work in vol.4 of her series of Raff's piano music for Grand Piano.

[Martin Eastick]

Many apologies, Mark, for what must seem as my rather obvious & embarassing slip-up here! And, of course, in addition to Tra Nguyen's excellent Volume 4, I do have the Breitkopf score of the complete Op8! Still, I suppose seeing an early & obscure (almost?)contemporary edition of a piece out of context sometimes muddies the waters somewhat, but that is no excuse...... Anyway, many thanks, and this comes as a timely reminder to acquire a copy of the list of works, which I must do without delay!

[Mark Thomas]

Fret not, Martin. The thrill of thinking you've made a discovery is a real adrenalin rush, I know.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Slight though it might be, I wish we could find the missing Prelude from the first version of Op. 2.

[Mark Thomas]

Do you have the scores of the other two pieces then, Gareth? I couldn't track down any of them. The Trois pièces charactèristiques Op.2 is one of only three published Raff scores which don't appear to have survived, in libraries at least..

[Gareth Vaughan]

No, but I understood one of the two preludes and the Valse capricieuse had survived in some libraries. In fact, I think I have seen the "Prelude" (which one?) in an anthology (possibly an old Star Album) a long time ago, but I couldn't be certain.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks for the clues, Gareth, I'll just have to carry on digging.