Ernst Pauer (1826-1905)

[Reverie]

Ernst Pauer was born in Vienna and studied piano there with Franz Xaver Mozart (son of Wolfgang) and composition with Simon Sechter. He then travelled to Munich where he continued his studies with Franz Lachner after which he briefly took up a position as an editor for the famous publisher Schott.

In 1851, he visited London giving a series of concerts to great acclaim and leading to his taking up residency in England. He founded a concert series in London and was one of the city's leading pianists. Eventually, he was appointed Professor at the Royal College of Music and also served on the music faculty of Cambridge University.

As a player, he was regarded as a direct link with the great Viennese traditions. He composed a great deal of music in most genres, which in its time was widely respected. In addition, he was considered one of the finest arrangers of his time.

He made excellent arrangements of symphonies by Beethoven and Schumann, for piano solo, piano, 4-hands, and piano, 8-hands, and also arranged many of Mendelssohn's orchestral works; these arrangements were widely used in the 19th century and were extremely useful for young pianists until the advent of the phonograph administered a lethal blow to this type of musical activity.

Thankfully he also composed himself and the following work shows, I believe, he had great skill and ability.

Symphony No.1 Op 50 in C minor (1861) has four movements as follows:

1st - Adagio/Allegro
2nd - Scherzo and Trio
3rd - Andante
4th - Finale: Allegro con fuoco

LINK to the digital realisation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNMMtlu6S3U

[eschiss1]

Thanks!
I believe he also arranged at least one, if not more, work by Raff, an arrangement that I heard performed a few days ago more or less live...

[Alan Howe]

Thanks, Martin. I really appreciate all the work involved in allowing us to hear symphonies such as this. For me, the light shone on the so-called 'Dahlhaus Gap' regarding symphonies written between Schumann 4 and Brahms 1 has been absolutely fascinating - and here's another attractive contribution to our understanding of that era.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks from me too, Martin, another addition to your treasury of unknown symphonies.

[Alan Howe]

Listening to the first movement again, what strikes me as most impressive isn't so much the musical material itself as what the composer makes of it. The 'head of steam' that is built up is genuinely exciting and involving, I thought.