I would be extremely grateful for members' recommendations of unsung piano music to explore - in particular piano sonatas, but also any substantial piece or series/cycle of pieces. I suggest no more than three recommendations per person with, if possible, favoured recordings.
I know all of the following composers been discussed to some degree over the years on UC, but don't necessarily know to what extent they are your particular passions. So here goes:
Czerny Sonatas are very good indeed, although some are extremely difficult to play. Jones is quite good and deserves high marks for what must have been an appalling amount of work to master that literature, and for even managing to convince someone to record them. But they need other top notch pianists (the Ashkenazys and so forth) to do them and get them into the public consciousness.
Medtner is not as unsung as he used to be but still far too little played. Hamelin of course, but also Berezovsky (for example, in the Night Wind). Tozer's cycle is also very fine but he can't compete with Hamelin (sometimes life just isn't fair!). Also recommended is Lucas Debargue's genuinely moving first sonata. Apparently he would be willing to play the whole cycle!. Hamish Milne did an early cycle and I always thought he had real true romantic depth and understanding in his playing (Holbrooke Concerto, Lyapunov Concertos, Liszt-Busoni Ad nos transcription)
York Bowen. Joop Celis' cycle is very good, but Danny Driver's set of the 6 sonatas is, if anything, even finer. I also value Bowen's 1960 Lyrita recording (and while we're talking about his own playing there is an Appian Way set that places him pretty much in the front rank of pianists)
In my opinion, all of the above are absolutely first rate from a pianistic and musical point of view and have amply repaid my efforts.
Thank you very much. I have Hamelin's Medtner, but must clearly investigate Czerny and Bowen. Much appreciated.
Hmm. Since no preference for a style or period is given I'll go for three pieces that are almost certain to please although their composers aren't that unsung. Lets say the are amongst the rather sung part of the unsung:
- Bortkewiecz Sonata No. 2. This sounds like Rachaminov, the composer of concertos, had written a sonata. I know this sounds weird but I've found that his sonatas and concertos despite sharing some very obvious elements are texturally different and tend to flow different. Just look at Rachmaninov sonata 1, the last movement is as dense and contrapunctially complex as parts of the Hammerklavier sonata. On the other side, this sonata has the same passion for big chords and tunes that is so evident in the Rach PC 2. For recordings, Nadedja Vlaeva has a recording with several russian piano pieces named "A Treasury of Russian Romantic Piano".
- Paderewski Piano Sonata. If Wagner had decided to compose a piano sonata, it should had sounded similar to this. I am only aware of Plowright recording for Hyperion. Actually I vaguely remember that Melodya also had a recording which will likely be almost impossible to get by now.
- Dukas PC: This is a monster of sonata, in the same league as the Hammerklavier. Go for Hamelin's record.
And as a bonus, a small piece that makes a lovely encore: Ponce's intermezzo. As you can see, all of these pieces are on the rather well known side of the unsungs but are very enjoyable even on a first listening.
Theodor Fröhlich's "6 Elegien". Fröhlich was no concert pianist (he earned his bread, such as it was, as a conductor of choral societies and an amateur orchestra) and so the pieces don't sound very pianistic, but they are lovely romantic mood pieces. One of them is even in 5/8 meter, very unusual in the late 1820s.
There is an old LP with Christian Spring which I used to own. Three of the pieces with Spring (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezpHrlUeNGs) can be found (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWLS30XR_sM) on YouTube. More recently a CD has been issued with Charles Dünki (http://www.allmusic.com/album/theodor-fr%C3%B6hlich-sechs-elegien-f%C3%BCr-klavier-op-15-sonate-f%C3%BCr-violoncello-und-klavier-mw0001944205).
There is still quite a lot to discover by Walter Niemann, including a "Romantic" and a "Nordic" Sonata and a Sonatina "Stimmen des Herbstes" and some short Suites...
Some of his works can he heard on the Romana label (Gerhard Helzel, pianist) or or the Grand Piano label (Bing Bing Li, pianist - what a name!).
Niemann's father was a composer - and a pupil of Moscheles.
What about Hermann Goetz's Sonatinas (recorded by Adrian Ruiz)?
There are also two early Sonatas by Respighi, one in f minor and another one in a minor. The first is available on Naxos, it has been published by Ricordi.
When i hear the word substantial, the first thing that always springs to mind is Reger's Variations on a Theme by Telemann. I would stay away from Hamelin on this one and try the Bolet version. It is rarely performed as the demands are obscene.
On a lighter note, is the Piano Sonata by Otto Nicolai that i still have in my repertoire, but for the life of me I cannot remember who recorded it and I only have an MP3. It has some very catchy themes cleverly spliced together.
On an even more lighter note is the undemanding and charming Souvenirs d'Italie by Bache, that has only been recorded once. Suitable for relaxing days in the summer, lazing in a hammock with a pint of ale.
Thal
Again, I am most grateful for these suggestions. I have the Dukas, Paderewski and Bortkiewicz, but must clearly follow up the Niemann, Goetz, Respighi, Nicolai, Reger and Fröhlich.
I'd suggest Stephen Hough's Hummel piano sonatas on Hyperion. A lovely disc!
I'd also second the suggestions of Czerny, Paderewski and Bortkiewicz.
"If Wagner had decided to compose a piano sonata"
Aside from the 6 he actually did compose.
(2 lost, 3 of them basically juvenilia though some of those published, and the one mature one a brief 9-page work for the album of "M.W." (Mathilde Wesendonck, one guesses) in 1853, but - still. That's more surviving piano sonatas than we have from Brahms, just by numbers...)
if you're lookng for something really obscure and not too heavy, you might try Carl Arnold Sonata #1 in d, opus 3 and #3 in A opus 11.
Jerry
I'll throw in a mention of Chaminade here....the best disc to fit the criteria is probably the most recent one on MDG: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R5AI72Q/ as it has many of the etudes (including the 'cycle' Etudes de Concert).
Also Stenhammar -- a great series of all the piano music on BIS, Vol. 2 has the sonatas http://www.bis.se/index.php?op=album&aID=BIS-CD-634
Quotenot too heavy
I like heavy...
QuoteStenhammar -- a great series of all the piano music on BIS, Vol. 2 has the sonatas
...and there is an additional sonata, in A Flat Major, Op. 12, on Vol. 3.
Recommending a book (specifically on sonatas, not piano music in general; of course some piano works not entitled sonata are longer and more substantial than very many of those that are and I am not even implicitly denying this, just concentrating):
William Newman's book on the piano sonata since Beethoven (the 3rd of a 3-volume set contains a critical appraisal of composers and developments between Beethoven (not included here, iirc, but included in the preceding volume of the 3) to Scriabin and thereabouts, and including Medtner, Draeseke, and others. A more up-to-date volume could be imagined* but some years ago I reread this one several times, and it introduced me to several worthwhile names that are mentioned fairly often here, and with written musical excerpts from their sonatas (for piano, for organ, for solo instrument and usually piano... or by itself...) (an E minor sonata by Kiel - violin sonata no.4 in E minor, Op.51, is excerpted, for instance...) I remember being, also, very intrigued by his description of, and excerpt from, Karg [Karg-Elert]'s 3rd piano sonata (C-sharp minor, Op.105), and awhile later inter-loaning the score (an odd duck, as I remember. I think it can now in some copyright domains by downloaded @ IMSLP. A cpo recording came out after that, and between then and now may have been deleted- I haven't heard it...)
*(well, yes and no. Yes in regards the factual statements- just for instance R. Viole's sonatas had disappeared apparently without trace beyond mentions-of when Newman wrote his book, and he was intrigued enough by the mentions to wonder what they were like; some of them have since been found and republished; some works he probably read but maybe did not hear have now been recorded, if not necessarily always very well - sometimes fairly well though - since he wrote about them...)
I would suggest first Chabrier Dix pieces pittoresques. Irresistible melodic invention. Fairly often recorded , but when one hears them all in a concert? (I heard once many years ago). My preferred recording is the one by Alain Planés H.M. (but I haven't neither Ciccolini nor Hewitt).
In similar territory ( with less melodic appeal and much craftmanship) I would suggest d'Indy Tableaux de Voyages (original piano version, 13 pieces) and Poème des montagnes . Scant choice here : one can hear both with Michael Schaefer on Genuin.
Many of the romantic piano sonatas I love playing most are either unrecorded or are trivialized by any recorded performance I'm aware of.
They include:
Wilhelm Berger, Sonata.
Vincent d'Indy, Sonata.
Arthur Shepherd, Sonata 1.
Stephan Heller, Sonatas 2, 3, 4.
Frederick Converse, Sonata.
The Earl Wild performance Mily Balakirev, Sonata 2, is superb in the opening fugal movement (one of the subtlest ever written) and the middle nocturne. The closing movement, with it's foreshadowing of Ravel's Toccata, is slightly underpowered, but Wild was 88 at the time of the recording.
I can unreservedly recommend Sandra Carlock's performance of MacDowell Sonata 2.
Ditto Michael Endres's performance of Bax Sonata 1, the one with jubilant Moscow bells at the end
I'm sure you, Alan, must have recordings of the ambitious Draeseke Sonata.
Not unsung, but if you have not seen it yet, check out Sokolov's ca. 1998 Spanish recital on YouTube, wherein Brahms Sonata 1 sounds utterly extraordinary.
I think Wild's recorded both Balakirev sonatas btw- I seem recall reading a review of his recording of the first sonata- but I may be mistaken (or may have misinterpreted what "Op.5" meant...)
I purchased, awhile back, a recording of Heller's 4th piano sonata- the only one I know of, I think; it sounds fine to these (admittedly insufficiently discriminating) ears, but if a performance arrives in favor of which I should retire that half of the disc (it's coupled with one of his sets of etudes), all the better...
Thanks again for all these suggestions.
Nice piano sonata by Déodat de Severac. It's available by Jordi Masò (Naxos) on vol.3 of Severrac's piano works. I personally prefer the version by Isabelle Le Goux (L'Algarade) with other unpublished works by Severac.
Also interesting, if not his masterwork, is Lekeu's piano sonata.
I can also add Breville's piano sonata available by Marie-Catherine Girod (Danacord, Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum vol.9), who also gave a performance of D'Indy's sonata (vol.7).
Also played by Marie-Catherine Girod (vol.12), an unsung sonata by unknown Antoine Mariotte (who composed an opera on Oscar Wilde's Salomé independently of Richard Strauss, which led to copyright issues...)
QuoteI purchased, awhile back, a recording of Heller's 4th piano sonata
Have you the details of this recording, Eric? I should like to get hold of a copy, if possible.
Purchased at the Friends of the Library booksale, Ithaca, NY a few years back-
Arcobaleno CD SBCD-6300 (case and CD seem to be in different places at the moment, which is typical in my collection), Heller 25 etudes Op.47 and 4th sonata Op.143, Sergio Marengoni, piano. (29 tracks, not 5 tracks as listed on the back cover of the disc insert/notes.) (Possibly issued in the late? 1990s?. It mentions in his bio in the insert that Marengoni (b.1940) teaches at the Conservatorio ("Luca Marenzio") of Brescia, which a web-check (on their site) reveals he no longer does, so finding out when his tenure there began and ended would give a date-range within which this CD was produced, anyway, if one wanted to know :) )
Thanks very much, Eric. I will try to track down a copy.
Quote...I purchased, awhile back, a recording of Heller's 4th piano sonata
For those who tickle the ivories themselves, it may be interesting to know that the first movement of Heller's Sonata 4 has as its subtext another unrecorded work, the composer's Caprice symphonique, op. 28, which to my mind stands as one of the more impressive piano compositions of the late 1830s -- a considerable claim given the output of Chopin and Schumann during those years. Heller borrows, either indirectly or directly, the opening bare fifths of Beethoven's symphony 9 to create soundscapes not previously essayed in keyboard music. He hasn't quite Beethoven's majesty, but he takes to mystery like a duck to water. (An incredibly inappropos simile, yes?) I believe Charles Hallé was performing Heller's op. 28 around 1850. Am I wrong, Eric?
Well, I'd go for anything by Alkan - the Grand Sonata, perhaps. It's demanding but entertaining, and moves between light and heavy. If that's not heavy enough, there's always the lovely Schumannesque symphony for solo piano!
The new book/3 CD Jaëll release (which was mentioned here earlier, I think--from Palazetto Bru Zane) includes several of her piano works, and waltzes for piano 4 hands, excerpts of her Dante works that I enjoyed a lot. Jim
Yes, the Jaëll is a first-class release.
I would like to recommend the three following pieces:
- Alexei Stanchinsky: 2nd sonata: a brilliant sonata in two movements, reversing the normal toccata-fugue into a fugue followed by an incredible toccata, much in the style of Prokofieff 7th sonata, but preceding it by some 20-30years ! The recording by Daniel Blumenthal is no way near the astonishing version by Nikolai Fefilov, which is as stunning as one would wish. I have never heard Thomas Adès' version...
- Ballade "en forme de suite" opus 3a, by the Belgian composer Marinus de Jong: a big full-blooded romantic masterpiece, a bit Lisztian, very well written for the piano, as De Jong was a brilliant pianist himself. Only once recorded by Jozef De Beenhouwer on the belgian label phaedra. Well worth investigating, but the score might be hard to find (please contact me if interested).
- the 5 piano pieces opus 10 by Georgi Catoire, one of my favourite composers. Hamelin (who else) is the only recording to my knowledge
enjoy !
p
Has Arthur Foote's piano music been mentioned here? It was all recorded not long ago, but I don't have the set. Quite a bit is very small-scale, but I play his fairly substantial Suite op. 15 which was once very popular over here and I'm sure is on CD. You might enjoy some of John Knowles Paine's piano works, despite your mixed feelings about his symphonies. They make up a very small part of his output -- they were mostly pieces he wrote for his own pleasure and that of his friends, rather than the deliberately "august" public orchestral works. The best of them are inventive, highly melodic, and even occasionally rather witty, as in the "Fuga Giocosa" from his Three Piano Pieces op. 41.
The list can be sort of endless, and it depends a bit on your preferences, but some alternatives are (and trying not to repeat what has already been said):
Gottschalk (the Hyperion series is brilliant, and my first recommendation if you (or anyone else) doesn't already have it)
Ries (the Naxos series has been good, the concertos even better)
Burgmuller
Schulhoff (Julius)
German (Edward. may be too light for some)
Arensky (I like the Anthony Goldstone disc as well as discs on Hyperion)
Herzogenberg (again with Goldstone, on Toccata; or a set on CPO if you want more)
Lyapunov (performed by him again)
Kjerulf (set on Simax)
Tellefsen (again on Simax)
Alnaes (toccata)
Donostia: Basque preludes (at the end of the period, but stylistically enough in synch perhaps)
Rheinberger (on Carus, I love this set, but it may be a bit much for most at 10 discs)
Liadov (I love the disc on Hyperion)
Balakirev (I actually prefer the non-sonatas, but Nicholas Walker is my go-to for this composer)
Carl Arnold (simax again)
But really, there is SOOOOO much to suggest. I would need to look through my collection for some more ideas...if there is more interest...
Thanks, very good of you.
Don't forget the series of six CDs of Raff's solo piano music, magnificently played by Tra Nguyen on Grand Piano. Start with volume 3.
I love the Sonata op19 by Halfden Cleve - I want to play it but have never tracked the music down. It was on an LP played by Nockleberg - don't know if it has been transferred to CD.
I would love to recommend a large scale piece by Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli but unfortunately I can only offer his Deux Lunaires especially the second "Olaf's dance" (Sri Biro or Aldo Ciccolini make a good impression) - wish there was more of his music recorded.
1/ Have you explored the Six Sonatas by Sophie-Carmen EKHARDT-GRAMATTÉ, a XXth century Canadian composer ? Hamelin did a very impressive recording of the lot...
2/ No one seems to have mentionned the 3 Korngold Sonatas, which are fairly interesting, especially knowing that the 1st one was composed by an 11-year old prodigy...
3/ If you want to tackle something REALLY hefty, you can try the 53 GODOWSKY Etudes cycle ? :o ;D or even just his Sonata...
Have fun !!