Dear all, just a small question. Remembering Rheinberger was from Liechtenstein, I was wondering if there would be any other composers from Europe's smaller states. They would have to be unsung, because - without wanting to sound arrogant - I've never heard of them - or I just haven't got my facts straight...
I'm thinking of:
- Monaco
- Andorra
- Luxembourg
- San Marino
- Malta
- Vatican City
A composer from that last state would probably have written a lot of masses...
Anyway, thanks for possible responses!
Malta: Charles Camillieri, 1931-2009 :)
Monaco - Louis Abbiate
Immense PC that I prattled on about in the "French" thread.
Thal
Quote from: Kriton on Tuesday 15 June 2010, 16:05Dear all, just a small question. Remembering Rheinberger was from Liechtenstein, I was wondering if there would be any other composers from Europe's smaller states.
Many composers were born in small states that no longer exist: Mozart was born in the Archbishopric of Salzburg, Beethoven in the Electorate of Cologne, and Puccini in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
Andorra- I don't know about classical composers; Lluis Claret is an Andorran classical cellist of Andorran birth however.
Luxembourg: Louis Beicht (1886-1943) (operettas mainly apparently).
also Helen Buchholtz (1877-1953) and others. (see eg
http://lb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategorie:Lëtzebuergesch_Komponisten and translate, or the English version which has fewer composers listed :) ) (Only some apply of course, some being too recent...)
No Romantic symphonists I can see offhand in that country, but I am not being thorough...
Eric
Malta: Nicolo Isouard (1775-1818); I have a recording of his Cendrillon on Olympia
There are of course many worthwhile composers from Albania, although with the odd exception such as Fan Noli (who was prime minister in 1924), there were very few composers of concert music before WW2. Much orchestral music was written since the 1950s: a number of the best efforts seem to be for violin and orchestra, often written in an impassioned, concentrated style. Names such as Tish Daia, Feim Ibrahimi, Aleksandër Peçi, Thoma Gaqi, Çesk Zadeja, Nikolla Zoraqi and more recently David Tukiqi and Thoma Simaku.
Hrm. Already mentioned Schreker (Monaco-born) earlier in the thread, I see :)
As to Andorra, most famous person I see in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Andorrans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Andorrans) is cellist Lluis Claret (who I also mentioned abuf... ah well!... ), but perhaps... don't know.
Re Malta, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Maltese#Composers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Maltese#Composers), also Carmelo Pace.
Peruvian composers Daniel Alomía Robles (1871-1942) and Jorge Bravo de Rueda (1895-1940) might fit in there somewhere too though not asked for in the first post, still fitting the title of the thread maybe...
Quote from: dax on Sunday 13 November 2011, 09:12
There are of course many worthwhile composers from Albania, although with the odd exception such as Fan Noli (who was prime minister in 1924), there were very few composers of concert music before WW2. Much orchestral music was written since the 1950s: a number of the best efforts seem to be for violin and orchestra, often written in an impassioned, concentrated style. Names such as Tish Daia, Feim Ibrahimi, Aleksandër Peçi, Thoma Gaqi, Çesk Zadeja, Nikolla Zoraqi and more recently David Tukiqi and Thoma Simaku.
All active during the Hoxha regime. Probably composed in some form of 'Socialist realism' idiom.
Erm.. ok.
A quite brief, but not quite that brief, article from 2004 on classical music in Albania may be found here (http://www.frosina.org/about/infobits.asp?id=136). (One should update that Tish Daia/Daija died the year the article was written, so 30/1/1926-3/10/2004 rather than b.1926.)
Quote from: JimL on Sunday 13 November 2011, 15:56
Quote from: dax on Sunday 13 November 2011, 09:12
There are of course many worthwhile composers from Albania, although with the odd exception such as Fan Noli (who was prime minister in 1924), there were very few composers of concert music before WW2. Much orchestral music was written since the 1950s: a number of the best efforts seem to be for violin and orchestra, often written in an impassioned, concentrated style. Names such as Tish Daia, Feim Ibrahimi, Aleksandër Peçi, Thoma Gaqi, Çesk Zadeja, Nikolla Zoraqi and more recently David Tukiqi and Thoma Simaku.
All active during the Hoxha regime.
apart from Fan Noli, as was made clear.
QuoteProbably composed in some form of 'Socialist realism' idiom.
Indeed, but stylistically surprisingly varied despite the restrictions. Mind you, the "Hoxha regime" hasn't existed for 20 years, so things have moved on a bit. Peçi, for instance, composes quite different music these days.
The article linked by eschiss is unfortunately a little misleading, for example -
QuoteThere is no doubt that the most famous composer in Albania of all the time is Çesk Zadeja (1927-1997) . . . rightly called the father of Albanian classical music
. Zadeja produced the first Albanian symphony in 1956, but it's certainly an overstatement to suggest that he's the "most famous" or "the father of Albanian classical music".
Lorenzo Perosi was a Vatican City composer... and, yes, he did write a lot of masses.
Let us not forget Federico Consolo (1841-1906), who hailed from San Marino. Mainly violin pieces, if I recall correctly.
Lorenzo Perosi was born in Italy (1872) and was an Italian citizen at least for some decades : he was a Catholic Church Priest. Anyway since 1898 - but with a longish interruption- he was Director of the Sistina Chapel (in practice the official composer of the Vatican City, which is a tiny nation). He died in 1956.
Federico Consolo was born in 1841 in Ancona, which was then part of the (then large) "Stato Pontificio" or "Church State", but became Italy in 1861. He composed the National Anthem of the tiny "Repubblica di San Marino".
A perfect candidate for this thread is from a country not yet mentioned - the principality of Liechtenstein - Joseph Rheinberger (1839 - 1901)
Kriton mentioned both as being the springboard for the post which started the thread1
Quote from: Delicious Manager on Monday 14 November 2011, 14:32
A perfect candidate for this thread is from a country not yet mentioned - the principality of Liechtenstein - Joseph Rheinberger (1839 - 1901)
Oops, silly me! I concentrated on his list and overlooked the 'springboard'. Apologies.
Quote from: dax on Sunday 13 November 2011, 20:13
Zadeja produced the first Albanian symphony in 1956, but it's certainly an overstatement to suggest that he's the "most famous" or "the father of Albanian classical music".
Well, Zadeja is indeed far from being the only interesting Albanian composer, and he had worthy predecessors, but isn't he still the most famous in his home country, even though Aleksandër Peçi and Thoma Shimaku have probably gained more exposure abroad in recent years?
Quote from: Kriton on Tuesday 15 June 2010, 16:05
Dear all, just a small question. Remembering Rheinberger was from Liechtenstein, I was wondering if there would be any other composers from Europe's smaller states. They would have to be unsung, because - without wanting to sound arrogant - I've never heard of them - or I just haven't got my facts straight...
I'm thinking of:
- Monaco
- Andorra
- Luxembourg
- San Marino
- Malta
- Vatican City
A composer from that last state would probably have written a lot of masses...
Indeed, the most "famous" Vatican composer I can think of is Mgr. Marco Frisina!
Luxembourg boasts quite a few modern composers, of which I would mention René Hemmer, Marcel Wengler, as well as Georges Lentz, a fellow student of mine at the Paris Conservatory, who later settled in Australia and whose work has been championed by Naxos.
From San Marino, the only name I can think of is Cesare Franchini Tassini (1925-2010). Little of his music can be heard online, and makes one want to hear more.
Throughout its several centuries of musical life, Malta has had many important composers as well. Joseph Vella, currently composer-in-residence with the Malta National Orchestra, wrote the first ("classical") song-cycle in Maltese. His violin concerto, recorded by Gega, is impressive and shows some affinity with Berg and Britten. Generally speaking, he is no modernist but stands out as a very eloquent composer, a bit like another unsung master, Uroš Krek from Slovenia. In the younger generation, Durham-trained Christopher Muscat made a name for himself, both as conductor (he revived Paolino Vassallo's symphony if I recall correctly) and as a composer.
If you care for autonomous entities, you should not forget the Faroe Islands (Sunleif Rasmussen gained some fame when his 1st symphony, "Oceanic Days", won the much-coveted Nordic Council Prize, but others like Kristian Blak are also significant), the Åland Islands (from which Lars Karlsson is probably the best-known composer) or the Isle of Man, home of this author of timeless orchestral miniatures, Haydn Wood.
Actually, I would think the most famous of the Vatican composers is Dom Lorenzo Perosi, who directed (and composed much of) the Sistine Chapel's music for over 50 years. No symphonies or operas from him, obviously, but plenty of fairly beautiful choral music.
IMSLP lists the following composers from before the modern era from Malta - Girolamo Abos (1715-60) (Maltese-Italian composer of operas and liturgical music, see Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Abos)), Nicolo Isouard, and maybe Salvatore Bertezen (ca.1790s).
Dom Lorenzo Perosi (see my earlier reply here about his nationality) composed in his (maybe too) huge output, a vast amount of not religious works: 14 strings quartets, 2 violin concertos, 1 clarinet concerto, 9 orchestral suites dedicated to various Italian Cities (between them his small natal city, Tortona).
I know the clarinet Concerto and the orchestral Suites "Torino" and "Milano" (the latter left unfinished).
I have found them playful stuff, in a post- (and sub-) brahmsian idiom. In the orchestral Suites there is no popular or folk element (the contrary happens in Leone Sinigaglia's orchestral Suite "Piemonte").
Unfortunately the performances recorded (mostly by Bongiovanni) are generally rather poor.
Quote from: eschiss1 on Sunday 22 January 2012, 23:47
IMSLP lists the following composers from before the modern era from Malta - Girolamo Abos (1715-60) (Maltese-Italian composer of operas and liturgical music, see Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Abos)), Nicolo Isouard, and maybe Salvatore Bertezen (ca.1790s).
Let's not forget Francesco Azopardi (1748 - 1809). I have some Camilleri on disc - very enjoyable.
I had no idea there were any Monegasque composers - I shall have to look into M. Abbiati. Same for Sammarinese.
Incidentally, I may say (may I? 'Course I may. :-) ) that I was responsible for some of the early filling out of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Albanian_composers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Albanian_composers) way back when. Also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mongolian_composers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mongolian_composers), which I actually
started...
As for Luxembourg, some recordings (mostly, it is to be admitted, of contemporary music) may be found for purchase here: http://www.lgnm.lu/html/recordings/index.html (http://www.lgnm.lu/html/recordings/index.html)
But why stop at Europe? I can think of at least one example of a composer from each of the following who might fit our mold:
- Jamaica
- Haiti
- Dominican Republic
- Philippines
- Jordan
(Caveat: I have been known to collect by country as much as by composer, so I have an...eclectic, shall we say, spread of nations represented on my shelves. ;D )
Would Jose White qualify as a Cuban composer, despite the fact that he spent most of his life in France and Brazil?
Philippines:
Lucrecia Kasilag (born 1918)
Alfredo Buenaventura (born 1929)
I have violin concertos by them on a Marco Polo Cd 8.220419 (1983 recording, in Philippines)
Malta:
I have taken off from a remote corner of not too ordered shelves
"Discover Malta" a Discover Cd 920163 featuring music by
Charles Camilleri (already mentioned) : Maltese Dances, Mediterranean Dances
John Galea : Ggantija (suite)
Josie Mallia Pulvirenti : Impressione Sinfonica
The often named Michael Laus conducts the "Slovak Radio New Philharmonic Orchestra" (1992 recording)
Quote from: alberto on Monday 23 January 2012, 17:44
Philippines:
Lucrecia Kasilag (born 1918)
Alfredo Buenaventura (born 1929)
I have violin concertos by them on a Marco Polo Cd 8.220419 (1983 recording, in Philippines)
Malta:
I have taken off from a remote corner of not too ordered shelves
"Discover Malta" a Discover Cd 920163 featuring music by
Charles Camilleri (already mentioned) : Maltese Dances, Mediterranean Dances
John Galea : Ggantija (suite)
Josie Mallia Pulvirenti : Impressione Sinfonica
The often named Michael Laus conducts the "Slovak Radio New Philharmonic Orchestra" (1992 recording)
I have the first of those, and my father has the second; I own a disc of Camilleri's chamber music, also.
On my shelves I find Liechtenstein represented by Joseph Rheinberger, Albania by Petër Gaci, Tonin Harapi, Limos Dizdari, Nicola Zoraqui and Shpëtim Saraçi (all on one disc called `Rhapsodia Albanese'), the Faeroe Islands by a BIS cd with wind music by a series of Faroese composers including Kári Baek, Kristian Blak and Pauli í Sandagerði, lots of Basque and Icelandic composers and a couple of other small nations.
Malta is relatively well represented by Charles Camilleri (including his Pawlu ta' Malta (St. Paul in Malta) oratorio I bought in Malta, last year), the 'Discover Malta' disc already mentioned (with Camilleri, John Galea and Josie Mallia Pulverenti) and also Joseph Vella (a Bulgarian Gega cd with his Sinfonietta, Seher song cycle and some chamber music, also already mentioned probably).
BTW, I found a fine music shop in Valletta last year, but not much Maltese music that I didn't own already. Just one or two additions to my small Camilleri collection including the Olympia discs with his piano music and Unicorn-Kanchana with his organ works. Another one being the disc (Diversions label) with the Bournemouth SO under Brian Schembri conducting his 'Maltese' compositions (Knights of Malta Ballet Suite, Concertino no. 4 'Summer Nights in Malta' for two pianos and orchestra, Four Legends, Overture Classique, Intermezoo from Il-Weghda, Malta Suite)
Now, what I look forward to is the first Frisian composer to appear in these columns. ;)
Quote from: Christo on Monday 23 January 2012, 20:44
Now, what I look forward to is to the first Frisian composer to appear in these columns. ;)
Here you are, the best (West) Frisian composer ever: http://www.paulusfolkertsma.nl/ (http://www.paulusfolkertsma.nl/) ;D
Quote from: Christo on Monday 23 January 2012, 20:44
Malta is relatively well represented by Charles Camilleri (including his Pawlu ta' Malta (St. Paul in Malta) oratorio I bought on Malta, last year), the 'Discover Malta' disc already mentioned (with Camilleri, John Galea and Josie Mallia Pulverenti) and also Joseph Vella (a Bulgarian Gega cd with his Sinfonietta, Seher song cycle and some chamber music, also already mentioned probably).
Goodness, I'd forgotten about the Vella. One of my first purchases, out of the cutout bin at Tower Records, way back when...
Quote from: Peter1953 on Monday 23 January 2012, 21:11
Quote from: Christo on Monday 23 January 2012, 20:44
Now, what I look forward to is to the first Frisian composer to appear in these columns. ;)
Here you are, the best (West) Frisian composer ever: http://www.paulusfolkertsma.nl/ (http://www.paulusfolkertsma.nl/) ;D
Yes, I know his name (after having seen a programme devoted to him by the Frisian regional public broadcasters). I didn't realize felllow Dutchmen - or are you Frisian? - would compete, here. 8)
Abkhazia? (Recognised by only Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Nauru! Though legally part of Georgia...) There are some! I have a CD of Abkhaz music...
Kosovo?
South Ossetia?
Transdnistria?
Nagorno-Karabakh?
Tavolara?
Seborga?!
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (recognised as a sovereign entity by over 100 states)?
Somewhere...I have a Marco Polo CD containing music by Manuel Martinez-Sobral and Ricardo Castillo (A. de Almeida, Moscow Symphony Orch.) belonging to a "Guatemala Composers Series" (I don' know sequels).
I can assure Christopher that "Tavolara" and "Seborga" (if meant as "independent" from Italy) do not exist.
Tavolara is a small island near Sardinia: no inhabitants, since ever, and a NATO base.
Seborga is a tiny village on the hills with a wonderful sea landscape (near the Italian-French border) where some guys have invented "the independent state" (maybe existing in early middle ages) in order to have some tourists for a dinner or a supper.
Yes, Seborga was a joke! Tavo, however, has some claim. There is even a portrait of the Tavo royal family in Buck Palace reportedly! According to the font of all knowledge (...) "In the 19th and 20th centuries, Tavolara was ruled by the Bertoleoni family as the Kingdom of Tavolara, one of the smallest kingdoms on the planet. It is now simply part of Italy, although it was never formally annexed. In 1836, King Charles Albert of Sardinia visited the island and acknowledged Giuseppe Bertoleoni as an independent sovereign monarch. When he died in the 1840s, his eldest son became King Paolo I. After Italian unification, King Paolo actively sought recognition from Italy. During his reign, in 1868 the Italian government began operating a lighthouse on the northeast end of the island. Tavolara's sovereignty was reconfirmed in 1903, when Victor Emmanuel III of Italy signed a treaty of friendship with the nation. Tavolara, the royal graveAfter Paolo's death in 1886, he was succeeded by his son, Carlo I. In 1900, Queen Victoria sent the Royal Photographer to Tavolara in order to make an official portrait of the Tavolara Royal Family, and include it in her collection of royal portraits. Carlo was succeeded upon his death in 1928 by his son King Paolo II. Paolo went abroad, however, and left Carlo's sister Mariangela as regent in his absence. Queen Mariangela died in 1934, leaving the kingdom to Italy. Her nephew Paolo II still claimed the kingdom, however, and ruled it until his death in 1962. That year marked the installation of the NATO station and the effective end of Tavolaran sovereignty."
So, in the spirit of light-heartdness, any Tavolaran composers?!
More seriously, though, a perfectionist tackling this question would look at a map of Europe from our chosen period (which seems to be the Romantic era?) and see scores of German principalities, Italian kingdoms and republics, etc....and realise he would have his work cut out!!
Quote from: alberto on Tuesday 24 January 2012, 09:42
Somewhere...I have a Marco Polo CD containing music by Manuel Martinez-Sobral and Ricardo Castillo (A. de Almeida, Moscow Symphony Orch.) belonging to a "Guatemala Composers Series" (I don' know sequels).
I can assure Christopher that "Tavolara" and "Seborga" (if meant as "independent" from Italy) do not exist.
Tavolara is a small island near Sardinia: no inhabitants, since ever, and a NATO base.
Seborga is a tiny village on the hills with a wonderful sea landscape (near the Italian-French border) where some guys have invented "the independent state" (maybe existing in early middle ages) in order to have some tourists for a dinner or a supper.
I have one of those Guatemalan discs, too, lying around the house somewhere...
I wonder if there's any music on CD by the only Nauruan composer, Baron Waqa? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Waqa I don't know what sorts of things he writes...
Quote from: Christopher on Tuesday 24 January 2012, 10:48
Yes, Seborga was a joke! Tavo, however, has some claim. There is even a portrait of the Tavo royal family in Buck Palace reportedly! According to the font of all knowledge (...) Tavolaran sovereignty."
Great story - mailed it to another enthusiast (and found the Wikipedia entrance, many thanks!)
Quote from: Christo on Monday 23 January 2012, 21:37
I didn't realize felllow Dutchmen - or are you Frisian? - would compete, here. 8)
Hello Christo, no, I'm not Frisian although I love Fryslân with its many lovely old villages, surrounded by beautiful lakes.
If Tobias reads this post, he will find two additions on his list of 20th century violin concertos, written by Paulus Folkertsma (1901-1972):
Romance for Violin and Orchestra in C major,18 voices, op. 6 (1925)
Concertino for Violin and Small Orchestra in A minor, op. 70 (1967)
Quote from: Christopher on Tuesday 24 January 2012, 07:14
Abkhazia? (Recognised by only Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Nauru! Though legally part of Georgia...) There are some! I have a CD of Abkhaz music...
Kosovo?
South Ossetia?
Transdnistria?
Nagorno-Karabakh?
Tavolara?
Seborga?!
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (recognised as a sovereign entity by over 100 states)?
Abkhaz music? Interesting - who are the composers listed?
I've got a couple of Egyptian piano pieces in anthologies.
Quote from: Peter1953 on Tuesday 24 January 2012, 22:15
two additions on his list of 20th century violin concertos, written by Paulus Folkertsma (1901-1972):
Romance for Violin and Orchestra in C major,18 voices, op. 6 (1925)
Concertino for Violin and Small Orchestra in A minor, op. 70 (1967)
Great to learn, many thanks, I'll be playing them soon. (So far, my small Frisian shelve contained only pop music. ???)
Quote from: Peter1953 on Tuesday 24 January 2012, 22:15
If Tobias reads this post, he will find two additions on his list of 20th century violin concertos, written by Paulus Folkertsma (1901-1972)
I read it and added it ;)
Thanks and best,
Tobias
Another Cuban composer, by the way, was Jose (Joseph) Comellas (born Matanzas 1842, died Havana 1888) (several of whose piano works were published by Schirmer, Martens Brothers, etc. in the 1870s and 1880s, including a 30-page 3-movement Sonate brillante in G minor for piano by Schirmer in 1876... small potatoes by European standards, but ambitious by North American 19th century instrumental standards before the late 1800s...)'
(Edit: looking at the Comellas sonata - just uploaded it from Library of Congress to IMSLP - I'm not a pianist but I think I like the looks of this. And yes, I appreciate a well-turned melody- very much, in fact. Which relates to the opening of the sonata's somewhat Brahmsian (yay! :) ) Andante.)
Eric