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[Concert-Fantasie]

I've just posted a new upload on youtube: Bernhard Scholz's 1881 Concert-Fantasie for piano and orchestra. I've used Scholz's autograph digitized by SBB to recreate this neglected showpiece with Dorico/Noteperformer – it does really shoot through the roof with some fantastically witty, rhythmically charged writing from the midpoint-Allegro con brio section until the end.

I don't have much info on its composition or performance history to share besides the fact that it seems to have been performed several times in 1881–82 and in 1907 according to player markings in the parts (these are described on the work's entries on RISM). A copyist's full score is also extant, but I couldn't find a piano reduction anywhere.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/CttYwmZKBr4?si=YLRmSeOYUqsTYMjz

[Overture to]

I'm happy to present here the score & audio of Felix Draeseke's Overture to his last opera "Merlin". This opera which, like the rest of Draeseke's operas, did not find its way into established repertoire, but at least it was premiered (how successful was the premiere?) in 1906. For this opera Draeseke adapted the libretto from Karl Immermann's 1831 Merlin – an intriguing and uncommon subject for the opera to be sure.

I found this overture a thrilling one, with the usual clever and imaginative handling of orchestral color and contrapuntal expertise by Draeseke. I especially love the way the themes are woven together for the serene and accomplished ending. Sound mixing is not my expertise but I hope it will be ok to listen to. Notating the score was not easy, this being Draeseke, but it proved a good challenge.


YOUTUBE: Link

LIBRETTO & VOCAL SCORE: Link
IMMERMANN'S MERLIN: Link


PS. I had ordered scans of the printed libretto of the opera from SLUB a few weeks ago, which has already been mirrored on IMSLP. It might prove useful reading for those who are interested in the fuller content of this opera.

[Willem de Haan (1849 Rotterdam – 1930 Berlin)]

Willem de Haan (1849 Rotterdam – 1930 Berlin)

Willem de Haan was a Dutch composer, a pupil of Nicolai, de Lange, and Bargiel; later in Leipzig Cons. (1870–1). In 1873 he became a music director at Cäcilia Singverein in Bingen am Rhein on the interecession of Ferdinand Hiller and Friedrich Gernsheim. From 1876 he led the Mozartverein in Darmstadt, in 1877 the second capellmeister at the orchestra of the Hoftheater there and as Hofkapellmeister in 1878 (Wikipedia) / 1895 (Baker's). He stayed in Darmstadt until 1914; in 1919 he withdrew completely from the music world. Towards the end of his life in 1923 he settled in Berlin with his daughter.

An (incomplete) list of works:

• Violin Sonate, op. 3, composed in Leipzig
• Die kleine Seejungfrau, overture (1871)
• Der Königssohn, cantata
• Das Grab im Busento, cantata
• Macbeth, incidental music
• Harpa, op. 10, cantata for mixed choir and orchestra (1881)
• Zwei Symphonic Sätze, op. 14
• Der Kaiserstochter, opera (1885)
• Die Inca-Söhne, opera (1895)
• Das Lied vom Werden und Vergehen, cantata for mixed choir and orchestra (1904)
• Das Märchen und das Leben, cantata for mixed choir and orchestra (1911)

(Sources: Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians 3rd ed.; the composer's Dutch wikipedia page.)


Overture "Die kleine Seejungfrau"

The score of de Haan's early Overture to H.C. Andersen's fairytale "The little Mermaid" is dated "Leipzig de 15. Febr. 1871" on the last page of its manuscript. The scanned manuscript can be found on the website of Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.

The earliest info on its performances I could find is in the Kölnische Zeitung (26.4.1872), where according to an advertisement, the performance was to be led by the composer. I couldn't find further info or reviews of this performance. However, in 1873 the Overture was given again in Köln with the Kölnische Zeitung advertising this upcoming performance of the Overture being given, contradictorily, "zum Ersten Male". There followed a somewhat mixed review in Kölnische Zeitung (22.12.1873). Here is the part concerning this Overture:

Recht freundliche Aufnahme fand ein Erstlingswerk eines jungen Musikers: "Ouverture zu Andersen's Märchen", "Die kleine Seejungfrau" von Willem de Haan. Richtiger wäre es ein Instrumentalsatz über das Märchen zu nennen. Denn man merkt etwas vom feuchten Element darin, auch von der kleinen Seejungfrau und am meisten von der Palette, auf der eine viel kunstgeübtere Hand schon früher die Farben zu solchen coloristischen Effecten gemischt. Es ist die alte solide Ouverturenform, langsame Einleitung, thematisch aufgebauter bewegter Satz und leider dazu noch ein die Wirkung abschwächender letzter Satz, der ausklingt, als ob ein unlösbares Fragezeichen hinter ihm stehe. Der Erfindung und der Arbeit ist einiges Verdienst nicht abzusprechen, aber einstweilen schätzen wir an dieser "Ouverture" höher, was sie verspricht, als was sie leistet.

All in all, I found this Overture pretty excellent and enjoyable. It is somewhat lengthy, though. The orchestral writing is very detailed and gracefully put together with good craftmanship, outstanding even for a composer's early work, all things considered.

I wanted to take some extra time to make the score and parts, too. The materials can be freely downloaded from IMSLP, once copyright check clears (usually in a few days).
https://imslp.org/wiki/Die_kleine_Seejungfrau_(Haan,_Willem_de)

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsrGE4SRsdA - Dorico + Noteperformer

[Fredrik Wilhelm Gomnæs]

Fredrik Wilhelm Gomnæs (1868–1925) was a now forgotten Norwegian composer born in Hole, Buskerud.

Gomnæs was a musician, conductor and composer. He studied with Johan Hennum and Iver Holter as well as at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin in 1891. He was a cellist at the Christiania Theater (1892–1898), a musical instructor in Hamar (1898–1911), and from 1911 until his death affiliated with the armed forces as the conductor of the 4th Brigades Music Corps in Bergen. I couldn't find any comprehensive catalogue of his compositions.

The Library of Norway has digitized 19 of Gomnaes' manuscripts. These include:
- the Symphony in A minor
- Asgaardsreien, a symphonic poem for orchestra and men's chorus
- Complete first movement of a String Quartet (1891)
- Several scores of military band music


Symphony in A minor

This symphony was performed a couple of times during the composer's lifetime. I have no info whether the score was published or not.

It's likely you won't find the thematic material in this confidently orchestrated opening movement that interesting in itself, but once it gets going, you'd be amazed: this is highly enjoyable music, with some striking use of sequences and exciting, dramatic direction. I'm yet to find out if the rest of the movements hold up, but this is certainly one hell of an opening. I highly recommend giving it a listen!

YOUTUBE (1st movement): 1st Movement link
You can follow the score here: Digitization of composer's autograph

[Feenzauber]

Hello all,

I've uploaded a youtube (Noteperformer sampled) video of Draeseke's Feenzauber (WoO.36), a concert piece for Harp and orchestra. In this delightful concertante piece the harp has a mostly decorative role – none of the principal melodies are featured on the harp that much, and all the musical development is carried by the orchestra. I think that some of you might enjoy this sensitively expressive work by Draeseke, with many beautiful passages alternating between its fiery and accentuated orchestral interludes.

I already typeset the score this past summer while waiting to set aside some time to make the instrument parts too, which I never got around to. I wonder if there is any interest in having them available as well?

YOUTUBE

[Halfdan Jebe]

Halfdan Jebe (1868–1937) was a Norwegian composer, violinist and conductor. He received his education in Oslo, Leipzig, Berlin and Paris, and was a close friend of Frederick Delius.

In the early 1900s Jebe moved to Mérida, the capital of Yucatan region in Mexico. He became fascinated with Mayan culture, customs and folk music and began composing music in that idiom. After settling in Mérida he largely withdrew from Norwegian musical life, but was always greeted with interest and enthusiasm whenever his music was performed in his homeland. Jebe attempted to introduce music of Mexican composers in Norway, but these attempts did not meet with any lasting success. His legacy is nearly completely forgotten nowadays and there are no recordings of his orchestral music whatsoever.

His best known works were the operas Maya dignidad and Vesle Kari Rud, the overture Uxmal, two ballets based on Mayan legends, a children's suite/ballet La ardilla (The squirrel) and his only Symphony in A minor. He also composed other orchestral music including suites, festival music and an orchestral paraphrase on Sobre las olas.

For more information on Jebe, this book has the most complete biographical account on his life that I've been able to find: LINK. There's also this paper by the Frederick Delius society with a chapter on Jebe: LINK.


     Symphony in A minor

Jebe's Symphony in A minor bears the subtitle Desde el destino hacia el ideal (From destiny towards the ideal) and was composed in the memory of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, a socialist Yucatan governor who was executed in 1924. Jebe, who was a friend and supporter of Puerto, tells in an interview that he was at a classroom in a nearby building and heard the gunshots when Puerto was shot. The event affected him deeply and inspired him to write this symphony.

Jebe's autograph(s) for this work are pretty messy, and he was haphazard in his notation in certain aspects. For example dynamic markings are rarely given for instrument entrances, and it's often left ambigious whether 1 or a2 instruments in a staff should be playing. Despite the difficulties of the draft-like sources I had to work with I think the results sound passable in Noteperformer.

Such a bizarre musical curiosity, isn't it! This was a difficult, but very rewarding project to study and put together. There's hardly any symphony from a Nordic composer written under stranger circumstances than this one. What do you think?

YOUTUBE

[Dornröschen]

Raff's elusive Dornröschen (WoO.19) has sadly not yet been graced with a modern revival. Besides two instrumental extracts that have been recorded: the Vorspiel (twice) and the intermezzo Dornhecken, there is no complete recording of this four-part "fairy-tale epic".

I edited a score of the first of the four parts last year, and just now uploaded a Noteperformer demonstration on youtube. I don't plan to continue with the score: I'm sure Edition Nordstern is going to get to it eventually, and they will surely have better access to study all the MS sources in preparation for their complete edition of this work.

All in all, the autograph which the Berlin Staatsbibliothek have digitized is pretty long at around 510 pages. The first part was the shortest of the four, only some 73 pages, lasting circa 18-20 minutes. This part focuses on soloists and dialogue with a short chorus in the end – the later three parts promise much more involved choral and ensemble numbers etc.

The first part, played without pauses inbetween, consists of four sections:
   1) Erzählender Tenor (the narrator)
   2) Wasserfee und König (dialogue)
   3) Erzählender Tenor
   4) Chor die Elfen (chorus)

The treatment of themes by Raff here is quite Lisztian; they are easily recognizable as they appear and reappear throughout. I want to highlight the reserved and sublime way Raff brings the chorus to its end. Needless to say Raff's orchestration overall is exquisitely realised.

I should mention that Raff's autograph is very nicely written most of the time but in some sections it's very messy, due to corrections in red ink that have been written in apparent haste. For example the ending of the chorus has some funny stuff with accidentals that didn't make much sense to me. I'm wondering if these corrections were made before or after the work was premiered? I cannot tell – not having seen any of the other MS sources that are preserved – if the Berlin Staatsbibliotek score even is the final version of the work, after all.

https://youtu.be/4jZ034k4IAA

Score PDF: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0zphhlhyre15kdi/Joachim%20Raff%20-%20Dornroschen%2C%20First%20Part%20%28B4%29.pdf?dl=0

Genast's libretto (German): https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN746833040&PHYSID=PHYS_0001&DMDID=DMDLOG_0001


Happy 200th, Joachim!

[Festspiel]

Today I wanted to present a reconstruction of Franz Lachner's forgotten Festspiel composed for the wedding of Maximilian II and Maria of Bavaria in 1842. It consists of an Overture and four numbered incidental sections. As is customary with these kinds of works, there are long swathes of unaccompanied narration inbetween the musical numbers as well. There are two narrators, Bavaria and Borussia, and a chorus.

For its first and only performance the stage design and paintings were created by the famous artist Simon Quaglio, known for his striking set design on the premiere of Mozart's Zauberflöte. The festspiel's text was written by a painter Felix Schiller. His relation to Friedrich S is unknown to me.

I was able to find two digitized manuscripts:
1) Lachner's autograph, which doesn't include the Overture.
2) Copyist's score of the whole work including its Overture, plus some additional leaves in Lachner's handwriting tucked in between, such as one for solo harp accompanying some narration, and a page at the end with trombones to incorporate into the coda. Lachner also rewrote and discarded his original concluding pages to Nr.1 in favor of a new ending, which contains some passages for the harp.

I like the feisty Overture, which starts conventionally but really kicks off around 1:30. It sounds like an overture to a lost Rossini opera or something, though Lachner was reserved enough not to add any cymbals... The rest of the score is mainly scenic: shorter, light incidental scenes accompanying the narration, a few fanfares here and there. I liked the cantabile writing in Nr.4 well enough. A loud coda, earlier introduced in the Overture, concludes the work promptly.


It would be very hard to justify restaging this whole Festspiel nowadays for obvious reasons. The overture on its own would make a really fun concert opener, but that's about it probably. I don't know if it was worth transcribing the whole thing, but there we have it, for reference if nothing else. A really rare piece, it makes for some interesting Lachner trivia indeed.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/spuCZS3IUAI
LIBRETTO: https://mdz-nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb10729647-5
1842 PLAYBILL: https://imgur.com/a/92lSGCb


A newspaper review of the Festspiel's premiere:

– – Hierauf begann das von dem Maler Felix Schiller gedichtete Festspiel, welches sehr effektvolle plastische Szenen enthielt. Borussia und Bavaria, in ihren gegenseitigen Erscheinungen repräsentirt durch Fräulein Denker und Madam Dahn, erstere besonders durch ihre majestätische Gestalt, voll Hoheit und Weihe, übten einen eben so mächtigen Eindruck, als die Schlußdekorationen von Hohenschwangau und Fischbach, durch die Meisterhände der Architekturmaler Quaglio und Schnitzlein ausgeführt, wahrhaft überraschten Die Allerhöchsten und Höchsten Herrschaften weihten diesem Spiele, so wie auch der darauffolgenden Oper "die Puritaner" bis zum Schlusse eine ungetheilte Aufmerksamkeit.

[Alfred Anderssén]

Alfred Anderssén was a Finno-Swedish composer whose compositions include cantatas, choral and vocal music, two symphonies and a single opera "Med ödet ombord" (written in 1929-32). He is today all but completely forgotten: just a few recordings of some of his songs have been made. None of his orchestral music has been recorded.

Med ödet ombord ("With fate on board") – certainly the composer's largest and most ambitious work – is based on Jarl Hemmer's dramatic poem of the same name. A first version sung in Swedish (which included a short Overture that Anderssén later discarded) was premiered in 1932. The final version of the opera was premiered in Helsinki in 1935, with the lyrics translated into Finnish by the conductor Armas Järnefelt. The structure of the opera is slightly unusual: in addition to its three sung acts there is a prologue and an epilogue which are scored in melodramatic fashion – ie. spoken diction set to music. Also the role of chorus is minimal, being limited to brief appearances in just two scenes of the whole work.

The opera – which has a cast of three main characters and takes place during one evening aboard a ship at sea – was well received and acclaimed for Hemmer's prize-winning text, melodic lyricism and increasing dramatic tension from act to act. However, it sadly fell from repertoire after its Helsinki premiere in 1935 despite Anderssén's further attempts to get it staged in Sweden and Germany. It hasn't been performed since.

The present Symphonic Suite is based on music from this opera. Anderssén's gift for melodic writing should be immediately evident in these beautiful and oftentimes stormy selections of music included in this suite. The score and parts I created are on IMSLP. This was a very rewarding project for me, such a fantastic suite of music in my opinion. I'd be more than happy if it found its way to being performed one day.

YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2HHDazzp7o
IMSLP: https://imslp.org/wiki/Symphonic_suite_%22%C3%96det%22_(Anderss%C3%A9n%2C_Alfred)

[Ernst Linko]

To celebrate the day of Finnish music (8th of December, the birthday of Sibelius) this year, I wanted to present a reproduction of the Finnish pianist-composer Ernst Linko's (1889–1960) unrecorded Third Piano Concerto "Tavastia". The composer performed it in public several times in the 1930-40s, but so far it hasn't yet been "discovered" by modern day pianists.

Composed in 1931, this jaunty and colorful concerto is stylistically conservative for its time, and should be ok for the forum's remit. Linko became more and more conservative in his musical language with each successive piano concerto that he wrote. Classical, romantic and even baroque idioms are readily apparent in this work and in Linko's last, 4th concerto, which dates from 1957.

https://youtu.be/iJ0efzRavj8

The solo part in this, by the way, is very difficult. Tons of fast and precise passagework, but it would be a lot of fun to hear being played. I especially love the exquisitely romantic and wistful middle movement, which works in good contrast to the more active outer movements.

[Sigwardt Aspestrand]

Sigwardt Aspestrand   (1856 Aremark – 1941 Oslo)


Sigwardt Aspestrand was a norwegian opera composer.

He studied violin with Gudbrand Bøhn in Kristiania and at the age of 24 became a student at the Leipzig Conservatory of Music, later at the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin (under Joseph Joachim). He was forced to abandon violin playing due to a hand injury.

He lived in Germany until 1910, where in addition to chamber music he composed several operas. The opera "Seemansbraut" was succesfully performed at the court theaters in Gotha (in 1894) and Coburg and at the National Theatre in Kristiania in 1907.

Operas

Robin Hood  (unfinished?)
Die Seemansbraut  (opera in three Acts)
Der Recke von Lyrskovsheid  (grand opera in four Acts)
Im Goetheszimmer  (burlesque in one Act)
Freyas Alter  (comic opera in three Acts)
Die Wette  (Fairytale opera in three Acts)
Der Kuss auf Sicht  (comic opera in one Act)
Pervonte oder die Wünsche  (comic opera in three Acts)



Not much biographical information on Aspestrand is found online. More info on his chamber music would be welcome. All manuscripts related to his operas have been digitized by the Norwegian National Library and can be browsed in their digital collections. I was not able to find years of composition for any of his works. From what I could find, his only published score is the overture to Der Recke von Lyrskovsheid (edited and published posthumously), which has been performed but unfortunately not recorded. It's a very good overture, actually!

For a demonstration of his music, I chose to transcribe his overture to Pervonte in Noteperformer (honestly, I just found the name funny – who would call their opera something like that?) The story of the opera is based on an old fairytale of a half-wit marrying a princess, so we can expect the music not to take itself too seriously. What we get is a very lively romp, confidently and straightforwardly orchestrated, some guaranteed melodic earworms, a grotesque waltz in the middle and all around good Offenbachian humour.

https://youtu.be/SKfnYvCOCQU

Merry Christmas to everyone!

I'm very happy to present Franz Lachner's complete oratorio Moses, recreated via Dorico and Noteperformer. This colossal work, composed in 1833 to a text by Eduard von Bauernfeld, belongs to the genre of dramatic oratorios, premiered in 1834 and further performed several times into the early 1840s. Its length at ~1h45m is very modest for a complete oratorio. Unlike in his symphonies Lachner did not provide numerical metronome markings in this work, so there can be wide room for interpretation on the length of course. In this version, the first two acts take around 40 minutes each with the shorter third act being just over 20 minutes.

Naturally without real singers and soloists in this rendition one has to use a little imagination, not only with the orchestra, but especially with the sung parts. I've synced German text cards to the video as the work moves along for the convenience of those who can understand it. Not to worry Alan, I didn't even attempt to (mis)translate any German texts this time

There is a wide amount of material packed in this oratorio: arias, recitatives, choruses and many distinct musical ideas – independent on their own I think, even with the inevitable comparisons to Mendelssohn (and do note that this was composed before Paulus/Elijah) – worked with confidence and great skill by the young, ambitious Lachner. I have no doubt this oratorio went a long way in establishing Lachner's reputation as a composer in his early years. There is a lot to unpack in a long dormant work of this scale, but I think this will already do for a long post. Thoughts?


Video link: https://youtu.be/srGqaz_cZwU
Typeset libretto which might be easier to read than the original Fraktur text: https://www.dropbox.com/s/csgq7cvreie4ff9/Moses%20-%20Libretto%20%28Bauernfeld%29.pdf?dl=0
A review of its 1834 premiere: https://pastebin.com/pUDAjebM

The premiere was not altogether too successful, but there are also reviews from later performances that are much more enthusiastic. The first paragraph gives an illuminating account on what performance conditions of the time were like, and I found it particularly interesting.

Lachner's music should be given a chance. I think we'd be missing something important without it, even if his fate as a composer was to be overshadowed by his contemporaries.

Maybe you'd enjoy the 4th that I created some time ago, in case you hadn't already heard it?
https://youtu.be/5UYqVd0OBRw

I'd like to present another forgotten treasure here, the splendid C major symphony by Ferdinand Hiller – realized with Noteperformer! The dating of this work is not entirely certain: it was performed several times between 1877 and 1880 (according to dates and signatures from the musicians in the manuscript parts), but Goethe Universität gives circa 1830-31 for the actual composition year. Anyway, its premiere seems most certainly have been at the 54th Lower Rhenish Music Festival at Cologne in 1877.

The first movement alone is, in my mind, a genuine masterpiece. Note the initial 2 minutes spent exploring distant keys & the unusually syncopated treatment of the material, before settling for the first time in majestic C major... – the inner movements I'm less enthusiastic about, but the energetic Finale rounds the work up on a high note. Hiller's writing is so full of delightful details that by just typing up this one score I feel like having learnt a year's worth of lessons in orchestration.

It's long, though: manuscript full score's some 250 pages (!) I can promise you it was meticulous work. Unfortunately I had no means to study the undigitized manuscript parts, which would go a long way in proofing the score (Hiller writes messily it seems always when it's crucial of him not to be doing so). Hopefully I've been able to do Hiller even a little deserved justice with this – his voluminous legacy is, after all, still largely forgotten and unrecorded.

https://youtu.be/XY22op-F0bc


As an interesting aside, writing on some of the handwritten parts indicate this Symphony was performed at a "music festival" in Düsseldorf in 1880. However the Wikipedia listing for Lower Rhenish Music Festival tells that the 1880 festival was held at Cologne. Either the wiki info is wrong, or some other festival than LRMF was held in Düsseldorf that year....

[Robert Kratz]

Robert Kratz  (b. 1851 Leinefelde-Worbis-Breitenholz - d. 1897 Düsseldorf)

As I was examining the materials of Moszkowski's unfinished Quintet*, a workbook which also includes several dozen pages of study exercises in counterpoint, fugues and canons, there were a few student works attributed to "Kratz". Intrigued, I started researching this fellow student of Moszkowki's but not much information is readily found. I did not even find a picture, but... funnily enough, scribbled in the margins of this workbook are sketched caricatures of Moszkowki's fellow pupils, Kratz among them.

He was a composer, conductor and a choir and music director. From 1875 he was the director of Stettiner Musikschule, music director in 1886 at Elberfeld and from 1888 in Düsseldorf. The March 1897 issue of Musical Times gives him a short obituary: "On January 26, at Düsseldorf, ROBERT KRATZ, highly popular musical director, aged fifty-five." His catalogue of published works consists entirely of chamber and piano pieces and songs of short length. I have not seen or heard a page of his music and cannot give any opinions beyond that. If any members here have more info, I'd be happy to include it here.

I compiled this worklist based on the publication information on Hoffmeister, as well as from titles of holdings attributed to Kratz in the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf. There also exists a digitized libretto to "Mädchenstreiche", a three-act Spieloper perhaps also composed by Kratz, but I found no other information about this work.

A caricature of Kratz from Moszkowki's sketchbook:
https://ibb.co/mFRnCWR


List of works

   Works with opus number

Op. 10 - Wander-Skizzen für Pianoforte, Violine und Violoncello
1. Das Wandern, 2. Im Thale, 3. Unter fremden Musikanten, 4. Gruss an die Heimath, 5. Heimkehr
publ. Bremen Praeger & Meier (1881)

Op. 11 - Trauermarsch, ein Gedenkblatt für Pianoforte
publ. Bremen Praeger & Meier (1881)

Op. 12 - Sechs Stücke für kleine Hände
1. Wächterruf, 2. Mazurek, 3. Gedenkblatt, 4. Schlummerlied, 5. Burla, 6. Ständchen
publ. Leipzig Siegel (1882)

Op. 13 - Sechs lyrische Stücke
1. Gruß, 2. Melodie, 3. Mazurka, 4. Waldlied, 5. Abendgebet, 6. Irrlichter Etude
publ. Leipzig Siegel (1882)

Op. 14 - Jagdstück (in Es)
publ. Leipzig Siegel (1882)

Op. 15 - Drei Lieder ohne Worte für Pianoforte
publ. Leipzig Kahnt (1883)

Op. 16 - Capriccio (in D) für Pianoforte
publ. Leipzig Kahnt (1883)

Op. 17 - Musette, Sarabande und Gigue für Pianoforte
publ. Leipzig Kahnt (1883)

Op. 18 - Tanzdichtung für Pianoforte, Violine und Violoncello
publ. Leipzig Siegel (1884)

op. 19 - Sonata pro organo pleno (in Cm)
publ. Leipzig Kahnt (1885)

op. 20 - Suite für Streichorchester
Andante, Scherzo & Finale. "Herrn Bildhauer Ludwig Brunow freundschaftlichst gewidmet."
publ. Elberfeld Küpper (ca.1900)

Op. 21 - Drei Gesänge für vierstimmigen Männerchor
1. Frühlings-Symphonei, 2. Käferlied, 3. Abendfrieden
publ. Leipzig Eulenburg (1888). Texts by Rudolf Baumbach, Heinrich Heine, Johann Gabriel Seidl.

Op. 22 - Ruhmreiche Berge für Männerchor
publ. Elberfeld Küpper (1888). Text by Otto Hausmann.

Op. 23 - Drei Lieder im Volkston für Männerchor
1. Zaunkönig, 2. Der Scheerenschleifer, 3. Aufforderung zum Tanz
publ. Leipzig Kistner (1890). Text by Otto Hausmann.

Op. 24 - Kirmeß im Dorf für Männerchor
publ. Hamburg Thiemer (1888). Text by Otto Hausmann & Carl Gramm.

Op. 25 - Bacchuszug für Männerchor
publ. Leipzig Siegel (1888). Text by Otto Hausmann.

Op. 30 - Hymne in Marschform für Männerchor und Orchester
publ. Düsseldorf Bayrhoffer (1888) [arr. für pianoforte]. Text by Theodor Groll.

Op. 36 - Triumphmarsch für Pianoforte
publ. Düsseldorf Bayrhoffer (1890)

   Works without opus number

Kuckuck, Nachtigall und Wachtel heiteres Intermezzo
publ. Hannover Oertel (1893)

Beim Tanz für eine Singstimme und Pianoforte = Dancing!
publ. Berlin Simrock (1897). Text by Otto Hausmann. English words by Paul England.

Vorsicht! Lied für eine Singstimme und Pianoforte = Beware!
publ. Berlin Simrock (1897). Text by Otto Hausmann. English words by Paul England.

   Other works

"Schmiedelied". Performed at a concert in Düsseldorf in 1891, opus or publication status unknown.

Mädchenstreiche, a Spieloper in drei Acten
Libretto by Robert Kratz & Otto Hausmann (?). Composition status needs more evidence/info.


* ...which is a dreary student work. To quote Moszkowki's own words as provided by Assenov: "Inzwischen  componierte  ich  im  Geheimen  -- auch  ein Pianoforte-Quintett,  was  meinem  Harmonie-Lehrer  denunciert  wurde  und  mir  seitens des  letzteren  ebenso  begreiflich  als  gerecht  Vorwürfe  eintrug,  denn  er  konnte  nach  den miserablen Arbeiten die ich ihm in die Stunde brachte in der That kein Compositionstalent bei mir vermuthen."

A quick heads up for this afternoon. At 19.30 there will be a live broadcast on BBC radio 3 of Liszt's absolute rarity "Vor hundert Jahren". While I'm not involved in this particular resurrection of the piece in any way, I'm very fond of the piece having worked on my own edition about a year ago. I for one can't wait to hear how it finally sounds with real performers.

An unpublished and unrecorded work, like many of Pingoud's orchestral pieces. It was performed in Berlin in 1923 with Leonid Kreutzer as soloist and Pingoud conducting.

It was further performed three times in Helsinki in early April, 1924, with Egbert Grape as soloist, then brought to fair success in Turku in 15.4.1924. A newspaper review mentions planned performances in London, Copenhagen, Berlin and Braunschwich, but I don't know if those performances ever materialized. It was later performed once in Finland in 1942, then just once more in 1958.

A review of the 15.4.1924 concert in Turku had praise for the work:

• "Less apocryphal than the composer's usual works..."
• "How beautiful the piano sounds! The difficult issue of combining the piano with the orchestra has been solved here in the most interesting and memorable fashion. The piano says just what belongs to it in terms of the work as a whole..."
• "The union of pure harmony and endlessly nonsensical melody, but above all, of harmony..."
• "The orchestra never attempts to drown the soloist's beautiful part, but instead contends to accompanying it poetically with just a few strokes of sounds..."
• "A few overflowing tutti sections in the main parts, yet the side themes are lyrical in nature..."
• "The composer especially utilizes the woodwind section beautifully..."

I found the second movement sublime, not unlike in mood to the slow movement of Pfitzner's PC, so I had to transcribe and upload it. A computer recording is far from perfect of course, but it's a start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1ASSALnkxI


PS: The first, brief 3 min movement of Pingoud's unrecorded, enticingly Scriabinesque "Cor Ardens", a symphonic poem about 16 minutes in length. Not sure it should warrant a new thread of its own, but here.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9d8bize74ji6ps1/Ernest%20Pingoud%20-%20Cor%20Ardens%2C%20Mvmt%20I.mp3?dl=0

Hello all,

I wanted to share a NotePerformer performance of Moszkowski's unpublished D major Overture. This is one of the four works whose manuscripts were discovered in BNF around 2011. The other three works were of course his magnificent Piano Concerto Op.3, the still-criminally-unrecorded Symphony in D minor, and an unfinished Piano Quintet.

A few details... 50 manuscript pages, 395 measures. About 11 minutes with its only tempo designation 'Allegro risoluto'.
Instrumentation: 2,2,2,2 - 2,2,3,0 timp, str.
I find it hard to tell if this has ever been performed - there are rehearsal letters in the MS but a plethora of errors and mistakes. Very very few marked corrections of missing accidentals etc. I would assume they'd be a little more thorough in correcting errors that came up in rehearsals into the score if there indeed was a performance.

The main thematic material in this Overture closely resembles that of some motives in the 1st movement of his Symphony, which he would go to write about a year later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cANwcfbtHc

Besides Prometheus choruses, Liszt only composed one other work for the stage: "Vor hundert Jahren", for the Schiller festivals in 1859. The play was written by Friedrich Halm and Liszt composed the music. 2-3 performances were held and the work was favorably received by audiences and press of the time (unusually enough for Liszt). Plans for publication were made, but it never happened.

I reconstructed the score from Liszt's autograph (held at the Library of Paris, available online). It's missing many details such as tempo markings and accidentals, and one whole section of music. This is only a preliminary version - other sources would need to be consulted for an authorative edition but I have no access to those at the moment. I hope this should prove a curious treat as a most rare example of Liszt's orchestral music.

(Liszt repurposed N2 into his Christus Oratorio. N11-12 are based on "Le mal du pays". Melody of N13 saw reuse in his Elizabeth Oratorio. Besides Parzenlied other numbers are arrangements of popular songs.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/809ml8x086rmhhj/Franz%20Liszt%20-%20Vor%20hundert%20Jahren%20%281859%29%20-%20Autograph%20version.pdf?dl=0

EDIT: I uploaded the whole work in midi format here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4_uZ9B7PqI