Maria Bach: Piano Quintet "Volga Quintet", String Quintet & Cello Sonata

[JP]

Greetings everyone. I'm pleased to inform you all that a CD recording containing a selection of chamber compositions by Maria Bach, a notable student of Joseph Marx, is due to be released very shortly on the CPO label later this month. 

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/maria-bach-streichquartett/hnum/9735523

The compositional style of the key works featured on this CD are noted for their late romantically tinged rhapsodic-impressionistic musical language which is strikingly akin to the free flowing lyrical mode of instrumental writing that exudes from the Phantasy titled works of British composers that was rather fashionably prevalent during the first quarter to first third of the 20th century.  You can hear the recorded concert performances of M. Bach's melodically abundant, remarkably sparkling and luxuriously chromatic piano and string quintets in their entirety here to acquaint yourselves with her apparent mastery of the chamber music medium: 

Maria Bach - Wolgaquintett (1927) für 2 Violinen, Viola, Violoncello und Klavier (2 separate performances)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm9pLe3pLsc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln3J2ybpq1A

Maria Bach - Streichquintett (1936) für 2 Violinen, Viola und 2 Violoncelli

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJgSfs5gKLc

Do enjoy the music for what it's worth and may it provide you with the informed insights and perhaps an acquired sense of appreciation in deciding whether or not it's worthwhile exploring her works further and purchase this CD for starters.

Best wishes, JP.

[Alan Howe]

Yes, I'd spotted this too. The idiom is a variety of impressionism.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I find it very attractive on first hearing. "A variety of impressionism" describes it well. Ravel certainly comes to mind but there is a passionate Romanticism which informs the music too. I think I might buy this disk.

[Wheesht]

Good news. I mentioned a concert I attended just over three years ago, see:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,7746.msg81078.html#msg81078

[matesic]

Very entertaining! I was trying to find a kinder word ("emulative"?), but for me le mot juste for the first movement of the string quintet is "derivative", practically every bar conned to some degree from the Debussy and Ravel quartets. The second movement is much more diverse but feels more like separate short movements than variations. The finale is a blast, totally empty of "music", but who cares! Fabulous playing. Now for the piano quintet.

[Mark Thomas]

Fabulous playing indeed, but I'm afraid that Bach's idiom leaves me completely cold. I've never been an enthusiast of impressionism in music and a style with, as has been said, such strong echoes of Debussy and Ravel is never going to do much for me. Still, chacun à son goût.

[Alan Howe]

Impressionism's not my favourite corner of the repertoire either - except that I absolutely adore Debussy's La Mer and Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé. I'm not sure about this new release: I might only play it once...

[JP]

Meantime those wishing to explore more of M. Bach's chamber music oeuvre aside from the works mentioned above can look no further than this YouTube channel Pforte which actively promotes her compositions and showcases other overlooked musical gems such as the second string quartet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mbHZwnOx9c

It innovatively emulates and synthesizes the late renaissance modes of viol consort polyphonic writing with certain distinct stylistic elements of Anglo-French impressionism whereby one can hear elements of Debussy, Ravel, shades of early Enescu, Bax, Ireland and Vaughn-Williams being incorporated into the quartet's contrapuntal tapestry. For example, the Rumanian Slavic references cited in the quartet's movement titles can hardly be discerned. This is as un-Germanic as it can get considering that Joseph Marx and his protégé were creating music during a period when the general trajectory of Austro-Germanic compositional fads/trends were veering towards atonal serialism, dodecaphony and other forms of gritty, dissonant and decadent modernism. Hopefully more of such works will be featured in CPO's follow-up releases of M. Bach's chamber music output.

[Alan Howe]

And now suddenly there's a second new recording of the Volga Quintet, coupled with the Cello Sonata and the Suite for Solo Cello: https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/aria-ach-klavierquintett-wolga-quintett/hnum/10856397

[semloh]

Oh, I like this music! I have no problem with impressionism, once I enter into the spirit of the music and let it carry me along wherever it will. I find these works full of joy and life, and clearly so do the the performers. As you said, Mark, each to their own. 

[eschiss1]

This may be a different performance of the quintet, via SWR2?

[Alan Howe]

Could you post more details, please, Eric? The link doesn't work for me.

[eschiss1]

This link may work better. From the page:

Komponistin
Maria Bach (1896 - 1978)

Werk
Quintett für 2 Violinen, Viola, Violoncello und Klavier "Wolgaquintett

Sätze
Ruhig, bewegt
Variationen über das Wolgalied. Largo sostenuto
Finale. Laufen lassen

Interpreten
Christine Busch (Violine)
Elene Meipariani (Violine)
Klaus Christa (Viola)
Mathias Johansen (Violoncello)
Akiko Shiochi (Klavier)

Oct. 2019 performance.

[Alan Howe]

Thanks, Eric. Very kind of you.

[John Boyer]

These sound like the quintets that Ravel never got around to writing.  I'm curious what others thought of the Volga Boatman variations.  For me this was the weakest point in all three works — it breaks the impressionistic spell — but I'd be curious to hear what others thought. 

But if like Ravel, you'll like this too.