Can someone please identify this music? As I don't understand German, the introductory comment doesn't help me. I had it tagged as "King Cymbeline" but I can't quite match it to Potter's overture, so I'm in the dark as to what it really is. Sorry for the sound quality - it's been on my computer for many years!
https://www.mediafire.com/file/wknldwy9owvqse3/King_Cymbeline_Overture_%2526_Overture_in_A_minor.mp3/file (https://www.mediafire.com/file/wknldwy9owvqse3/King_Cymbeline_Overture_%2526_Overture_in_A_minor.mp3/file)
It's the overture to Shakespeare's King Cymbeline by the German composer Franz Joseph Messer (1811-1860), performed by the Museumsorchester Frankfurt conducted by Hans-Georg Dechange, who discovered the manuscript score and made it ready for performance.
More on the composer, in German, here (https://mmm2.mugemir.de/doku.php?id=messer).
The second work here, played by the same forces, is Messer's Overture in E minor.
Oh, thank you so much, Wheesht. ;) I got as far as Messer then came to a dead end.
MESSER, FRANZ (JOSEPH) * Hofheim am Taunus, 21 July 1811 | † Frankfurt am Main, 9 April 1860; conductor, singer, pianist and composer.
BIOGRAPHYMesser, the great-grandson on his mother's side of Matthäus Heilmann, received his musical training (1826–1830) chiefly from Johann Nepomuk Schelble. He then spent several years travelling as a singer, conductor and pianist to Mainz, Koblenz and various towns in Thuringia, including Nordhausen, where he was Kapellmeister at the theatre in 1831. On 30 April 1832, he succeeded Conrad Büttinger as music director of the Mainzer Liedertafel. Highlights under his leadership included the music festivals held to mark the Gutenberg celebrations in 1837 and 1840. With the performance of the oratorio
Paulus by his friend Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, he took his leave of Mainz at the end of October 1840 (his successor was Heinrich Esser) and took over the leadership of the Cäcilien-Verein in Frankfurt. His programming focused on works by Bach (the
St Matthew Passion almost every year from 1843) and Mendelssohn (including the latter's
Christus Fragment in 1855 and 1859). By taking over the local Philharmonic Society in 1847 (Heinrich Henkel succeeded him in 1860) and the theatre orchestra, which had been entrusted to him after Carl Guhr's death in 1848 to conduct the museum concerts, he gained a dominant position in the city's musical life. In recognition of his services, the Senate granted him citizenship and the title of Music Director. Throat cancer, which had already made it impossible for him to perform as a singer for years, forced him to relinquish his post as conductor. Franz Friederich was among his pupils. Messer had been married since 1837 to Johanna Helene, née Walther, the daughter of a merchant from Mainz.
WORKS (selection).The printed compositions were published mainly by André in Offenbach (copies preserved in D-OF) and Schott in Mainz, with some by Hedler in Frankfurt)
Sacred vocal music- Church music for Easter (solos, choir, orchestra), autograph 1831, D-B
- German Mass (solos, choir, orchestra), autograph 1831, D-B
- German Mass (choir, organ), autograph 1831, D-B
- Kyrie (4-part double choir, piano), D-B
- Auferstehung (Klopstock) (mixed choir), autograph D-F
- Cantata Dem Unendlichen (Klopstock) (choir, orchestra), autograph D-B
- Vater unser (4-part mixed choir), Frankfurt:
- Hedler [c. 1840]
Secular Vocal Music- 6 Songs op. 2, Offenbach: André [1847]
- 4 Songs op. 6, Mainz: Schott [1849]
- 6 Poems op. 7, Offenbach: André [1848]
- 3 Songs, Op. 13, ibid. [1850]
- 2 Songs, Op. 14, ibid. [1855]
- Ins stille Land (Salis) no opus number, Frankfurt: Hedler [c. 1840]
- 3 Songs op. 3, Offenbach: André [1846]
- 6 Songs, op. no., Mainz: Schott [ca. 1839]
- 5 Songs, op. 15, ibid. [1855]; D-Mbs (digital), D-MZmi (autograph of No. 1)
- Tafellied, Mainz: Schott [1835]
- Praise and Thanks to Father Rhine!, ibid. [1836]
- Praise of Harmony, autograph 1848, D-MZmi
- 6 Songs op. 10, Offenbach: André [1850]
- A Boundary Stone is the Dark Grave, autograph 1850, D-MZmi
- Festive Song for St John's Day, autograph 1852, D-MZmi
- Du bist die Ruh, manuscript c. 1852, D-B
- Hymn by Milton, manuscript D-B
- Further unpublished songs in Messers' sketchbook (1844–1846), D-MZmi (see RISM ID 1001038424)
Orchestral works- Overture to Shakespeare's Cymbeline in E-flat major, autograph ca. 1851, D-MZmi
- Overture in E major, autograph ca. 1852, D-MZmi
- Overture in G major, handwritten parts, D-B
- Overture in F major, autograph D-B
Chamber music - String Quartet No. 1 in B-flat major, autograph, D-MZmi
- String Quartet No. 2 in C major, autograph 1846, D-MZmi
- String Quartet No. 3 in D minor, autograph, D-MZmi
- String Quartet No. 4 in F major, autograph 1850, D-MZmi
- String Quartet No. 5 in G minor, autograph, D-MZmi
- Trio (piano, violin, cello), autograph, D-MZmi
Piano music- Sonata Op. 12, Mainz: Schott [1850]; D-Mbs (digital)
- Marcia funebre, autograph (piano 4ms), D-MZmi
Organ music- 3 Fugues Op. 16, Offenbach: André [1860]
For further works and location details, see RISMonline
Translated from https://mmm2.mugemir.de/doku.php?id=messer (https://mmm2.mugemir.de/doku.php?id=messer). Portrait:
https://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/manskopf/content/pageview/5547797 (https://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/manskopf/content/pageview/5547797)
the string quartet no.5 has also been digitized, by U. Mainz. here. (https://gutenberg-capture.ub.uni-mainz.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:hebis:77-vcol-37273)