Ernst Leopold Christian Mielck 24.10.1877-22.10.1899 Born Viipuri, Finland (now in Russia) Died Locarno, Switzerland
The son of German immigrants, he studied piano with Albert Tietze and later from the age of fourteen at The Stern Conservatory in Berlin and from 1895 with Max Bruch
Orchestral
Symphony in F minor 'A Fairy Tale Symphony' Op.4 1897
Overture 'Macbeth' Op.2 1896
'Finnish Suite' in D minor Op.10 1899
Piano Concerto in C minor Op.27 1895
Konzertstuk for piano and orchestra in E minor Op.9 1898
Konzertstuk for violin and orchestra in D major Op.8 1898
Dramatic Overture Op.6 1898
Chamber
Piano Trio 1892
String quartet in G minor Op.1 1895 pub. by Hofmeister
String quintet in F major Op.3 1896 pub. by Hofmeister
Romance for cello and piano 1894
Piano
Novelle 1895
Reminiscens 1895
Suite for piano 1895
Three fantasy pieces 1895 pub. by Breitkopf & Hartel
Ceremonial March for Viborg Bicycle Club 1898
Intermezzo 1898
Sarabande in G minor 1899 pub. by K F Wasenius, Helsinki
Two Impromptus 1899 pub. by Frazer & Westerland, Helsinki
Songs
Auf der Wanderschaft words by Theodor Fontane
Das Fischermadchen words by Theodor Fontane
El blommer (A Flower) words by Viktor Rydberg
Letzter Wunsch words by Julius Sturm
Morgenlied
Stjarmorna (The Stars)
Frage words by Julius Wolff
Vallkullans sang words by F Hedberg
Wanderlied words by Adelbert Von Chamisso
Heimath words by Theodor Fontanefor voice & piano 1898 pub. by Frazer & Westerland, Helsinki
There are 12 songs in total
Choral
Cantata - Alt bomisches Weihnachtslied for baritone, choir and orchestra Op.5 1898
Alt Germanisches Julfest for baritone, men's choir and orchestra Op.7 1898
'En blomma' (A Flower) for male choir words by Viktor Rydberg 1897 pub. by Viipuri Laulu-Veikot
'Morgenlied' for male choir words by Wilhelm Muller pub. by Viipuri Laulu-Veikot
'Stjarnorna' (The Stars) for male choir words by Josef Julius Wicksell pub. by Viipuri Laulu-Veikot
'Wanderlied' for male choir words by Adelbert Von Chamisso pub. by Viipuri Laulu-Veikot
Dramatic overture, op. 6 (1898)
Enrst Mielck died in Locarno, Switzerland (not Italy).
Duly noted.
Any idea about this Piano Concerto in C minor or should we file this too under lost compositions?
Finnish Radio Yle Klassinen does broadcast the Concertstück for piano and orchestra regularly, sometimes under that title, sometimes titled Pianokonsertto, Finnish for piano concerto. Strange indeed...
but if you notice the Concertstück is dated 1898 and the Concerto 1895 implying they are 2 different pieces. Also the key...
His Symphony in F Minor (coupled with his Konzertstück for Violin) is available on Ondine. The version on Sterling is coupled with the Konzertstück for Piano. Toccata published various orchestral and choral works.
A number of years ago I uploaded my rendition of the 1895 string quartet to IMSLP. Quite pretty, particularly for a teenager, and with some distinctly Scandinavian (Griegian) touches in the Finale.
Yes, these are different works. The Piano Concerto was a very early work, just predating his first Opus. Mielck presented it to his teacher Max Bruch in 1895. No idea whether it was ever performed then or now.
I'll see what I can find out. Being Finnish myself, for once there's a home field advantage to having each of the few manuscript libraries we have just a short walk's away :)
EDIT: I found the online ref for the PC. Its manuscript is located in Turku city. Three movements, 92 pages. So not a lost work, but apparently unfinished. I'll post here when I learn more later...
Monju, curious to learn just how unfinished the concerto is. A few years ago I remember there suddenly was a lot of attention for Mielck (a bit like we experienced with Rott in the 1990s), but he seems to have gone (even more) out of fashion since (unlike Rott). A shame, because there is much of interest there, for multiple reasons.
Interesting thread. Have always been interested in these composers who died young, not only for their precocious (and good) compositions, but also for "what might have been". Karl Filtsch, Lili Boulanger, Heikki Suohlati, Guillaume Lekeu, Viteszlava Kapralova et al. Nowadays a couple of kids seem to be developing into fine composers: Emily Bear, Graham Cohen, good music (if not for this thread) but tonal and enjoyable. I'm sure there are others from the 19th century at least since the diseases that took them away so young were rampant and uncurable. Would be interested in others' knowledge of other composers whose lives were sadly so short.
Well, there's Julius Reubke who lived only a little longer (24 years) for example, Grieg's friend Rikard Nordraak (a bit under 24 years), Hugo Staehle (21 years?), etc. I'd agree that this should be a separate thread and that more than a list of names is needed though... :)
Enough, already! We don't do lists (of composers - see above) here. Back to Mielck, please.
Alan's remark; 'we don't do lists' is one of the reasons that I now rarely look at this web site. If one likes a particular composer it can be helpful to see who their contemporaries were. We don' all have an encyclopedic knowledge of 19th century composers. These lists may prompt readers to investigate other composers who they may have never heard of.
Agree with giles.ender, what is the harm of a list? We know, ad infinitum, to whom this forum "belongs", and what the "remit" is, and so far it is worthwhile to read posts by other people but if anyone knows of other places to find information (and lists) about romantic composers let me know, hopefully before I get kicked off. Thanks
Yes, but this thread is about Ernst Mielck.
Having said which, you contribute far more than mere lists to this forum, Giles. In most cases it's a biography followed by a list of works - which is not the same thing as a random list of composers of different periods who happened to have died young. I for one sincerely hope that you will go on contributing the sort of valuable and interesting information which has been in evidence here over the years.
This is primarily a discussion forum. We make no apology about this. And our database is searchable, of course...
I don't see any harm in starting a thread about composers who died young but I would strongly suggest that it contained not mere lists but some appraisal of the composer in question (insofar as that may be possible, depending on available sources), including of course dates, nationality, etc. Also a request for further information (which might prove productive); a list of known works and whether they are extant or not; a list of locations of extant MSS or printed works (or how to obtain latter); also details of any known recordings, either commercial or private. This then could develop into a useful informational resource. Jimsemadeni mentions Heikki Suolahti who, until now, was unknown to me - his Sinfonia piccola can be heard on YouTube and is very enjoyable. I would like to explore more of his music.
But whilst that suggestion is brewing, it is only proper that Alan steers us back to Mielck. I would really like to get my hands on that early PC.
Amen, Gareth. And thank you.
Good and bad news about Mielck's Piano Concerto.
Looking at copies now, it turns out the MS is quite tidy and at a glance the music might be quite good. Piano and orchestral parts are all written out in detail... however - unfortunately and sadly, the MS breaks off at middle of the 2nd Movement's Trio section! That means the whole 3rd/(+4th?) Movement(s) are missing (likely lost altogether) with the rest of the 2nd Movement, which is a damn shame. In the most hopeful scenario the rest of the 2nd Movement could be recreated from the present material, but besides any forthcoming miracle discoveries, two movements is all there is to it.
EDIT: Full sample in a post below.
Very attractive, especially the tutti with the piano arpeggios - simply beautiful. The short sample makes me want to hear the whole piece however incomplete.
More about the Mielck PC: complete sample of the 1st Movement below. The style of the piece, based on this, is fairly conservative and the music is very enjoyable with brilliant sections IMO. The piano part would not be too difficult to perform.
The structure of the movement is very traditional, in no great detail something like this:
00:38 Exposition
02:01 "Tema I"
03:48 Development
05:27 Recapitulation
08:52 Solo cadenza
11:09 Coda
It was fun working with this piece. My apologies again for the computerized sound quality, I know it's horrible, and for any mistakes. I'm trying to look into whether uploading the score in some form might be okay with the source I got the MS copies from.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7e70yimu6r2i3m3/Ernst%20Mielck%20-%20Piano%20Concerto%201st%20Movement%20computerized.mp3?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/7e70yimu6r2i3m3/Ernst%20Mielck%20-%20Piano%20Concerto%201st%20Movement%20computerized.mp3?dl=0)
Very melodious. I suppose it would sound really beautiful played by an actual orchestra.