Cpo has announced that its CD of the two Gernsheim Violin Concertos, together with the Fantasiestück, will be available or September 15th. I'm hoping that it'll be one of the highlights of this year. The soloist is Linus Roth with the Hamburger Symphoniker under Johannes Zurl. A few more details here (https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/friedrich-gernsheim-violinkonzerte-nr-1-d-dur-op-42-nr-2-f-dur-op-86/hnum/8290276).
Wahay! A good spot from the Emerald Isle ;)
Great news. The piano concerto is a really fine piece though it's true that the 'cello concerto is less impressive.
You're certainly right about the PC. It's a great piece.
Well, there's several bits of (quite possibly) really good news, between the Gernsheim violin concertos recording and, I gather, the broadcast of the Lassen which I intend to listen to in a bit. (When it rains it pours, in a good way this time? _Not_ complaining!!!)
Excerpts from the new cpo CD are now available at jpc:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/friedrich-gernsheim-violinkonzerte-nr-1-d-dur-op-42-nr-2-f-dur-op-86/hnum/8290276 (https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/friedrich-gernsheim-violinkonzerte-nr-1-d-dur-op-42-nr-2-f-dur-op-86/hnum/8290276)
If you like Bruch, you'll love this...
Oh, I'll love these works, I'm sure. Just the extracts have me slavering...
Definitely another wish list disc!
My copy's on its way. More anon...
...I'll wait the month until it's available to download.
I'll wait until it hits Amazon. But the excerpts sound scrumptious! I guess the Fantaisiestück is sandwiched between the two concertos. It appears to be in D like the first concerto.
Yes, it is. (http://imslp.org/wiki/Fantasiest%C3%BCck,_Op.33_%28Gernsheim,_Friedrich%29)
Well, my first listen-through to VC1 (1880) reveals more or less what one might expect: a beautifully-written work full of memorable melodic inspiration in the conservative tradition of Brahms and Bruch. In fact I can't hear any real reason why this work should have been neglected in favour of certain of Bruch's (e.g. VC2, VC3) - it's fully their equal. As one might expect from a work in D major, it's predominantly a sunny, lyrical piece; it's entirely what one might expect from the pen of Gernsheim who is now emerging as an unsung master of the front rank. The finale, by the way, may remind you more than a little of the equivalent movement in Bruch VC1!
As has been our experience with cpo, this is an altogether superior production, with first-class sonics and an alert orchestral response from the Hamburg Symphony under Johannes Zurl. Linus Roth, of course, is a world-class virtuoso and we are indeed fortunate to have the benefit of his advocacy here.
Hats off - a winner! Now to the rest of the CD...
VC2 (1912) turns out to be a rather sparer piece, but equally adorable. More later...
(To be really, really and pointlessly picky, the first concerto was, I gather, written in the summer (June-July) of 1879 in Rotterdam, premiered also in Rotterdam in January 1880 and published in the latter year :) Re concerto 2, I think 1912 is right...)
Picky is always good. Thanks, Eric.
... I ended up getting other things with my gift certificate/card after all, but- will hear and get this sooner than later, if it's as good as reviews so far suggest. As to which? :)
Can't wait to hear this, I loved Linus Roth's recording of the Weinberg op67
This recording is now available for pre order download or CD from Amazon.com. Release in about a week.
Jerry
I'm listening right now :-)
Just got mine this morning. Love the 2nd concerto. What lovely melodies. And skillfuly constructed. Gernsheim surely rates up there with the Raffs and Reineckes. Wow.
Jerry
It's good stuff, isn't it? What a debt we owe to cpo...
All three works on this CD have given me huge pleasure, and for me this release ranks amongst the very best of 2015. What's interesting is how different the three pieces are: the tender, sweet Fantasiestück, the romantic mainstream First Concerto and the much sparer, passionate Second. Even more than the symphonies and some of his fine chamber works, I'd say that these works are the best possible ambassadors for Gernsheim's art.
Hi Mark, I bought the disc (as an MP3 download) on the strenghth of the reactions here (and my own affection for G's music, obviously). What you describe seems to tie in well with my general impression of Gernsheim's music: after 1900 it becomes less overtly Brahmsian (which the 1st VC very much is), and more austere both in structure and instrumentation. Works from the same general period as the 2nd VC show, such as the 5th String Quartet and the symphonic poem Zu einem Drama, show those traits as well and show how at a later age Gernsheim's style developed into something much more personal than before.
I think that's fair comment, Ilja. And it's a good indication of Gernsheim's standing as a composer that he didn't simply repeat himself or get 'flabby'. Of particular interest is his tendency to fine things down in his late period.
Quoteovertly Brahmsian (which the 1st VC very much is)
Agreed, although I detect as much Bruch in the mix as Brahms. The main theme of the finale strikes me as being a very close relation to the finale of Bruch VC1...
Didn't strike me so much at first, but now that I've listened to them side-by-side that is quite obvious. What it also shows is the common ground among this group of composers. Maybe it is no coincidence that Gernsheim's music assumes this more personal character after most of the circle around Brahms (and its centre, obviously) passed away.
Röntgen's later music exhibits the same tendency, albeit in a more extreme form.
After World War I, much of the Dutch music scene was taken over by composers such as Willem Pijper, Sem Dresden, Hendrik Andriessen and (to a lesser degree due to his quarrelsome character) Matthijs Vermeulen. Now for want of in-depth knowledge about Röntgen I am conjecturing, but my impression is that Röntgen moved from adherence to one group to an identification with the new musical generation in his new home country (he became a Dutch citizen in 1918) – one which was much more inclined to indulge in experimentation.
Sorry for getting somewhat off-topic. To get back on: I wouldn't wonder if Röntgen and Gernsheim knew one another pretty well from the former's long tenure of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Society. According to Wikipedia, "In 1887 Röntgen performed Brahms's second piano concerto, conducted by the composer himself". It is not inconceivable that Gernsheim was present on that occasion, too.
At last Gernsheim VCs arrived from MDT (where did you guys get your earlier copies from - JPC??) - listening for the first time as I type and I am very much reminded of when I first got my 'Accardo' set of Bruch's VCs. Lovely 'singing soloist, no 'scratchy' chords which, IMHO, might showcase technical skill but are rarely 'easy' on the ears!
Also received the Eggert Syms 2 & 4 - enjoyable but not memorable (unlike what I'm hearing with Gernsheim).
Is this 'architypical' romantic music?
Cheers
Richard
btw (for those who like me haven't yet got the CD - though intend to sooner than later, and for others curious about it), the finale of the first concerto can still be heard here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06mdvtz) on BBC Radio 3's In Tune until the beginning of next month (about 57 minutes into the program.)
Quote...at a later age Gernsheim's style developed into something much more personal than before
The website Wormser Juden in der Geschichte (http://www.warmaisa.de/index.php?id=4595 (http://www.warmaisa.de/index.php?id=4595)) avers that the high point of Gernsheim's chamber music is found in the slow movements of the fifth String Quartet, op. 83, and the second String Quintet, op. 89 -- both from the second decade of the twentieth century (shades of Bruch here). Can't wait to hear them.
Haven't heard the quintet, but the quartet's easy enough to hear at least in -a- performance (or a "performance" if you like) over @ IMSLP (http://imslp.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No.5,_Op.83_%28Gernsheim,_Friedrich%29). (The 2nd string quintet, 1915, has been performed recentlyish I -think-, and also recently published by Edition Dohr, but not yet, I think, recorded. It was performed back in 1916, though.)
It's always good to-revisit recordings acquired a while back - and this one is no exception. What's significant, I find, is that I now rather disagree with my initial view of VC1 as being on the same level as Bruch's VC3 or VC3 - simply because its melodic profile doesn't match Bruch's in either work. It's beautiful throughout, but not really distinctive - whereas Gernsheim's late VC2 from 1912 I now find to be a much stronger and personal, less 'generic' piece. In its sparer, yet more passionate way it's VC2 that surely deserves a place in the repertoire/concert hall. It's quite short (22 mins in Roth's recording) and would make a fine centrepiece to any programme. Written when the composer was 72/3, it's as if Gernsheim was free to compose looking backing back on the conservative tradition that was almost played out and give it a happy send-off. Within four years he would be dead...
And 7 years later those two works (quartet no.5 and string quintet no.2) on a CD announced quite awhile back by the Diogenes Quartet are soon to be available on cpo. A wider representation of his late work is available to hear, I think (I've noticed that a fair amount of it was unpublished.)
Meanwhile, this is impetus for me to give the violin concertos CD a really good listen. Thanks.