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Her Adagio op. 5, played by Daniel Bell and Tatjana Dravenau is rather lovely, methinks.

A Swiss performance of the symphonic poem "Der Thuner See" in Thun in 1999 was apparently only the second time the piece had ever been performed.
The CD (or download) is still available from the Stadtorchester Thun, but the ordering information on draeseke.org is no longer up-to-date. This is the current contact information:
Thuner Stadtorchester
3600 Thun
Switzerland
mail@thunerstadtorchester.ch or info@thunerstadtorchester.ch

The CD is CHF 15.00 plus p&p, the download of the CD is CH 12.00 including a pdf of the booklet, the download of just the Draeseke piece is CH 5.00 (with booklet pdf).

A member of the Internationale Draeseke Gesellschaft has combined "Der Thuner See" with images of Lake Thun and surroundings in this film.

So far I haven't come across a single recording of anything by him, unfortunately.

Born on 18 October 1866 in Strasbourg, Scharrer came from a family of merchants in Nuremberg, and he had his first music lessons at the Ramann-Volkmann music school in that city. After just one year of training he had learned enough to be presented to Liszt as a young virtuoso. He then went to Strasbourg to work in his father's business and attended the conservatoire at the same time. On a trip to the United States in summer 1885 he was given the opportunity to improvise on the Salt Lake City tabernacle organ for two hours. This led to his decision to devote himself to music full time. He completed his studies in Strasbourg, Krefeld and Berlin, and it was in Berlin that he had his first success as a composer (lieder, orchestral pieces, cantatas, choral music). His choral work 'Hymne an die Nacht' was performed in several cities, and his musical-dramatic Legend "Die Erlösung" (redemption) was accepted for performance by five theatres. He met or corresponded with, among others, Strauss, Thuille and Reger in Munich, Brahms, Bruckner and Hans Richter in Vienna. He then chose the career path of a conductor, and was soon very successful, first in Munich, then in Berlin. In a three-year tenure from 1904 he conducted nearly 1000 concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, in that city in winter and in Bad Scheveningen in summer. After his time with the Berlin Philharmonic he travelled widely as a guest conductor in various countries and still found time to compose. His symphony in D minor "Per aspera ad astra" op. 23 had been performed in 40 cities by 1933, according to a note in the journal "Signale für die musikalische Welt", edited by Max Chop. This announced a radio performance of the symphony, conducted by Hans Rosbaud.
I have in my possession a handwritten letter by Scharrer to an unnamed conductor, dated 6 May 1913. In this, Scharrer recommends his symphony for performance and lists cities in which it has been played or where it has been accepted for future performances. These include several German cities such as Frankfurt, Bremen, Leipzig, but also Chicago, Davos or Karlsbad.

Scharrer's estate remains largely unresearched, numerous music manuscripts are held by the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. An article from 2020 describes the sometimes unexpected findings in addition to the scores: drawings and sketches, notes and puns added by the musicians or the composer himself. In the large-scale work "Erlösung" (redemption) the word "Erlösung!" with an exclamation mark was added after the last bar of the cellist's part. In German "Erlösung" can also mean relief...
The score of the D minor symphony is at the Staatsbibliothek Berlin.
Scharrer died in Weihershof near Fürth in Germany shortly after his 70 birthday.

 

Nicolai von Wilm (born in Riga, 4 March 1834, died in Wiesbaden, 19 February 1911) was a German-Baltic composer. He studied at the Konservatorium Leipzig from 1851 to 1856, with Rietz and Moscheles among others. Later he held posts in Riga and St Petersburg as a conductor and a teacher and then went to Germany, first Dresden, then Wiesbaden.
He composed more than 250 works, mostly chamber music and lieder as well as numerous piano pieces.
There is a (near) complete work list on IMSLP.
Two recordings I have found after a quick search:

Romance for Piano and Horn op. 79, in a performance by Dymtro Taran, horn, and Olena Pavlova, piano.

and

Junges Leid op. 116, no. 1,  for piano solo, in a performance by Latvian pianist Agnese Eglina. 

Marcel Tyberg's String Sextet in F minor will be given its first complete Viennese performance by students of the "mdw", the university of music and performing arts at the Ehrbar Saal on 18 December 2025.

According to a piece in the "Volksstimme" newspaper of Magdeburg, a concert with music by Bölsche took place in Wegenstedt, his birthplace, in August 2011, with several members of his family present. There is a grandson, Jörg Bölsche, who may know more about the whereabouts of the music.

There do seem to be several of his works in various places, apparently. As for the Symphony, it might be in the estate ("Nachlass") of his son Egon. The German wikipedia entry on Franz Bölsche cites this as a source, but it doesn't say where it might be held.

The only work I've seen is the 2nd string quartet, and Buselmeier's behavior might explain why the first quartet is lost?

That may well be the case.
Here is the work list from German wikipedia:

Kompositionen
Op. 1: Zehn Bagatellen für Klavier (Buselmeier)
Op. 2: Acht Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Klavier
Op. 3: "Dem rettenden Genius" Arie für Bariton und Orchester
Op. 4: Andante mit Variationen für Klavier (Buselmeier)
Op. 5: Erste Sonate für Klavier in c-Moll (Buselmeier)
Op. 6: 2. Sonate für Klavier in Es-Dur (Buselmeier)
Op. 7: Ouvertüre zur "Tragödie des Menschen" für Orchester (Manuskript)
Op. 8: Fünf Bagatellen für kleines Orchester
Op. 9: Psalm für gemischten Chor a-cappella
Op. 10: Drei Lieder aus "Psalter und Harfe" für gemischten Chor a-cappella
Op. 11: Ouvertüre zu "Othello", Urfassung
Op. 12: Trio für Klavier, Violine, Violoncello in D-Dur (Buselmeier)
Op. 13: Quartett für 2 Violinen, Viola und Violoncello in g-Moll (Manuskript, verschollen = untraceable)
Op. 14: Ouvertüre zu Hebbels "Judith" für Orchester (Buselmeier)
Op. 15: Konzert-Ouvertüre für Orchester in Es-Dur
Op. 16: Dramatische Kantate für Soli, gemischten Chor und Orchester (verschollen = untraceable)
Op. 17: Der 100-ste Psalm für gemischten Chor und Orchester
Op. 18: Vier Lieder für eine Singstimme und Klavier,
Op. 20: "Hero und Leander", dramatische Ouvertüre für Orchester (Manuskript)
Op. 24: Zwei Lieder für eine Singstimme und Klavier (Simrock)
Op. 25: "Frühlingswehen" für eine Singstimme und Klavier
Op. 27: 2. Quartett für 2 Violinen, Viola und Violoncello in c-Moll (Simrock)
Op. 28: "Othello", dramatische Ouvertüre für großes Orchester (Manuskript)
Op. 29: "Darüber danke ich Dir", Motette für achtstimmigen Chor a-cappella und Soloquartett
Op. 30: Symphonie in f-Moll (Manuskript)
Op. 35: "Siehe, wir preisen selig", für sechsstimmigen Chor a-cappella (Kahnt)

Here is a (proofread) machine translation of the German wikipedia entry for this German composer:


Johannes Eduard Franz Bölsche (born 20 August 1869 in Wegenstedt, died 23 October 1935 in Bad Oeynhausen) was a German composer, music teacher and musicologist.


Franz Bölsche was born to organist Eduard Bölsche (1836–1919) and his wife Caroline Bölsche, née Plate (1845–1918). His ancestors included composer Jakob Bölsche, a representative of the North German organ school. The writer Wilhelm Bölsche was a relative.
After graduating from high school in Magdeburg, Bölsche studied music at the Royal Academy in Berlin from 1889 to 1894, composition with Woldemar Bargiel, piano with Carl Heymann, music history with Philipp Spitta (junior) and theory and instrumentation with Stange [first name not given], and attended musicology classes at the university with Philipp Spitta and Heinrich Bellermann.
These five years of study were almost the most fruitful in terms of composition, especially as works such as the Piano Trio, Op. 12, and the Overture to Judith, Op. 14, far surpassed the standard musical school expression of those years. In 1890, he composed ten Bagatelles for piano, Op. 1, eight songs for voice and piano, Op. 2, and Andante with Variations, Op. 4. The year 1891 brought a large-scale aria for baritone and orchestra, Dem rettenden Genius, Op. 3, to a text by Siegfried August Mahlmann, and two piano sonatas, in C minor, Op. 5, and E-flat major, Op. 6.
His first composition for orchestra, the Overture to the Tragedy of Man, Op. 7, dates from 1892 and was premiered in Bruchsal. He also composed five Bagatelles for small orchestra, Op. 8, the first Psalm for mixed choir a cappella, Op. 9, and three songs from Psalter and Harp by Philipp Spitta (senior) for mixed choir a cappella, Op. 10.
The choral compositions were inspired by Bölsche's work as a choir director, which he pursued alongside his studies at the time. In 1893, he reached the first heights of his compositional career with the aforementioned Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in D Major, Op. 12, and his first string quartet in G minor, which has been lost. An overture to Hebbel's Judith, Op. 14, dedicated to Woldemar Bargiel, and a concert overture in E-flat major, Op. 15, are the last works from his years of study in Berlin, dating from 1894.
After passing his final examination with distinction, Franz Bölsche remained in Berlin for the time being and wrote Kaiser Maximilian auf der Martinswand, a dramatic cantata for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra, Op. 16, which has been lost; furthermore, the Hundredth Psalm for mixed choir and orchestra, Op. 17, and four songs for voice and piano, Op. 18.
In 1896, Franz Bölsche was appointed by Franz Wüllner as the successor to Gustav Jensen at the Cologne Conservatory. He took over the theory classes, taught composition and organised the music library.
He introduced himself to the Cologne audience with a new overture, Hero and Leander, Op. 20, which he conducted himself and which earned the 'newly appointed theory teacher' great recognition. The work, in which Bölsche did not participate in the modernity of Richard Strauss at that time, represents a middle ground between symphonic poetry and overture in the classical sense of form. The depth of its musical content made the work so popular that it was even played at summer promenade concerts.
On 16 December 1897, Bölsche married Olga Bölsche, née Knopp (born 23 November 1880 in Libau), in Libau (Courland). She was a highly talented pianist who worked as a well-known piano teacher in Cologne until 1944. The marriage was unhappy and ended in divorce thirteen years later. Olga Bölsche died in Leipzig in 1954. Franz Bölsche had two sons: Egon Bölsche and Walter Bölsche (born 7 November 1902; died 1932).
In 1898, Franz Wüllner conducted the premiere of the overture Othello, Op. 28, which emphasises the character of a symphonic poem to a greater extent. This work also made its way into concert halls, most recently in the 1920s in Aachen under Peter Raabe.
In 1899, also under Wüllner's baton, the twelve-part motet Darüber danke ich dir (For this I thank you) for solo quartet and eight-part choir, Op. 29, was premiered.
The year 1900 saw the completion of the second string quartet in C minor, Op. 27, which later became part of the repertoire of the Schulze-Priska Quartet. In four-part string arrangement and clear classical form, it contains all the expressive richness of the late Romantic era.
In 1901, the large four-movement Symphony in F minor, Op. 30, was premiered with great success under the baton of the composer, after the second and third movements had already been performed the previous year. Over two decades, countless performances of this symphony followed.
Apart from three songs for voice and piano, Op. 24, published in 1902/03 by N. Simrock, Berlin, and his last work, Siehe, wir preisen selig, die erduldet haben (Behold, we bless those who have endured) for six-part a cappella choir, Op. 35 (1913), the flow of his compositional output dried up.
From the year of the premiere of his symphony, Franz Bölsche worked only as a teacher and patron. In addition to publishing selected instrumental works by Melchior Franck and Valentin Haussmann as volume 16 of the Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst (Monuments of German Music), he compiled a theory book entitled Übungen und Aufgaben zum Studium der Harmonielehre (Exercises and Assignments for the Study of Harmony), which was published in 1911 by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig.
Building on Moritz Hauptmann's Die Natur der Harmonika und der Metrik (The Nature of Harmony and Metre), Bölsche created a standard work of music education that was to become the epitome of classical music theory for decades to come. The significance of this book, which overcame the old Richterian theory of harmony thanks to its sensible structure and the practicality of its teaching system, is best demonstrated by the fact that it has been republished in recent times, namely by Breitkopf in Leipzig in 1947 and Breitkopf in Wiesbaden in 1950, where it reached its 41st edition in 2009.
A textbook for the study of counterpoint, which was never quite completed, served Bölsche as a basis and guide for his counterpoint lessons.
His outstanding theoretical skills and his comprehensive knowledge of all styles enabled him to help shape the compositional work of his students, making him a much sought-after teacher.
Among the many musicians he trained were composers such as the Swiss Volkmar Andreae, as well as Ernst Kunsemüller, Wilhelm Rinkens, Konrad Ramrath, Johann Baptist Hilber, Alois Schmitz, Willi Kahl, Heinrich Lemacher and Karl Hermann Pillney. Bölsche was appointed royal professor in 1911.
Franz Bölsche was a quiet, kind and religious man. He remained very close to his parents until old age. He was unable to cope with severe blows of fate. He was helpless against his first publisher, Karl Buselmeier (1871–1947) in Leipzig, to whom he had handed over all his works up to Opus 18.
Buselmeier soon emigrated to Baltimore without taking care of the further printing or distribution of the works already published. For this reason, many of Franz Bölsche's works exist only in manuscript form.
After his divorce in 1910, he lived alone and in seclusion.
His relatively early retirement in 1925 was a consequence of his mental breakdown, which manifested itself in a serious nervous disorder. In 1928, he briefly resumed teaching theory at the Ziskoven Conservatory, Bonn. He spent the end of his life alone and inactive.

My original link to YT was without the extra http//://! Still not sure what's gone wrong. Anyway, the links is there now for anybody who may actually be interested in the music...

Thank you, that link really does not work. I have tried, without success, to fix my post. Something weird is going on here. When I write the correct link, or even just 'is on Youtube', I cannot save this. Instead, the word 'released by' stubbornly remains in place... No idea why, I have logged out and in again, and cleared the cache, all to no avail. But this is not about the music...

Juliusz Wolfsohn (1880-1944)

Born on 7 January 1880 in Warsaw, Wolfssohn received his first tuition at the conservatoire in his hometown with Alexander Michałowski (piano) and Sigismund Noskowski (composition), then he went to Moscow to continue his studies at the conservatoire of the Philharmonic Society. After further studies in Paris with Raoul Pugno and, briefly, in Vienna with Leschetizky and Ignacy Friedman, he settled in the Austrian capital in 1906, where he quickly made a name for himself as an excellent performer of Chopin. He played concert tours in Europe and the United States (in 1926) and was also active as teacher (one of his pupils was Ignatz Waghalter) and as music reviewer for Austrian and Polish newspapers. After the "Anschluss" of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938 he was forced to flee and managed to reach the Netherlands first and then the United States. He died in New York on 12 February 1944.
 
As a composer he worked in the field of Jewish music exclusively.

His Hebrew Suite op. 8 was first published for piano in 1926, then in an orchestrated version in 1928. This was released in 2024 on a CD entitled 1927-1929 Brücken aus dem Gestern - Orchesterwerke jüdischer Komponisten. In addition to this work by one of the 'Last Romantics: Jewish Composers of Interwar Europe' (title of a 2011 concert by Jascha Nemtsov and friends) the album also also pieces by Jaromir Weinberger –  "Weihnachten", music for large orchestra and organ – and short scenes for silent movies by Werner Richard Heymann. The first piece on the disc, however,  "Der Dybuk" by Bernhard Sekles, is outside the remit of this forum.
The full album, released by [url="http://Born on 7 January 1880 in Warsaw, Wolfssohn received his first tuition at the conservatoire in his hometown with Alexander Michałowski (piano) and Sigismund Noskowski (composition), then he went to Moscow to continue his studies at the conservatoire of the Philharmonic Society. After further studies in Paris with Raoul Pugno and, briefly, in Vienna with Leschetizky and Ignacy Friedman, he settled in the Austrian capital in 1906, where he quickly made a name for himself as an excellent performer of Chopin. He played concert tours in Europe and the United States (in 1926) and was also active as teacher (one of his pupils was Ignatz Waghalter) and as music reviewer for Austrian and Polish newspapers. After the "Anschluss" of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938 he was forced to flee and managed to reach the Netherlands first and then the United States.
As a composer he worked in the field of Jewish music exclusively.

His Hebrew Suite op. 8 was first published for piano in 1926, then in an orchestrated version in 1928. This was released in 2024 on a Rondeau CD entitled "1927-1929 Brücken aus dem Gestern - Orchesterwerke jüdischer Komponisten". In addition to this work by one of the 'Last Romantics: Jewish Composers of Interwar Europe' (title of a 2011 concert by Jascha Nemtsov and friends) the album also also pieces by Jaromir Weinberger –  "Weihnachten", music for large orchestra and organ – and short scenes for silent movies by Werner Richard Heymann. The first piece on the disc, however,  "Der Dybuk" by Bernhard Sekles, is outside the remit of this forum. The full CD is also on Youtube.

I was in touch with the project team back in March and they said they may have news before the summer break. If and when I have heard back from them I'll mention it here.

Yes, thanks a lot. Very much looking forward to the other two movements.