Rarities of Piano Music at ‘ScHloss vor Husum’
from the 1990 Festival
[ 1 ] Alexander SCrIabin (1872-1915)
Polonaise op. 21 8:00 Igor Shukow
[ 2 ] Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)
Lento e patetico 3:21(from the Sonata op. 25 No. 5)
[ 3 ] Franz Liszt (1811-1886) Rigoletto-Paraphrase
6:46 Claudius Tanski
[ 4 ] Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Aux cyprès de la Villa d'Este II (1877) 7:43
[ 5 ] Schubert (1797-1828)-Godowsky
(1870-1938): Morgengruß 3:41
(from "Die schöne Müllerin") Janice Weber
[ 6 ] Chopin (1810-1849)-Godowsky
(1870-1938) Study No. 34
"Mazurka" 3:44
(after op. 25 No. 5)
[ 7 ] Serge Prokofiev (1891-1953):
Sarcasm op. 17 No. 1 1:57 Marc-André Hamelin
[ 8 ] Leos Janacek (1854-1928) Sonata
"l. X. 1905" 18:08 Benedikt Koehlen
[ 9 ] Henning Mankell(1868-1930)
Intermezzo op. 12 No. 2 (1910) 3:39
[10] Nikolaj Medtner (1880-1951)
Stimmungsbild op. 1 No. 4 2:47 Bengt Forsberg
[11] Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938)
The Musical Clock 1:28 (from "Triakontameron")
Geoffrey Douglas Madge
[12] Albeniz (1860-1909)
–Godowsky (1870-1938) "Triana" (1922/1938) 5:09
(from "Iberia") Abbey Simon
Recorded in Husum on August 18th –25th 1990
DANACORD DACOCD 379
[approx. 65 minutes]
Danacord
The second volume of the Husum Festival of Rare Piano
Music is just as exciting and interesting as the first. We have some
65 minutes of hidden treasures and rediscoveries. That is not to say
of course that all of these works are totally unknown. Enthusiasts and
connoisseurs of piano music will be well aware of the existence of each
and all of these pieces. However, to have the opportunity for them to
be assembled on one disc is rare. Over and above the repertoire, is
the quality of the playing. Here are assembled eight first class pianists.
Each one of them is a specialist in his or her own field and a superb
all-round performer.
The CD opens with a piece played by Igor Shukow. It
is the rarely heard Polonaise in B minor Op.21 by Alexander Scriabin.
This is the only work in this form by the composer, and it deserves
our attention. It is not a criticism to say that it shows its antecedents
fairly and squarely as belonging to Chopin. The piece was written between
the second and third piano sonata in 1897. Even on a first acquaintance
it is obvious that it is a difficult piece full of contrasts. It has
lyrical charm, aggression and some extremely difficult octaves.
Igor Shukow was born in Gorki in 1936 but has lived
in Moscow for most of his life. He is noted for his interpretations
of Scriabin and certainly this present piece whets the appetite for
more of this undervalued composer from Shukow.
The second work is the slow movement (Lento e Patetico)
from Muzio Clementi’s Sonata Op.25 No.5 in F# minor. This work
was once highly regarded by none other than Beethoven. It is somewhat
earlier in period than most of the music on this CD and from the Festival
in general. However it is good to hear this piece that has been excavated
from Clementi’s vast catalogue. The movement is a strange hybrid. There
is definitely a baroque feel to the opening bars, however, it soon slips
into a much more classical idiom. Clementi was a prolific writer of
piano music, however he is largely remembered for his technical exercises
- Gradus ad Parnassus. Someone once said that if you can play
all those pieces well you could play anything! He wrote over a hundred
sonatas for piano; many of them containing intimations of Beethoven’s
style. Claudius Tanski’s interpretation of this piece encourages us
to want to hear more Clementi.
The second piece that Tanski played was the well-known
Concert Paraphrase of the quartet from the end of the last act
of Verdi’s opera Rigoletto. This is of course a hugely difficult
piece, encompassing a wide variety of pianistic devices. Liszt had written
this piece along with a number of other transcriptions from Verdi’s
operas over a period of some thirty-five years. This particular paraphrase
was composed in 1859, some eight years after the first performance of
the opera. Tanski is able to balance the complexity, the impressionistic
figurations and the bel canto in a stunningly impressive manner. I love
this piece in spite of the fact that transcriptions and arrangements
are not as popular as they once were!
Claudius Tanski is noted for his interpretations of
romantic piano music. He has issued CDs of music by Ferruccio Busoni,
Julius Reubke and Felix Draeseke. Earlier in the recital from which
the Clementi and the Liszt were recorded he had played Draeseke’s (1835-1913)
Piano Sonata. It would have made another interesting piece for
issue on CD.
Janice Weber also played music by Franz Liszt - the
Aux Cypres de la Villa d’este II. It is part of the 3rd Year
of the Années de Pélerinage. This massive work was
a kind of scrapbook of ideas and thoughts that express the composer’s
mind as he travelled through Europe as a virtuosi pianist. The first
volume is dedicated to Switzerland; the second ‘describes’ Italy. However,
the third volume tends to be less descriptive of travel and more inclined
to explore Liszt’s religious pilgrimage. The composer was a regular
guest at the Villa d’este which at that time was occupied by the Cardinal
Prince Gustav Adolph von Hohenlohe-Schillinghurst. It has an attractive
garden and a quiet beauty and great peace. This encouraged the composer
to produce this somewhat reflective music. The estate was noted for
its many fine cypresses. This tree is seen as a symbol of mourning,
and Liszt took up this symbol and wrote two ‘threnodies’ that are addressed
to the trees themselves.
There is no doubt that this, the second threnody is
one of Liszt’s most attractive pieces –at times recalling memories of
the famous Liebestraume. Previously Janice Weber had played the
phenomenally difficult Etudes d’execution transcendente in the
1831 version that is regarded as more technically demanding than the
1851 revision.
The German pianist Benedikt Kochlen played the Sonata
for Piano '1st October 1905 by Leos Janacek. His contribution
to the festival had been a programme of mainly politically and historically
inspired pieces, including Hans Eisler’s Piano Sonata No.1 which
would have been a worthy addition to this present CD. Janacek was a
Moravian composer. Today he is perhaps best known for a small number
of impressive works. I need only mention Jenufa, the Sinfonietta,
the Glagolitic Mass, The Cunning Little Vixen and the
String Quartets. Of course the enthusiast will enumerate many
other brilliant compositions. But the Sonata for Piano requires
consideration as being a masterpiece from the early days of the twentieth
century. It was written as a protest against social and national oppression.
The background to the piece was a demonstration against a rally in the
city of Brno that led to considerable violence. Until the end of the
First World War, Moravia was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg
Empire. German was the language of the ruling classes and Czech that
of the lower classes. On 1st October 1905 the Austrians of Brno held
a demonstration opposing the establishment of a Czech Language University.
The Czech’s held a counter demonstration that inevitably resulted in
clashes between both factions, the police and army. A young Czech carpenter
called Frantisek Pavlik was killed by a bayonet in the rioting by some
Austrian troops. We are lucky to have this piece. The entire sonata
was literally torn up by the composer on the day of the first performance.
Fortunately the pianist, Ludmila Tuckova, had made a copy of the first
two movements. Janacek later allowed this work to be published. The
first movement is subtitled ‘Premonition’ and the second ‘Death’. It
is a work that is basically romantic in tone; it is full of lyricism.
Over and against this is darkness; it becomes something of a lament.
Yet somehow there is hope as well as despair in these pages. A fine
performance of this difficult work by Kocklen.
Henning Mankell is a composer who is new to me. He
is Swedish - little known in his own country – never mind the rest of
the world. He was born on 3rd June 1868 and died on 8th
May 1930. Just by his dates he is seen to straddle various styles. He
has something of romanticism, impressionism and modernism about him.
His composing career began by him following in the footsteps of Chopin
and Liszt. However from about 1905 he began to create a unique style
of his own. Many contemporaries declared his music to be ‘futuristic
and bizarre.’ He has been compared with Debussy and Scriabin, and there
are some clear similarities, even in the small piece on this present
CD. Yet strangely, he had actually never heard any music by the Russian
composer and knew only the Arabesques of Debussy. His work is
described as being somewhat uneven. He produced a massive catalogue
of works – including a huge literature for the piano. I think his Piano
Concerto would be well worth hearing.
The programme notes quote a critic as describing the
short Intermezzo Op.12 No.2 (1910) as being something between
Brahms and Frank Zappa. There is a certain quality about it that almost
defies description. In some ways it is traditional, but suddenly one
feels as if it has skipped into another musical world. Although it is
not built on a tone row, there is a definite feel of tonal instability
about the work. However it is a little taster; perhaps one day we shall
have a number of CDs devoted to this distinctive composer. Bengt Forsberg,
himself a Swede gives a convincing performance of this miniature.
The other piece on this CD by Forsberg is the short
Stimmungsbild (Mood Pictures) Op.1 No.4 by Nicolai Medtner. This
is one of eight short pieces written when the composer was only eighteen.
It is an Andantino con Moto and is really quite similar to Scriabin’s
earlier Preludes. This does not make any the less a fascinating
‘discovery.’
Marc André Hamelin plays the first of Prokofiev’s
Sarcasms Op 17. marked as Tempestoso. It seemingly has two sides
to its nature. Firstly there is an aggressive marcato, played détaché.
But against this are some softer passages. Well played by the pianist.
This CD contains four pieces that have been written
or arranged by that great, if somewhat out of fashion pianist/composer
Leopold Godowsky.
Janice Weber ended her recital with an attractive arrangement
by Godowsky of Schubert’s Morgengruß ‘Morning Greeting’ from
the "Die Schöne Müllerin" song cycle. This is a somewhat technically
simpler piece than most of that great pianist’s works, however, it is
an extremely attractive work that brings out the melody in a subtle
and beautiful manner.
Marc Andre Hamelin has come to grips with Godowsky’s
Studies on the Chopin Etudes. His recording on Hyperion is the
latest cycle to be made available. At present there are at least two
other versions of these highly technical and supremely challenging works
on the market. Those by Carlo Grante and Ian Hobson. All have received
excellent reviews.
The arrangement of Chopin’s Op.25 No 5 was made
by Godowsky in 1904 whilst he was residing in Berlin. This particular
study of Chopin’s resulted in three works from the later composer’s
pen. The second one appeared as a ‘mazurka.’ It totally transformed
the original intention of Chopin. The method of Godowsky’s working is
best illustrated in his own words, "Studies whose character, representation
and rhythm of the original text undergo a change whilst the form as
such remains as it is, although the melodical and harmonical contours
often deviate considerably." Hamelin plays this study with his
usual expertise.
Another short piece by Leopold Godowsky from his Triakontameron
was given by Geoffrey Douglas Madge, the Australian born pianist. His
contribution to the festival had included Busoni’s Ten Variations
on a Theme by Chopin and Godowsky’s giant Piano sonata in E minor
that is perhaps one of the most outstanding works ever written for
the piano. The encore was ‘Spieluhr’ or The Musical Clock
- one of the thirty moods and scenes written in triple measure. The
composer wrote these miniatures when he was living in Seattle and Los
Angles. They remain little known – except for one. The 11th
number entitled "Alt-Wien, Whose yesterdays look backwards with
a smile through tears." There is one slight mystery about Musical
Clock. It is not recorded on the Konstantin Scherbakov version of
the Triakontameron on Marco Polo. I can find no reference to
this miniature as belonging to this work. Perhaps it is a misprint and
actually should be No.23. The Musical Box?
The last piece of Godowsky and the last work on this
CD is an arrangement of Triana from Isaac Albeniz’s Iberia.
This is an excellent encore that deserves to be heard more. In fact
it is hardly ever played. Abbey Simon had played a triumphant concert
of music by Busoni, Chopin, Ravel and Rachmaninov. He chose this work
that is quite difficult to bring off well. Of course he succeeds! For
a description of this piece it is best to quite the words of Sorabji
in his book Mi contra Fa (1947) – there is little more to be
said. "Triana is a piece per se which requires highly proficient
execution for a correct interpretation, and therefore Godowsky does
not add many more technical difficulties. Rather he grants almost every
cadence with subtle modifications of a harmonic or decorative kind,
he carefully works out every detail, subjects the piece to a discrete
pianistic expansion so that in the end ‘Triana’ rises again, enriched
and glorified and by comparison the original sounds almost meagre and
weak so that one almost tends to believe that Godowsky’s version of
‘Triana’ sounds much more like Triana than Triana itself…’
The piece proves that it is possible for composers
to make transcriptions and arrangements of other composer’s music. Although
this practice is currently none too fashionable, the playing of Abbey
Simon proves that here we have a perfect fusion of two composers in
one piece of music.
Altogether this is an excellent second volume of excerpts
from the Husum Festival of Rare Piano music. It is a must for every
enthusiast of the huge literature of the piano.
Not only hidden treasures, rare finds and timely revivals
but superb playing. Good programme notes too.
John France
