Gurn's Classical Corner

[Leo K.]

Currently listening to my recently arrived CD of Hasse's Requiem in C Major - I own a lot of Requiems but this is one of the most upbeat!  A celebration of life as discussed in Bruno's excellent comments from Amazon (quoted a few pages back by you) - also an excellent review from MusicWeb Reprinted HERE - for those into Requiems who do not own this one, then highly recommended!   

Thank you for the link to that great review from musicweb, of which I haven't seen yet.

I'm glad you liked the disc, and yes I agree, this is a rather joyous-sounding Requiem!

Well, quite simply, I am Hasse-free at the moment, so my contributions to this topic can only be minimal. His name is frequently tied to Graun's as a first-rate opera composer, and he was said to lack the spark of brilliance required to make an instrumental composer stand out from the crowd (that from a Haydn bio, so take it in that light). I guess I'll have to get myself up to speed, now he's been brought up...

As for the instrumental music of Hasse, I enthusiastically recommend this disk of concerti and chamber music for flute:



I read an interesting article regarding Hasse's Flute Concerti, by Pippa Drummond, and here is an excerpt:

One of the most noticeable features of Hasse's concertos is the sharp distinction between solo and tutti
sections. This is achieved not primarily by the use of contrasting solo material, but by a change of instrumentation. In solo passages the lower parts are dropped, leaving the accompaniment
to upper strings alone. The full orchestral tutti therefore has little to do except present the ritornello statements and make occasional interjections into solo episodes.

Handel's biographer John Mainwaring, after hearing Hasse's music in London, wrote:

He is remarkable for his fine elevated air, with hardly so much as the
shew of harmony to support it. And this may serve not only for a
character of HASSE in particular, but of the Italians in general, at the
time we are speaking of.

Stylistically, this concentration on melody is the most striking feature of Hasse's concerto writing. His aim was to present the one melodic line as clearly as possible, without the encumbrance of obtrusive accompaniment figures or distracting countermelodies. In this respect Hasse went further than many of his Italian contemporaries, for even Porpora and Leo admitted a certain amount of contrapuntal writing into their
concertos.

Hasse, on the other hand, was exceptionally rigorous in his avoidance of contrapuntal textures. He seldom
employed imitation, and fugal writing is rare indeed. There are only two fugal movements in the published concertos and each is disappointing. The first movement of Op. 6 No. 4 shows little inventive skill in either subject or countersubject, the part writing is clumsy, and the occasional crossing of violin parts serves little useful purpose.

Most of Hasse's concerto movements are written in a simple melody/accompaniment style. Textures are thin and clear, especially in solo episodes, where the accompaniment is often entrusted to first and second violins alone. The accompaniment itself is of the simplest kind. There is no attempt to utilize important motifs from the ritorello (as in the German tradition), or to enliven the texture with imitation. The violins merely provide unobtrusive support for the soloist, and their parts consist primarily of repeated quaver
figures. The texture of ritornello sections is richer, but equally transparent. For although the ritornellos may be scored for as many as six parts, extensive doubling reduces these to three.

Indeed, Hasse seldom wrote in more than three real parts. Nor may this feature be explained away in terms of the concertos' original instrumentation. It is a general characteristic of Hasse's style, and one which drew admiration from a rather unlikely quarter: according to Burney, C. P. E. Bach "once wrote word to Hasse, that he was the greatest cheat in the world; for in a score of twenty nominapl arts, he had seldom
more than three real ones in action; but with these he produced such divine effects, as must never be expected from a crowded score."

It is significant that whenever Hasse desired a light-textured accompaniment, as in the slow movement of Op. 6 No. 1, he thought in terms of pure string tone rather than the more brittle sound of string bass and keyboard continuo. This may perhaps be seen as part of the general decline in the importance of the continuo that was symptomatic of the disintegration of late Baroque style, and it is tempting to look for other
indications that Hasse had abandoned the ideals of the Baroque. One of the most obvious differences between his concertos and those of the older generation is that the soloist is not always expected to participate in the tutti sections. The flautist rests for long stretches in the first and third movements
of Op. 3 No. I0, and again in certain quick movements from the Op. 6 set. Historically, the omission of the soloist from tutti sections is of considerable significance, and Hasse's concertos provide an early, though by no means isolated, example of a practice that was to become widespread later in the century.

...In assessing the historical position of Hasse's concertos a comparison with Vivaldi's work is inescapable. Although structurally the concertos are closely allied to Vivaldi's ritornello form, stylistically they are more advanced. Some aspects of the new style, it is true, may also be found in Vivaldi's concertos; indeed, thin-textured accompaniments, repeated quaver figures, rapid changes from major to minor and syncopated themes are almost as prevalent in Vivaldi's concertos as in those of Hasse. But the latter went much further in the direction of pre-Classical music: his published concertos exhibit already the cliches of the transitional era.

Their graceful melodies, short-winded phrases, triplet decorations, slow harmonic rhythms and constant cadencing are all indications that the ideals of Baroque music were slipping away. It is significant that towards the end of his life Vivaldi was considered old fashioned by comparison with Hasse.
Charles de Brosses, writing from Venice in 1739, remarked:

To my great surprise I found that [Vivaldi] is not so highly esteemed as
he merits in this country, where everything is a la mode, where his works
have been heard for too long now, and where the previous year's music
is no longer a draw. Today the famous Saxon is the man of the moment.

Hasse's concertos bear the hallmarks of that new melodic style which emerged in Italy around the year 1720 and for which existing terminology has never been entirely adequate. Neither 'rococo' nor 'galant' really serves to distinguish this particular idiom from that of different transitional styles which were developing simultaneously in other parts of Europe. The new style was essentially Italian in its cultivation of pure
melody and in its subordination of more intellectual elements, and in particular it had Neapolitan associations, especially with opera. Hasse's dramatic music falls within this Neapolitan tradition. He spent several formative years in the city (from c. 1724 to 1730), and the style of his operas is similar to that of
other Neapolitan-based composers, among them Vinci, Sarri, Leo, Feo, Porpora and Pergolesi. The concertos are of the same lineage. The most pronounced characteristics of Hasse's concertos-the accent on melody, the three-part writing, light accompaniment of solo sections, aria-like slow movements and avoidance of compound time signatures-all these features have their counterparts in Neapolitan opera seria of the 1720s
and 30s.

[Leo K.]

However, Hasse is not only neglected these days, but also has been little recorded as far as I can see in looking on Amazon USA - I have just 2 other discs of his works, both instrumental (the one w/ Epoca Barocca is a great starter one for this genre of his output) and shown below, along w/ a picture of him.

So, just curious if others can provide some additional comments and recommendations regarding other available recordings?  Thanks all - 

   

Now this recording, with excerpts from every act of Hasse's great opera, Cleofide, is a fantastic taste of his opera style, and so far, the only sample I've heard of his operatic music. I'm going to need to hear more soon:



Here is a review on AMAZON:

HIGHLIGHTS FROM A FOUR DISC OPERA PRODUCED IN 1986.
Johann Hasse (1699-1783) studied with Porpora in Naples. He was the first composer to set many of Metastasio's texts, and his music reflects the neo-classical ideal of Metastasio's style. A powerful dramatist, he was renowned for his careful use of the accompanied recitative (this is evident in 'Cleofide'. Hasses's long career covered the period around the middle of the eighteenth century, and his later works reveal attempts at overall unity by means of tonal planning and a reaction against the 'da capo' aria like those of Gluck. In 1734, he became composer for the court of Dresden, becoming one of the most powerful exponents of the Italian operatic style in Germany. 'Cleofide' was first performed in Dresden in September of 1731.

Essentially, this work is based on the subject of jealousy, and has in general to do with conquest and the desire to be sole possessor of women and of kingdoms. This story idea is very reminiscent to me of the Gluck opera 'Iphigenie en Tauride'. In that opera the character 'Thoas' could be compared to Alexander in 'Cleofide', and in Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas' we would have to equate Aeneas to that role, albeit unwittingly on his part.

There are six main characters in this opera, all of whom perform their characterizations superbly: Emma Kirkby,soprano,Cleofide-Agnes Mellon, soprano,Erissena-Randall Wong, male sopranist,Gandarte-Derek Ragin,male alto,Poro-Dominque Visse,male alto,Alessandro-David Cordier,Timagene,male alto. One may think that with all these basically teble voices, that confusion would exist in the listening process, but the quality of each of them is so unique and so abviously different from one another it does not really present a problem. Those of you who have heard each or all or some of them will easily detect to whom you are listening. For example Visse's male alto voice is a bit rough and reedy whereas Cordier is somooth, rich and full. On the other hand, Ragin's voice is thin, but clear and clean sounding and he tends to sound more flexible. Wong, of course , is a male soprano and does not sound like Kirkby or Mellon who do not sound like each other. Enough said!

It would have to be very difficult to take from four discs of excellent arias and pick the 'best', but I think this recording presents a fair picture of the singers and what they did in 'Cleofide' (still available in the marketplace if you are interested). Anyway since not much information is included as to who sang what, at much investment of my time, here they are:
ACT ONE: Aria 'Che sorte crudele'(How cruel is the lot.)sung by Cleofide (Kirkby). Aria 'Ve drai con tuo periglio' (You'll see it at your peril.) sung by Poro (Ragin). Duetto 'Se mai piu saro geloso'(Should I ever be jealous again,)Cleo & Poro. ACT 2 Aria 'Appena amore sen nace'(As spun as Cupid is born)sung by Gandarte (Wong). Aria 'E ver che a l'amo intorno' (Circling the fishing hook) sung by Timagene (Cordier). Recitative 'Poro mio dolce amor'(Poro, my sweet love) sung by Cleo & Erissena(Mellon). Aria 'Se Costa tante pene amor a la belta'(If Cupid causes such pain)sung by Erissena. Aria 'Son qual misera colomba' (I am like the poor dove) sung by Cleo. ACT THREE: Aria 'Cervo al Bosco'(the stag in the wood) sung by Alessandro(Visse). Aria 'Dov'e? si affretti'(Where is he?) sung by Poro. Recitativo 'Secondate, O gran Numi'(Favor the magnaminous Gods) sung by Cleo. Aria 'Perder l'amato bene' (Loving one's beloved) sung by Cleo. CORO 'al nostro consolo'(Now that we are consoled.

The COMPLETE opera is a listening experience of excitement and beauty, and although I must confess that Hasse's music has not been one of my listening favorites, this work is an exception. The advantage of the highlights is, of course, that you need not listen to all of the recitatives, but truthfully I haven't minded even doing that at all. This approach is a great way to give you some idea of the entire opera.

[Leo K.]

Personally, Hasse's sacred music remains among the most powerful statements of beauty, classical logic, and mystical refinement from the 18th Century - at least out of what I've heard (so far) from this century 

Sonicman, if you and anyone else loves Hasse's requiems, I also want to mention these disks:

This disk is a sacred journey indeed, composed in 1783 and his last mass, where Hasse's sacred music plays majestic and profound.





And:



I'm listening to Hasse's Mass in D Minor right now, and again I'm taken by the classical beauty of the music, the logic of the phrases and turns of musical phrase in the melodies. The sense of sacred mystery is all over this D Minor Mass. Also, this recording has the deeply moving Requiem in E flat major from Johann David Heinichen (1683-1729).

[Gurn Blanston]

I read an interesting article regarding Hasse's Flute Concerti, by Pippa Drummond, and here is an excerpt:

One of the most noticeable features of Hasse's concertos is the sharp distinction between solo and tutti
sections. This is achieved not primarily by the use of contrasting solo material, but by a change of instrumentation. In solo passages the lower parts are dropped, leaving the accompaniment to upper strings alone. The full orchestral tutti therefore has little to do except present the ritornello statements and make occasional interjections into solo episodes.

Handel's biographer John Mainwaring, after hearing Hasse's music in London, wrote:

He is remarkable for his fine elevated air, with hardly so much as the shew of harmony to support it. And this may serve not only for a character of HASSE in particular, but of the Italians in general, at the time we are speaking of.

Stylistically, this concentration on melody is the most striking feature of Hasse's concerto writing. His aim was to present the one melodic line as clearly as possible, without the encumbrance of obtrusive accompaniment figures or distracting countermelodies. In this respect Hasse went further than many of his Italian contemporaries, for even Porpora and Leo admitted a certain amount of contrapuntal writing into their concertos.

Hasse, on the other hand, was exceptionally rigorous in his avoidance of contrapuntal textures. He seldom employed imitation, and fugal writing is rare indeed. There are only two fugal movements in the published concertos and each is disappointing. The first movement of Op. 6 No. 4 shows little inventive skill in either subject or countersubject, the part writing is clumsy, and the occasional crossing of violin parts serves little useful purpose.

Most of Hasse's concerto movements are written in a simple melody/accompaniment style. Textures are thin and clear, especially in solo episodes, where the accompaniment is often entrusted to first and second violins alone. The accompaniment itself is of the simplest kind. There is no attempt to utilize important motifs from the ritorello (as in the German tradition), or to enliven the texture with imitation. The violins merely provide unobtrusive support for the soloist, and their parts consist primarily of repeated quaver
figures. The texture of ritornello sections is richer, but equally transparent. For although the ritornellos may be scored for as many as six parts, extensive doubling reduces these to three.

Indeed, Hasse seldom wrote in more than three real parts. Nor may this feature be explained away in terms of the concertos' original instrumentation. It is a general characteristic of Hasse's style, and one which drew admiration from a rather unlikely quarter: according to Burney, C. P. E. Bach "once wrote word to Hasse, that he was the greatest cheat in the world; for in a score of twenty nominapl arts, he had seldom more than three real ones in action; but with these he produced such divine effects, as must never be expected from a crowded score."

It is significant that whenever Hasse desired a light-textured accompaniment, as in the slow movement of Op. 6 No. 1, he thought in terms of pure string tone rather than the more brittle sound of string bass and keyboard continuo. This may perhaps be seen as part of the general decline in the importance of the continuo that was symptomatic of the disintegration of late Baroque style, and it is tempting to look for other indications that Hasse had abandoned the ideals of the Baroque. One of the most obvious differences between his concertos and those of the older generation is that the soloist is not always expected to participate in the tutti sections. The flautist rests for long stretches in the first and third movements of Op. 3 No. I0, and again in certain quick movements from the Op. 6 set. Historically, the omission of the soloist from tutti sections is of considerable significance, and Hasse's concertos provide an early, though by no means isolated, example of a practice that was to become widespread later in the century.

...In assessing the historical position of Hasse's concertos a comparison with Vivaldi's work is inescapable. Although structurally the concertos are closely allied to Vivaldi's ritornello form, stylistically they are more advanced. Some aspects of the new style, it is true, may also be found in Vivaldi's concertos; indeed, thin-textured accompaniments, repeated quaver figures, rapid changes from major to minor and syncopated themes are almost as prevalent in Vivaldi's concertos as in those of Hasse. But the latter went much further in the direction of pre-Classical music: his published concertos exhibit already the cliches of the transitional era.

Their graceful melodies, short-winded phrases, triplet decorations, slow harmonic rhythms and constant cadencing are all indications that the ideals of Baroque music were slipping away. It is significant that towards the end of his life Vivaldi was considered old fashioned by comparison with Hasse.
Charles de Brosses, writing from Venice in 1739, remarked:

To my great surprise I found that [Vivaldi] is not so highly esteemed as he merits in this country, where everything is a la mode, where his works have been heard for too long now, and where the previous year's music is no longer a draw. Today the famous Saxon is the man of the moment.

Hasse's concertos bear the hallmarks of that new melodic style which emerged in Italy around the year 1720 and for which existing terminology has never been entirely adequate. Neither 'rococo' nor 'galant' really serves to distinguish this particular idiom from that of different transitional styles which were developing simultaneously in other parts of Europe. The new style was essentially Italian in its cultivation of pure melody and in its subordination of more intellectual elements, and in particular it had Neapolitan associations, especially with opera. Hasse's dramatic music falls within this Neapolitan tradition. He spent several formative years in the city (from c. 1724 to 1730), and the style of his operas is similar to that of other Neapolitan-based composers, among them Vinci, Sarri, Leo, Feo, Porpora and Pergolesi. The concertos are of the same lineage. The most pronounced characteristics of Hasse's concertos-the accent on melody, the three-part writing, light accompaniment of solo sections, aria-like slow movements and avoidance of compound time signatures-all these features have their counterparts in Neapolitan opera seria of the 1720s and 30s.

Thanks for that, Leo. Very interesting. I'll have to do some searching about. I thought I had that disk of trio sonatas on Chaconne that Dave rec'd, but since I can't find it, either I'm wrong else I've lost it...    So it goes.



----------------
Now playing:
Philharmonia Orchestra / Mackerras - Dvorak Op 088 Symphony #8 in G 3rd mvmt - Allegretto grazioso

[SonicMan46]

Hi Leo - thanks for all of the excellent series of posts!  Just coming back online for the night and see that you've changed your avatar!

There is so much to explore in Hasse's Oeuvre - of the instrumental works, the flute options I like, and of course so much vocal music, whether secular or sacred - looking forward to discovering more - Dave 

[chasmaniac]

This is an attractive Hasse recording on Hungaroton:

[Leo K.]

This is an attractive Hasse recording on Hungaroton:

Thank you for the heads up on this recording 

[Leo K.]

I have been listening to this composer, Wilhelm Wilms, for the first time by listening to his 6th Symphony, as recorded by Concerto Köln.

[asin]B00016OYNW[/asin]

Wow. Upon listening to this 6th Symphony I'm very moved by the nuances of the melody and orchestration.


Quoth the wiki:



Johann Wilhelm Wilms (1772-1847)

Wilms was born in Witzhelden near Solingen. After lessons from his
father and oldest brother in piano and composition, Wilms studied flute
on his own. He moved to Amsterdam in 1791 where he played flute in
two orchestras and was soloist in Mozart and Beethoven piano
concertos, giving them their Dutch premieres.

He also taught piano at the Koninklijk Nederlandsch Instituut voor
Wetenschappen, interviewed applicants for church organist positions,
judged composition competitions and wrote for the Allgemeine
musikalische Zeitung, a publication he once used as a soapbox to
complain about the lack of performance of music by contemporary
Dutch composers like himself.

As the events of the French Revolution affected the Netherlands,
Wilms wrote several patriotic hymns. However, following the fall of
Napoleon, and the return of the House of Orange to power, Wilms in
1816 won the open competition for the new Dutch anthem with Wien Neêrlandsch bloed
(with lyrics by Hendrik Tollens), leading to lots of commission from churches and other organizations.
For 23 years Wilms was the organist at a Baptist church in Amsterdam, where he died.

Symphonies

Wilms wrote seven symphonies, the one in F major was lost and the others sank into obscurity after his death. The chronology of the five early symphonies is not clear even to experts.

According to Ernst Klusen, the Finale of the E-flat major Symphony is modeled on that of Mozart's K. 543. His
Symphony No. 6 in D minor, which won first prize at the Société des Beaux-Arts Ghent, and Symphony No. 7 in C minor were recorded in 2003 by Concerto Köln for Deutsche Grammophon.

Due to a misunderstanding about publication dates, conductor Werner Ehrhardt at first thought that Wilms had lived in a later period and therefore had written music in an antiquated style. But after being straightened out, given the enthusiasm his ensemble felt for this music, Ehrhardt decided to record these two symphonies anyway. Scholars are more certain these are later works because of their use of cyclic form.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here is a review of this disk from Classics Today (by David Hurwitz)





This interesting disc introduces the two last symphonies of Johann Wilhelm Wilms (1772-1847), a noted Dutch composer who achieved international fame in his day. The two works here date from about 1820 and 1830 respectively. Symphony No. 6 requires the standard orchestra of double winds, horns, and trumpet, with strings and timpani, while No. 7 adds another two horns and three trombones. Each work lasts half an hour and offers the traditional stormy minor-to-triumphant-major tonal progress, though No. 7 is far more trenchant and powerful in this respect. Mozart and Haydn hang heavily over this music, more so than Beethoven, and if you enjoyed CPO's series of Ries symphonies, or perhaps Nils Gade, then you doubtless will like these as much, if not more.

Wilms was adept at musical gestures: both works open impressively, have interesting scherzos, and offer outer movements where rhetorically grand statements alternate with somewhat bland contrasting material. Thus, the concluding Rondo of the Sixth Symphony has lots of charm but exhibits little in the way of drama (as we have come to expect from Beethoven, who, judging from this and other contemporary competition, really did blow everyone else away). The slow movements also have charm, if not much depth, but the music's vigor and contrast certainly will hold your attention, and I found getting to know this music a very enjoyable encounter.

The performances are very good, although I still do not believe that the vibratoless string sound cultivated here was considered normal or attractive at any period in musical history, and the brass tend to blast at climaxes (some will find this exciting; I would prefer a larger string section to balance out the volume). Also, Werner Ehrhardt's heavy tempo in Symphony No. 7's concluding Allegro does not strike me as terribly "con fuoco" as Wilms directs, but in all other respects these enthusiastic readings make a good case for a composer who certainly had some attractive ideas. I would be very interested in hearing some of his (reportedly numerous) concertos, and meanwhile can recommend this without hesitation as a genuine novelty.


--David Hurwitz

[Leo K.]

I just heard Carl Loewe for this first time, his D minor Symphony, from this recording:



It is an exciting work, with a very interesting theme and variations for the Finale. All through the symphony Loewe displays a quality of fun and rhymic interest..I simply love it.

I've seen his songs mentioned on this forum, but not this interesting symphony. Has anyone else heard this work? The disk above is expensive on Amazon.

Quoth the wiki:




Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (30 November 1796, Löbejün – 20 April 1869), usually called Carl Loewe (sometimes seen as Karl Loewe), was a German composer, baritone singer and conductor. In his lifetime, his songs were well enough known for some to call him the "Schubert of North Germany", and Hugo Wolf came to admire his work. He is less known today, but sometimes his ballads and songs, which amount to over 400, are occasionally performed.

Life and career
Loewe was born in Löbejün and received his first music lessons from his father. He was a choir-boy, first at Köthen, and later at Halle, where he went to grammar school. The beauty of Loewe's voice brought him under the notice of Madame de Staël, who procured him a pension from Jérôme Bonaparte, then king of Westphalia, which enabled him to further his education in music, and to study theology at Halle University. This ended in 1813, on the flight of the king.

In 1820, he moved to Stettin in Prussia (now Szczecin in Poland), where he worked as organist and music director of the school. It was while there that he did most of his work as a composer, publishing a version of Goethe's Erlkönig in 1824 (written 1817-18) which some say rivals Schubert's far more famous version. He went on to set many other poets' works, including Friedrich Rückert, and translations of William Shakespeare and Lord Byron.

In 1821 he married Julie von Jacob, who died in 1823. His second wife, Auguste Lange, was an accomplished singer, and they appeared together in his oratorio performances with great success.

On 20 February 1827, he conducted the first performance of the 18-year old Felix Mendelssohn's Overture "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Op. 21. He and Mendelssohn were also soloists in Mendelssohn's Concerto in A-flat major for 2 pianos and orchestra.

Later in life, Loewe became very popular both as a composer and as a singer. As a youth, he had a high soprano voice (he could sing the music of the "Queen of the Night" in Die Zauberflöte as a boy), and his voice developed into a fine tenor. He made several tours as a singer in the 1840s and 1850s, visiting England, France, Sweden and Norway amongst other countries. He eventually moved back to Germany, and, after quitting his posts in Stettin after 46 years, moved to Kiel, where he died from a stroke on 20 April 1869.

Loewe wrote five operas, of which only one, Die drei Wünsche, was performed at Berlin in 1834, without much success; seventeen oratorios, many of them for male voices unaccompanied, or with short instrumental interludes only; choral ballads, cantatas, three string quartets (his opus 24[3]), and a pianoforte trio;[4] a work for clarinet and piano, published posthumously; and some piano solos. But the branch of his art by which he is remembered, and in which he must be admitted to have attained perfection, is the solo ballad with pianoforte accompaniment. His treatment of long narrative poems, in a clever mixture of the dramatic and lyrical styles, was undoubtedly modelled on the ballads of Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg, and has been copied by many composers since his day. His settings of the Erlkönig (a very early example), Archibald Douglas, Heinrich der Vogler, Edward and Die Verfallene Mühle, are particularly fine.

There are at least two symphonies by Loewe - one, in D minor, has been recorded on the Koch Schwann label together with the first of at least two CD recordings of Loewe's second piano concerto (in A major), and another, in E minor, was given its first performance in 170 years in November 2004.[5] (The cpo series of recordings of Loewe's complete ballads includes as well a recording of two piano sonatas and a "tone poem in sonata form", with one of the sonatas - the E major of 1829 - having a vocal part for soprano and baritone.

In 1875, at Bayreuth, Richard Wagner remarked of Loewe, 'Ha, das ist ein ernster, mit Bedeutung die schöne deutsche Sprache behandelnder, nicht hoch genug zu ehrender deutscher Meister, echt und wahr!' (Ha, that is a serious German Master, authentic and true, one who uses the beautiful German language with meaning, one who cannot be sufficiently revered!).

Musical style
Loewe's earliest songs, such as the Acht Jugenlieder and the Anakreontische Lieder, follow the musical pattern of the late 18th century tradition, using a single melodic line, basic accompaniment, and mostly strophic and varied strophic forms. Under Zumsteeg's influence, Loewe began incorporating and cultivating the ballad form into his vocal songs. When compared to other Lieder composers, Loewe's rhapsodic composition style is said to have "a striking absence of organic musical development" His settings of poetry separated poetic ideas and treated them episodically rather than using unifying motifs (like fellow Lieder composer, Franz Schubert). One of Loewe's strengths as a composer was his "daring and imaginative" accompaniments which were often complex and atmospherically appropriate to the text of the poem.

[Gurn Blanston]

I have been listening to this composer, Wilhelm Wilms, for the first time by listening to his 6th Symphony, as recorded by Concerto Köln.

[asin]B00016OYNW[/asin]

Wow. Upon listening to this 6th Symphony I'm very moved by the nuances of the melody and orchestration.

etc

I have that disk, it is super! The only other Wilms I have is this one, which has his along with contemporaries like Fodor:

[asin]B00005227U[/asin]. Nice disk to have, BTW.

[karlhenning]

The Corner is hopping!

[SonicMan46]

I just heard Carl Loewe for this first time, his D minor Symphony, from this recording:

 

It is an exciting work, with a very interesting theme and variations for the Finale. All through the symphony Loewe displays a quality of fun and rhymic interest..I simply love it.

Hello Leo - concerning Johann Wilms, I own just the disc inserted above - will need to give it a spin to refresh my aural memory; I've really not explored his other output or recordings.  Own nothing by Carl Loewe - so yet another 'unknown' to me; there are so many! Dave 

[Henk]

I have that disk, it is super!

Only rather a pity that it's performed by german artists, with a german conductor I think. So I can't listen to it anymore. I have many of the recordings by Concerto Koln. Interesting works, badly performed.

Henk

[Leo K.]

The Corner is hopping!

Yay! As this is my favorite place on the net 

[Gurn Blanston]

Only rather a pity that it's performed by german artists, with a german conductor I think. So I can't listen to it anymore. I have many of the recordings by Concerto Koln. Interesting works, badly performed.

Henk

Yeah, but I take everything you say with a grain of salt. My personal opinion is that works recorded by CK are ordinarily excellently performed. Being a Nationalist is all well and good, but when it blinds your ears to reality, then your credibility is sadly damaged. Pity that no Dutch PI orchestra thought the works even worth performing...

[Leo K.]

The only other Wilms I have is this one, which has his along with contemporaries like Fodor:

[asin]B00005227U[/asin]. Nice disk to have, BTW.

You had me at, fortepiano... 

[Leo K.]

Hello Leo - concerning Johann Wilms, I own just the disc inserted above - will need to give it a spin to refresh my aural memory; I've really not explored his other output or recordings.  Own nothing by Carl Loewe - so yet another 'unknown' to me; there are so many! Dave 

I'm very interested in looking into Carl Loewe's songs, around 400 or so, now that I've discovered his lovely symphony. Apparently, he is more known for his songs. I saw a post on this forum, regarding the series by the CPO (my favorite label) series of Loewe's songs. Looks like great stuff for a rainy day 

[Henk]

Yeah, but I take everything you say with a grain of salt. My personal opinion is that works recorded by CK are ordinarily excellently performed. Being a Nationalist is all well and good, but when it blinds your ears to reality, then your credibility is sadly damaged. Pity that no Dutch PI orchestra thought the works even worth performing...

Germans are people without desire, Gurn, kind of reluctant. That´s why I ban all things created by Germans out my life. Let them produce, not create.

I also would like to see Wilms´ works being performed by Dutch orchestras. I don´t know why they don´t. But it´s good that Sweelinck´s works are performed.

I would like to see more works by the composers which the Concerto Koln were playing some works of, are recorded by other orchestras. I think the Rosetti symphonies are recorded already, but what about Wilms, Rigel and Myslivecek?

Henk

[SonicMan46]

Only rather a pity that it's performed by german artists, with a german conductor I think. So I can't listen to it anymore. I have many of the recordings by Concerto Koln. Interesting works, badly performed.

Henk - boy, I guess that you're in a corner by yourself?     I enjoy Concerto Koln - heard them live back in 1996 on a visit to Italy (at La Scala in Milan - can't remember the program?) - loved them at that time and also have many of their recordings.

I'm listening to the Johann Wilms disc as I type - music well composed (not Beethoven) and performed w/ brilliance & gusto - love the winds; others think so too - attached are two reviews from Fanfare back in 2005, both lauding these performances.

Like you I own a number of their other recordings, e.g. the two pictured below are just excellent - for me at least, a THUMBS UP on this group!

 

[Henk]

If you ban German's from creating, then we are without Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mahler, Schoenberg ... .  Or do you make an exception for Austrians?

I talk about nowadays Germans.