Reicha's RomperRoom

Started by snyprrr, July 29, 2009, 11:08:15 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

SonicMan46

Well, has been over 3 years of dormancy here!  :(  8)

My Reicha collection consists mainly of his wind chamber music, including a 12-CD box of the Wind Quintets - BUT, appears that Toccata & Chandos have/are releasing sets of his solo piano music w/ pianists, Ivan Ilíc & Henrik Löwenmark - the current releases are shown below, included in a quoted post just left in the listening thread; attached are reviews of all discs shown, except No. 3 by Ilíc.

So, something new from Reicha - hope that some have heard both performers in these works and offer some comments - from the reviews I've read, appears to be a 'toss up'!  Dave :)

QuoteReicha, Antoine (1770-1836) - Piano Music w/ Henrik Löwenmark - from a Spotify playlist - 4 volumes; there is another 3 volume series now on Chandos w/ Ivan Ilić that was just mentioned in another thread; being a fan of Reicha's wind music, I was curious about his solo piano output - would be curious if anyone has heard both pianists in this repertoire?  If so, any comments?  Thanks - Dave :)



   

SonicMan46

Well, I was curious about the number of potential 'solo piano' CDs these two pianists might finally produce - so, looked at Reicha's output for the piano (Wiki source below) - he wrote a LOT!  The works are divided into those w/ Opus numbers (top of list) & those without a number (bottom portion) - also in the bottom pic are the recorded works on the 4 discs w/ Löwenmark - easy to match the Opus numbered works (in bold in the list) but nearly all of the recordings on V.4 have no numbers.  BOTTOM LINE - there is plenty more that could be recorded!  Dave :)

Works for piano solo (Source)
* Différentes pièces, Op. 23 (c. 1796–8)
* Rondos and a Fantasia (c. 1796–8)
* Twelve Fugues (Paris, 1800–01)
* Etudes ou Exercices, Op. 30 (Paris, c. 1800-01) (includes exercises 2, 9, 23 and 24 from Practische Beispiele) - V3
* Etude de transitions and 2 fantasies, Op. 31 (Paris, 1802)
* Fugue on a theme by Domenico Scarlatti, Op. 32 (Paris, 1802)
* 36 Fugues (Vienna, 1803) (includes Op. 32 as Fugue No. 9, a Fantasia from Op. 31, Etude No. 9 from Op. 30, exercises 10 and 22 from Practische Beispiele and "12 Fugues" of 1799 (no opus number). The opus number 36 is sometimes assigned to this work.)
* Sonata in E major, Op. 40 (Leipzig, 1803)
* L'art de varier, Op. 57 (Leipzig, c. 1803–4)
* Sonata in E flat major, Op. 43 (Leipzig, 1804)
* Three Sonatas (G major, B-flat major, E major), Op. 46 (Leipzig, 1804) - V1
* Sonata in E-flat (c. 1804-5)
* Two Fantasies (C major, F major), Op. 59 (Leipzig, 1805) - V1
* Fantasy in C minor, exercise 13 from Practische Beispiele, Op. 61 (Leipzig, 1807)
* Six Fugues, Op. 81 (Paris, 1810) - V2
* Variations, Op. 83 (Paris, before 1815)
* Variations on Charmante Gabrielle, Op. 85 (Paris, before 1815)
- La victoire (Allegro brillant), Op. 86 (Paris, before 1815)
* Variations on a theme by Gluck, Op. 87 (Paris, before 1815)
* L'enharmonique, piece no. 16 from Op. 97 (c. 1815)
* Etudes dans le genre fugué, Op. 97 (La fugue et le contrepoint, 34 études de fugues et contrepoint) (c. 1815-17)
* Fugue analysée sous le rapport de l'harmonie, in Cours de composition musicale (before 1818)
* Etudes de piano ou 57 variations sur un theme, suivies, variations on a theme by Grétry and a rondeau, Op. 102 (Paris, c. 1820) - V2
* Allegretto in A major (1822)
* Harmonie retrograde (1825)
* Fugue à 3 dans le style moderne (before 1826)

In addition, a number of undated pieces are known, among which are untitled pieces, sonata movements and the following titled works:
* Air de ballet
* Allegretto
* Andante varié
* Andantino
* Capriccio
* Fantaisie sur l'harmonie précédente, 5 fantasias
* Fantaisie sur un seul accord ("Fantasy on a single chord")
* Fantasia on a theme by Frescobaldi - V3
* La chercheuse d'esprit, arr. of 13 Fr. 16th-century ariettas
* L'espiègle
* Marche funèbre
* Marche funèbre, from "Musique pour célébrer.." (see Miscellaneous works for orchestra)
* Prelude in E-flat major
* Three Rondos
* Sonate facile (La pastorale)
* Sonata in F major (Variations on a theme by Mozart)
* Six Sonatas
* Variations in E-flat major



Brian

I have recently been enjoying a disc of Reicha's wind quintets with the Belfiato Quintet (Supraphon) and wondering why on earth I ignored his music for so long. It's delightful and endlessly creative in very small unflashy ways. Sort of like the windy heir to Haydn.

Hurwitz recently had huge praise for a Brilliant recording of the "quatuor scientifique" and mentioned Reicha's personal view that fugues could be composed on any subject, with the voices in any key. Now that sounds like something worth hearing.

SonicMan46

Quote from: Brian on January 09, 2021, 06:34:57 PM
I have recently been enjoying a disc of Reicha's wind quintets with the Belfiato Quintet (Supraphon) and wondering why on earth I ignored his music for so long. It's delightful and endlessly creative in very small unflashy ways. Sort of like the windy heir to Haydn.

Hurwitz recently had huge praise for a Brilliant recording of the "quatuor scientifique" and mentioned Reicha's personal view that fugues could be composed on any subject, with the voices in any key. Now that sounds like something worth hearing.

Thanks Brian for your post - the Wind Quintets are a delight - a half dozen years ago I settled on the set w/ the Westwood Wind Quintet, although others are available as shown below - I wrote to Crystal Records back then about the instruments used - quoted below is the response from Peter Christ, the oboist (date 2015) - believe the others are modern instruments, too.  Dave :)

QuoteHello David,

Always good to hear from a Reicha fan. We used modern instruments for all of the quintets. For our touch of historical authenticity, we did use the original Reicha manuscripts.

Good listening,

Peter Christ
Crystal Records Inc.

   

Brass Hole

#64
Quote from: Brian on January 09, 2021, 06:34:57 PM
I have recently been enjoying a disc of Reicha's wind quintets with the Belfiato Quintet (Supraphon) and wondering why on earth I ignored his music for so long. It's delightful and endlessly creative in very small unflashy ways. Sort of like the windy heir to Haydn.

Hurwitz recently had huge praise for a Brilliant recording of the "quatuor scientifique" and mentioned Reicha's personal view that fugues could be composed on any subject, with the voices in any key. Now that sounds like something worth hearing.

Did you know that a woodwind quintet didn't exist when Reich composed his first set? Anyone who shared living quarters with Beethoven is good in my book.
And this is an excerpt from his autobiography:
There was a dearth not only of good classic music, but of any good music for wind instruments, simply because the composers knew little of their technique. The effects that a combination of these instruments could produce had not been explored. Instrumentalists have made enormous strides in the past twenty years, their instruments have been perfected by the addition of keys, but there was no worthwhile music to show their possibilities. Such was the state of affairs when I conceived the idea of writing a quintet for a combination of the five principal wind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon). My first attempt was a failure, and I discarded it. A new style of composition was necessary for these instruments, which are between the voices and strings. Combinations of a particular kind had to be devised in order to strike the listener. After much thought and careful study of the possibilities of each instrument, I made my second attempt, and wrote two very successful quintets. A few years later I had completed the six that make up the first book [Op. 88].

There, a few Reicha PI recordings:



Notes on his 36 fugues Op 36:
Bold writing for the period. Makes high demands on the pianist's interpretive powers. Kind of a later Well-Tempered Clavier. Some fugues are based on subjects by other composers, such as Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Scarlatti.

PS. There needs to be a proper and informed discussion about the distinction between using period instruments and a historically informed practice somewhere sometime, especially for the past transition period. I have serious notes based on Bach Violin Sonatas.



SonicMan46

#65
Up to Reicha in a perusal of my collection - at the bottom is what I own of this 'windy composer', i.e. 21 discs w/ 12 in a box of the 24 Wind Quintets (by the Westwood Wind Quintet) (click to enlarge).  I just listened to this box sometime last year, so will do some selective listening to the other works starting w/ the ones shown below.

A year ago, I was posting about his Piano Works - there were then two collections of 3 discs & 4 discs each - some still available but at inflated prices, although there is Ivan Ilic's Vol. 2 on BRO for $8 USD - not biting at those larger prices but will keep tract on BRO.  Dave :)

     


SonicMan46

Quoted at the bottom, a post left yesterday (Aug 15) in the 'listening thread' - looks like the 'best deal' for the 12-CD Westwood box is at the Crystal Records website (link below) - BUT, the best 'complete' options for the 24 Wind Quintets are all on modern instruments - last year a post was left here showing several period instrument options.

As quoted immediately below is a list of these works composed from 1817 to 1820, so wind instruments would have been in a state of evolution and Reicha would have been composing for those period versions - currently listening to the Thalia Ensemble, a young group formed in 2011 in Amsterdam - seems like they have released just one disc of Reicha's quintets for winds on period instruments, as seen in the pic; listening now to their recording on Linn Records - attached some reviews which I'm in agreement - like the performance but some issues exist - thus, prefer the Westwood group - hoping that the Thalia Ensemble or some other PI band will come out w/ more Reicha!   :laugh: 8)  Dave

QuoteSix Wind Quintets (E minor, E-flat major, G major, D minor, B-flat major, F major), Op. 88 (Paris, 1817)
Six Wind Quintets (C major, A minor, D major, G minor, A major, C minor), Op. 91 (Paris, c. 1817-19)
Six Wind Quintets (C major, F minor, F major, D major, B minor, G major), Op. 99 (Paris, 1819)
Six Wind Quintets (F major, D minor, E-flat major, E minor, A minor, B-flat major), Op. 100 (Paris, 1820) (Source)

 

QuoteReicha, Anton (1770-1836)) - Wind Quintets w/ the Westwood Wind Quintet; 12-disc box (in individual jewel boxes so takes up some room!) - Amazon price is ridiculous - current offer at the Crystal Records website is $128 USD - believe I purchased the box there at $20 less on a deal a while back - BUT 10 bucks/jewel box is not bad if one wants all of these works?  Dave :)

P.S. When I bought the Westwood set, I emailed the oboist, Peter Christ, about the instruments used - he stated modern ones w/ 'period practices' (whatever that may mean?); also there is a less expensive CPO box (below right) of 10 CDs (less repeats probably), but also on MIs - I would love to hear these works on 'period instruments'.

P.S.S. ALSO - the Michael Thompson Wind Quintet on Naxos - believe have done most if not all 24 - in a box?  And modern instruments, I believe.

 

kyjo

Was recently listening to this fine disc which exceeded my expectations:



Reicha/Rejcha is perhaps best-known for being a radical musical experimenter (utilizing odd time signatures, polytonality, etc. in some of his works) but these three piano trios from 1824 contain none of that. That said, they do possess a quirky harmonic unpredictability (especially the first trio in E-flat), a fresh melodic inspiration, and joyously virtuosic writing for all three musicians. I would easily place these fine trios on par with Beethoven's "unnamed" piano trios (i.e. the ones besides the Ghost and the Archduke). What's more, they receive loving and fully characterized performances by the Guarnieri Trio Prague - not a hint of HIP "scrawniness" here! I'm definitely looking forward to exploring more of Reicha's sizeable output (though I do recall the recordings of his SQs on Toccata Classics not being up to par).
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff