Franz Liszt (1811-1886): piano Works Vol. 14 No composer was as prolific in the art of transcription as Franz Liszt. If one were to play only Liszt's...
Franz Liszt (1811-1886): piano Works Vol. 14
No composer was as prolific in the art of
transcription as Franz Liszt. If one were to play only Liszt's paraphrases,
reminiscences, transcriptions, free arrangements or improvisations, it would
take at least sixty hours non-stop. No matter how important (the Beethoven
symphonies, for example) or inconsequential the original was (for example,
Pezzini's mazurka Una Stella arnica)- all was grist for Liszt's
transcription mill.
Ferdinand David (1810- 1873) was an eminent
German violinist and teacher. He was born in Hamburg and studied with the
renowned composer Ludwig Spohr and the equally celebrated theorist Moritz
Hauptmann at Kassel. Both Spohr and Hauptmann were superb violinists, and it is
no surprise that David became one of their prize pupils. At the age of fifteen,
he played in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and two years later became a
member of the Konigstadt Theatre Orchestra in Berlin. He became first violin in
the private quartet of a wealthy and influential amateur, Baron von Liphardt,
whose daughter he later married. David lived in Russia unti11835, when, at
Felix Mendelssohn's insistence, he was appointed the leader of the Gewandhaus
Orchestra in 1836. When the Leipzig Conservatory was opened in 1843, David
became violin professor there. He was so influential and important that during
his lifetime the Leipzig Conservatory became most famous as a finishing school
for violinists. According to contemporary sources, David presided over the
Gewandhaus Orchestra "with the rigour of a martinet. And as leader of the
orchestra he had the wonderful faculty of inspiring the players with his own
enthusiasm." As a teacher he was "obeyed with fear and trembling as a
drill-master, and admired as a virtuoso combining the sterling qualities of
Spohr's style with the greater facility and piquancy of the modern school,
David was revered as the teacher of the most distinguished violinists of the
time, among them being August Wilhelmj and Joseph Joachim."
Ferdinand David's student editions of classical
works embraced nearly all compositions of the standard violin literature of the
time. Felix Mendelssohn became David's close and warm friend, frequently asking
his advice and deferring to his judgement, probably the most famous instance of
this being Mendelssohn's famous Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64. During
its writing David was continually consulted, and he also gave the first
performance of he work in Leipzig in March 1845. When Mendelssohn died two
years later, David was one of the pall-bearers at the funeral service in the
Pauliner-Kirche, with Hauptmann, Gade and Moscheles. Despite his success as a
violinist and teacher, David the composer has been almost completely forgotten.
He wrote two symphonies, five violin concertos, the opera Hans Wacht (1852),
a sextet, string quartet and numerous other chamber works, including pieces for
violin and piano. The author musicologist and editor of Liszt' s letters, La
Mara (Marie Lipsius), gives a list with fifty opus numbers.
In examining Ferdinand David's compositions, one
is struck by his accomplished musical language. His music does not astonish,
nor does it leave a lasting impression. What we find is workmanlike
fastidiousness. His music does not have the abandon of Liszt, nor the flights
of fancy of Mendelssohn, nor the recognisable style of Schumann. David's music
is simple, understated and often elegant. The symphonies and violin concertos
are perhaps his best works, and they represent some of his most energetic and ambitious
efforts. In these works we hear a composer who had enormous musical feeling and
understanding, who knew his audience and who created music for a time and place
now long gone. Having given this somewhat less than inviting assessment of
David's compositional abilities, we must note that the music was successful and
much admired in his day. A re-examination and recording of his major works is
definitely warranted.
Franz Liszt work closely with David on various
occasions. He gave David much support and even recommended the publication of
the Bunte Reihe to a publisher in France. The unusual nature of David's Opus
30 is that he created a work traversing the 24 major and minor keys. Bunte
Reihe, literally translated, means "varied series" - a varied
series of violin and piano pieces. "Moods" is, perhaps, a more
fitting description of these nostalgic and lyrical pieces They are miniature
snapshots of a more sentimental time. Liszt combines the violin line with the
piano part to create a seamless set of pieces. In Liszt's version, we do not
have any sense that they were not originally written for solo piano. As a
result, there are some pianistic difficulties, for example in the Etude.
Toccata, the Allegro agitato, and the Scherzo, which are more
easily played on the violin. Liszt was much taken by the nineteenth piece in
the set, the Ungarisch, and wrote two versions. The second version is
more military in flavour, and cast in a more improvisational language. Rather
than separating the two versions, Valerie Tryon plays them back-to-back, as
published in the original complete Kistner edition.
Marina and Victor Ledin
Valerie Tryon
Valerie Tryon's career as a concert pianist began when she
was still a child. Before she was twelve she had broadcast for the BBC, and was
appearing regularly before the public on the concert platform. As a scholarship
student at the Royal Academy of Music she won many prizes, receiving the
highest award that is conferred on a performer. In 1955 she was awarded the
coveted Boise Scholarship which enabled her to study in Paris with Jacques
Fevrier. A year later, she became a prize winner at the Liszt Competition in
Budapest. Her place among Britain's acknowledged artists was assured when a
Cheltenham Festival debut recital in 1959 brought her the enthusiastic acclaim
of the country's foremost critics. She has given concerts throughout the world
and in 1967 was presented with the Harriet Cohen Award in recognition of her
services to music. Her repertoire ranges from Bach to contemporary composers
and includes over fifty concertos. Now a resident of Canada, Valerie Tryon is
pianist-in-residence and faculty member at McMaster University, Hamilton,
Ontario.