SKU: BR.EB-9386
ISBN 9790004188569. 0 x 0 inches.
The Violin Sonata No. 1 in E minor, op. 73, a Grand Sonata for Violin and Piano, occupies an important position in Joachim Raff's oeuvre: it reflects numerous artistic, aesthetic, biographical, and reception-historical aspects characteristic of Raff. The work was composed in Weimar in 1854, when Raff was going through a process of artistic self-discovery. He increasingly distanced himself from his mentor Franz Liszt and intensively explored Wagner as well as the ideal of absolute music - this is also reflected in the music of the sonata. While Raff described the first two movements as objectified, he perceived the last two movements as a piece of him, that is, not free of extra-musical influences.The 1st movement, with its expansive main theme, is reminiscent of Mendelssohn; the 2nd movement reveals the refinement of classical-romantic work with musical material. The 3rd movement, with its partly rhythmic, virtuoso accompanying figures and harmonically advanced passages, allows a deeply romantic, almost tormented insight into a soul life a la Sturm und Drang. The partly irascible last movement revisits already familiar themes and thus creates a musical framework.In collaboration with the Joachim-Raff-Archiv Lachen (CH)First Urtext Edition of the Grand Sonata for Violin and Piano.
SKU: BR.PB-5708
ISBN 9790004216453. 6.5 x 9 inches.
When his musical triad op. 192 was created in the winter of 1873/74, Raff was one of Germany's most successful composers and the central artistic authority in the Hessian spa, royal residence and imperial city of Wiesbaden. With op. 192, Raff cultivated his reputation as an erudite composer who was a master of contrapuntal forms. By the time the string quartets were composed, he had already established himself as one of the most prolific and versatile suite composers of the 19th century, as is evident here in the various suite conceptions: Opus 192 No. 1 (in C minor), as Suite in the ancient style, has with Baroque labels stylized dance movements follow one another. Die schone Mullerin [The Fair Maid of the Mill] op. 192 No. 2 (in D major), on the other hand, interprets the suite as a sequence of chapters in a musical narrative and thus becomes probably the first tone poem in string quartet scoring. In the third quartet (in C major), of which Raff the artist was proudest, other genre designations mix in among the dance movements, and with its free succession of different movement types, not usual for a sonata, it preserves structural openness. In collaboration with the Joachim-Raff-Archiv Lachen (CH)Some eighteen years elapsed between Raff's first counted String Quartet op. 77 and his Quartets Nos. 6-8 op. 192, combined as one work. As such, Raff parted with the weighty single opus in quartet composition - without, however, sacrificing musical quality.
SKU: BR.PB-5708-07
SKU: BR.EB-9407
ISBN 9790004188811. 9 x 12 inches.
With his Six Morceaux , Raff created a collection of six short pieces with the aim of pleasantly entertaining many a listener and demonstrating that he was also capable of writing something easy. After all, he had made a name for himself in the years before with extremely demanding chamber music for renowned dedicatees. The Six Morceaux , dedicated to the violinist Ludwig Straus, on the other hand, are probably related to Raff's teaching activities at a private piano school in Wiesbaden at that time. Therefore, with the individual pieces varying in difficulty they are well suited for violin lessons without losing any of their musical ambition. The most famous piece is probably the Cavatina. Arranged for various scorings during Raff's lifetime, it continues to be one of the most popular Encore pieces altogether - Fritz Kreisler, Yehudi Menuhin and Itzhak Perlman have made recordings of the piece. They say that a piano quintet version was even heard on the Titanic . This modern Urtext edition is based on the first printing, supervised and initiated by Raff himself. In collaboration with the Joachim-Raff-Archiv Lachen (CH).