One of several forgotten Romantic composers whose works
found a performance renaissance near the twentieth
century's end, Joachim Raff was the son of a German
organist from Württemberg. The family had modest
resources, and Raff's only formal education consisted
of teacher-training studies at a Jesuit school. But he
was determined on a musical career and taught himself
the essentials of composition.
Raff eventually sent some of his piano music to
Mendelssohn, who recommended them for pu...(+)
One of several forgotten Romantic composers whose works
found a performance renaissance near the twentieth
century's end, Joachim Raff was the son of a German
organist from Württemberg. The family had modest
resources, and Raff's only formal education consisted
of teacher-training studies at a Jesuit school. But he
was determined on a musical career and taught himself
the essentials of composition.
Raff eventually sent some of his piano music to
Mendelssohn, who recommended them for publication.
Encouraged, the young composer moved to Zurich,
continuing to teach himself from treatises. In 1845
Liszt played a concert in Basle, and, in a journey
reminiscent of Bach's supposed pilgrimage to hear
Buxtehude a century and a half before, Raff walked all
the way there to hear it. He met Liszt and showed him
some of his music; the great virtuoso-composer took
Raff back to Germany and got him a job in a music shop
in Cologne. However, Raff also became a critic, and his
writings so antagonized certain local personalities
that he was forced to leave the city. He settled in
Stuttgart, where he formed a lifelong friendship with
the conductor Hans von Bülow.
In 1846 he finally met Mendelssohn and made plans to
study with him. However, Mendelssohn died in November
of that year. Once again Liszt came to the rescue,
finding a job for Raff in Hamburg as a representative
of his publisher's firm, Schuberth. When Liszt gained a
position as kapellmeister in Weimar, he hired Raff as
an assistant. Like most composers, Liszt found the
mundane part of the job, like making fair copies of the
music to send to printers and extracting parts, to be
tedious and uncreative, and he was happy to be able to
delegate it to an employee; in addition, Raff
orchestrated some of Liszt's early symphonic poems
(some of which Liszt revised in later years when he was
more skilled at orchestration).
In 1856 Raff gave up that position and moved to
Wiesbaden to give piano lessons and compose. Raff had
closely studied music of past eras, and as a result he
saw his mission as one of reconciliation between the
latest developments in music and the techniques of the
past. Thus, many of his works combine Baroque
counterpoint and Classical forms with his own
generation's interest in program music. In 1877 Raff
was appointed director of the Hoch Conservatory, and
held the post until his death. He taught composition;
among his pupils was the American, Edward
MacDowell.
Raff's music was very highly regarded during his
lifetime, a judgment that has not been seconded by
history. Some commentators of the time ranked him with
Wagner and Brahms. His music is well crafted, with
brilliant orchestration and strong melodies; in fact,
its entertaining qualities, it is now clear, damaged
the music's durability by resembling too closely the
salon music of the time. He was highly prolific,
writing eleven symphonies (most of which have
programs), and numerous other symphonic works and
concertos. He wrote six operas, four of which have
never been performed, and a huge amount of piano and
chamber music.
PARTITION