Sheet music
Composer(s):
Publisher(s):
Publishernumber:
BPA1813
Instrument(s):
Overige informatie:
edited by Bernhard Pauler
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Concert practice at the end of the 19th century sought stylistic unity and stilistic purity. This musical reformation led the new species of conductors-only or performers-only to fix the boundaries of their repertoire. Their canon of values still 'weighs' heavily upon the immense and timeless legacy of the so-called minor masters of this romantic heyday. Having disappeared from programmes, their works are only now being rediscovered. One of them was Ferdinand Manns, born on 27th August 1844 in Witzenhausen on the Werra. Introduced to the piano very early on by his parents, he began learning the violin at age 10 in Cassel, where he also studied composition with Otto Kraushaar. From the age of 17, he worked as violinist in several orchestras, including from 1866 on the theatre orchestra in Bremen. He esperienced his first success as a composer with stage and curtain music written for plays and tragedies at this theatre. Three symphonies and a wealth of programmatic orchestral pieces as well as numerous chamber music works, some with didactic aims, soon enhanced his reputation. In 1888 he was appointed concertmaster in the Oldenburg court orchestra. In 1891 he was chosen to succeed Albert Dietrich (1829-1908) as the orchestra's conductor. Ferdinand Manns died on 26th July 1922 in Oldenburg. We shall never be able to sift, tend or cultivate Ferdinand Manns' entire output, for the greater part of those works not published during his lifetime was destroyed in a World War II air raid on Bremen, including concerti for violin, viola, violoncello, flute and clarinet (one each). His published chamber music is well worth seeking out and reprinting: It offers perfectly crafted treasures of intimate music-making with a hint of the Biedermeier period. His recital pieces are eminently suited to festivities: the 'Andante religioso für violin, viola and organ or harmonium, op. 14' (Amadeus BP 1088), published in 1872 and 'Ein Altarblatt', an 'Adagio for violin, viola,violoncello and organ or harmonium, op. 27', first published around 1878 (Amadeus BP 1087). Both pieces are notable for their lyrical melismas and finely tuned balance between background rhetoric and competition for instrumental expression. Ferdinand Manns also cultivated a combination which, while omitting the violoncello, nevertheless achieves a full and mellifluous sonority between three violins and a viola. Apart from the G major Serenade, the Trio op. 15 (Amadeus BP 2068) and the three Trios (in first position) op. 16 for 2 violins and viola, he also left us his terrific op. 39, whose title reads: / kleine Quartette / für / 3 VIOLINEN UND VIOLA. / (In der ersten Lage.) / Zunächst zur Übung im Zusammenspiel und zur angenehmen Abwechslung innerhalb des Lehrganges / componirt von / Ferd. Manns. / Op. 39. - Preis M 3.- / Zum Gebrauch eingeführt in den fürstlichen und großherzogischen Conservatorien zu Sondershausen u. Darmstadt, im Conservatorium zu Bremen u. der Musikschule zu Cassel / Bremen, A. F. Fischer. To symbolize the movements' character, Manns gave them descriptive titles: a 'Song without words' gives way to a glide 'On calm waters', followed by a brilliant 'Perpetuum mobile'; a pensive 'Little Serenade' concludes the quartet. Manns really indulges the string players!
Composer(s):
Publisher(s):
Publishernumber:
BPA1813
Instrument(s):
ISBN:
9790015181306
Number:
730022
Overige informatie:
edited by Bernhard Pauler
