Recently Published Chamber Music

Only now, nearly a century and a half after her death is the Mexican composer GUADALUPE OLMEDO (1853-1889) and her music receiving some of the recognition which they deserve. One such piece is her QUARTETTO STUDIO CLASSICO, a work for string quartet dating from the mid 1870s and for which she was awarded the silver medal for compositional excellence from the Mexican Philharmonic Society. This was the first string quartet ever written by a Mexican composer and it certainly did not deserve to disappear unpublished for nearly 150 years. Although historically important, this beautiful work can stand on its own merits. Good for concert and home music makers.	AUGUSTE DE SAYVE (1790-1854) was a true "Renaissance Man".A member of the French nobility, he was not only a composer and excellent pianist, he was a famous author of travel books, an important painter whose works are in museums and lastly an officer in the Napoleonic Army who served in several campaigns, including the 1812 Battle of Borodino in Russia His Quintet in E flat Major for Piano and Winds was dedicated to his teacher, the famous pianist and composer. Johann Nepomuk Hummel. A worthy piece for concert which can be recommended to amateurs if they have a technically assured pianist.
It is fair to say that JOHANN PIXIS (1788-1874) was a complete musician. He was a virtuoso pianist whom Parisian critics considered the equal of Liszt and Chopin. He was a touring soloist and he often toured as a member of various piano trios, first with his father and brother and then later with the Bohrer Brothers Anton and Max, Anton a virtuoso violinist and Max a virtuoso cellist. Pixis was also an important composer whose works were not only praised by critics but also were favorites with audiences. In Paris, when Lizst gave piano trio concerts with a trios by Beethoven and Pixis, the critics as well as the audience preferred the trios of Pixis. He wrote a great deal of chamber music and the Trio Concertant No.1 was a work he often took on tour with the Bohrer brothers.	Virtually all of the chamber music that RICHARD STRAUSS (1864-1949) composed was written before 1900 with the exception of his STRING SEXTET FROM THE OPERA CAPRICCIO which initially was not intended to be a stand alone piece of chamber music but only as an introduction to the first scene of his opera Capriccio. However, soon after finishing the opera in 1942, Strauss changed his mind and permitted the work to published as a stand alone piece of chamber music. It is a work full of charm and elegance and one which can certainly serve for a shorter entee in a sextet concert. It is also well within the range of experienced chamber music amateurs.
While he was alive and throughout the first half of the 19th century, the name of FRANZ KROMMER (1759-1831) was routinely mentioned, along with those of Haydn and Mozart, as one of the three most important composers of string quartets from the classical era. (Beethoven being considered a Romantic era composer) Krommer's quartets were sought after by the leading publishers of the day and were immensely popular throughout Europe and even reached the United States. They could regularly be found along side of the quartets of Mozart and Haydn on chamber music programs. His STRING QUARTET IN B FLAT MAJOR was a typical example of a work which would appear on those programs but would also have been popular among Vienna's home music making amateur ensembles.	It is hard to believe, when you hear the NONET IN F MINOR FOR WINDS, STRINGS AND PIANO that is was composed by an 18 year old boy who was a student at the Royal College of Music in London. But, in fact, that was the case when SAMUEL COLERAGE-TAYLOR (1875-1912) finished putting pen to paper in 1894. The manuscript to this fine work lay moldering in the library of the RCM until it was finally discovered more than 100 years after it was composed. We are pleased to present an affordable edition of this outstanding work which shows the influence of Dvorak and Brahms. Virtually one of a kind, it is sure to be a success in concert and can also be recommended to amateurs.
Up until LOUISE FARRENC (1804-1875) appeared on the scene there were no women professors at the Paris Conservatory. It was only in 1842 that whe was appointed permanent Professor of Piano. She was the only woman to serve as a professor at that Conservatory througout the 19th century. Besides being one of the leading piano soloists of the day, she was also a first rate composer and several of her compositions also contributed to her appointment. Her PIANO TRIO NO.1 IN E FLAT MAJOR was the kind of work which showed that she was a first rate composer. This piano trio, in many ways, harks back to Beethoven's early piano trios as her model, both in the writing and the treatment of the instruments. It is an appealing work filled with fetching melodies and one which certainly deserves concert performance. And, it is also a work which can be managed by amateurs with a first rate pianist.	To say that JOHANN BAPTIST VANHAL (1739-1813) was on friendly terms with most of the prominent composers then active in Vienna during the classical era would be no exaggeration. Reports survive of him playing the cello in a quartet with Dittersdorf on first violin, Haydn on second violin and Mozart on Viola. Mozart was impressed enough by Vanhal's music to perform several of his violin concertos and conduct his symphones. For the last half of his life, Vanhal had no patron or steady salary and made his living writing for the emerging home music making market. His TRIO FOR CLARINET, VIOLIN AND CELLO IN B FLAT MAJOR is an excellent example of the type of work he produced for this market. Well-crafted and fun to play, it enjoyed considerable popularity and as such received several reprint editions. This is a fine choice for amateur ensembles or student groups looking to present a professional sounding work for recital.
Most scholars believe that one of the most trusted biographies, in fact the first biolgraphy, of Beethoven, was by his friend, student, copyist, and agent FERDINAND RIES (1784-1838) who was a virtuoso pianist, fine violinist and first rate composer. His STRING QUARTET NO.19 IN C MAJOR is just one of several such works which remained moldering away in a German state library in Berlin until recently.This appealing early Romantic era work is an example of Ries' fine compositional talent as well as his gift for melody. It would make an excellent choice for concert but can also be recommende to amateur ensembles..	Today, the name of the composer ANDREAS HALLEN (1846-1925) is virtually unknown outside of his native Sweden. But during his lifetime, it was known not only in Sweden but also in Germany and Austria. Despite the fact that the few pieces of chamber music he wrote received ringing positive reviews upon their premiers, soon after they all inexplicably disappeared from the concert hall.. His very well-written PIANO QUARTET IN D MINOR is elegant, graceful and romantic, reflecting his training from his teachers at the Leipzig Conservatory who idolized Schumann and Mendelssohn. It is a work which will be enjoyed by audiences who hear it in the concert hall and also by amateurs since it is not at all hard to play.