Raff - Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 185 - Part 1/3

Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 185

I. Allegro
II. Andante quasi larghetto
III. Finale: Allegro

Composer: Joseph Joachim Raff (1822-1882)
Performer: Michael Ponti (piano) & Hamburg Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Richard Kapp

Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. He was largely self-taught in music, studying the subject while working as a schoolmaster. He sent some of his piano compositions to Felix Mendelssohn who recommended them to Breitkopf and Härtel for publication. They were published in 1844 and received a favourable review in Robert Schumann's journal, the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, which prompted Raff to go to Zürich and take up composition full time.

In 1845, Raff walked to Basel to hear Franz Liszt play the piano. After a period in Stuttgart where he became friends with the conductor Hans von Bülow, he worked as Liszt's assistant at Weimar from 1850 to 1853. During this time he helped Liszt in the orchestration of several of his works, claiming to have had a particularly big part in orchestrating the symphonic poem Tasso. In 1851, Raff's opera König Alfred was staged in Weimar, and five years later he moved to Wiesbaden where he largely devoted himself to composition. From 1877 he was the first Director of, and a teacher at, the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt am Main. There he employed Clara Schumann and a number of other eminent musicians as teachers, and established a class specifically for female composers (this was at a time when women composers were not taken very seriously). His pupils there included Edward MacDowell and Alexander Ritter. He died in Frankfurt am Main.

Raff was very prolific, and by the end of his life was one of the best known German composers, though his work is largely forgotten today (only one of his pieces, a cavatina for violin and piano, is performed with any regularity today, sometimes as an encore). He drew influence from a variety of sources - his eleven symphonies, for example, combine the Classical symphonic form, with the Romantic penchant for program music and contrapuntal orchestral writing which harks back to the Baroque. Most of these symphonies carry descriptive titles including In the Forest (number three), Lenore (No. 5) and To the Fatherland (No. 1), a very large-scale work lasting around seventy minutes. His last four symphonies make up a quartet of works based on the four seasons.

The Lenore symphony, famous in its time, was inspired by a ballad by Gottfried August Bürger that also inspired works by several other composers, including Maria Theresa von Paradis (1789), Henri Duparc, Franz Liszt (late 1850s, mentioned by Alan Walker in his Liszt biography vol. 2), for example.

Raff also composed in most other genres, including concertos, opera, chamber music and works for solo piano. His chamber works include two piano sonatas, five violin sonatas, a cello sonata, a piano quintet, two piano quartets, a string sextet and four piano trios. Many of these works are now commercially recorded. He also wrote numerous suites, some for smaller groups (there are suites for piano solo and suites for string quartet), some for orchestra and one each for piano and orchestra and violin and orchestra.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Raff

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Joachim
• Raff
• Piano
• Concerto

[tHEnOOSEsWING]

I would have walked water to hear Franz Liszt play. What fascinating and also refreshing piano music and the orchestration is broadly based with many light tones and incisive boardering: decorative tonal colour. This is my first exposure to Joseph Raff, and thank you Amy for another beautiful set.

[Kreisleriana80]

This piano concerto is amazing, very romantic! I would love to play it someday! Is it difficult to find the sheet music? Thanks for uploading such an interesting music!

[RollaArtis]

A forgotten composer indeed - I recently walked past Victoria Hall in Geneva (built C.1890) and noted that the facade is inscribed with legendary composers such as Mozart Beethoven Liszt Wagner alongside Cherubini, Balfe (?) and also Raff. I dare say the music by these last two were extremely popular at the time and were regarded as major figures but it's surprising how reputations fade. To me much of Raff's music seems highly forgettable, but maybe he did compose something really interesting?

[bboydaduke]

The coda starting at 9:42 reminds me of Schumann's piano concerto in structure, the music has a very steady rhythm that builds in intensity until the soloist plays fortissimo octaves.

Very romantic!

[HURLEYP]

Another very pleasant work he wrote, in the same style as this, is "Ode to Spring" - Piano & Orchestra - more like a concert piece.

[gerardbedecarter]

thanks for uploading this interesting concerto!

[Balancement]

@Clivejvaughan

Although more well known as a composer, you should try and track down a good recording of the original and uncut version of Tchaikovsky's 2nd Piano Concerto in G Major. Far better than his famous First PC, it's rarely performed or recorded and one of the best pieces Tchaikovsky ever wrote. Just make sure you get the *original* version as Tchaikovsky wrote it and not with the awful Ziloti cuts and you'll discover a brilliant, revelatory, and amazing work!

[Clivejvaughan]

Very pleased to have found yet another composer of attractive, easily listenable works to improve my musical education. Thank you (and for the extensive bio. !).

[uhartchristian]

nice , pleasant, well done by someone who knows how to compose. but inspired as the concertos of chopin or Liszt , I don t think so.

reminds me of less known russian composers of this period who are also more or less forgotten.

but anyway thanks for sharing, it is always interesting to hear something "new"

[Dogsledfan]

The concerto is reproduced in its entirety at the IMSLP website. Personally, I believe this is one of the BEST PC's written in the Romantic era. We've become so "brainwashed" by the mere handful of concertos that everyone plays that we forget about such as these )-:

[radioplug14]

Raff is an interesting person for me. He was very popular when he lived, but is rarely studied today. In my opinion, he was a better pedagogue of composition as he taught Edward MacDowell. But that is personal preference. This piano concerto is "ok." It's tough to compare with the other great Romantic piano concertos (Grieg, Rach, Chopin, etc)