Presents

Ferdinand Manns

4 Kleine Quartette for 3 Violins and Viola

Ferdinand Manns (1844-1922) was born in the German town of Witzenhausen in Hessen. He was given both piano and violin lessons as a youth. Later he studied composition. By the age of 17 he was playing violin in several north German theater orchestras, primarily in Bremen. He began composing seriously while working in Bremen and began conducting as well. His orchestral works and his chamber music enjoyed considerable popularity. In 1888, upon the recommendation of Hans von Bülow, Manns was appointed concertmaster of the Oldenburg court orchestra. When the director of the court orchestra Albert Dietrich retired in 1891, Manns was able to prevail against strong competition, which included Max Bruch’s nephew and a Hamburg choir conductor recommended by Johannes Brahms and gained the position of director, a position he held until his retirement in 1913.

The 4 Kleine Quartette (four small quartets), Op.39 date from 1887 just before he left for Oldenburg and were published the following year by a A.E. Fischer, a Bremen music publisher. Each quartet is very different from the others and each is given a title. The first is Song without words, then comes On calm waters, followed by a Little Serenade and finally Perpetual motion.

Tune and easy to play, they can be warmly recommended to amateurs looking for an effective concert choice. Any one of these makes a fine encore and together they can take the place of a regular quartet.

Parts: $19.95