Presents
Carl Reinecke
Serenade No.1 in C Major for Piano Trio, Op.126 No.1
Carl Reinecke (1810-1924)was born near Hamburg in the town of Altona, then in the possession of Denmark. Most of his musical training was obtained from his father, a respected teacher and author. Mendelssohn, Schumann and Liszt all were favorably impressed by him. Unlike many of his contemporaries, or even some of those composers who were younger such as Bruch, Reinecke was able to move beyond the music of Mendelssohn and Schumann, the musical idols of the mid 19 Century. Nowadays, Reinecke has been all but forgotten, an unjust fate for a man who excelled in virtually every musical field with which he was involved. Widely considered one of the finest concert pianists before the public for more than 30 years, his contemporaries also held him high regard as a composer. If this were not enough, he was a stellar conductor, who turned the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra into the leading orchestra of its day. Director of the famed Leipzig Conservatory, as a teacher of composition and of piano, he was considered to have few if any equals. Among his many students were Grieg, Bruch, Janacek, Albeniz, Sinding, Svendsen, Reznicek, Delius, Arthur Sullivan, George Chadwick, Ethel Smyth, Felix Weingartner, Karl Muck and Hugo Riemann. In his time, Reinecke and his music were unquestionably regarded as first rate.
In 1873, he wrote two serenades for piano trio, Op.126 Nos. 1 & 2. They were dedicated to his friend and fellow professor at the Leipzig Conservatory Salomon Jadassohn, like Reinecke a famous teacher of composition. Jadassohn had dedicated one of his piano concertos to Reinecke’s wife and Reinecke repaid the compliment by dedicating the serenades to Jadassohn. Serenade No.1 is in four movements. The middle movements have subtitles—Interzezzo and Fandango. The outer movements do not. The work opens with a lengthy Adagio introduction which leads to the main section, Molto moderato, which is in the style of a legend. The second movement, Intermezzo, allegretto is light and wistful. One wonders whether Reinecke ever heard a real Fandango, the subtitle to the third movement, marked Moderato molto. The rhythm is vaguely Spanish but the melody is not. Orientale might have been more suitable as a subtitle. The finale, a bright, upbeat Allegro con brio, has a Schumannesque lilt to it.
Tuneful and not hard to play, this Serenade makes an excellent choice for amateurs looking for a concert choice. Traditionally, the two serenades have been sold separately, however, we offer both at a special price.
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Serenade No.1 |
$24.95 |
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| Special Offer Serenade Nos. 1 and 2 | $39.95 |
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