Unrecorded piano concertos by English women

[albion]

Alice Mary Smith's symphonies are very small beer, though. I can think of many composers from that period who should be given priority - almost all men, admittedly. For goodness sake, we haven't even had Julius Otto Grimm's influential symphony recorded yet...

Who did it influence, and how?

Was it Brahms?

[eschiss1]

Possibly - Grimm and Brahms worked closely together (on e.g. the symphony early draft of the first piano concerto, I gather) and Grimm's symphony was published while Brahms was working on his first symphony (in 1875, specifically). Meat for another thread, if I may be so bold as to suggest.

[Alan Howe]

It's difficult for me to give details of the influence of Grimm's Symphony as it is the subject of a major book to be published which goes into this in detail. So, more on this at a later date...

[Gareth Vaughan]

Back to the ladies. As Eric has pointed out, Mary Smith's Introduction & Allegro is in the RAM - and, as I said, Dora Bright's A minor PC is there too.
But does anyone know the whereabouts of the other works Giles lists?

You see, the way I look at things, the announcement (for example): "X wrote 2 piano concertos which were performed in the 1920s." is mildly interesting until we learn that nobody knows where the scores are; then it is merely irritating. Much, much more interesting and exciting is something like: "X wrote 2 piano concertos which were performed in the 1920s. The MSS have lain forgotten in the Y since then."  Straightaway, we know the music exists and its merits can be assessed. Then, if deemed worthwhile, with a bit of effort performing materials can be generated and artistes interested, perhaps, in playing the stuff. Otherwise it's a bit like listing yet another corpse in the cemetery.

[giles.enders]

I put this list up because there are a number of sites dedicated to women composers which seem to be very well read.  Some of the composers died relatively recently and at least one of those listed is about to be recorded.  Joseph Street and Bluebell Klean were just names but I did some research and now we know a lot more about them though where the music is I have yet to find out. I was under the impression that this site was about making unsung composers less unsung. 

[Gareth Vaughan]

Please don't get the wrong idea, Giles.  This sort of research is extremely useful. It just becomes rather frustrating when one finds - as one so often does - that the scores of music which was played in its day and often critically well received has been lost. And for "lost" read, in so many cases, "actually just discarded" by ignorant relatives.  I suppose I'm a bit jaundiced because, over the years, I've spent quite a long time (and some money) on looking for the scores of forgotten works only to find they are indeed utterly lost owing to the carelessness of publishers or the lack of interest of next of kin.
I very much value your efforts in this field and I'm sorry if I gave offence by seeming to undervalue it.

Perhaps I'm just in a grumpy mood this morning. I should go back to bed and get out on the other side!

[eschiss1]

Hrm. Did I mention Marie Wurm's B minor piano concerto op21, in manuscript/autograph score at the Library of Congress? No, I don't think I did.
BBL.

[Gareth Vaughan]

But Eric, that's fantastic! I've been looking for that for ages. Years ago (pre-internet days), I wrote to Library of Congress and they told me they didn't have it. Do you have the Press Mark?
OK - found it in their online catalog. But why was I misinformed all those years ago - this would have been 1986-7, I think. Not so long ago, come to think of it. Ah well, even librarians can make mistakes. I do recall pointing out to them that a 3rd PC by Eduard Schutt which they listed was somewhat suspect as it had the same Op. no. as a solo piano piece. They investigated and confirmed it was a catalog error. There is no PC No. 3 by Schutt.

[albion]

Marie Wurm's B minor piano concerto op21

The name is new to me, as it may be to others, so here is some background information -



Mary Josephine Agnes Wurm (Southampton, 1860 - Munich, 1938)

Wurm, Mary Josephine Agnes [Marie] (1860–1938), pianist and composer, was born on 18 May 1860 at 11 Windsor Terrace, Southampton, the first of the ten children of John Evangelist Wurm (c.1828–1892), formerly of Oberdorf, Bavaria, and his wife, (Marie) Sophie Niggl (c.1838–c.1883), daughter of a village schoolmaster from Denklingen. The couple, both music teachers, had emigrated to Southampton on the advice of one of Sophie's elder sisters, Josephine, herself a music teacher recently settled in the city, who was the wife of Lorenz Herkomer and mother of the artist Hubert Herkomer. The Wurms set up house next door to the Herkomers in Windsor Terrace, but soon moved to Portland Street. Besides teaching German and music peripatetically, J. E. Wurm was organist and choirmaster of St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Bugle Street, for more than thirty years. Sophie Wurm taught singing, the violin, the piano, and the zither. Ambitious and well organized, she took the major share in promoting her children's interests. All ten were said to be musical. In addition to Mary, Mathilde Verne (1865–1936), Alice Barbara Verne (1868–1958) and Adela Verne (1877–1952) had professional musical careers. These three changed their surname from Wurm to Verne late in 1893 and worked chiefly in England, whereas Mary, often known in English sources as Marie Wurm, lived and worked mainly in Germany.

Mary was taken by her mother to Stuttgart in 1869, becoming a pupil at the conservatory. After returning to London in 1878, she had lessons from visiting pianists including Anna Mehlig, Mary Krebs, Józef Wieniawski, and Caroline Montigny-Rémaury. In 1880 she went to Frankfurt to study with Clara Schumann and Joachim Raff; she eventually made her London début in 1882 at the Crystal Palace under August Manns, playing Robert Schumann's piano concerto. Two years later she appeared at the St James's Hall 'Popular' concerts (in a Haydn trio) and won the Mendelssohn scholarship, which provided for composition studies with Sir Arthur Sullivan, C. V. Stanford, and Frederick Bridge; in 1886 she studied with Carl Reinecke in Leipzig. From this period solo playing gave way to chamber music, at the Princes' Hall in London as well as in Vienna and Frankfurt. Mary Wurm 'assisted' at concerts of such leading performers as Sophie Löwe, Ben Davies, and Tivadar Nachez, often playing her own works. Meanwhile she established a teaching connection in Germany. Her most remarkable solo appearance was undoubtedly that at the Queen's Hall, London, on 21 February 1895—an entirely extempore programme based on musical themes supplied by the audience and in sealed envelopes from 'music professors'. Described as clever but musically dull, the occasion was not repeated, and she returned to composition and teaching in Germany, notably in Hanover, Berlin (from 1911), Munich (from 1925), and later Berlin again. From 1898 to 1900 she conducted and toured with a women's orchestra in Germany. She died in Munich on 21 January 1938.

Wurm was a fluent composer of parlour songs and light piano works, many of them dances or duets, as well as women's part-songs and children's pieces designed for ready markets in Germany and Britain. These included a children's operetta Prinzessin Lisa's Fee (given in Lübeck, 1890) and two didactic works, Das ABC der Musik (Leipzig, n.d.) and Praktische Vorschule zur Caland-Lehre (Hanover, 1914). She also wrote a piano concerto, a violin sonata (op. 17), a cello sonata, a string quartet (op. 40), works for string orchestra, and a one-act opera after Goethe's Die Mitschuldigen (given in Leipzig, 1921).

Leanne Langley (ODNB)

Grove gives a more detailed work-list:

Stage: Prinzessin Lisa's Fee (Japanese children's operetta, 2), Lübeck, Stadttheater, Jan 1890; Die Mitschuldigen (op, 1, after J.W. von Goethe), Leipzig, Stadttheater, spr. 1921

Orch and chamber: Lullaby, vn, pf/vc, pf (? Leipzig, 1887), also arr. pf; Meteor-Walzer, str orch, also as Empire Waltz, pf (Leipzig, 1887); Clotilde Kleeberg Gavotte, str orch/pf (1889); Str Qt, Bb, op.40, 1894; Estera Gavotte, str orch/pf (?1898), vn, pf (1898); Concert Ov., orch; Dalila's Traum, str orch; Pf Conc., b; Vc Sonata; Vn Sonata, op.17; other pieces, vn, pf

Pf: Empire Waltz (Leipzig, 1887); Lullaby, op.7 (Leipzig, 1887); Suite, op.8 (1887); Barcarolle, op.22 (1892); Sylph Dance, op.23 (1892); 4 Duets, op.24 (1892); Valse de concert, op.27 (1893); Tanzweisen, 4 hands, op.28 (Leipzig, 1892); Suite, op.40 (1894); Fairy Music, op.44 (1894); Sonata; other pieces, some pubd

Partsongs (4 female vv unless otherwise stated): 5 Trios (S. G. Franz), 3 female vv (1890); About the sweet bag of a bee (R. Herrick) (1892); Einst thät ein Lied erklingen (F. A. Leo), op.33 no.1 (1892); Gute Nacht (Leo) (1893); Under the greenwood tree (W. Shakespeare) (1893); Wo nur dem Leben Lust erblüht (A. Kurs) (1893); One by One (V.E.A.C.), male vv, op.45 (1894)

Other vocal: Mag auch heiss das Scheiden brennen, solo vv, women's chorus, str orch/pf, op.39; songs (lv, pf) incl. O let me bathe my heart (Franz) (1888), The Scots Guards' Band is playing (Cornwallis West) (1894), 9 Lieder, op.25, 3 Lieder, op.55

and Nigel Burton gives a brief assessment -

Wurm's earlier works fall into two distinct stylistic categories, English and German, which merge in later compositions. Her German vocal music is heavily indebted to Robert Schumann's choral style of the late 1840s, but her English vocal pieces simultaneously look backwards to the 18th-century glee tradition and forwards to Ivor Gurney and George Butterworth (the part-song Under the greenwood tree anticipates the modality of the post-World War I English folk music revival). Her mature style is English in its quasi-contrapuntal aspects and lightness of touch, and German in its harmonic basis. Her piano music exhibits a fondness for neo-classical pastiche: the Musette from the D minor Gavotte (Three Pieces, 1887) is prophetic of Béla Bartók in its high, tinkling treble over a drone bass.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks very much, John, for the info on Mary Wurm, a name which I had come across in my Raff studies because, as your note states, she was a composition pupil of his at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt. Very good to put a face to the name at last. Her career summary implies that she was thoroughly Germanised by the 1900s and maybe stayed there throughout WWI.

If, by chance, there is a higher resolution version of the portrait, could I have the url or could you email it to me? Thanks.

[Lionel Harrsion]

In addition to Mary, Mathilde Verne (1865–1936), Alice Barbara Verne (1868–1958) and Adela Verne (1877–1952) had professional musical careers. These three changed their surname from Wurm to Verne late in 1893 and worked chiefly in England, whereas Mary, often known in English sources as Marie Wurm, lived and worked mainly in Germany.

My first piano teacher was a pupil of Mathilde Verne - that gives my age away!

[eschiss1]

One reason btw why (yes, no one asked me) why Wurm's concerto doesn't show up on Worldcat is because it's in the "old catalog" of the Library of Congress. They have a dozen items for instance by Joseph Street in their "old catalog" but while in that case I think all of the items show up in Worldcat it's all under other libraries- Free Library of Philadelphia, New York Public Library, etc. - for the same reason. LoC is not by any means the only ... well- (etc. ) - just as the RAM and RCM catalogs don't show up on Worldcat, likewise at least large swaths of a number of others don't. And while the LoC may not seem the most natural place to look for music by a British composer, it (if not necessarily its catalog...) has turned up music by certain not to be named Swedish and French composers in the past, so figured it was worth a go.

[thalbergmad]

The Introduction & Allegro by Alice Mary Smith has again reached the top of the pile of junk on my piano.

Andrew Morris at the RAM produced a good copy and it is well readable, but regretfully, reading full scores is not my strength. My initial impression of the piano part is that it could have been written in the 1820's and whilst it appears to be short of craft, I think I would be inclined to use the word "pianistic". A pianist with greater powers than me could probably produce a bit of excitement with all the arpeggios.

Perhaps it might get recorded in the future, but possibly one would be scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Concertingly.

Thal

[Ser Amantio di Nicolao]

In addition to Mary, Mathilde Verne (1865–1936), Alice Barbara Verne (1868–1958) and Adela Verne (1877–1952) had professional musical careers. These three changed their surname from Wurm to Verne late in 1893 and worked chiefly in England, whereas Mary, often known in English sources as Marie Wurm, lived and worked mainly in Germany.

Might that be Alice Verne-Bredt, perchance?  One of her trios has been recorded - lovely stuff:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=108725

But not half so lovely as the Ellicott on the same disc, which makes me pine for more of her work.  Indeed, I'd say that the Ellicott trio is one of the best discoveries I've ever made - lushly Brahmsian, with some heft behind it.  A treasure - a pity so much of her work seems to have been lost.

[febnyc]

Has anyone mentioned Miriam Hyde (1913-2005), Australian composer?

If I recall correctly, and I have to dig that ABC CD off my shelves, her two piano concertos are excellent - in a sort of Rachmaninoff-ian vein and thoroughly romantic.