Emánuel Moór

[Alan Howe]

One of the most prolific of unsung composers is Emánuel Moór...

Emánuel Moór (19 February 1863, Kecskemét, Hungary  – 20 October 1931, Chardonne, Switzerland) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and inventor of musical instruments.
Moór studied in Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. Between 1885 and 1897 he toured Europe as a soloist and ventured as far afield as the United States. Besides five operas and eight symphonies his output also included: concertos for piano (4), violin (4), cello (2), viola, and harp; a triple concerto for violin, cello, and piano; chamber music; a requiem; and numerous lieder.
His best-known invention was the Emánuel Moór Pianoforte[1], which consisted of two keyboards lying one above each other and allowed, by means of a tracking device, one hand to play a spread of two octaves.[2] The double keyboard pianoforte was promoted extensively in concerts throughout Europe and the United States by Moór's second wife, the British pianist Winifred Christie.
Maurice Ravel said that the Emánuel Moór Pianoforte produced the sounds he had really intended in some of his works, if only it had been possible to write them for two hands playing on a standard piano.[3]
Moór and Christie also collaborated on a book of technical exercises for the instrument.

Works in detail:
(The Moor archive is held at Westminster Music Library, Victoria, London)

Symphonies:

No.1 in E minor, no opus no. (1893) - MS
No.2 in C major 'In Memoriam Ludwig Kossuth', no opus no. (1895) - Simrock 
No.3 in D minor, Op.44B (1895) - pub. Rozsavölgyi
No.4 in B flat, no opus no. (1898) - Schmid
No.5 in A minor, Op.53B (1901) - unpub.
No.6 in E minor, Op.65 (1906) - pub. Siegel
No.7 in C major, Op.67 (1906) - pub. Siegel
Pensées Symphoniques, Op.75 (1908) - pub. Mathot
No.8 in A minor, Op.92 (1910) - unpub.

Piano Concertos:

no opus no. (1886) - MS
(?Pirani lists another Piano Concerto from the same year, 1886 - MS)
No.1 in D major, no opus no. (1894) - pub. Simrock
No.2 in C minor, Op.46A (1888) - pub. Rozsavölgyi
No.3 in D flat, Op.57 (1901?) - pub. Siegel
No.4 in E flat, Op.85 (1908?) - pub. Mathot
Concertstück, Op.88A (1909?) - pub. Mathot
Concertstück, Op.113 (1910?) - pub. Mathot
Rhapsody in B major, Op.143B (1912?) - unpub.
Suite in A major (1914) - MS

Violin Concertos:

No.1?, no opus no. (1886) - MS
(?Pirani lists another Violin Concerto from the same year, 1886 - MS)
No.2 in G major, Op.62 (1905) - pub. Simrock
No.3, Op.66 (1906?) - pub. Siegel
No.4, Op.72A (1908) - pub. Siegel
Suite, Op.73 (1908?) - pub. Siegel
Rhapsody, Op.84 (1908?) - pub. Mathot
Concertstück, Op.134A (1912?) - unpub.

Viola Concertos:

Concertstück in C sharp minor (1886?) - MS
No.2 in C sharp minor (1886?) - MS

Cello Concertos: 

No.1 in E minor, Op.61 (1905) - pub. Siegel
No.2, Op.64 (1906) - pub. Siegel
Rhapsody in G minor, Op.78 (1908?) - pub. Mathot
Largo, Op.105 (1914) - pub. Mathot
Rhapsody No.2 in A major (1911), no opus no. - MS
Ballade in E major (1914) - no opus no. - pub. Mathot

Other Concertos:

2 Cellos, Op.69 (1906/7) - pub. Siegel
Triple (Vn/Pf/Co), Op.70 (1907?) - pub. ?
Concertstück (Vn/Co), Op.98 (1909) - pub. Mathot
Chromatic Harp, Op.141 (1911?) - unpub.
Piano & Violin, no opus no. (1911) - MS
String Quartet, no opus no. (1916) - MS

Piano Sonatas:

in C sharp minor, Op.60A (1905?) - pub. Siegel
Op.96 (1909) - pub. ?
No.2 in E flat, Op.103A (1909) - pub. Mathot
No.3 in B flat, no opus no. (1911) - MS 

Violin Sonatas:

in G major, Op.12 (1887) - pub. Wetzler
in A minor, Op.21 (1888) - pub. ?
in A major, Op.23 (1891) - pub. Breitkopf und Härtel
in D minor, Op.26 (1893?) - one movement only - pub. ?
in C major, Op.51 (before 1901?) - pub. A. Schmid
Op.54 (1901?) - pub. A. Schmid
in E minor, Op.56 (1901?) - pub. Siegel
in E minor, no opus no. (1905) - pub. Engleman
No.3 in A major, no opus no. (1905?) - MS
in D minor, no opus no. (1905?) - MS
in E minor, no opus no. (1905?) - MS
in A minor, Op.74 (1908?) - pub. Siegel

Cello Sonatas:

No.1 in C minor, Op.22 (1891) - pub. Gutman
in A minor, Op.53 (before 1901?) - pub. A Schmid
No.2 in G major, Op.55 (1901?) - pub. Siegel
in D major, no opus no. (1905?) - MS
No.3 Op.76 (1908?) - pub. Mathot
in E major (1913), no opus no. - MS

Viola Sonatas:

Op.78A - no further details

Piano Trios:

in C major, Op.81 (1908?) - pub. Mathot
Op.89 (1909) - pub. Mathot

String Quartets:

in A major, Op.59 (1904/5) - pub. Siegel
Op.87 (1909?) - unpub.

Piano Quintets:

in C minor, Op.19 (1888) - pub. Gutman
in C major, Op.97 (1909) - pub. Mathot

Choral:

Mass (soli, chorus & orch.), Op.127 (1911?) - pub. Mathot
Stabat Mater (mezzo solo, women's chorus & orch.), Op.138 (1911) - pub Mathot
Requiem (4 soli, chorus & orch.), Op.151 (1916) - unpub.

[eschiss1]

A perhaps more complete list of his works, in German, is at The Emanuel und Henrik Moor Stiftung.

[Alan Howe]

That's very helpful, Eric. Thanks!

[eschiss1]

Thank you!
Wonder if the Wetzler who published the sonata is related to a composer a couple of whose works were released on cpo a few years back (discussed in a thread here around the time before the CD came out)...
As to Moór, I know only of a few recorded works offhand I think- the serenade at IMSLP, 2 discs of cello sonatas (both from 2007- 3 sonatas, opp. 22 (#1), 53 (w/o no.) and 76 (#3) on Hungaroton, 2 sonatas opp.22 (#1) and 55 (#2) and a multiple-cello suite op.95 on Cello Classics, this still available), a Hungaroton 2005 CD that couples works of Hans Koessler (piano trio suite and string quintet) and Moór's cello sonata opus 55; a 2009 CD on Ars Produktion that contains opus 109 (suite for violin and cello),   various recordings on 78, LP and CD (or CD reissues on Cello Classics - "Great Moments in Cello Playing") of opp. 95, 100 (4 preludes in suite form for solo violin), 123 (prelude for cello and piano in E),  and a piano prelude from opus 71, but that seems to be - hrm. Probably not _all_ (oh right, and opus 69 - concerto for 2 cellos- on a very interesting tape set with recordings of Reznicek's symphonies , violin concerto, Four Biblical songs : Vier Bet-und Bussgesänge (1913), von Bulow's Julius Caesar overture, Popper's 2nd concerto, and Busoni's Lustspiel overture (Gordon Wright conducting the Orchestra of St Luke's, Town Hall, Manhattan, May 1990 over 3 days.) (Worldcat Ref.)

[Gareth Vaughan]

As I think I've said elsewhere on this forum, a very significant number of Moor's MSS are held in the Westminster Music Library in London. The collection is not exhaustive (it is also not catalogued!), but it contains quite a few items not in the Moor Stiftung. However, even when the holdings of both organisations are combined there are still some works missing. It is hoped these may be in private hands and will appear eventually. Incidentally, the PC No. 2 (pub. Rozsavolgyi) is actually the first he wrote - it just got published after the D minor.

[giles.enders]

Well done Alan.  I see you have added a number of composer biographies to the site which I welcome.  Let us hope it arouses interest in some of the composere who have waited too long in the shadows. 
I have long wondered about the quality of Moor's orchestral music, in particular the piano concertos. Is there a reason why any of them haven't been performed in recent times.

[Alan Howe]

Thanks, Giles. I intend to add a lot more.

As to Moór, I have no idea why his music hasn't been performed in recent times. His chamber music is very much 'school of Brahms', but beautifully crafted and grateful on the ear. I suspect the answer lies in the fickle winds of fashion...

[Latvian]

I remember from decades ago a colorful Suite for 4 Cellos by Moor, on an ancient mono Decca LP. If it's any indication of the rest of his output, I'd be very interested to hear more. I wonder what his symphonies are like...

[eschiss1]

Of Moór's symphonies I've seen two in score (but not given them the lookover or good read I should, nor do I know of recordings real or virtual- even the latter would be nice) and vaguely recall that they received good reviews at their premieres but that's all I know.
Then again I haven't even heard the one full-orchestra work that has been recorded (non-commercially) that I know of, the 2-cello concerto opus 69.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I have looked at a number of scores by Moor and they all seem to be most attractive, well-written music. If they have a fault it is a tendency to become rather rhapsodic and meandering occasionally - but only occasionally. I tried to interest Hyperion in the PCs, but no joy there - yet. I expect they are on Mike's radar.

[eschiss1]

There's also a recording of a work by Moór in a new series of recordings by the Jansa Duo (so named because Leopold Jansa wrote so many works for duet- in their case, for violin and cello. Their recordings are videodiscs rather than CDs, according to Worldcat?... not necessarily a good or bad thing in itself. From their website they seem to emphasize unusual repertoire, which assuming they're good performers, is a good thing in itself to my mind.. )

[eschiss1]

actually (see IMSLP) op.67 was published by Simrock, not CFW Siegel (unless I misread the score) and I am guessing it was the Kossuth symphony composed and premiered in the 1890s but perhaps not published until 1906... at a guess the list may be wrong there.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Fleisher has scores and parts of 2 symphonies by Moor. Their catalogue details are given as follows:

Symphony No. 2 - Symphonie in C (dur), Op. 67 (1895) - pub. Simrock
Symphony No. 3 - Symphonie in D (moll), Op. 45 (189?) - pub. Roszavolgyi

The date of 1895 for the C major symphony in Fleisher is clearly meant to be a publication date. This may help to clarify things a little.

[eschiss1]

hrm. trying to remember why in
http://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_in_C_major,_Op.67_(Mo%C3%B3r,_Emanuel)
which was indeed published in 1895 by Simrock
I have symphony no.7 written...
(which still suggests that the list above, which has sym. 7 op.67 published by Siegel and composed in 1906, is off a bit. (no, it isn't.)
Ah. Ok. I understand now...

[eschiss1]

Moved the C major symphony in IMSLP accordingly there's no opus number on the score- I should have checked! The date of 1895 is also on the score itself, and that was the "matter to hand"...
Except for one ver'confusing thing... Fleischer lists symphony no.2 as being opus 67? Well.. erm... hope there isn't something I missed.