Albert Dietrich: symphony, violin concerto and overture, forthcoming from Naxos

[Alan Howe]

Again, by popular request...

Albert Hermann Dietrich (28 August 1829 – 20 November 1908), was a German composer and conductor, remembered less for his own achievements than for his friendship with Johannes Brahms.
Dietrich was born at Golk, near Meissen. From 1851 he studied composition with Robert Schumann in Düsseldorf, where in October 1853 he first met Brahms and collaborated with Schumann and Brahms on the 'F-A-E' Sonata for Joseph Joachim (Dietrich composed the substantial first movement). From 1861 until 1890 he was the musical director at the court of Oldenburg, where Brahms often visited him and where he introduced many of Brahms's works. It was in Dietrich's library that Brahms discovered the volume of poetry by Hölderlin that furnished him with the text for his Schicksalslied, which he began composing while visiting Wilhelmshaven dockyard in Dietrich's company. Dietrich was also instrumental in arranging for the premiere of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem at Bremen in 1868. Dietrich's own works include an opera Robin Hood, a Symphony in D minor (1869, dedicated to Brahms), a Violin Concerto in the same key (composed for Joseph Joachim but premiered in 1874 by Johann Lauterbach), a Cello Concerto, a concertante piece for horn, choral works and several chamber compositions including two piano trios.
Dietrich's Recollections of Brahms, published in Leipzig in 1898, was translated into English the following year and remains an important biographical source. The Brahms scholar David Brodbeck has theorized (The Cambridge Companion to Brahms, 1999) that Dietrich is the most likely author of the anonymous Piano Trio in A major, discovered in 1924, which some scholars have attributed to Brahms; but Malcolm MacDonald (Brahms, 2nd ed, 2001) has maintained that, if any specific composer is to be sought for this work, Brahms remains the more likely candidate on balance of stylistic probabilities.
Albert Dietrich died in Berlin. One of his students was Ernst Eduard Taubert.

Piano Solo

Vier Klavierstücke, Op. 2
Sechs Klavierstücke, Op. 6

Piano, Four hands

Sonata in G Major for Piano, Four hands, Op. 19

Chamber music

Allegro for Violin and Piano (1st movement of F-A-E Sonata)
Cello Sonata in C, Op. 15
Intermezzo for Cello and Piano, Op. 116/4
Piano Trio #1 in C Minor, Op. 9
Piano Trio #2 in A, Op. 14

Orchestral

Symphony in D Minor, Op. 20
Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 30
Cello Concerto in G Minor, Op. 32
Introduction and Romance for Horn and Orchestra, Op. 27
Normannenfahrt, Op. 26
Overture in C Major for Orchestra, Op. 35
Cymbeline, Op. 38 (incidental music)

Opera

Robin Hood, Op. 34 (New production at Theater Erfurt - premiere: March 20th, 2011)
Das Sonntagskind
Die Braut vom Liebenstein
Charles d'Anjou

Choral Music

Morgenhymne 'Phöbos Apollon, seliger Gott' aus 'Elektra' von Hermann Allmers, Op. 24
Altchristlicher Bittgesang, Op. 25
Rheinmorgen, Op. 31
Weihnachtslied, Op. 37

Lieder

Widmung, Op. 1/1
Nachtlied, Op. 1/2
All'weil giebt es kein grössere Lust, Op. 1/3
Die alte Linde, Op. 1/4
Liederfrühling, Op. 1/5
Frühlings-Aufruf, Op. 1/6
Tröstung, Op. 1/7
Die Trauerweide, Op. 1/8
"Kein Leid ist grösser als Herzeleid", Op. 1/9
Ade, Op. 1/10
Ritter Frühling, Op. 3/1
Früh Morgens, Op. 3/2
Im April, Op. 3/3
Hinab von den Bergen, Op. 3/4
Erwachen, Op. 3/5
Des Müden Abendlied, Op. 3/6
Frühlingsandacht, Op. 4/1
Du weisst es nicht, Op. 4/2
Ständchen, Op. 4/3
Der Liebe Lust und Leid, Op. 4/4
Liebeslenz, Op. 4/5
Du fragst warum, Op. 4/6
Ueberall Liebchen, Op. 4/7
Vom Pagen und der Königstochter, Op. 5
Unter dem Schatten, Op. 7/1
Mein Liebchen naht, Op. 7/2
Murmelndes Lüftchen, Op. 7/3
Abschied, Op. 7/4
Wenn du zu den Blumen gehst, Op. 7/5
Es regnet, Op. 8/1
Wie hat die Nacht so weh gethan, Op. 8/2
Zauberkreis, Op. 8/3
Wenn sich zwei Herzen recht verstehen, Op. 8/4
Schneeglöckchen, Op. 8/5
An den Abendstern, Op. 8/6
Mit dem blauen Federhute, Op. 10/1
Ob sie meiner noch gedenket, Op. 10/2
Ein Heil kamst du gezogen, Op. 10/3
Hoch um die Bergeskuppen, Op. 10/4
Still weht die Nacht, Op. 10/5
Der Storch ist längst hinunter, Op. 10/6
Einzug, Op. 11/1
Frühling, Op. 11/2
An die Nacht, Op. 11/3
Das Mädchen spricht, Op. 11/4
Sommer, Op. 11/5
Zauberbann, Op. 11/6
März, Op. 12/1
Frühling über's Jahr, Op. 12/2
War schöner als der schönste Tag, Op. 12/3
Dämmerung senkte sich von oben, Op. 12/4
Im Sommer, Op. 12/5
Fern, ach fern, Op. 13/1
Will ruhen unter den Bäumen hier, Op. 13/2
Glocken zur See, Op. 13/3
Gute Nacht, Op. 13/4
Treulieb' ist nimmer weit, Op. 13/5
Ach, wie weh tuth Scheiden, Op. 13/6
Dein Auge, Op. 16/1
Ja oder Nein, Op. 16/2
Meine Linde, Op. 16/3
Frühlingabend, Op. 16/4
Um Mitternacht, Op. 16/5
Wenn ich ihn nur habe, Op. 16/6
An meiner Thüre du blühender Zweig, Op. 33/1
Immer schaust du in die Ferne, Op. 33/2
Unter blühenden Bäumen, Op. 33/3
Es führen die Elfen den den Reigen, Op. 33/4
Ueber Liebchens Dache, Op. 33/5
Seefahrers Heimweh, Op. 33/6
Es sollte der letzte Tag ja sein, Op. 36/1
Waldruhe, Op. 36/2
O, sei mir hold, du segnender Augenstrahl, Op. 36/3
Nun ist ein jeder Nerv in mir, Op. 36/4
Maria, Mutter der Gnaden, Op. 39/1
Schlaftrunken wallen die Bäche, Op. 39/2
Die Amsel ist's, die so heimlich singt, Op. 39/3
Nun ist die Nacht vergangen, Op. 39/4
In dein abgrundtiefes Auge blickt ich, Op. 39/5
Mein bist du, mein, Op. 39/6

[Alan Howe]

The major works that have been recorded in recent years are the two concertos and the symphony. The Symphony in D minor is an impressive work situated stylistically somewhere between Schumann and Brahms - which is probably what one would expect! The VC is a simply gorgeous piece which violinists should be queuing up to perform.

[FBerwald]

...The VC is a simply gorgeous piece which violinists should be queuing up to perform.

I agree. It's neglect is pathetic!

[Peter1953]

Most enjoyable is also some of his recorded chamber music. I can strongly recommend his Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor, op. 9 (on Christophorus) and the beautiful Sonata for Cello and Piano in C major, op. 15 (on Audite). His great Sonata for Piano four hands in G major, op. 19, is available on the Globe label. I don't believe his style is very much of his own, but who cares? It gives you much listening pleasure.

[Reverie]

Overture Normannenfahrt (1872)

Normannenfahrt  is roughly translated as "Ride of the Normans". (However, I'm sure our German experts will provide a more accurate meaning.)

After a little research I could not find an exact legend/myth which inspired this work. I wonder if it might be connected with the mythical journey of St Brendan across the Atlantic? Who knows?

The overture is about 12 minutes long and provides a hefty workout for the string section. It's powerful stuff!

See what you make of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfCoycBfEeU

[Alan Howe]

The basic sense of 'Fahrt' is 'trip', 'journey', etc., so, for example, visitors to Germany travelling along motorways will often come across signs for an 'Ausfahrt', i.e. an 'out-journey' or 'exit'. The associated verb 'fahren' simply means 'to go', usually employing some means of transport. The sense of 'Normannenfahrt' must, therefore, be 'Journey of the Normans'.

Thanks for the rendition - it really is a splendidly exciting piece - in a conservative idiom, for sure, but none the worse for that. It certainly reminds me of the stormy sections of the D minor Symphony.

[Double-A]

The word "Fahrt" (also the verb "fahren") has changed its meaning a bit since the 19th century.  Nowadays it usually means: to move in or on some vehicle, be it a boat or ship, a car, a train or a bicycle / motorbike (in Switzerland even on skis).

In the 19th century however, it meant "voyage" or "journey", even a pilgrimage, including travel on foot.  It was a major undertaking; a trip downtown to work would not have been a "Fahrt".  And it did not specify the means of transportation:  The "fahrende Geselle" would generally travel on foot or hitch a ride if he could.

[Alan Howe]

i.e. more or less what I said - hence 'Journey of the Normans' - or perhaps 'Voyage...' if boat was the means of transport involved. 'Normannen', by the way, may also be translated 'Norsemen'.

The reference to a 'fahrender Geselle', though accurate, is surely irrelevant in this context - I don't think these Normans/Norsemen were 'wayfaring'! They were either on a long journey or, maybe, even engaged in a raid or invasion.

A pilgrimage would be a 'Pilgerfahrt' or 'Wallfahrt' (or 'Pilgerreise').

It may be significant that two years before in 1870 Max Bruch had composed a piece for baritone, male chorus and orchestra called 'Normannenzug' (lit. 'Procession [Raid?] of the Normans/Norsemen' - translated 'Lay [=Song] of the Normans/Norsemen'), a setting of a ballad by the poet/novelist, Joseph Victor von Scheffel (1826-1886). See the following:

The original German text is excerpted from the ninth chapter (entitled "Die Waldfrau") of Joseph Victor von Scheffel's (1826-1886) historical romance Ekkehard: A Tale of the Tenth Century (1857). This novel is based on the life of Ekkehard I (d. 973), Dean of the Abbey of St. Gall (Fürstabtei St. Gallen). As a member of the Benedictine order, Ekkehard was of noble birth, made a pilgrimage to Rome to receive relics of St. John the Baptist from Pope John XII, and was distinguished as a poet (his Latin epic Waltharius and ecclesiastical hymns and sequences were well-known in the medieval period). Robert White provided an English adaptation for twentieth-century reprints of the work.
    By the ninth chapter of Ekkehard, the title character is journeying through the forests of Schwabia in late November. He decides to seek out the elderly Woman of the Wood after a discussion of witchcraft. She recalls Friduhelm, a sweetheart of her youth, who was kidnapped and became a Scandinavian pirate. She hums "an old Norseman's song which he had once taught her," ("Die traurige Jahreszeit gemahnte sie an ein altes Nordmännerlied, das er sie einst gelehrt; das summte sie jetzt vor sich hin:") printed in rhyming verse.
https://repertoire-explorer.musikmph.de/wp-content/uploads/vorworte_prefaces/1381.html

Here's a translation of von Scheffel's ballad:

Song (or Lay) of the Norsemen

Evening comes and the autumn breeze blows,
Cold frost spins around the fir trees,
O Cross and Book and monk's prayer –
We must all depart.
Our house grows dim and dark and old,
The holy wellsprings therein are bleak;
You who are watched over by the gods, you green forest,
The axe is already flashing to fell you!
And we fall silent, a defeated army,
Our stars are extinguished,
O Iceland, icy rock in the sea,
Rise up on the horizon!
Rise up and receive our race,
On sharp-beaked ships come
The old gods, the old law,
The old Norsemen returning.
Where Hecla glows, glowing ash falls,
Storm waves foam the shores:
On you, O desolate end of the world,
We will dream away the winter's night!

Johann Abert's opera 'Ekkehard' (1878) is of course also based on von Scheffel's novel. Maybe Dietrich's fine concert overture was inspired by this ballad...

[eschiss1]

I assume Schreker's overture is inspired by this poem also. (And I see there are not one or zero but two recordings of the Abert opera, a work unknown to me before (though I'd at least some familiarity with two of his symphonies), both on Capriccio.) Thanks
As to Dietrich's Robin Hood, premiered in 1879 but composed no later than 1876, I know of no recordings of the whole thing, though I wouldn't be surprised if individual excerpts had been. (There's a video on YouTube announcing a 2011 performance of the Dietrich opera.)

[Mark Thomas]

not one or zero but two recordings of the Abert opera [ ... ] both on Capriccio

It's the same recording (starring Jonas Kaufmann, no less), reissued with an updated cover, I think.

[Alan Howe]

100% correct, Mark.

[Ilja]

In the 1860 and 1870s there was great interest in Norse and Germanic mythology, both inspired by Wagner and political events. We see the Frithjof saga, another journey-based viking story, crop up in multiple works around the same time. Therefore, the timing of this overture, one year after German unification, doesn't seem coincidental.

[Reverie]

Thanks for the informative responses. The cover to the score (if I'd bothered to look at it properly) supports the Norse / von Scheffel connection

Thanks to Alan for the translation. I shall amend the description accordingly and credit you if that's okay.

[Alan Howe]

That's fine, of course!

[Reverie]

Overture in C Major for Orchestra, Op. 35  (1882)

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAXNYBiX8C4&t=568s