Erich J. Wolff - Violin concerto Op.20 (publ. 1909)

[Alan Howe]

Wolff's VC turns out to be pretty much what one might expect from the composer of the very fin-de-siècle songs on the Thorofon CD - only more so! It has none of Reger's post-Brahmsian rigour or Waghalter's easy melodiousness; instead this a violin concerto that a less hysterical Scriabin might have written. It's absolutely gorgeous in its sense of late-Romantic yearning - perhaps a piece such as Chausson's Poème offers some points of comparison, except that this is a full-scale concerto (lasting 40 minutes). I have heard nothing like it and am actually rather bowled over by it. Many, many thanks, mkj, for making such a wonderful job of the recording.

[JimL]

Can anybody get the movement titles?

[eschiss1]

there are at least 4 libraries that have this that I can see. three have the original 1909 published reduced score. one has the 2012 Ries & Erler full score (I think it is, ed. Pachl.) Will see if I can find out more... (and performance/revival in the same year as "re"publication/first full-score publication/etc. - well, that has happened before too )

[Alan Howe]

For those who can read German, here's a link to an extremely complimentary review:
http://www.nmz.de/online/ur-oder-erste-wiederauffuehrung-das-violinkonzert-op-20-von-erich-j-wolff-in-recklinghausen

[eschiss1]

anyone know when the premiere was?

The Musical Times reported a performance in Berlin in its Dec. 1 1909 issue (along with the symphony in B minor of Volbach and a violin concerto by Gustav Ernest- not all 3 in the same concert) but this may not have been its premiere. (Or maybe it was... anyway, Alexander/Aleksandr Petschnikoff was the violinist.)

A more detailed report of an early performance may list the movements...

(The solution to the mezzo question fwiw- I expect I'm the only one confuzzled by that -- is that he was accompanying both of them at different times, according to various contemporary accounts that mention Julia Culp as his accompanist soon after his death here, Elena Gerhardt as his accompaniment soon before his death there...)

[mjkFendrich]

I've just got an authoritative answer to several questions concerning this violin concerto
from Prof. Peter P. Pachl (who has prepared its new edition for Ries & Erler):

the individual movements are

1. Allegro moderato
2. Schwermütig, nicht zu langsam – bewegt, leidenschaftlich drängend
3. gemächlich, nicht zu schnell - Vivace

The initial J really stands for Jaques (not for "Julius" as announced in WDR3).

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks very much for completing the picture.

[eschiss1]

Thanks, and I was wondering re Jaques/Julius as they aren't the same name even translated

[DennisS]

Many thanks mjkFendrich for uploading this VC. Going by the comments on this forum re-Wolff has prompted me to download this VC. I am looking forward to listening to it later today.

[Alan Howe]

Actually, I think a fairer comparison might be with the (earlier) music of Schreker.

[JimL]

Now that I have the full info, I, too, will, as I've heard said here, give it a punt.