Orchestral music by the Schunke family

[Alan Howe]

Who? Well, apparently this means Johann Christoph Schunke (1791-1856), Hugo Schunke (1823-1909) and Hermann Schunke (1825-1898):
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Orchestral-Music-of-the-Schuncke-Family/hnum/1499979
Intriguing...

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Intriguing indeed! Anyone know the composition dates of the three works on the CD?

[Mark Thomas]

All about the extensive Schunke clan here. There appears to be an elder brother of Hugo and cousin of Hermann, Ludwig, who died young. His Piano Sonata has been recorded.

There is a trio of sound bites from this orchestral CD here. Hermann's Symphony (of 1850, according to this YouTube clip of a German TV broadcast) sounds like early Beethoven, and Hugo's Double Concertante (which dates to 1840 according to the Schunke site) early romantic, but these two later Schunkes were both born in the early 1820s, so I doubt that they were at music's cutting edge, at least in their youth. Hugo's Oboe Concerto in A minor of 1845 has also been recorded (sound bite here).

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Thanks Mark - a mine of information as ever!

[Alan Howe]

No great revelations here, I imagine. Just some thoroughly enjoyable music - enough for me!

[Mark Thomas]

Audio examples from each track are now available at ClassicsOnline here.

[Mark Thomas]

Judging by the sound bites (a very dangerous game, I know) the Schunke family's models seem to be Weber (for Hugo's Double Concerto), early Beethoven (Hermann's Symphony) and Hummel (Johann Christoph's Horn Concertino).

[Alan Howe]

Good models, then. But models all the same.

[Mark Thomas]

Hmm, well none of these works is going to set the musical world on fire. Each is pleasant and tuneful, but I very much doubt that they'll prove memorable. Hermann Schunke's Symphony is an old-fashioned piece for 1850, when he was 35. I was reminded of Netzer's four symphonies, but they have more substance, I think. It's very much in the late Classical, early-Beethoven mould: the third movement is a minuet. It also has the most brazen imaginable "lift" from Beethoven's Seventh in its finale, which the booklet attempts to explain away:

The principal idea of the fourth movement ... can be seen as a bow of deference before a great master.   ...  it clearly borrows from Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No 7, which should not be misunderstood as plagiarism. .... In the development this main melody—precisely in the manner of Beethoven—is now continuously interrupted ...

No basis is offered for this special pleading and, as the author admits earlier that little is known about this particular Schunke or his music, I'm afraid I'm not convinced.

His 17 year old cousin's Hugo's Concertante for Violin, Cello and Orchestra (1840) borrows heavily from Weber, but it is effectively written for the soloists, and first impressions are that it is the most substantial of the three works on this disc. Uncle (I think) Johann Christoph's Horn Concertino of the 1820s is a jolly romp. This Schunke was a horn player and his work is very much in the genre of a virtuoso vehicle, but frankly it's light fare.