Romantic Chamber Music between late Beethoven and late Schumann (1830-1855)

[eschiss1]

Branching off from a thread on Dutch violin sonatas in the Recordings forum, where there was some question of how the lay of the land was, for violin sonatas (and more generally, smaller-ensemble instrumental music) in Europe and America between say 1830 and 1855 (and then perhaps 1855 and 1875)...

Before considering that a new thread was probably in order (which might be quite brief...) I wanted to continue the older one with this post - and so, selfishly, I shall...

"Some of Henri Bertini's chamber music, slightly tangentially (and from that general time), may deserve revival; one of his piano sextets is recorded, but also an editor @ IMSLP has been editing and MIDI-synthesizing a number of his piano and chamber works (a violin sonata, a piano sextet (a different one), several piano solo works, a piano trio, more might be in the pipeline. I find myself enjoying these very much." 

(Actually, the Bertini trio op.43, possibly his 4th piano trio, was published before the time period in question - ca.1825 - but his 2 violin sonatas, opp.152 and 153 (E major and A minor), were published around 1845 and if they were composed around then also, may fit right in.  So far 16 pages on IMSLP in the "Bertini category" have some form of recording (probably mostly MIDIs; also 14 pages in the category- not all of which have recordings attached, so overlapping- are edited by the same person, James Bailey.)

[matesic]

Let's ask the oracle! Charles Rosen's "The Romantic Generation" singles out 8 composers: Schubert, Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Schumann, Liszt, Bellini, Chopin and Berlioz, only 3 of whom are noted for their chamber music (of course Chopin dabbled a bit early on and Liszt came to it late in his career). Rosen reckons the whole generation was intimidated by Beethoven, whose death "hastened the rapid development of new stylistic tendencies". I can see how opera, solo piano and large scale orchestral writing all lend themselves naturally (although in different ways) to the "romantic" style, while other genres (chamber music, organ, oratorio) might be thought to represent a more austere and cerebral way of thinking. In other words, chamber music went temporarily out of fashion! I can think of very few composers of that generation who even attempted to write "programme" works for chamber groups - Onslow, Hirschbach (deadly!) and...?

[Balapoel]

In my library, I've identified many chamber composers for this era (1833-1850).  String quartets and violin sonatas tend to dominate chamber forces. Of these (and excluding the sung composers), Lachner, Onslow, Donizetti, and Farrenc stand out for me in terms of sympathetic chamber composition.

JPE Hartmann (2 string quartets, 3 violin sonatas, 7 other works)
Onslow -many chamber pieces, of course
Mendelssohn -sung
Geijer (2 string quartets, 4 violin sonatas, 4 other works)
Verhulst (3 string quartets)
Bree (4 string quartets, 3 other works)
Franz Lachner (6 string quartets, 22 other works)
Krogulski (Piano quintet - it's the only piece I have from him, aside from the concerto in E and variations for piano and orchestra)
Macfarren (6 string quartets, 4 other works)
Burgmuller (4 string quartets, 2 other works in his short life)
Donizetti (18 string quartets, 26 other works)
Bennett (only 4 chamber pieces)
Farrenc (1 string quartet, 2 violin sonatas, 10 other works)
Moscheles (1 string quartet, 23 other works)
Berwald (3 string quartets, 1 violin sonata, 16 other works)
Loewe (4 string quartets, 1 violin sonata, 3 other works)
Reissiger (8 string quartets, 6 violin sonatas, in all, 71 chamber works)
Kalivoda (3 string quartets, many salon works for violin and piano)
Ellerton (at least 28 string quartets, 8 piano trios, a piano quartet, 4 string quintets, 3 string trios, and 13 duo sonatas)
Felicien David (3 string quartets, 10 other works)
Robert Schumann -sung
Ferdinand Hiller (3 string quartets, 6 piano trios, c. 28 chamber works)
Johann Rufinatscha (5 string quartets, 3 other works)

and, at the beginning of this period:
Ries and Czerny

[khorovod]

Charles Rosen for all his insight is not a reliable guide here as he is dismissive of unsungs. He says so categorically in his "The Classical Style" about the hundreds of composers working at the time of Mozart and Haydn. He states again in the foreword to the second (iirc) edition of that book that he doesnt consider their music worthy of consideration and I can't see that his attitude would be any different to the romantic period. As Balapoel shows this was a very fertile period of chamber music!

[eschiss1]

For Kalivoda besides the 3 string quartets and salon pieces there are also (I think?...) 3 piano trios (opp.121, 130, 200, the last pub.ca.1854 or so). I wasn't aware that Moscheles composed a string quartet (then again, until last year, I wasn't aware that Dussek composed 3, and rather good ones- though in 1812, so rather early for this post. Anyhow, as ever, live and learn- the more the better...)

[Balapoel]

Right, Kalivoda and Moschele's chamber works are generally brillant style, but include some serious pieces.
For Kalivoda:
Piano Trios in f minor, D, and Eb (opp 121, 130, 200) 1842, 1844, 1845
Among his other more serious chamber works, maybe the Fantasy in D for 2 violins, 2 pianos and harmonium, Trio pathetique for 3 violins, Op. 220, Fantasy in F for viola and piano, Op. 204. I'm not sure as I haven't heard any recordings of them.

For Moscheles:
Piano Septet in D, Op. 88
Piano extet in Eb, Op. 35
Piano Trio in c minor, Op. 84
Sonate concertante in G for piano and flute/violin, Op. 79
Sonate concertante in A for piano and flute, Op. 44
Cello Sonatas in Bb and E (opp 34, 121)
Moscheles String Quartet (in d minor) has no opus number. Mentioned here (but no details):
http://www.earsense.org/chamberbase/works/detail/?pkey=3707

[eschiss1]

also by Moscheles variations on a Bohemian folksong for "Pianoforte, Violino, Clarinette und Violoncell", To jsou koně, Op.46. (Clarinet part can be taken by viola, etc.) (See this information about a copy in a Prague library, composed by 1824 (published before 1826 by Steiner of Vienna)...

[FBerwald]

Lets not forget the chamber music of Henri Reber. His 1st 3 Piano Trios were  composed approx - 1837, 1840, 1850. There's also his Quartet from 1830 and String Quintet from 1850. Hope some more of his chamber music comes on CD as well as the completion of the trios - I believe the only ones left are trios 1 & 2.

[matesic]

I believe that, barring the big 3 of Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann, virtually all composers of chamber music in this era continued in what might be termed the "classical" style, without really embracing the romantic ethos or, indeed, adding anything to what had already been said by Haydn and Mozart. I've been hoping to prove otherwise by combing imslp, but failed to discover any really forward-looking string quartets before the 1860's and precious little even then. One honourable exception is the Op.1 E minor Quartet of Ambroise Thomas (1833) which Verdi seems to have been well acquainted with!

[eschiss1]

And Alkan and Volkmann (and to my ears several of the others on Balapoel's list) (whose chamber output at least intersects this period), of course, but you did say several exceptions (among which I'd add Onslow in a number of his works.) but no, not a surprising conclusion; that you include Mendelssohn might have surprised many of his contemporaries, I am guessing.

[eschiss1]

I'd add Reicha's quartets and other chamber music, but (1) I don't really know them yet (though the works I do know, I am more and more impressed by), (2) Most are of course from before the 1830s as he died in 1836...

[Balapoel]

Volkmann's works are certainly impressive, but only three (of his 17 chamber pieces) intersect with this period, most are from the 1850s-1860s, well 4 if you count the Piano Trio No. 2 (1850). 

[eschiss1]

oh, any will do, on the early or the late end... otherwise one's looking for a composer whose whole flourishing-period was stuck to 20 years, in an extreme case. Though of course given that there are in history a number of composers by whom we know only one piece (even saying for certain that they're not some other composer using a pseudonym for that one work... tangent, tangent, tangent) that's not -that- unusual, true.

[matesic]

By strange coincidence I was just listening to clips of Volkmann's first two quartets and thinking he wasn't too far out of the frame. As to Mendelssohn, I do feel that his Op.12 in Eb (1929) is the first truly "romantic" quartet, but is it heresy to suggest he laid the tragedy on a bit thick in Op.80..?

[eschiss1]

hrm - moreso than Mendelssohn's Opus 13 of 1827 or for that matter than several of Beethoven's or Schubert's late quartets? Maybe...
As to Mendelssohn's opus 80... except for a few isolated other works here and there (I really should go hear Die erste Walpurgisnacht...), he'd played the part of the restrained gentleman most of his life, and then his sister dies; I forgive him. But heresy against what exactly?