Comments on a New Stack of Old Music Please?

[JSK]

A few days ago I received a stack of (mostly very old) piano music, some of which is falling apart. A lot of it is salonish, reflecting the tastes of many music lovers of around 1890-1910. A few of these composers are fairly famous, but I can find very little information about a few of them. I now have a lot of music with which I am not horribly familiar, but would like to intelligently explore. I would appreciate any recommendations of what to look at and information about some of the more mysterious of these composers/works.

I am now sifting thorugh:

Lots of Liszt and MacDowell, some Schumann, Greig, Chopin, plus some newer Schirmers
D'Indy Piano Sonata in E minor - Didn't know he wrote significant piano works
Godowsky Fantasia on themes from Strauss' Kunstlerleben
Philip Schwarenka Moment Musical
Moszkowski Cappricio Espagnol and Melodie for Piano
Lecuona Malaguena
Schulz-Evler Adaptation of the Blue Danube Waltz for Piano
A Schubert transcription by Tausig
Godard - At the Spinning Wheel Op 85, Mazurka Op 54, En Courant
Pabst - Concert Paraphrase on Eugene Onegin - Very worthwhile concert paraphrase if that's your cup of tea
Schytte Nocturne - Fairly easy but rewarding work that would be great for recitals by intermediate students.
Louis Conrath Air de Ballet - This seems like a pretty mediocre and repetitive salon work. All I can find out about the composer is that he had something to do with Missouri and wrote a piano concerto, whose manuscript still exists. It may not be worth playing, but the cover of the score is especially amusing. It calls the Conrath concerto "The most effective Concerto of modern times" and the back advertises Beethoven's "32 Piano Sonatinas" (not to be confused with Beethoven's "29 Sonatas") with a (probably fake) endorsement by von Bulow.

Perhaps of particular interest is a collection of opera transcriptions/paraphrases bound by a Mexican professor into two volumes at least about 100 years ago, and are thus in excellent condition considering their age. I haven't spent much time with them yet, but they seem to vary considerably in quality. Liszt and Gottschalk aren't too unknown, but I would appreciate it if any of you have comments about:

Richard Hoffman
Sigismond Thalberg (I've heard one or two recordings - impressive)
Alfred Quidant
Alfred Jaell
Joseph Ascher
A. Coria - google hardly confirms this composer's existence, so I would like any information anybody has. Maybe Coria is a pseudonym?
Th. Dohler
J. Leybach
Emile Prudent

[Marcus]

Hello JSK,
I am not a pianist, so I cannot comment on the music. But just a brief note on a few of the composers mentioned, and recordings available, should you be interested.
Alfred Jaell (1832-82), was a phenomenal pianist apparently, and admired by Liszt, who dedicated his PC in E flat to Jaell. Alfred Jaell wrote a few small works for piano, but his wife, Marie Jaell (1846-1925)(nee Trautmann), was a pianist/composer of note, and authored many books on piano playing technique. She studied in Paris with Henri Herz, Saint-Saens & Franck. As a pianist,Liszt regarded her as his equal.She also worked as secretary for him in the 1880s and travelled extensively with him, performing in concert. There are three discs available of her works, released on Solstice. (SOCD 156,172,227), which include the Piano Sonata & Cello Sonata. Her music is well worth exploring. She also wrote two  Piano Concertos, Cello Concerto & Piano Quartet, and a String Quartet.
The Schytte PC in C# minor is on Danacord (#597) & the D'Indy Piano Sonata has  two recordings. I have the Danacord disc (#449.
Not exactly a comment on your stack of music, but some info which you may appreciate, should you wish to hear this music.
Marcus.

[thalbergmad]

I say, there is nothing as exciting as a pile of old sheet music. Every year I go to Hay on Wye and come back with a skip full that i then digitalise. There is something more personal about playing from old originals as opposed to copies.

Thalberg I of course love and I consider many of his transcriptions to be superior to Liszt.

Alfred Jaell - Not seen a great deal of interest and I much prefer his wife who wrote a rather charming Piano Concerto. She actually wrote 2, but I have not yet got a copy of the 2nd
Dohler - much to be interested in. Some superb trnscriptions. A considerable notch above average Salon
Coria - Are you sure you don't mean Goria??
Leybach - If memory serves, this is Salon at its worst. Fit only for 19th Century brothels.
Prudent - Same comments as Dohler.

Thal

[thalbergmad]

Now that I am at home at have fired up me old hard drive, I am convinced that A Coria is A Goria. Looking at the front page of a couple of his pieces, notable God save the Queen and a transcription on Verdi's Traviata, the G does look like a C, but on the 2nd pages it is more clearly Goria.

As for Ascher, I can detect nothing of interest. Quident appears to be even more banal, but Richard Hoffman seems to require a more developed technique.

From your list, I feel Prudent, Dohler and Thalberg would yield the more interesting music. A nice light relief from stodgy old Schumann.

Long live the salonists.

Thal

[JSK]

It seems like it is indeed Goria - Thanks for the Tip!

If I can find access to a good-enough scanner, I would be happy to email anybody here copies of any of the works I have. I can double check what specific works I have by these composers.

[thalbergmad]

I would recommend the Mustek A3 Pro. Cheap but it does the job and you won't find an A3 scanner for anywhere near the price.

I am on my 2nd one now, the first of which died after 20,000 or so pages. In my experience, for a lot of older scores A4 is not enough.

Works best alongside photoshop.

Thal