Wendelin Weißheimer (1838-1910)

[UnsungMasterpieces]

This is a composer I just found. He was a student of Liszt (who was his mentor as well) and a friend of Richard Wagner.
Apparently, in his music there is a clear tendency to program music.
I haven't found any recordings yet. Is there one out there or is he an incredibly rare composer?

[Alan Howe]

Never heard of him!
Here's some more info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendelin_Wei%C3%9Fheimer

[Alan Howe]

Here's a very, very Wagnerian overture by Weissheimer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPp7gA5a-5c
It's to his opera 'Meister Martin, der Küfer und seine Gesellen' (1878).

[Mark Thomas]

It sounds like Wendelin had a great night out at the pub with his good mates Lohengrin and Tannhäuser! All the same, Alan, it's good to hear something from Weißheimer's pen. I'd come across his name a few year's ago whilst doing some Liszt/Raff research, but never thought that I'd ever hear anything  by him. Thanks for digging it out.

[Alan Howe]

...with a bit of Meistersinger, perhaps?

[Gareth Vaughan]

Well, after that, it would be interesting to hear his symphony (the one Wagner might have written in his maturity perhaps!!).

[Alan Howe]

This is the symphony according to Wikipedia:
Ritter Toggenburg (Text: poem by Schiller; symphony for full orchestra), premiere: 1862 Leipzig Gewandhaus.

Sir Toggenburg (Ritter Toggenburg) is a ballad by Friedrich Schiller, written in 1797, the year of his friendly ballad competition with Goethe. The text was used to inspire a symphonic poem of the same name by the New German composer and conductor Wendelin Weißheimer. Its premiere was given in Leipzig on 1 November 1862, though factions of the Leipzig public boycotted the concert, and the hall was only half full.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritter_Toggenburg

Here's a translation of Schiller's poem:

"Sir Knight! true sister-love
This heart devotes to thee:
No fonder seek to prove,
For oh! it paineth me.
Calmly I see thee near,
Calmly I see thee go:
But why that silent tear
Is wept, I may not know."

By dumb despair oppresse'd
The warrior's heart was wrung—
He strained her to his breast,
Then on his charger sprung;
And summoned vassals brave
Forth from the Switzer's land,
And sought the Holy Grave
With red-cross pilgrim-band.

There deeds of daring might
Were wrought by heroes' arms—
Their helmet-plumes waved bright
Amid the Paynim-swarms:
And Toggenburg's dread name
Struck terror to the foe,
But still no solace came
To soothe his lonely woe.

One year he now hath pined—
Why longer should he stay?
Repose he cannot find
Amid the host's array.
A bark from Joppa's strand
Sailed gentle gales beneath:
He seeks the hallowed land
Where floats her balmy breath.

And soon a pilgrim wan
Knocks at her castle-gate,
And hears", oh! lonely man!
The thunder-word of fate:
"The maid thou seekest now
Is Heaven's unspotted bride,
By yester-morning's vow
To God himself allied."

'Tis past! He quits for aye
His old ancestral home;
His arms with rust decay,
His steeds at pleasure roam.
Down from his natal crags,
Unknown to all, he hies:
A hermit's sackcloth rags
His noble limbs disguise.

He rears a lowly hut
Near scenes endeared by love,
Where frowns her convent shut
'Mid shade of linden-grove:
And in that lonesome place
He sate from dawn of day,
With hope upon his face,
Till evening's latest ray;

Watching with earnest hope
The convent-walls above
To mark a lattice ope,
The lattice of his love:
To see but once her face,
So meek and angel-mild,
Low bending down to gaze
Upon the valley wild.

And then he sought repose,
Consoled by visions bright,
Nor thought upon his woes
At sweet return of light.
And thus he sate—alone—
Long dream-like days and years,
Waiting, without a moan,
Until the maid appears:

Waiting to see her face,
So meek and angel-mild,
Low bending down to gaze
Upon the valley wild.
And so he sate in death
One summer morning, there,
Still watching from beneath
With fond, calm, wistful stare!

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Knight_Toggenburg_%28Murray%29

[Alan Howe]

...but there's also this symphony:
To Mozart, Symphony for Small Orchestra; premiere Zurich 1871.