Eduard Lassen

[cypressdome]

I found no opus higher than Op. 94 which was assigned to 6 Lieder published in 1895.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks, I think that rather proves the point.

[Alan Howe]

Thanks, cypressdome, for that info. Point proven indeed.

[Mark Thomas]

Here's a full work list for this potentially very interesting composer.

Lassen was born in Copenhagen, but when he was two his family moved to Belgium, where his father became prominent in Jewish circles. When he was twelve he entered the Brussels Conservatoire, where in 1844 he won first prize for piano and in 1847 the composition prize. He won the Prix de Rome in 1851 for his Cantata Balthazar's Feast. After touring Germany he stayed in Rome until 1855, and then returned to Brussels in an unsuccessful attempt to secure a performance of his first opera, King Edgar. His long association with Weimar began when he sent the opera's score to Liszt, who helped him remodel the work and arranged its successful premiere in the city in 1857. Shortly afterwards Lassen moved to Weimar and was its kapellmeister from 1861 until his retirement in 1895. Lassen was an able and highly-regarded conductor. As a composer he was especially well known for his songs, of which he composed over 300. His operas and large scale choral pieces were generally well-received but did not stay in the repertoire, but his orchestral works were praised for their combination of New-German principles with a lighter French-inspired aesthetic, and his close association with the Weimar Court Theatre led him to compose several sets of incidental music for plays. Lassen composed few chamber or instrumental works.

MusikProduktion Höflich has published a short score of the Beethoven Overture, the preface to which (available here) paints an intriguing picture: Lassen chose five obscure themes by Beethoven on which to base the work honouring him. As well as the Violin Concerto Op.87 and the Festival Overture Op.51 discussed in this thread, there is the recently-released recording of the first part of his Incidental Music to Goethe's Faust Op.57 (see this thread). These three works are each impressive in their own way and indicate a composer of rare quality. It would be fascinating to hear more.

Eduard Lassen (1830-1904)

Work List

Dramatic Works:
WoO Opera in 5 Acts: King Edgar [Le Roi Edgar]. Revised as the 4 Act Opera:
    Landgrave Ludwig's Wedding Journey [Landgraf Ludwigs Brautfahrt] (prem. 1857)
WoO Opera in 3 Acts: Women's Praise [Frauenlob] (prem. 1860)
WoO Opera in One Act: The Prisoner [Le Captif] (prem. 1865)
WoO Completion and orchestration of Opera in 3 Acts by Cornelius: Gunlöd (1891)

Works for Chorus & orchestra:
WoO Grand Scene in 3 parts: The Shadow Invites Rest [L'ombre invite au repos] for
    mixed choir and orchestra (ms)
WoO Cantata: Balthazar's Feast [Le festin de Balthazar] (prem. 1851)
WoO King Oedipus [König Oedipus] by Sophocles. Introduction, chorus and melodramas
    for men's choir and orchestra (1869)
WoO Festival Cantata for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra (1871)
Op.20 Te Deum for mixed choir and orchestra (prem. 1860)
WoO God Save Our King [Domine salvum fac regem nostrum] for mixed choir, organ
    and orchestra (1881)

Orchestral Works:
Op.6 Festival March [Festmarsch] (1862)
WoO Symphony No.1 in D major (1868)
    I. Allegro con brio  II. Andante  III. Presto  IV. Allegro con fuoco
WoO Beethoven Overture in C major (1870 - 13 minutes)
Op.47 Music for Hebbel's Nibelungen. Eleven Characteristic Pictures
    [Characterbilder] (1873)
Op.48 Two Fantasy Pieces for bass trombone and bassoon or cello with orchestra (1873)
Op.51 Festival Overture on a Thuringian Folk Song in E flat major (comp. 1867 - 8 minutes)
Op.57 Music for Goethe's Faust for soloists, choir and orchestra (comp. 1876)
Op.63 Grand Polonaise in B minor for orchestra (1879)
Op.73 Music to Calderon's Fantasy Play: Circe [Musik zu Calderon's fantastischem Schauspiel:
    Ueber allen Zauber Liebe] (1883)
Op.77 Symphonic Intermezzo to Calderon's Play: Circe (1883)
Op.78 Symphony No.2 in C major (1884)
    I. Allegro molto vivace  II. Larghetto  III. Presto  IV. Allegro non troppo, ma
       con spirito
Op.86 Music for Goethe's Festival Play Pandora (1886)
Op.87 Violin Concerto in D major (1888 - 32 minutes)
    I. Allegro moderato  II. Andante cantabile  III. Allegro risoluto e capriccioso
WoO Ballet-Pantomime in four Pictures: The Goddess Diana [Die Göttin Diana] (1900)
WoO Epithalme for orchestra (1904)

Choral Works:
WoO Cantata: The Flemings under von Artevelde [Les Flamands sous von Artevelde]
    for four-part men's choir (1852)
Op.69 Six Tales [Gedichte] by A. Schöll for mixed choir (1880)
WoO Song: Goodnight [Gute Nacht] for men's choir (1897)
WoO Festival Song for mixed choir

Chamber Work:
Op.76  Twenty four Caprices for violin solo by Paganini, arranged for violin and piano

Songs:
WoO Two French Songs (Once Upon A Time [Autrefois] etc.) for voice & piano (1857)
WoO Two French Songs (The Message [Le Message] etc.) for tenor & piano (1857)
WoO Six French Songs (Chinoiserie etc.) for voice & piano (1857)
WoO Six Lieder. (Past [Vorbei] etc.) for voice  and piano (1859)
Op.4 Eight Lieder by Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1860)
Op.5 Six Lieder by Peter Cornelius for soprano (or tenor) and piano (1861)
Op.18 Lieder and Songs for voice and harp by Beatrix Fels (1893)
WoO Twelve Lieder for four-part men's choir (Heaven in the Valley [Der Himmel im
    Thal] etc.) (1864)
WoO Five Lieder (I Once had a Beautiful Homeland [Ich hatte einst ein schönes
    Vaterland] etc.) (1867)
WoO Three Lieder (The Captive Admiral [Der gefangene Admiral] etc.) for voice and piano (1869)
WoO Six Lieder (Don't Lament [Klage nicht] etc.) for voice and piano (1869)
WoO Three Lieder (Spring [Frühling] etc.) for voice and piano (1871)
Op.45 Six Lieder for voice & piano (1873)
Op.46 Five Lieder for two voices and piano (1875)
Op.48 Six Lieder for voice and piano (1873)
Op.49 Five Biblical Pictures [biblischer Bilder] for several voices with piano, violin, organ,
    cello, horn or harp (1873)
Op.50 Three Duets for soprano and alto with piano (1873)
WoO Song: The Passenger [Der Passagier] for high voice & piano (1873)
WoO Sechs Lieder for voice and piano (1874)
Op.52 Six Lieder for voice and piano (1875)
Op.54 Five Lieder for voice & piano (1875)
Op.55 Six Duets for soprano and alto with piano (1875)
Op.56 The Artist [Die Künstler] for four-part men's choir (1875)
Op.58 Six Lieder and Songs for one voice and piano (1879)
Op.59 Six Lieder for voice & piano (1877)
Op.60 Six Lieder by Bodenstedt for voice and piano
Op.61 Six Lieder for voice & piano (1877)
Op.62 Six Lieder for voice and piano (1878)
Op.64 Music for the festival play [Festspiel]: The Linden Tree at Ettersberg
    [Die Linde am Ettersberg] for two sopranos and alto with piano (1879)
Op.65 Five Lieder for voice and piano (1879)
Op.66 Six Lieder for voice and piano (1879)
Op.67 Six Lieder for voice and piano (1879)
Op.68 Six Lieder for voice and piano (1880)
WoO Two Songs (Memory [Erinnerung] etc.) for voice & piano (1880)
Op.71 Six Lieder for voice and piano (1881)
Op.72 Six Lieder for voice and piano (1882)
Op.74 Three  Lieder (1883)
Op.75 Six Lieder (1883)
WoO Seven Ophelia Lieder from Hamlet (1883)
Op.79 Six Lieder by E von Wildenbruch or voice and piano (1884)
Op.80 Separated Love [Getrennte Liebe] A Lieder Cycle for mezzo-soprano and
    baritone with piano (8 nos. - 1884)
Op.81 Six Lieder for voice and piano (1885)
Op.82 From Springtime [Aus der Frühlingszeit] a Lieder Cycle by Fräulein O. von
    Ahlefeldt-Dehn (1885)
Op.83 Six Lieder (1886)
Op.84 Six Lieder (1886)
Op.85 Six Lieder (1886)
Op.88 Six Lieder (1889)
Op.89 Six Lieder (1890)
WoO Song: Consolation in Sorrow [Trost im Leid] for voice & piano (1893)
Op.90 Four Lieder (1894)
Op.91 Four Lieder (1895)
Op.92 Six Lieder (1893)
Op.93 Six Lieder (1895)
Op.94 Six Lieder (1895)
WoO Song of the Rhine [Rheinlied] for voice and piano (1899)
WoO From the Knaben Wunderhorn. 90 Old Minne-airs and Folk songs
    (90 nos. arr. Lassen) (1903)

Instrumental works:
WoO Suite No.1 from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Wagner. Transcriptions for piano (1869)
WoO Suite No.2 from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Wagner. Transcriptions for piano (1869)
WoO Andantino Pastorale for piano (1883)
WoO Polka-Fantasy for piano

Notes:
Unallocated Opus Numbers: Opp.1-3, 7-17, 19, 21-44, 53 & 70. I have no idea why all these numbers appear to be unused. Possibly the many published WoO works were allocated them by Lassen, but not used by his publishers, but it is very odd.
Sources: HMB, WorldCat, IMSLP, SBB, RISM.
Duplicated Opus numbers: Op.48.
Dates: are generally those of first publication, unless noted otherwise.
Translations: Mine, so apologies for the many errors.