Prince Heinrich XXIV Reuss-Köstritz (1855-1910) (Reuss)

[khorovod]

Does anyone know anything about the music of Prince Heinrich XXIV Reuss of Köstritz? He seems to have left a reasonably substantial body of works including six symphonies and a lot of chamber music. The only recording I can find is a viola sonata and the extracts on amazon.com sound quite promising. He is a younger contemporary of Brahms and died in 1910 according to wikipedia.

[eschiss1]

Scores of his piano quartet and his 1902 (piano) quintet are available on the site imslp.org . It would be good to have recordings of some of his music... the very little I've seen and heard about is intriguing.
(His opus number situation may be a bit of a mess if his op.21 sonata was published around 1880 and his op.15 quintet was written, not just published, in 1902. But that's not so unusual.)
Eric

[eschiss1]

See here for some (somewhat sourceless) information on some of his works (e.g. apparently his 3rd symphony is in E minor, op.28, composed 1907 and published the same year. Though this link backs some of that up...)
Eric

[khorovod]

Thank you! I will download the scores later today. He seems like a perfect candidate for CPO.

[Hovite]

His opus number situation may be a bit of a mess if his op.21 sonata was published around 1880 and his op.15 quintet was written, not just published, in 1902.

That is only to be expected, considering his family background:

Heinrich XXIV, Fürst Reuss zu Köstritz, was the son and heir of Heinrich IV. Heinrich XXIV married a cousin, Elisabeth, daughter of Heinrich LXXIV. Their two sons were named Heinrich XXXIX and Heinrich XLI. Heinrich XXXIX's eldest son and heir is another Heinrich IV.

[Mark Thomas]

I have recordings of a couple of movements from his Symphony No.3 and complete performances of the Piano Quintet, String Quintet, String Quartets Nos.2 & 3 and a Piano Suite. I don't know how his music comes across when read in score but, with their narrow emotional range and predictable harmonic language, all these works bring to mind the first half of the 19th century: Mendelssohn seems to have been his model. I suspect that Prinz Reuss was an extremely refined man; certainly his music in these performances is so carefully considered and delicately scored that it is robbed of much of the vitality that one would expect from the 1880s-1900s. He could certainly write a hummable tune and it may be that a more vigorous approach would give his music the spark of life which it largely lacks in the performances which I have.

[thalbergmad]

Is there any relation to August Reuss??

Thal

[khorovod]

I have recordings of a couple of movements from his Symphony No.3 and complete performances of the Piano Quintet, String Quintet, String Quartets Nos.2 & 3 and a Piano Suite. I don't know how his music comes across when read in score but, with their narrow emotional range and predictable harmonic language, all these works bring to mind the first half of the 19th century: Mendelssohn seems to have been his model. I suspect that Prinz Reuss was an extremely refined man; certainly his music in these performances is so carefully considered and delicately scored that it is robbed of much of the vitality that one would expect from the 1880s-1900s. He could certainly write a hummable tune and it may be that a more vigorous approach would give his music the spark of life which it largely lacks in the performances which I have.

Oh maybe not so promising then. 

Though as you say the performances can make a world of difference (sometimes anyway) and I do like music of the Mendelssohn era as much as I like late romantic music.

[Hovite]

Is there any relation to August Reuss??

The Princes Reuss are always called Heinrich.

August Reuss was the son of a builder.

[Ilja]

An interesting bit of information on the Heinrichs: the Princes zu Reuss are indeed all named Heinrich, and numbered sequentially by century. So theoretically, Heinrich I could be Heinrich MMCCCLXIV's younger brother if he were born on the 1st of January, 1900.

Also, Köstritz is a famous supplier of beer in Germany, and Köstritzer Schwarzbier is among the best beers I know of.

[giles.enders]

Heinrich Reuss XXlV  Prince of Reuss-Kostritz, Austria 8.12.1855- 2.10.1910

I first came across HR in Cobbett's, where his chamber music was well reviewed. There is a rare viola sonata in which the Cobbett's  reviewer says 'The distinctive tone of the stringed instrument is fully recognised and at no time is the piano permitted to overpower it. The first movement is idyllic ---.'
HR's earliest music training was with his father1 .He subsequently had  lessons with Heinrich von Herzogenberg and Wilhelm Rust.
The musical style of Heinrich XXIV was strongly influenced by Brahms, though it tends to be lighter in tone, and thus resembles more the style of Heinrich von Herzogenberg. Heinrich XXIV's chamber music compositions display a masterful command of musical form and technique.
During his lifetime, the compositions of Heinrich XXIV enjoyed favourable comment and regular performance.
Are there any reviews of the symphonies ? If they are as good as the chamber music they deserve exploration.

Orchestra

Symphony No. 1 in C minor  Op. 10  1892
Symphony No. 2 in A major  (N.B. Stolle's biography says D major - LOST)
Symphony No. 3 in E minor  Op. 28  1907
Symphony No. 4 in A major  Op. 30
Symphony No. 5 in F minor  Op. 34   1907
Symphony No. 6 in E flat major  Op. 36  1909

Chamber
                             
Piano Quintet in C major  Op.15  pub. by Rahter 1902
Piano Quartet in F minor  Op.6  pub. by Simrock 1895
Piano Trio in C sharp minor  Op.14 pub. by Junne  1903
Piano Trio in A major for violin, viola and piano Op.25 pub. by Mozarthaus
Piano Trio for violin, cello and piano  Op.37  pub. Mozarthaus
String Sextet No.1 in D minor Op.12 pub. by Schott  1899
String Sextet No.2 in B minor Op.17 pub. by Simrock  1902
String Quintet in F major for 2 violins, 2 violas and cello Op. 4 pub. by Peters 1887
String Quartet No.1 in D minor  Op. 1  pub. by Gutman 1881
String Quartet No.2 in F major  Op. 11 pub. by Eulenberg
String Quartet No.3 in A flat major Op. 16 pub.by Schott, Brussels  1903
String Quartet No.4 in G minor  Op.23/1. pub.by Mozarthaus 1904
String Quartet No.5 in E flat major  Op.23/2 pub.by Mozarthaus 1904
Sonata No.1 in G minor for violin and piano Op. 5 pub. by Peters, 1888
Sonata No.2 in E minor for violin and piano Op. 21 pub. by Mozarthaus 1880 
Sonata in G major for viola and piano, Op.22 pub. by Mozarthaus 1904
Sonata in C major for cello and piano  Op.7 pub. by Simrock 1895

Piano

3 Preludes Op.2
Suite Op.8: Praeludium, Allemande, Gavotte, Siciliano, Bourrée, Sarabande, Gigue  1895
Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme Op.19 1904

Vocal
Five Lieder for voice and piano, Op.3 texts by Ludwig Uhland and Nikolaus Lenau  1883
Tunosfecisti ad te, Motet for mixed chorus a capella, Op.24 text by Aurelius Augustinus

[Mark Thomas]

I've never seen even a partial worklist for Prinz Ruess before - this is really valuable, thanks Giles. I have some off-air recordings, one supposedly of two movements from his Third Symphony, and also of several of his piano and chamber works, but haven't listened to them for years. I'll look them out and, if they're good enough quality, I'll post some in our downloads board at some stage.

[eschiss1]

Several members of his family were musicians.
There is another partial list of his works, though possibly partially misattributed, here. IMSLP also has, thanks to Matesic, one recording that is not an aircheck but rather more of a simulated (SBB) recording of one of his string sextets.

[Alan Howe]

Try a search under 'Heinrich Reuss XXlV' at YouTube.

[Alan Howe]

I'd forgotten that the Viola Sonata had been recorded:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/heinrich-xxiv-reuss-zu-koestritz-sonate-fuer-viola-klavier-g-dur-op-22/hnum/8346597

...and that I have the selfsame CD. Mind you, I seem to remember the Kiel Viola Sonata being so fine that it probably put the Reuss somewhat in the shade:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,5837.msg62479.html#msg62479