Hans Franke (1882-1971)

[terry martyn]

Are we also sure that his Piano Concerto opus 796 is by Emilie Meyer?.  I have my doubts.

[Alan Howe]

No, it isn't - I've edited my post in the Kauffmann thread accordingly. Apologies.

[eschiss1]

Oh! Is that Kauffmann's Op.18 symphony - published when Franke was 4 years old! - being passed off as Franke's? How odd.

[eschiss1]

Are the first four notes of the Klavierkonzert F-dur "F A F C" followed by a pause and a F major arpeggio in 8th-notes?

[eschiss1]

The reason I ask is because Wölfl's 3rd concerto of ca.1807 has the same movement openings (including a variations finale), key, duration...- the whole thing is on YouTube if someone who (unlike me) has heard the (quite unusually Classical, you were saying??) Franke concerto wants to compare it to the Wölfl concerto.

[Ilja]

Eric, Wölfl's 3rd concerto is absolutely the same work as Franke's Piano Concerto!

In the meantime, Christian Hammer was kind enough to reply (translated):

In fact, it is not news that Hans Franke drew on the work of other composers. There was probably a similar case years before the CD recording with the Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau under Golo Berg, who were also supposed to record a symphony by Hans Franke. It just came out beforehand that it was in no way a composition by him.
Given the high number of numbered works, one must inevitably become suspicious. I made the recording at the invitation of the publishing house Vogt & Fritz. The score that was made available to me is a handwritten one with 4 entries from performances, 2 of which were in the Berlin Philharmonie (1941 + 1942) supposedly under Wilhelm Furtwängler.
That's all I can tell you.

I seem to remember Bo Hyttner from Sterling talking about such a case with Golo Berg - and this may have been the one.

[eschiss1]

Ok, not a bad total guess, then.
Wow. Not unprecedented (for example, a recording of Kraus' symphonies awhile back stealth-contained two that while published under Kraus' name, turned out to be by Cambini, I think.)
Could someone please inform the record label? Ah ok, done- thanks. Any idea whether they are considering changing anything about the release on future appearances?

[John Boyer]

This is like Joyce Hatto meets Italo Calvino.

[eschiss1]

Does Italo Calvino have some history of forgery I was wholly unaware of? (Giacinto Scelsi, now, but Italo Calvino?)

[John Boyer]

Does Italo Calvino have some history of forgery I was wholly unaware of? (Giacinto Scelsi, now, but Italo Calvino?)

No, I was referring to the plot twists in his novel "If on a winter's night a traveler...".

[terry martyn]

I have an old LP of Lindpaintner's Concertino in E flat major played by the Berlin Symphony Orchestra.  It is on YouTube and the performer is Klocker.
I also have a CD on the Orfeo label of Heinrich Baermann's Concertino in E flat major (this time played by the Prague Chamber Orchestra).  The performer is, coincidentally, Klocker.

They are one and the same piece.

[Mark Thomas]

Wölfl's 3rd concerto is absolutely the same work as Franke's Piano Concerto

Fascinating! So now the sleuthing turns to the other Franke's CD's three chamber works - who composed the Piano Quintet in F sharp minor and the Piano Trios in D minor and C major he claimed as his?

[Alan Howe]

It's quite a beginning to 2024, isn't it?

[terry martyn]

We have had,of course, the Joachim masquerading as Veit pretty recently.
 The sleevenote of the Lindpaintner and the CD booklet of the Baermann are silent about the identical nature of the work, but one has to wonder what the performer, and discoverer of so many unexpected clarinet concertos, Herr Klocker, knew, and whether the work he performed was actually by neither of those composers.....
Now we have the Franke/Wolfl/Kauffmann exotica.

[Alan Howe]

I'm concerned that no public acknowledgment of Franke's evident dissimulation has been forthcoming. For example, should Vogt & Fritz still be selling their CD now that we know for sure who the actual composers are?
https://vogtundfritzsound.de/musikcd/klassik/hans-franke/