Hans Franke (1882-1971)

[Ilja]

I've now received this reply from conductor Golo Berg (in English):

It was like this: Because it fit into our theme of "hunting", we played the finale "Der Jäger und die Jagd" from the 5th Symphony in E major op. 785 "Deutscher Wald" by Hans Franke in Dessau in September 2006. At that time there was a printed catalog of his works from 1996. There was also an exchange of letters with a Prof. Günter Klaus from Oberursel, probably an acquaintance of Franke's daughter Ms. Prokop, and then correspondence with the Vogt publishing house.

However, I was able to identify the music as a plagiarism of the overture to "Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung" by Joseph Rheinberger.

I would be happy if you would keep me updated!

This is very enlightening - and seems to affirm the idea that Franke doesn't seem to have been the most careful plagiarist -The Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung overture doesn't sound like a symphonic movement in the slightest. It's Rheinberger at his most Rossinian, and I'm almost beginning to see John Boyer's point in accusing Franke's heirs in scrambling together seemingly random scores in order to create an oeuvre.

[John Boyer]

What I would like to see are facsimiles of the manuscripts.  Who's handwriting are they in?  What is the condition of the paper?  Do they even exist?

[Alan Howe]

I was referring to Eric's post on this thread, no 80, Alan, which seems to bring up availability of the score

That was then. This is now...

I think we're beyond assumptions now - and that includes me. Just to repeat: the only actual evidence we have of this other symphony is the finale which turns out to have been a stand-alone overture by Rheinberger.

[Alan Howe]

Well none of Franke's orchestral music is listed as available in score on the publisher's website now.

They're still at edition49. And there are still chamber works at Vogt & Fritz which, I imagine, will remain there until properly identified.

[Gareth Vaughan]

My point was that those symphonies supposedly by Franke which Eric notes as listed by WorldCat in editions by Vogt & Fritz seem to have disappeared from their catalogue, if indeed they ever existed in "complete" scores. Very suspicious...

[eschiss1]

33 people have heard of that Wilson work (the uploader and 32 who downloaded it), so I say you're mistaken about that one. And while Ernest Pool's book indeed is lost to the ages, Ernest Poole's "His Family" has been read by several acquaintances of mine on Goodreads and was published long ago to be in the public domain, like the Wilson.

[Alan Howe]

Let's not get distracted, please! This is complicated enough as it is...

I've never actually seen any scores of symphonies by Franke listed by the publisher - only the CD. If they were, they're long gone. And the WorldCat entries don't list any libraries holding them. Did they really exist?

[eschiss1]

Just answering your question.

[Gareth Vaughan]

And the WorldCat entries don't list any libraries holding them. Did they really exist?

That's what I mean.

[Alan Howe]

Just answering your question.

Thanks, Eric.

[Alan Howe]

And the WorldCat entries don't list any libraries holding them. Did they really exist?

That's what I mean.

Apologies, Gareth. I misunderstood.

[Alan Howe]

Here's an oddity: all the WorldCat entries for Frank's symphonies give the location of the publisher as Ettlingen. However, these days they're in Schweinfurt.

[eschiss1]

Many works still available only on rental and never otherwise "published" are listed in Worldcat only as D-B entries like that, not just these works attributed to Franke, to be as fair as the situation requires. (As with the 4th symphony, we know some of these works once existed but due, as you say, I agree, to the absence of paper trail and the fact that any relevant libraries where the manuscripts that might still exist, if any, are not apparently @ Worldcat's list or any others (e.g. ÖNB) that we've checked, it's hard to check whether the modern published works and the holograph works that might be somewhere are actually the same work when we can't even find the latter. Etc. )

[eschiss1]

The other Franke looks more interesting, now that I look through his scores digitized by SBB (Staatsbibliothek Berlin) (well, more interesting than I'm told the 3rd piano quintet that might be by Hans Franke is; just how interesting is hard to tell). A big vocal/choral/orchestral setting of Emanuel Geibel in full score, some sacred unaccompanied choruses, other things. An unknown for now, but after I finish reading for tomorrow's bookclub etc., something to give a closer look to- just because only a few unsungs have or will give[n] me that feeling of real, thrilling, joyous discovery hasn't stopped me from that addict's impulse of trying again

[Alan Howe]

Thanks for all your great research, Eric.