Emilie Mayer, String Quintet in D minor

[Double-A]

As already announced I have now posted a transcript of Mayer's other string quintet. 

As already mentioned there are two autograph scores that differ significantly from each other, one in the Berlin Staatsbiblothek in Mayer's estate, the other in Liszt's estate, a gift from Mayer to Liszt.  (There is a third autograph, a set of parts in Mayer's handwriting which (almost) matches the Berlin manuscript).  I decided to transcribe both autographs to be better able to compare them.  To me it seemed that the Berlin score was the more mature and concise composition overall so the Berlin score is the one that the new transcribed version is based on.

There are four movements, in (): differing data in the "Liszt version" (the links get you to the artificial sound on Musescore.com):
1. Allegro maestoso (Allegro con brio), d-minor, 4/4, 237 measures (234)
2. Adagio (Adagio ma non troppo), C, F-Major, 91 measures (100)
3. Scherzo. Vivace (Allegro vivace), 3/4, d-minor with trio in B flat Major, 274 measures (355)
4. Allegro, 2/4, D-Major, 339 measures (398)

Both versions are based on the same or very similar themes with the exception of the second theme of the first movement.  The Berlin version has generally shorter movements (it still clocks in at about 35 minutes for a full performance with the repeat played--there is only one repeat, the first part of the first movement; no repeats at all in the scherzo), especially in the scherzo there are some unnecessary repetitions in the Liszt manuscript.

The piece features more contrast than the D-Major work, also more dissonance and lots of chromaticism.  I particularly like the Adagio, somewhat Beethovenian with its slow tempo and sustained tension.  The scherzo is less aggressive than the one in the D-Major work.  It ends surprisingly in D-Major, four measures of stressing the minor third are followed immediately by the last three that feature an upward racing D-Major scale.  The finale is a rondo and concludes the whole piece in Major.  Both quintets begin with an introductory passage based on upward arpeggiated chords.  The two quintets seem to be planned as belonging together.

If anybody wants to second guess my decision to use the Berlin version or thinks both versions ought to have been published please feel free.  I am not awfully certain about this.  I may be convinced to correct it as far as possible.  For the version dedicated to Liszt Pdf files and mp3s for each movement are here.  Be warned:  They are not proof read which is audible occasionally in the mp3s.

[matesic]

Lovely stuff, full of unexpected harmonic twists! I initially thought the Adagio too slow, but as it unfolds it becomes clear why you chose that tempo. I'm astonished that it doesn't seem to have been commercially recorded yet. I'll have to give it a go, but this game gets harder and harder...

[Double-A]

As far as I am aware of none of her unpublished quartets are available on CD either, only the g-minor.  Some of her piano trios and quartets have been recorded and some cello sonatas.  There is a disk of violin sonatas but it isn't very good, in fact quite bad IMHO (Aleksandra Maslarovic).

I think that Mayer's parts are not very violin-friendly.  It is hard work to make them sound good (as opposed to Dvorak whose music has the opposite property).  Maybe the reason for the missing recordings has something to do with that.