Opus 1 feminin

[Wheesht]

Here is an interesting concept album: Swiss pianist Kathrin Schmidlin has recorded first works by eight international women composers for Claves . Some truly unknown names and works are included in this beautifully played disc.

[Mark Thomas]

Maybe I'm in a very crabby mood today, but this strikes me as a particularly artificial construct. No doubt there's music of value here but why justify the recording of it by employing two criteria for inclusion, neither of which have anything to do with either the quality of the music or links between the composers or their works? Or, to put it more bluntly: so the composers are all women and these are their Opp.1. So what?

[Wheesht]

My reaction was quite different. I thought the concept, or construct, an interesting one, and it isn't as though the works have nothing else in common. This passage in the liner notes inspired me to buy the CD [The sentence in italics is my version of the translation in the booklet which does not seem very clear compared with the original German]:

While there is evidence of early works by almost all composers before their op. 1 - Béla Bartók, for example, had written more than 70 juvenile works before his Rhapsody op. 1 - and these are often researched with scholarly meticulousness, this does not generally apply to women composers.

However, it can be proven that Clara Schumann-Wieck, probably the most famous female composer today, had already written three variation works before her Quatre Polonaises op. 1.

It is almost impossible to determine today what preceded the opp. 1 of the less prestigious composers on this CD as actual first works. What is certain, however, is that they are all represented by pieces which, because of their melodic invention and pianistic refinement, deserve to be rescued from oblivion and given a new lease of life.

With early works of a particularly strong character, Alicia Terzian and Vítězslava Kaprálová form a framework anchored in the 20th century for the women musicians from the High and Late Romantic periods who take centre stage: Clara Schumann, Luise Adolpha Le Beau, Mathilde Berendsen-Nathan, Maria Parczewska-Mackiewicz, Cécile Chaminade and Hilda Kocher-Klein.

[eschiss1]

What one chooses to represent one before the world (have published) is going to hopefully be better than what one first sets down on paper, yes.

[Double-A]

I agree with Mark.  More interesting IMO would be the last completed work of each composer, to hear not where they started out but where they arrived.  People, even the most talented people, become great artists by working at their skill diligently over a lifetime.  There is no need to promote the false idea of the artist, chosen by God, producing nothing but masterpieces.

[eschiss1]

Don't be too a-priori about that, either; Elgar's last completed work was perhaps his Mina for small orchestra of 1933, while Sibelius' last finished work was (not counting arrangements of earlier works etc.) a set of solo songs with harmonium op.113 completed in 1946 (but also revisions of earlier works like the Op.87 humoresque of 1917, which he revised in final form in 1940, etc.) Now both composers seem to have been working on symphonies and perhaps other "major works" at the time (I'm not saying a miniature piano piece or song can't be better in quality than a composer's entire output of symphonies, by the way- this does happen of course)- Sibelius' 8th is believed to have been burnt, Elgar's 3rd sym. exists in a (very fine) performing edition/reconstruction/reimagining - and their later works are better than their earliest ones. And some composers probably more obviously (? or again, debatably...) peaked around the middle of their careers creatively-speaking, if relatively; this has been said (and disputed) variously of (Felix) Mendelssohn, (Robert A.) Schumann, Myaskovsky, and others...

[TerraEpon]

It's not even fully correct. Chaminade has Op. 1/1 and Op. 1/2....this is 1/2.

[eschiss1]

Er, you mean Op.1a, Op.1b/1 and Op.1b/2? (Etude printanière, 2 Mazurkas no.1 and 2 Mazurkas no.2?)

[TerraEpon]

According to the 'Bio-Bibliography' catalog, the Mazurkas are from before the Etude. Also the 'Etude printanière' was only given that title in a later published collection, it was published as simply Etude (or I suppose "1st Etude" looking at the IMSLP page for it). Not sure where they are getting the a/b parts from,

[eschiss1]

That would be to distinguish the two op.1s. Thanks.