Friedrich Wilhelm Markull (1816–1887)

[tpaloj]

Friedrich Wilhelm Markull (b. 11 February 1816 Elbing, d. 30 April 1887) was a principal organist at Danzig and conductor of the city's Gesangverein. He was also well renowned as a pianist. He composed operas, oratorios and two symphonies, and many works for the organ, while also contributing musical articles to the local Danzig journals.

Symphony no. 2 (in C minor)

F. W. Markull's first symphony, in D major, was composed in the 1840s. Christopher Fifield has a short entry on that work in his book The German Symphony between Beethoven and Brahms. The second symphony however was only mentioned in the book in passing.

Markull is not well know these days and no music of his remains in the current day repertoire, but he appears to have been a respected and industrious composer in his time. According to Fifield, this symphony was performed in 1854 in Danzig. There was also a contest for symphonies in 1856* to which Markull sent an entry for: I wonder if it was this work? Markull did not win that contest, but received particular praise for his entry.

YOUTUBE (NOTEPERFORMER): https://youtu.be/ICzkB3xkcfw?si=GwrK2EhoNclT_9iH

* The judges of this contest were Louis Spohr, Vincenz Lachner and Ferdinand Hiller. 39 symphonies were submitted to the contest. The results were posted in many newspapers; see for example Urania: Musik-Zeitschrift für Orgelbau, Orgel- und Harmoniumspiel 1856, no 6 s. 93.

[Alan Howe]

More lovely stuff! The first movement is full of memorable and varied material and certainly builds up a fine head of steam. What riches from this period we have been missing owing to the mistaken notion that no symphony of note was written between Schumann 4 and Brahms 1.

More anon...

[Alan Howe]

May I make a suggestion? The second movement sounds quite a bit too fast to me: it's marked 'Adagio'. So would it be possible to adjust the tempo, please? (I ask because I'm mightily impressed by the work!)

[tpaloj]

It's one of the most difficult parts to get right, in unsung works where there is no performance tradition, figuring out the tempos... no problem, Alan. I see what you mean!  Yes, it's possible, I'll get back to it shortly. I did go back and forth with different tempos for that movement but, perhaps a slower tempo would suit it better in the end.

[Reverie]

Well done for completing this. I had a go at the 1st mov a while back but didn't get very far!

Yes I think maybe the tempo of the adagio should be quaver=60 maybe?

The finale is wonderful stuff - I really enjoyed it.  Thank you

[Alan Howe]

It's one of the most difficult parts to get right, in unsung works where there is no performance tradition, figuring out the tempos... no problem, Alan. I see what you mean!  Yes, it's possible, I'll get back to it shortly. I did go back and forth with different tempos for that movement but, perhaps a slower tempo would suit it better in the end.

That's very good of you - thanks!

Thanks too to Reverie for his tempo suggestion - very helpful!

It is indeed a fine work and the finale caps the whole work off magnificently.

[4candles]

Even to my relatively novice ears, this sounds like a strong, confident work - finely crafted and orchestrated. As Alan and Reverie have suggested, the finale in particular stands out with a rousing, strident voice.

It makes one ponder the quality of the other 38 works that were submitted for this competition!

[Alan Howe]

Tuomas, I think you may have unearthed a real gem here...

[Mark Thomas]

This is indeed a most impressive piece of work. The quality of Markull's material immediately attracts, as does his strong sense of momentum, but the work demonstrates such imagination that it rewards repeated listens. As others have noted, the so called "finale problem" isn't evident at all here, the Symphony has an unusually effective one, the best of the movements. Thank you for unearthing it, Tuomas.

[tpaloj]

In the video, the bpm for the 2nd movement is already as low as q=52 but because of how the movement is scored regarding the note values, I suppose it does play out faster than that might indicate. How does this sound for example (see link below), with q=44 bpm? Let me know if you still find it too fast.

DROPBOX: mp3 download


I'm in full agreement that, unlike many symphonies which falter when it comes to their finales, the case is not so with Markull here! It really is excellent and perhaps the best part of the work indeed (I love the 2nd movement as well). Though, I find the very end of the finale somewhat perfunctory, but that may only be me.

By the way, here is the text of the article about the symphony contest I mentioned in my opening post. This brief appeared in several newspapers in 1856. There's a few worthwhile names to look into here, perhaps!

Deutsche Tonhalle.

Die um den, im August v. J., für eine Symphonie ausgesetzten Preis in der festgesetzten Zeit eingekommenen 39 Bewerbungen sind durch die als Preisrichter erwählten Herren Dr. L[ouis] Spohr, V[incenz] Lachner und F[erdinand] Hiller beurtheilt worden.

Das Ergebniß dieser Beurtheilung ist folgendes:

Den Preis erhielt zuerkannt: Das Werk des Hrn. H. Neumann in Heiligenstadt; besonders belobt sind: die Werke der Herren F[riedrich] W[ilhelm] Markull in Danzig, Richard Wuerst in Berlin, K. J. Bischoff in Frankfurt am Main, Wilh. Hansen in Hannover, Emil Büchner in Leipzig, Anonym in Wien und Ernst Pauer in London; belobt wurden die Werke der Herren Johann Herbeck und Pius Richter in Wien, des Hrn. Eduard Kunz in Worms und der Herren Karl Aug[ust] Zwicker und Friedrich Lux in Mainz.

Wegen Rücksendung der sämmtlichen Bewerbungen sind die Vereinssatzungen maaßgebend.

Mannheim, den 10. Dezember 1855.
- Der Vorstand der deutschen Tonhalle.

[Alan Howe]

This now sounds much more like a slow movement - thanks so much, Tuomas! The movement has 'a lot going on' rhythmically, so it's doubtful whether slowing it down any further would really work. Overall, it's a fine rendition now, I think.

Might as well wait and see what others think...

[Mark Thomas]

I can't say that the movement's tempo seemed too fast to me, as Markull's style, in this Symphony at least, seems to be very much momentum-based. However, the revised tempo also seems to be quite in keeping with the rest of the Symphony.

[Alan Howe]

I do think the movement is now truer to its Adagio marking than it was before.

[Alan Howe]

Yes - listening again, this is a real improvement. Thanks, Tuomas for taking the time to make the adjustment.