Alexander Goldenweiser (1875-1961)

[Alan Howe]

Information here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Goldenweiser_(composer)

A selection of his piano music is available on Toccata Classics:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Goldenweiser-Piano-Music-Vol-1/dp/B000P29AWM/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1549392132&sr=1-1&keywords=goldenweiser
...reviewed here:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Mar12/Goldenweiser_Piano1_TOCC0044.htm

His late (and gorgeous) Piano Trio in E minor, Op.31 (1950) is featured on this 2-CD set:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/m%C3%A9moire-dun-grand-artiste-Rachmaninoff/dp/B01L7G19BY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1549392643&sr=8-2&keywords=%C3%80+la+M%C3%A9moire+d%E2%80%99un+Grand+Artiste
...reviewed here:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Oct/Russian_trios_GEN16437.htm

[adriano]

Thanks, Alan!

IMSLP has various scores by Goldenweiser:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Goldenweiser,_Aleksandr

This CD could be recommendable:
https://www.allmusic.com/album/alexander-goldenweiser-piano-music-vol-1-mw0001428572
The article by Dave Lewis is highly informative

About that CD with Goldenweiser's Trio: Ilona is the daughter of the great pianist Erik Then-Bergh (with him there is a gorgeous recording of Furtwängler's Symphonic Piano Concerto). She and her husband Michael Schäfer are dear friends of mine; we were also in contact when they recorded Respighi's complete works for violin and piano (on 3 CDs). Michael has also recorded 3 CDs with piano solo music of Vincent d'Indy; now he is doing a series dedicated to Leonid Sabaneev (including his Trio). With Ilona he has also recorded Lazzari's and Volkmar Andreae's Violin Sonatas.... They like unsung repertoire very much!
See here:
http://www.genuin.de/de/03_k.php?k=81

The version of the Rachmaninov Trio recorded by Ilona and Michael is the original one with occasional harmonium passages in the second movement! Goldenweiser later premiered this work in its revised, today's known version.

[Christopher]

Russian-language wikipedia lists (some of) his orchestral works:

Operas: - "Feast during the Plague" (after Pushkin, 1942); "Singers" (after Turgenev, 1942-1943), "Spring Waters" (after Turgenev, 1946-1947).

Cantata:- "Light of October" (words by Y. Stremina, 1948).

For orchestra:- Overture (after Dante , 1895-97); 2 Russian suites (1946)

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Гольденвейзер,_Александр_Борисович

[eschiss1]

The overture may be a symphony- in any case, it's in manuscript. here for a needs-lots-and-lots-and-lots-of-work worklist.

[Christopher]

Why does it need lots of work?

[eschiss1]

The IMSLP standards for Worklists generally, I think, prefer that they be mostly in English (except for some, but not all, piece titles) (with, admittedly, possibly alternates for other languages- sorry...), and conform to a certain worklist Manual of Style, for example. None of that is true here. As it is, my link is of a Google-translated version, not the original...'

(Actually, I see that the Worklist manual of style says nothing about the basic language of the worklist. Interesting.)

[semloh]

I see that YouTube provides a huge number of examples of Alexander Goldenweiser as a performer, but fewer as a composer. There's his Tale for Piano, Op.39, Sonata Fantasia, Op.37, and the Toccata Classics recording devoted to his piano works (at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UX7J7LCmt8&list=PLWRvOXgMJHdWysaljSzSAMegzXCrKsuS3).

[Alan Howe]

Goldenweiser's Piano Trio is an absolutely gorgeous lyrical outpouring; although dating from 1950, it could have been written 50 years earlier. I urge all lovers of full-blooded romantic chamber music to give it a go!

[eschiss1]

It's dedicated to Rachmaninoff's memory, as noted at Gramophone. (If anyone wonders, it seems to have been published in Moscow in 1956, and a copy of this is at the Herder Institut - See OCLC.) SUNY Buffalo in New York, USA also has a copy.

Edit: Worldcat reveals a String Quartet (also) in E minor, Op.18 (parts @ U. Colorado Boulder) by Goldenweiser (Golʹdenveĭzer) published in 1940.

[Christopher]

I did a sweep for other Goldenweiser works (non-commercially available) that are on youtube, and found a few:


Song without Words, Op.7 No.7 - https://youtu.be/P1smtNGwDsU (- there are a lot of recordings of this on youtube if you search in Russian - Гольденвейзер Песня без слов)

Petite Ballade, Op.4 No.3 - https://youtu.be/KGMvSS0eKto

Zimushka - https://youtu.be/tZcgGhXMXeg

Ave Maria (for soprano and organ) - https://youtu.be/wVTqwZT6w7I

Also, uploaded to another forum (if that's allowed...), there is - Ballade (solo piano) http://www.mediafire.com/download/ckcz775ww4jjebk/Goldenweiser_-_Ballade_op.35_no.2_(J_Powell%2C_piano%2C_live).mp3