Romantic Discoveries Recordings

Piano Music of Walter Niemann volume 6
Impressions, op. 112 • Rokoko Suite, op. 148 • Eine kleine Wassermusik, op. 32 • Ein Bergidyll, op. 100 (includes first recordings)
John Kersey, piano
RDR CD116

Total time: 67 minutes 40 seconds

1. Impressionen, six pieces for piano, op. 112 (36:24)
i. Morning Voices ii. Estival Melancholy iii. The Hour of Dusk iv. Love’s Plainting (Grief and Death of Tiny Tse-Fung) v. Carillon (Legend in the manner of an old Dutch Carillon) vi. Gardens in Spring
Introductory Remarks:
‘The “Impressions”, inspirations conceived from Nature or from incidents of human life, originate partly in poems of the German leader of Impressionism, Stefan George, partly in those of Else Bergmann, a poetess belonging to George’s sphere. In character and colouring these “Impressions” correspond with the poems entitled “Morning Voices” (1), “Estival Melancholy” (2), “The Hour of Dusk” (3), and “Gardens in Spring” (6). They are selected from two collections of lyrical poems published by Stefan George under the title of “Der Teppich des Lebens” and “Lieder von Traum und Tod” (“Life’s variegated Tissue” and “Songs of Dream and Death”). The rest, “Tse-Fung” (4) and “Beghina” (5) are poems of Else Bergmann. The pictures of Nature traced by Stefan George do not want any explanation. As to the two poems of E. Bergmann, we may be allowed to add, that Tse-Fung is the name of a young Chinese princess who, on the point of marrying an old mandarin, feels the impossibility to forget her young lover and kills herself, overwhelmed by an invincible melancholy. No. 5 wants to evoke before us the sweet form of a young beguine, who after cruel deceptions finds peace in a beguinage, in Amsterdam, leading there a life of pious resignation and godliness – quite a legendary life. This may be all necessary to be known by him who wishes to conceive the sense of these musical poems.” Walter Niemann

2. Rokoko, Ballet Suite for piano, op. 148a (12:53)
i. Gavotte – Brocade jacket and full-bottomed wig ii. Air – Flute-playing satyr iii. Ballet – Dance of nymphs and dryads iv. Gigue – Little cupids v. Rigaudon en Rondeau – The cavalier and the marquise
“Da standen wir im Grün und in der Sonne und mitten im verwilderten Rokoko ” – Wilhelm Raabe

3. A little water music; three poetic pieces of Dortmund, op. 32 (7:45)
i. The Wiesenbach ii. Along the forest stream iii. The little waterfall

4. Ein Bergidyll; Variations on a shepherd’s tune, op. 100 (10:31)
“From the mysterious pine darkness of the Harz Forest I step onto a high, free mountain path. The blue sea and the mountain tops surround me in serious, melancholic beauty. Over there, on the bare slope, the flock grazes, and the shepherd blows a simple tune.” – Walter Niemann

Our thanks go to Nicolo Figowy and Steffen Herrmann for their generous loan of scores.

Walter Niemann was regarded in 1927 as “the most important living piano composer who knows how to make music from the piano in a subtle and colorful way, although he often enters the field of salon music” (H. Abert, Illustrated Music Lexicon). This most sensitive and introverted master of the piano devoted his life to composition and musical scholarship, also performing his music in concerts and radio broadcasts. Niemann’s vast output for the piano is only now starting to become more widely known. Although his style is generally unashamedly conservative, he was one of the very few German composers to explore Impressionism in music, and this also reflected a fascination with the Far East. Elsewhere, Niemann’s imagination takes us from much Baroque recreation to large-scale epic sonatas, Schumannesque miniatures and even the exploration of early jazz styles. His understanding of the capabilities of the piano was complete, and his works include both collections for young pianists and mature works that exploit the full range of pianistic effect and make significant demands on the performer.