Piano Music of Walter Niemann volume 7
Piano Sonata no. 6, op. 98 no. 1 • Piano Sonata no. 7, op. 98 no. 2 • Sonatina “Voices of Autumn”, op. 103 • Deutsche Ländler und Reigen, op. 26 (includes first recordings)
John Kersey, piano
RDR CD117
Price: £18.99. Click the button below to purchase this CD securely online.
Total time: 68 minutes 6 seconds
1. Piano Sonata no. 6 in D major, op. 98 no. 1 (18:42)
i. Un poco Allegretto ii. Larghetto alla Barcarola – In schwüler Mittagstille auf dem Wasser zu singen iii. Moderato ed amabile
2. Piano Sonata no. 7 in E minor, op. 98 no. 2 (14:55)
i. Molto moderato ed espressivo ii. Andantino con Variazioni
3. Sonatina “Stimmen des Herbstes”, op. 103 (10:48)
i. Un poco Andantino ii. Fughetta. Un poco Andante tranquillo e malinconico iii. Molto sostenuto e tranquillo (after “The Fall of the Leafe” by Martin Peerson (c.1571-1650) and the Dies Irae)
4. German Country Dances, op. 26 (23:34)
i. At Boppard on the Rhine ii. Idyl by the Lake of Constance iii. Vienna of Old iv. Suabian Highland Dance v. Slow Tyrolienne vi. In Sleswic-Holstein vii. Bavarian Country-Wake viii. In the Thuringian Forest ix. Westfalian Rustic Dance x. In the Black Forest
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.
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