Romantic Discoveries Recordings

Piano Music of Walter Niemann volume 8
Bali, op. 116 • Ilsenberger Sonata (Piano Sonata no. 11), op. 150 • Silhouetten, op. 47 • Modern Dance Suite, op. 115 (includes first recordings)
John Kersey, piano
RDR CD118

Total time: 77 minutes 42 seconds

1. Bali – Visions and pictures from the Far East, op. 116 (34:59)
i. Solitary Rice-Field ii. Idyllic Landscape iii. Temple fanned by the morning-breeze iv. Procession of Sacrificers v. Dead calm at noon vi. Adinda’s Dance vii. Cockfight viii. Nocturne (Duet in the night) ix. The Porters’ March x. The Waterfall

2. Ilsenburger Sonate (Piano Sonata no. 11), op. 150 (13:08)
i. Allegretto espressivo ii. Burgmusik – Moderato alla marcia iii. Allegro con spirito

3. Silhouettes; enjoyable musical pictures after words by Theodor Storm, op. 47 (13:05)
i. Präludium – Enjoy your work! – Moderato ii. Allemande – Flowers at the window – Molto moderato e tranquillo iii. Courante – The little grandmother – Moderato iv. Sarabande – The love letter – Sostenuto v. Basso ostinato – Autumn sunshine – Sostenuto, in modo malinconico vi. Arietta – The little demoiselle – Andantino grazioso ed amoroso vii. Siciliano – Italian landscape – Molto moderato viii. Scherzino-Canon – The goat team – Vivace, ma non troppo ix. Menuett – A dainty little dancer – Tempo di Minuetto x. Rigaudon – The gallant French – Marcato e giocoso

4. Moderne Tanzsuite, op. 115 (16:21)
i. Blues – The minims fairly slow ii. Valse Boston – Tempo di Boston – With a graceful and weary elegance iii. Tempo di Charleston – Allegro moderato alla burla – With grotesque humour iv. Tango – Tempo di Tango (Andante patetico ed elegiaco) v. Negertanz – Negro Dance – Giocoso con spirito e sempre ben accentuato – With a childlike and naive gaiety
“The attentive reader will now ask: ‘And how do you feel about jazz and new music?’ I want to answer him openly and honestly. I am not so foolish and so narrow-minded as to reject jazz and new music indignantly or wringing my hands. Because I myself have a Modern Dance Suite in forms of jazz and a whole series of tangoes, and I myself have written piano pieces such as the ‘Werfthämmer’, the ‘Spuk am Fleet’ in the Hamburg cycle, the ‘Hahnenkampf’ in the Bali cycle, and those get very close to contemporary music. So I’m neither an ‘old, calcified reactionary’ nor a ‘dumb envy’. I also recognize jazz as a ‘new art’, I give it full justification as a lifestyle and dance style of modern youth, I often find it extremely amusing, and I am also happy about its influence on German symphonic music, which is often so frighteningly frozen in rhythm […]” – Walter Niemann – Mein Leben fürs Klavier, Rückblicke und Ausblicke (1952)

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.