Romantic Discoveries Recordings

Piano Music of Walter Niemann volume 25
Heitere Sonate (Piano Sonata no. 5), op. 96 • Wood-Pictures from the Fichtelgebirge, op. 141 • The Ruby, op. 161 • Modern Miniatures, op. 95 • Venetian Gardens, op. 132 (includes first recordings)
John Kersey, piano
RDR CD144

Total time: 71 minutes 11 seconds

1. Sonatina giocosa (Heitere Sonate) (Piano Sonata no. 5), op. 96
i. Moderato e lusinghando
ii. Canzona – Larghetto con intimissimo sentimento
iii. Allegro non tanto, ma giocoso

2. Waldbilder aus dem Fichtelgebirge (Wood-Pictures from the Fichtelgebirge), op. 141
i. Juni-Morgen (June Morning)
ii. Einsamer Weiher im Hochmoos (Lonely pond in Hochmoos)
iii. Siebenstern
iv. Felsenmeer
v. Waldbächlein (Little Wood Brook)
vi. Rosarote Abendwolken (Pink evening clouds)
vii. Farren im Wind (Bullocks in the wind)
viii. Heroische Landschaft (Vogelruf in der Luisenburg) (Heroic Landscape – Birdsong in the Luisenburg)
ix. Abschied (Farewell)

3. Der Rubin (The Ruby) (after Friedrich Hebbel), op. 161
i. Assad
ii. Fatime
iii. Soliman der Juwelier
iv. Der Kadi
v. Der Sultan

4. Modern Miniatures, op. 95
i. An Old Spanish Mission
ii. The Mirror Lake
iii. A Chinese Quarrel
iv. A Dickens Story
v. Catalonian Serenade
vi. A Lonely Pine Tree (Via Appia)
vii. The Lady in Old Brocade
viii. Dance of the Odalisque
ix. Mid-Autumn
x. Delft (Boerendans)

5. Venezianische Gärten (Venetian Gardens), Imaginary Drama in Two Scenes after Schiller’s “Visionary”, op. 132

“A maiden, fair as a houri, wandering beneath my windows, at break of day, with her lover – and a lover, who did not know to make better use of such an hour; surely these supplied materials for the composition of a picture which might well occupy the fancy of a dreamer.” – Schiller

i. Very stirring scene before the playing fountain
They were standing before the basin of a fountain, some distance apart, both wrapped in deep silence.

ii. The Flight
With a speed that her companion cannot use, she hastens to the shore. Too late! Quick as the arrow in its flight, the gondola bounds forward; and soon, nothing is visible but a white handkerchief fluttering in the air from afar.

John Kersey, piano

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.