7. Bellman Pictures – Menuets In G Minor
Menuetto 1: Moderato
Menuetto 2: Allegro Moderato
Three Piano Pieces – No. Three With A Poem By Hans Christian Andersen
Eight Sketches, Op. 31
18. Introduction & Mouvement de Valse: Allegro Non Troppo – Allegretto In G Major
19. Allegro Apassionato Assai In F Minor
20. The Swan – Humoresque In D Minor
Allegretto Moderato (Waltz-tempo)
21. Album Leaf: Stork Long Legs In D Major
Allegro Vivace
22. Like The Polka In D Major
23. Like A Danish Folk Song In E Minor
Three Piano Pieces, Op. 38
24. Ballo Militare: Allegro Moderato In C Minor
25. Cantilena Elegiaca: Andante In B-flat Minor
26. Allegro Grazioso In A-flat Major
Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann (1805-1900) ©
By Claus Byrith
Hartmann manifested himself within all musical genres, but much has been forgotten today. Among the works he is still remembered for, is the little opera “Liden Kirsten” with the libretto by Hans Christian Andersen. It was an immediate success, and throughout the whole of the 20th century it has been performed again and again. It also attracted attention in other countries, for example when Liszt had it performed In Weimar! The Sulamith and Solomon songs, inspired by The Song of Songs from The Old Testament, are still in the repertory of numerous singers. Many of his hymn tunes are still in use, and as already mentioned, “Guldhornene” is also part of the Danish musical heritage.
The piano works also occupy a significant place in his production. He wrote several sonatas. The most well-known, but seldom performed, is his so-called “Price-Sonata” composed for a competition in Hamburg in 1841. Hartmann won third prize, but Schumann and Spohr, who were in the jury, both considered Hartmann’s sonata to be the most substantial.
As this CD shows, Hartmann also wrote a number of short piano pieces intended for use not in the concert hall, but in the drawing-room, since the growing and economically steadily more influential middle classes were able to afford not only a piano, but also tuition, especially for their daughters. These short pieces resulted in a not insignificant income for the composer, but they were certainly not hack work. This is clearly evident from a letter he wrote to his friend the musicologist Angul Hammerich:
This distinction between large and small forms does not clarify the matter, since when one knows what Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Stefan Heller, Gade and many others have given us in smaller forms, one will see how important much modulatory and harmonic knowledge, subtlety of design etc. are in order to be able to create something which can stand on its own feet in smaller forms, also without the agency of the piano virtuosity of recent times.
The short pieces presented here reveal a wholly different side of the composer from that which we find in his orchestral works. Here we encounter joie de vivre, intimacy and gaiety, indeed often almost hilarity, for which we have to search for diligently in the rest of his production. One senses the influence of Schumann and Mendelssohn, but even so Hartmann has his own style.
Allow me to conclude by encouraging the listener to hear this CD in small doses. The many short pieces are heard to advantage when they are enjoyed in smaller portions. Listening to them all without interruption, one is left with a confused, kaleidoscopic impression, which in no way does justice to these fine miniatures.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2021/Feb/Hartmann-piano-v2-DACOCD877.htm
RELEASE DATE: January 2021
CATALOGUE NUMBER: DACOCD 877
EAN: 5709499877005
