Brahms - Two Facets

Brahms - Two Facets



Brahms (Pseudonym: G.W. Marks) - Four Fantasies for Piano 4 Hands from "Souvenir de la Russie" (Nos. 2, 3, 4 & 5)



Brahms - 16 Waltzes for Piano 4 Hands, Op. 39 - Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op. 23 for Piano 4 Hands - Victoria Postnikova / Gennady Roshdestvensky, Piano



String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1 - String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51, No. 2 - The Weller Quartet - Walter Weller, 1st Violin / Alfred Staar, 2nd Violin

/ Helmut Weis, Viola / Ludwig Beinl, Cello





Facet 1: The joint Melodiya / Ariola-Eurodisc / Bavarian Radio LP offered here gives us a glimpse of Brahms ... well, one might say before he was "Brahms."



From the notes for this 1975 release:



" 'Souvenir de la Russie. Transcriptions en forme de Fantasias sur des Airs russes et bohemiens composees pour le piano a quartre mains par G.W. Marks. Op. 151' is the title of six piano pieces which Johannes Brahms composed and published under the pseudonym G.W. Marks, probably even before his first Piano Sonata, Op. 1, that is, before 1853. G.W. Marks was a collective cover name used by several composers who wanted to publish in the main opera potpourris and arrangements under a false name. It turned up first in 1828, appearing for the last time in 1907.



Brahms' authorship of the cycle ... has been corroborated by critical studies of a sylistic and historical nature in recent times ... A single number from the 'Souvenir de la Russie', which belonged to Hans von Bulow, bears, in Bulow's handwriting, as the name of the author, 'Brahms'. And when his publisher, Johann Melchior Rieter-Biedermann proposed that he should also compose an easier version of the Waltzes, Op. 39, Brahms wrote: 'I could also offer you a version for children, very cheap, but in that case of course on the title page would have to stand Marcks, Wagner, Oesten, or something else.' (Vienna, February 7, 1867)"



The duo Postnikova-Roshdestvensky render almost every drop of local color - imaginary or otherwise - contained in these pieces; and if one likes Brahms but doesn't know these "pre-Brahms" miniatures, they can be a treat to discover. At the other end of the musical spectrum is this duo's version of the Op. 23 Schumann Variations - a basically convincing performance of what is probably one of Brahms' least-heard works. Acquaintance with the circumstances surrounding the composition of the Op. 23 Variations (which, in itself, can require more than one hearing) should allow listeners to reach their own conclusions over the relative neglect of this work.



Facet 2: Two of the titles apparently contained in a long overdue 8-CD Decca set of the recordings of the Weller Quartet are the 1964 recordings of the First and Second String Quartets. They certainly belong among the finest made of these two works by any quartet ensemble. Naturally, there are other recordings of the Brahms quartets occupying an equally high niveau. So, what sets the Weller versions apart? Perhaps the question is best answered in this way: the real "test" can sometimes be when recorded performances still sound not only "good" after 40 years - but in certain cases increasingly "better" than at first hearing (of course, "sound" isn't meant here in the exclusive sense of acoustics). For this listener these two performances finally more than meet the former criteria.



LP Transfers of material issued 1964 (London / Decca); 1975 (Ariola / Eurodisc)



Original covers and notes included (English and German).