Xaver Scharwenka

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Franz Xaver Scharwenka (January 6, 1850 - December 8, 1924) was a Polish-German musician who was a noted pianist, composer, music educator and organizer. He was generally known by his middle name Xaver.

Scharwenka was born in Samtner near the city of Poznań, which was then in the province of Posen in Southern Prussia and has since been restored to Poland. With his family, he moved to Berlin in 1865 where he studied music under Theodor Kullak.

Scharwenka began learning to play the piano by ear when he was 3 and didn't start formal study until he was 15. He began touring as a concert pianist at 24, in 1874, and was praised for the beauty of his tone. He was a renowned interpreter of the music of Chopin.

In 1881 Scharwenka founded his own music school in Berlin, and from 1891 to 1898 directed his Scharwenka Music School in New York City. His Methodik des Klavierspiels was published in Leipzig in 1907.

In addition to his activities as a pianist, composer and founder of a music school, he also organized a series of concerts, focusing mainly on works by prominent composers of the century, Beethoven, Berlioz and Liszt, among others.

Scharwenka's own compositions include an opera (Mataswintha), a symphony, 4 piano concertos, chamber music (all with piano part) and numerous piano pieces. Generally, his four piano concertos are considered to be his most important works. Scharwenka completed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 38 in 1874 and premiered it the following year. It was originally written as a solo piano fantasy which Scharwenka was unhappy with and so reworked it with orchestra into its final form as a piano concerto. Its premiere recording was in 1968 with Earl Wild and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Erich Leinsdorf. The most ambitious of the piano concertos is the Fourth in F minor, Op. 82 (1908). Arguably the finest of his orchestral compositions, it was premiered on October 18, 1908 in the Beethovensaal, Berlin, with Scharwenka's student Martha Siebold as the soloist and the composer himself conducting.

Scharwenka's works were neglected for some years after his death; however, his "Polish Dance No. 1" in E-flat minor, Op. 3, No. 1 remained enormously popular. Since the mid-1990s, however, interest in his music has been rekindled, and most of his works are now available commercially. A recording of his Fourth Piano Concerto played by Stephen Hough with the City of Birmingham Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Foster received a Record of the Year award from the British music magazine The Gramophone in 1996. His Symphony in C major, Op.60 received its CD premiere in 2004.

His older brother (Ludwig) Philipp Scharwenka (1847–1917) was also a composer and teacher of music.

Contents

[edit] Selected works

  • Overture in G, op. ? (1869)
  • Piano Trio No. 1 in F sharp minor, op. 1 (1868)
  • Violin Sonata in D minor, op. 2 (1868)
  • Polish Dances for piano, op. 3
  • Scherzo in G major for piano, op. 4
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 in C sharp minor, op. 6 (1872)
  • Polonaise in C sharp minor, op. 12
  • Barcarolle in E minor, op. 14
  • Impromptu in D major for piano, op. 17
  • 2 Piano Pieces, op. 22: Novelette, Melodie
  • Valse-Caprice in A major for piano, op. 31
  • Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, op. 32 (1876)
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 in Eb major, op. 36 (1878)
  • Piano Quartet in F major, op. 37 (1876-1877?)
  • Dance Suites, op.41
  • Polonaise for piano, op. 42
  • Piano Trio No. 2 in A minor, op. 45 (1878)
  • Cello Sonata in E minor, op. 46 (1877)
  • Andante religioso, op. 46a, the composer's arrangement of the Cello Sonata (1881)
  • Theme and 14 Variations for piano, op. 48
  • Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 56 (1881)
  • 4 Polish Dances for piano, op. 58: Moderato, Lento, Allegro non tanto, Moderato
  • Symphony in C minor, op. 60 (1885)
  • Serenade for violin and piano, op. 70 (1895)
  • Piano Concerto No. 3 in C# minor, op. 80
  • Piano Concerto No. 4 in F minor, op. 82 (1908)
  • Eglantine Waltz for piano, op. 84
  • 3 Piano Pieces, op. 86: Nocturne, Serenade, Maerchen

[edit] Selected discography

  • Concerto for Piano No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 32 played by Marc-André Hamelin with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Stern. Recorded in 2005. CD also contains Anton Rubinstein's Piano Concerto no. 4 (Hyperion no. 67508).
  • Concerto for Piano No. 4 in F minor, Op. 82 played by Stephen Hough with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Foster. Recorded in 1995. CD also contains Emil von Sauer's Piano Concerto no. 1 (Hyperion no. 66790).
  • Symphony in C major, Op. 60 (1885). Gävle Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christopher Fifield (Sterling 1060-2).

[edit] Literature

  • Matthias Schneider-Dominco: Xaver Scharwenka (1850-1924). Werkverzeichnis (ScharWV), Göttingen 2003, ISBN 3-932622-68-5

[edit] External links

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