More Info on RaffSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Biography
Raff was born in Lachen, Switzerland|Lachen in Switzerland . His father, a teacher, had fled there from Württemberg in 1810 to escape forced recruitment into the military of that southwestern German state that had to French invasion of Russia#Grande Arméé|fight for Napoleon in Russia . Joachim was largely self-taught in music, studying the subject while working as a schoolmaster in Schmerikon , Schwyz and Rapperswil . He sent some of his piano compositions to Felix Mendelssohn who recommended them to Breitkopf & Härtel for publication. They were published in 1844 and received a favourable review in Robert Schumann 's journal, the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , which prompted Raff to go to Zürich and take up composition full time.
In 1845, Raff walked to Basel to hear Franz Liszt play the piano. After a period in Stuttgart where he became friends with the conductor Hans von Bülow , he worked as Liszt's assistant at Weimar from 1850 to 1853. During this time he helped Liszt in the orchestration of several of his works, claiming to have had a major part in orchestrating the symphonic poem Tasso, Lamento e Trionfo (Liszt)|Tasso . In 1851, Raff's opera König Alfred was staged in Weimar, and five years later he moved to Wiesbaden where he largely devoted himself to composition. From 1878 he was the first Director of, and a teacher at, the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt . There he employed Clara Schumann and a number of other eminent musicians as teachers, and established a class specifically for female composers (this was at a time when women composers were not taken very seriously). His pupils there included Edward MacDowell and Alexander Ritter .
He died in Frankfurt on the night of June 24/25, 1882.
Compositions
Raff was very prolific, and by the end of his life was one of the best known German composers, though his work is largely forgotten today (only one of his pieces, a cavatina for violin and piano, is performed with any regularity today, sometimes as an encore). He drew influence from a variety of sources - his eleven symphony|symphonies , for example, combine the Classical music era|Classical symphonic form, with the Romantic music|Romantic penchant for program music and counterpoint|contrapuntal orchestral writing which harks back to the Baroque music|Baroque . Most of these symphonies carry descriptive titles including In the Forest (No. 3), Lenore (No. 5) and To the Fatherland (No. 1), a very large-scale work lasting around seventy minutes. His last four symphonies make up a quartet of works based on the four seasons. Arturo Toscanini conducted some performances of the Symphony No. 3 In the Forest in 1931.Liner notes on Bernard Herrmann recording of Symphony No. 5 Lenore
The Lenore symphony (No. 5), famous in its time, was inspired by a Lenore (ballad)|ballad of the same name by Gottfried August Bürger that also inspired works by several other composers, including Maria Theresia von Paradis (1789), Henri Duparc (composer)|Henri Duparc , Franz Liszt (late 1850s, mentioned by Alan Walker in his Liszt biography vol. 2), for example. The world premiere recording of Lenore was made in 1965, by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bernard Herrmann , who championed Raff's orchestral music. He described it as "one of the finest examples of the Romantic Programme School - it deserves a place alongside the Symphonie fantastique of Hector Berlioz|Berlioz , Franz Liszt|Liszt 's Faust Symphony and the Manfred Symphony of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky ".
Richard Strauss was a pupil of Hans von Bülow , a friend of Raff's, and it has been said that Strauss was influenced in his early works by Raff. For example, Raff's Symphony No. 7 In the Alps (1877) could be compared with Strauss's An Alpine Symphony (1915). Much of Raff's music has been said to forecast the early works of Jean Sibelius .
Raff also composed in most other genres, including concerto s, opera , chamber music and works for solo piano. His chamber works include two piano sonata s, five violin sonata s, a cello sonata , a piano quintet , two piano quartet s, a string sextet and four piano trio s. Many of these works are now commercially recorded. He also wrote numerous suites, some for smaller groups (there are suites for piano solo and suites for string quartet), some for orchestra and one each for piano and orchestra and violin and orchestra.
Works
Raff's works include:
Symphonies
Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 96 "An das Vaterland"
Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 140
Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 153 "Im Walde"
Symphony No. 4 in G minor, Op. 167
Symphony No. 5 in E major, Op. 177 "Lenore"
Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 189 "Gelebt, Gestrebt, Gelitten, Gestritten, Gestorben, Umworben"
Symphony No. 7 in B flat major, Op. 201 "In den Alpen"
Symphony No. 8 in A major, Op. 205 "Frühlingsklänge"
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 208 "Im Sommer"
Symphony No. 10 in F minor, Op. 213 "Zur Herbstzeit"
Symphony No. 11 in A minor, Op. 214 "Der Winter"
Concertos
Konzertstück "La Fée d'amour", for violin and orchestra Op. 67
Konzertstück "Ode au printemps" in G major, for piano and orchestra, Op. 76
Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 161
Suite for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 180
Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 185 (Allegro; Andante; Finale: Allegro)
Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 193
Suite for Piano and Orchestra in E-flat, Op. 200
Cello Concerto No. 2, WoO. 45
Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 206
Suites
Suite for Orchestra No. 1, Op. 101
Italian Suite for Orchestra, WoO. 36
Suite for Orchestra No. 2 "In ungarischer Weise", Op. 194
Suite for Orchestra "Aus Thüringen", WoO. 46
Opera
Benedetto Marcello , based loosely on the life of the composer Benedetto Marcello .
Other orchestral works
Orchestral pieces, Op. 85
Jubilee overture, Op. 103
Festival overture, Op. 117
Concert overture, Op. 123
"A mighty fortress is our God:" Overture to a drama about the Thirty Years War, Op. 127
Rhapsody for Orchestra "Abends", Op. 136b
Festival March, Op. 139
Sinfonietta, Op. 188
Elegy for Orchestra, WoO. 48
Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's "The Tempest", WoO. 50
Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's "Macbeth", WoO. 51
Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", WoO. 52
Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's "Othello", WoO. 53
Grand Fugue for Orchestra, WoO. 57
Overture to "Benedetto Marcello"
Overture to "La Parole"
Overture to "Dame Kobold", Op. 154
Orchestration of Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach 's Chaconne from Solo Violin Partita No. 2 (Bach)|Violin Partita No. 2
An encyclopedic site devoted to Raff's works, with reviews, sound clips, and discussion forums http://www.raff.org Raff.org
http://www.editionsilvertrust.com/music-books-n-to-r.htm Sound-bites from String Quartet Nos.1 & 7, String Octet, and Piano Trio Nos.3 & 4
Sheet music
IMSLP|id=Raff, Joachim|cname=Joachim Raff
ChoralWiki|Joseph Joachim Raff
Persondata | NAME = Raff, Joachim | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1822 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = 1882 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Raff, Joachim Category:1822 births Category:1882 deaths Category:Hoch Conservatory faculty Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society Category:Opera composers Category:Romantic composers Category:Swiss classical pianists Category:Swiss composers Category:People from Rapperswil-Jona
