With their eighth studio album, Franz Weiss Two String Quartets/Deux Quatuors á cordes, op. 8 “Razumovsky”, the Eybler Quartet deliver to mild music that has been gathering mud for about two centuries. The album is offered formally on November 29, and it’s additionally a part of the quartet’s twentieth anniversary celebrations.
The paths of Austrian violist, violinist and composer Franz Weiss (1778 to 1830) and that of Ludwig von Beethoven would cross within the courtroom of Depend Razumovsky within the early 1800s. There, Weiss was the violist in a string quartets led by Ignaz Schuppanzigh. Initially an off-the-cuff ensemble, they carried out weekly for Prince Lichnowsky, a chamberlain who grew to become well-known for his love of music. He was on pleasant phrases with the likes of Mozart and Beethoven.
When he joined Depend Razumovsky’s courtroom, Schuppanzigh seized the chance to turn out to be the Depend’s non-public string quartet. Weiss carried out within the quartet for the Depend from 1808 till 1815. Later, the quartet bought again collectively in 1823. Weiss, in Schuppanzigh ensemble, premiered a number of of Beethoven’s later string quartets, together with Op. 59, the Razumovsky Quartets.
Each Beethoven and Weiss wrote music for the Depend, however whereas Beethoven’s Razumovsky Quartets stay a well-known and beloved a part of the string repertoire, Weiss’ lapsed into obscurity.
That’s one thing that the Eybler Quartet (Patricia Ahearn, Margaret Homosexual, Patrick Jordan, and Julia Wedman) want to change, true to the spirit of rediscovering the music of composers obscured by time, together with their namesake, Joseph Leopold Edler von Eybler. Violinists Julia Wedman and Patricia Ahern, and violist Patrick Jordan are additionally members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.
We spoke to Patrick Jordan in regards to the venture.
Franz Weiss Two String Quartets/Deux Quatuors á cordes, op. 8 “Razumovsky”
Whereas he isn’t well-known to audiences, Jordan was conscious of Weiss’s work. “I knew who he was as a performer,” he mentioned, being a fellow violist. “It’s very area of interest information.”
The Eybler Quartet is understood for his or her observe of unearthing gems of forgotten music, and as such, they get lots of emails with solutions of obscure composers to take a look at from the 18th and nineteenth centuries.
That’s the place professor Dr. Mark Ferraguto from Penn State College is available in. The one supply that remained for the scores was an engraving of a set of elements that was printed in 1814, an engraving with a murky origin. Ferraguto was in the course of his personal venture to launch a brand new printed scholarly version of the Weiss quartets. As an organist, he additionally needed some tips about the string music, and emailed the Eyblers in Might of 2022.
“I didn’t know that Franz Weiss had written any quartets,” Patrick says. He additionally wasn’t aware of Ferraguto or his work. “Frankly, I get lots of emails like that.”
Many individuals, in different phrases, are passionate about their area of interest — however will it show attention-grabbing to others past that world? Patrick’s preliminary reply was non-committal, however all that modified once they bought the scores and started to play.
“We did learn these quartets, and so they have been a revelation.” A lot of the chilly name requests aren’t acted on. “We don’t have limitless tie to be taught new stuff. Frankly, it’s an enormous funding in time to actually be taught new music.” It’s not solely studying the notes or a selected piece, it’s about attending to know the composer’s voice from scratch. “If the music itself hadn’t bought us […] we’d not have carried out it.”
Whereas it’s lots of work, the invention of a composer is well worth the effort. “It’s an enchanting course of for us,” he says. “I’ve lived on this area of interest world for a very long time. You don’t know what you don’t know.”
The world premiere performances of the quartets came about in January 2023, coinciding with the publication of the trendy version of the scores from A-R Editions.
Weiss and Romanticism
Studying Weiss’s work provided a deeper understanding of the Western music of that period. As Patrick factors out, the acquainted repertoire is actually a cherry selecting of composers and works, and doesn’t communicate to the musical ecosystem that every grew from. Fleshing out the blanks presents distinctive insights.
“Studying this voice of Franz Weiss has reshaped my understanding of the place Schubert comes from, due to the harmonic language Weiss used,” he says. “There’s no probability that Schubert didn’t find out about this.”
It reframed his understanding Romantic music. “A number of folks on listening to these items have mentioned, wow, it appears like Beethoven and Schubert’s love youngster!” he laughs, mentioning that Weiss was a lot older than Schubert.
“I believe the affect runs each methods,” he provides, noting {that a} passage in Weiss’s work reminds him strongly of 1 in Beethoven’s Op. 103, the Octet in E-flat main — which was written 15 years later. Understanding what Beethoven himself listened to throughout his lifetime presents a glimpse of the musical setting he labored in. “All people works in a neighborhood,” he says.
Patrick notes that in a eulogy for Franz Weiss on his loss of life in 1830, newspaper accounts quoted Beethoven’s remark that the Schuppanzigh Quartet have been the musicians who understood his work the most effective.
“It has actually modified my grasp of the late Beethoven quartets,” Jordan says, noting the viola half specifically. Weiss was a virtuoso, and wrote difficult string elements. “They’re actually onerous,” he remarks.
“In the event you don’t perceive the work round them, you don’t perceive how particular their music was.”
Launch Occasion
There will likely be two CD launch occasions in Toronto on November 29, and in St. Catharines on November 30.
“It must be a enjoyable occasion,” Patrick says.
Because the CD launch occasion, Dr. Mark Ferraguto will lead a presentation, with the Eybler Quartet performing alternatives from Franz Weiss String Quartets op. 8 nos. 1 & 2, after which a Q&A session, together with wine and cheese for the viewers to take pleasure in.
- Discover extra particulars in regards to the Toronto launch occasion [HERE] and pre-order the CD [HERE].
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Anya Wassenberg is a Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an skilled freelance author, blogger and writing teacher.
