Classical Music

Classical Music

Today Hermann Goetz (1840-76) numbers among the forgotten 19th c. composers - a most undeserved fate. Unfavorable personal circumstances and his early death meant that his musician's life did not develop as it should have. Goetz's piano compositions, without opus numbers, have been recorded here for the first time. Until recently they had not been available in printed form, thus continuing to be virtually unknown. Pianist Christof Keymer’s work on Goetz’s manuscripts has made it possible to present a first edition of Goetz's previously unpublished piano music.

Classical Music

Hermann Goetz (1840-76) had observed Wagner and Liszt, the avant-garde of his times, with interest, yet there is almost nothing of it in his musical language, firmly anchored in the First Viennese School and early Romanticism. + His melodies often have a seductively lyrical charm. + Of all his generation’s recognized masters, he is to be found most appropriately placed at the side of Edvard Grieg. + This TYX Art CD release marks the launch of new series based upon publication of new sheet music editions dedicated to refocusing attention on forgotten composers of the classical and romantic periods.

Hermann Goetz's lifespan was no longer than Mozart's, and though much admired by contemporaries, as a tragic genius his music became almost forgotten, and the domain of but a few connoisseurs such as Gustav Mahler. Goetz's style remained closer to schumann and Mendelssohn, preferring lyricism and clarity to the more radical approaches of Liszt and Wagner. The virtuoso First Piano Concerto was a student work, its lovely central adagio sharing a use of colorful wind parts with the freshly optimistic Second Piano Concerto composed six years later.