Joachim Raff was a largely self-taught composer whose style stands somewhere between the German traditionalism of Schumann and the newer school of Wagner. Raff composed seven Suites for Piano, a form he preferred to the sonata, and this provided him with greater freedom as a composer, resulting in his most substantial contribution to the piano literature. This is reflected in the Mendelssohn-like lyricism of the First Suite; contrasts between Baroque and Romantic styles in the Third Suite, a piece admired by Liszt; and more nationalist inclinations in the memorably melodic Fifth Suite.

Raff, J.: Symphony No. 5, "Lenore" / Dame Kobold: Overture

Hard to believe but true: at the beginning of the 1870s Joseph Joachim Raff numbered among those composers whose works were most often performed in German-speaking countries. He satisfied the taste of the times like no other composer and published one work after another. The prizewinning Ensemble Villa Musica again turns to a chapter of music history too quickly and not closely enough read during other times. Not a few Raff contemporaries regarded his musical language as the summit of Central European artistry. In 1869 Hans von B�low effusively declared that Raff's Grand Quintuor op. 107 was "the most important work in the field of chamber music since Beethoven." Raff's parents, who lived in Switzerland, did not have the means to finance the education of their talented son. He developed his compositional capabilities autodidactically and later had to make ends meet with occasional work, as a salesperson in a Cologne music shop, as a music teacher, or as Liszt's private secretary. Renown It was from Wiesbaden, where his wife was an actress, that Raff's works finally found the dissemination that he had hoped for. At the height of his public renown Raff assumed the post of director of the recently founded Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt in 1877. Under his leadership the conservatory became one of the leading institutions of it's kind.

Joachim Raff (1822-82) is little known today, but he enjoyed considerable success as a composer and teacher during his lifetime. Although he composed an appreciable quantity of orchestral music, Raff was most adept in the chamber music medium. His piano trios are fine examples of his inventiveness, craftsmanship, and gift for melody. Though Trio No. 2 in G major (1863) sounds Brahmsian in its tender opening phrase, it nevertheless goes its own way, displaying Raff's novel approach to individual voicing and thematic development. Beethoven comes to mind in the beautiful theme and variations movement, while the rollicking finale features a repeated episode distinctly Tchaikovskian in character.


The Trio No. 3 in A minor, composed seven years later, follows the same basic pattern of movements. After an ardent opening allegro agitato, a light-hearted scherzo delightfully suggests Schubert's Trout Quintet. Another theme and variations slow movement follows (presenting the opportunity for some fine solo cello work by Mario de Scondi), and the finale returns to the minor mode with a brisk and lively Hungarian dance. The ensemble Trio Opus 8 offers uniformly stylish, impassioned performances, and although CPO's up-close recording gains clarity at the expense of depth and low bass, this imperfection won't prevent you from enjoying this engaging, entertaining music.
--Victor Carr Jr., ClassicsToday.com

Joachim Raff's (1822-82) First and Fourth trios exhibit many of the same qualities found on the previous CPO disc of Nos. 2 & 3, reviewed earlier. A consummate craftsman, Raff paid particular attention to such things as motivic and rhythmic development and careful part-writing, which, combined with a flair for expressing genuine emotion, give his chamber works a distinctive sound and compelling character. This is especially evident in Trio No. 1 (1861), the most popular of the four and one of two in the minor mode. A grim introduction soon leads to a roiling, passionate allegro. Next, a galloping scherzo seems to be taking the first movement material out for a night-ride, while the following langsam movement is a song-like rhapsody that once again displays Raff's talent for melodies that speak from the heart. The finale closes the work in a demonically Beethovenian vein, with some dance music thrown in for good measure.


Trio No. 4 (1870) launches in a challengingly fast 12/8 meter, creating an effect not unlike Schubert's Trout Quintet. Most interesting however is the Andante quasi larghetto, with its mournful Venetian Gondola Song first heard on the solo cello. From this opening Raff builds an Elegy of considerable expressive power before closing with a reprise of the plaintive melody. After this exquisite movement, the material of the robust finale seems rather prosaic, and it takes all the energy, imagination, and commitment Trio Opus 8 can muster to hold your interest. That they do is testament to the superlative talent of these three fine musicians, who shine in the remaining movements of both trios as well. As before, CPO's recording is close in perspective but manages to capture more bass information this time around. Both discs in this series are excellent, but this one is the top choice.
--Victor Carr Jr., ClassicsToday.com

Järvi encourages the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande to give of their very best and, abetted by excellently judged SACD sound, the results are biting, driving, refined and brilliantly exciting. A scintillating and often nightmarish ride.

– Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

A year on from the opener, this is a very generously filled second volume of Chandos's promising Raff symphony cycle. There are two previous recordings of the composer's eleven highly idiomatic, imaginative symphonies, long unjustly neglected by programmers and critics alike. The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under Hans Stadlmair, recently released by Tudor in handy boxed set form (review, with further discographical information) is probably the critics' favourite, although it comes neither cheap nor without flaws. The forerunner was an early-Nineties series on Marco Polo with different orchestras, mainly from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, all but one under Urs Schneider: these are currently available from Naxos as mp3 downloads only (9.40248). In 2001 Naxos had the good idea of reissuing the Marco Polo recordings as physical discs under their own brand, but only two appeared (8.555411, 8.555491) and then the label either had a change of heart, or forgot.

Raff's programmatic 'Lenore' Symphony has three further modern recordings. One comes from a local rival to Järvi's ensemble, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, conducted by Nicholas Carthy. A satisfactory, rather than compelling recording, it was brought out by Italian label Dynamic (CDS 283) well over a decade ago, and there has been no sign of any kind of follow-up since. Another version is Yondani Butt's with the Philharmonia Orchestra on ASV (DCA 1000), one performance in a long line by this determinedly uncontroversial conductor of almost clinical neutrality.

Finally there is Matthias Bamert and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra on Koch Schwann, re-released as 367932, but dogged by poor sound. As for Chandos, despite the fact its audio quality was not as good as the SACD/24-bit/96kHz tags – abetted by one or two prominent reviews – implied, the first release immediately became the new standard for the Second Symphony. This is above all for the fact that Järvi is such a fine all-round conductor and the Suisse Romande a pedigree orchestra with a definite aptitude for Raff-era music. Back at the same Swiss location, that slight lossy edge to the audio is still there on this latest disc, yet the Chandos sound is still much superior to all its predecessors', and despite the imperfections constitutes a further plus-point for Järvi's cycle.

On the other hand, no further incentive should be required when the offering is one of Raff's most memorable works, the tune-packed, masterfully orchestrated Fifth Symphony. He chooses to focus – and then expatiate - on the nervous drama of Gottfried Bürger's famous but second-rate poem 'Lenore', rather than on its cold-blooded religious mania. The story is similar to Dvo?ák's later cantata Svatební Košile, known in English as The Spectre's Bride, which was based on a similar-themed ballad by Karol Jaromír Erben. This is doubly pertinent: Raff shares Dvo?ák's intuitive feel for lyrical drama. In Bürger, the eponymous Lenore is duped and then effectively buried alive for thinking herself in a state of despair neglected by God, but Raff's final-movement 'ride into hell' is jauntily mesmeric and ends with an uplifting chorale – moving, but certainly diverging from the implications of Bürger's chilling poem.

It is worth noting here that Järvi's account is a full ten minutes faster than Stadlmair, Carthy and Schneider. This is interesting enough in itself, but these three were already seven or eight minutes quicker than Bernard Herrmann's pioneering recording with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1970 — (most recently available on Unicorn UKCD 2031, but originally funded by Herrmann himself. Järvi is taking Raff at his word with his astonishingly fast metronome markings, but those who have had their opinions as to how this work should sound coloured by more leisurely approaches will likely need time to get used to these tempos, and those many long in thrall to Herrmann's account may possibly never accept them. The third movement Marsch-Tempo in particular will raise many eyebrows: Raff asks for, and Järvi gives – where no one else seemingly dares - 160 beats per minute, a good 50% more than what would normally be expected from a march. Yet odd as it initially sounds, the speed is still well within the bounds of a military double march.

Järvi's programme is amplified by a selection of overtures from Raff's operas, plus one of his own transcriptions – his only such, in fact - the 'Abends' Rhapsody. One or two of these are take-them-or-leave-them works by comparison with the symphony, though their Rossini-meets-Beethoven idiom is undeniably attractive, and their realisation here by the ever-dependable Swiss Romandes elegantly winning. Best of the four extras is the most substantial, the 'King Alfred' overture. Scored for large orchestra, it is a dramatic tone poem in all but name. The notes describe it as "grandiose in design, comparable in sweep and scope to Wagner's recent overture to Tannhäuser". The Rhapsody itself is a lovely, moodily crepuscular work, over all too quickly.

As for the CD booklet, Chandos continue apace with their shrinking-font policy, their texts tiny islands of ink in blank paper seas, legibility further hampered by the greyish ink. Still, the notes themselves are usually excellent, as indeed those here by Avrohom Leichtling are - detailed, informative, enthusiastic, trilingual. Bürger's poem might usefully have been included, if only to make use of some of that blank space.

– Byzantion, MusicWeb International

Raff completed the score of his little-known opera Die Eifersuchtigen, heard here in it's world premiere recording, a few weeks before his death. With tight organisational control, a strong grasp of musical and dramatic relationships, and speech melodies based entirely on German prosody, Raff's final opera is marked by clarity, concision and economy of means. World premiere recording

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Although Raff is remembered primarily as one of the foremost symphonists of his day, by far his largest output was for the piano. The three works recorded here date from his early years in Weimar, and include the newly discovered Fantaisie.

The three works on this second volume of Raff's piano works come from the very pinnacle of his career. The 1871 Fantasie Sonata is a fascinating and richly imaginative hybrid, whilst the Variations on an Original Theme is marked by fertility of invention. The Four Piano Pieces exemplifies Raff's gift for lyricism and characterization.

The present release features a selection of Lieder by composer Joachim Raff. "Despite the abundance and the high quality of Joachim Raff's songs, this part of his composition is little known and documented - in contrast to his instrumental works, which are recorded several times. Raff's songwriting is still hardly a subject of music-historical research. We very much hope and wish that this recording, which consists exclusively of premieres, can interest somebody in Raff's songs - so that we more often can find them in concerts!" (Hedayet Jonas Djeddikar & Johannes Wedeking)

This new release features a recording from the world premiere performance of the opera in Metzingen Stadthalle, Bad Urach, Germany, October 4th, 2002. The opera is set in Venice in 1727. In the house of Marcello, a musician and poet, two of his pupils Rosana and Faustina wait for their teacher who is late for their singing lesson. Marcello at last arrives, apologizes, and announces that instead of their lessons he wants them to sing for a guest of his, the famous composer Adolph Hasse, from Germany. Rosana sings first: a sad song about unrequited love. Hasse praises her warmly for singing from the heart, whereas Marcello is just puzzled by her sudden ability to find the correct tone. Faustina immediately recognizes that Rosana is singing about her love for Marcello and is irritated that he cannot see it himself. She then sings a joyful song about a nightingale, which leaves both Hasse and Marcello captivated. Hasse expresses his profound admiration for Marcello and she invites him to accompany her to a party that evening. Faustina is preparing for the evening and her thoughts turn to Hasse, and she realizes that she loves him. Hasse has quietly arrived and, overhearing her soliloquy, immediately tells Faustina that he has fallen in love with her too. Marcello, masked, arrives and stands outside Faustina’s rooms, consumed with love for her and intending to sing her a serenade. He hears the gondola bearing Faustina and Hasse approaching, and jealously listens to their loving conversation. Hiding while they enter her apartment, he vows revenge on Hasse. Marcello wants to pick a quarrel and both men draw their swords. Faustina, who has heard the commotion outside, opens her balcony window, sees the events below and collapses with a scream. Hasse leaves, telling Marcello that he may keep his life as a pledge of their friendship…

Contemporaries of Joachim Raff (1822-82) valued him as an expert in the history of music and art and as a composer who knew how to produce richly colored instrumentations. Following releases of some of his symphonies and piano trios, cpo now turns to the composer's Second, Third, Fourth and Eighth String Quartets. In his �middle quartets� the classicistic control of his music from those years makes itself manifest, i.e., interpretive markings in Italian, exposition repeats unmotivated by an increased degree of difficulty, a reduction in chromatics and a return to old dance forms.

Joachim Raff (1822–82) does not exactly fall into the category of obscure or off-the-beaten path, but he is clearly not well known or widely recorded. Here was an exceptionally prolific composer— just look at the opus numbers above—who wrote in virtually every genre of the day: opera, oratorio, concerto, chamber works, tone poems, symphonies, piano sonatas, solo piano pieces. Largely forgotten, too, is the fact that Liszt, who early on was not particularly adept at orchestration, turned over the piano scores of some of his early tone poems to Raff to orchestrate. Yet Raff receives short shrift in most of the music histories, and I can’t recall ever hearing anything by Raff programmed in concert. It is worth quoting at length from an article by Dr. Alan Krueck, professor of music at California University of Pennsylvania:

"There is perhaps no other composer so admired, enjoyed, honored, and respected whose music fell victim to such profound neglect and even derision within so short a period after his death, than Joseph Joachim Raff. From 1860 to 1900, the name of Joachim Raff was mentioned in the same breath as Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt, and Johannes Brahms as a leading master in German music. Recognized internationally as one of the truly great composers, every concert guide existing at the turn of the century exalted him to a level of post-Beethovenian symphonic achievement otherwise reserved only for Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky not only openly admired Raff but used him as a model as well, imitating Raff to the point of subconscious quotes, so deep was the influence."

By 1920, after the First World War, even Raff’s most celebrated works had faded from the repertoire, his name synonymous with the silly and the sentimental, a periwinkle tunesmith engendering teardrops at tea time in the salon. The derision was often laced with malice—a biographer of Edward MacDowell claimed that the noted American composer had ruined his talent by studying with Raff.

Born in Lachen, Switzerland, of a family originally from German Swabia, Raff was auto-didactic in his musical education—encouraged first by Mendelssohn and later by Liszt. Liszt took him on as amanuensis and musical confidante at Weimar in the early 1850s. From 1855 to 1878 Raff worked independently in Wiesbaden, writing most of his successful compositions. In 1878, he was named the first director of the recently founded Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory of Music in Frankfurt-am-Main, where he remained until his death four years later. Allied early in his career with Liszt and the New German School, Raff dared to question Wagner’s ideas polemically. Unwanted by the conservatives, and himself rejecting the circle with which he was most often associated, he isolated himself between the two most important poles of musical politics during his life. An impeccable craftsman for whom all matters of music were second nature, he could be totally uncritical of the materials he used in his compositions, placing movements of soaring inspiration and incredible invention next to ones of embarrassing dross, pairing the simpleminded with the sublime.

The last four of Raff’s 11 symphonies, written between 1876 and 1878, set out an ambitious project, to write not just four movements of a single work each depicting one of the four seasons, but four full-scale four-movement symphonies depicting the seasonal cycle. Chronologically, they were composed neither in the normal procession I’ve given in the headnote nor in the order they are laid out on the discs (which is No. 8, “Spring;” No. 10, “Autumn;” No. 9, “Summer;” and No. 11, “Winter”). The actual order of composition seems to have been Spring, Winter, Summer, Autumn. Does it really make a difference? And the answer is no; for other than the fact that Spring is in a major key (the only one of the four that is), absent from these scores are the two elements you would most expect in such a cycle. There is no obvious tone painting, an attempt to depict musically the various and sundry physical and emotional characteristics we tend to associate with the seasons of the year. Secondarily, as the excellent booklet note points out, “the existence of a motivic inventive core varied and inserted into changing contexts is among the obvious expectations of such a tetralogy, but such a core is lacking.” In other words, there is nothing that ties these four symphonies together, that makes them part of a unified cycle. Each can be listened to as a completely separate, self-contained work. All are essentially abstract music, with little or no tone-painting allusions to their titles; and none is related contextually or motivically one to the other.

I think Dr. Krueck’s assessment is a bit harsh when he refers to movements of “incredible invention next to ones of embarrassing dross, pairing the simpleminded with the sublime.” Raff’s general style is heavy on Liszt’s tone poems, but with frequent recollections of Mendelssohn, as in the second movement scherzo of the “Spring” Symphony, aptly titled “Walpurgisnacht,” which actually bears a remarkable resemblance to the Finale of Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony.

Bottom line: if you thrill to Liszt’s Les preludes and Mazeppa and would love to hear something in similar vein but by someone else for a change, or if you love the symphonies of Mendelssohn and Schumann, Raff is your man. Like many another wonderful composer of the same period whose name and works have been forgotten, Raff suffered the misfortune of being caught between the twin vortices—Wagner and Brahms—that dominated the climate of the times and scattered to the winds everything that came within their spheres. There were so many fine composers writing magnificent symphonic and chamber music during this period, and today we are barely aware they existed.

I think you are going to be won over by Raff. If the Elegie of the Tenth Symphony (“Autumn”) doesn’t “engender teardrops at tea time,” I don’t know what will. Once again cpo is to be commended for their service to the “also-rans,” and it should be noted that, arkivmusic.com notwithstanding, all of Raff’s symphonies are available on cpo. Another cycle with the Czecho-Slovak State Philharmonic (Košice) under Urs Schneider can be found on Marco Polo, but these may be even more difficult to come by. In any case, the cpo discs at hand, with the Philharmonia Hungarica under Werner Andreas Albert, are stunning. Buy this set and I promise you will not be disappointed.

Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

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