Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 IN E MINOR, BY EMIL VON SAUER: A STYLISTIC AND HISTORICAL

ARGUMENT FOR ITS RELEVANCE TO THE PIANO LITERATURE

Dzmitry Ulasiuk B.M., M.M.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

May 2021

APPROVED: Pamela Mia Paul, Major Professor Bradley Beckman, Committee Member Gustavo Romero, Committee Member Steven Harlos, Chair of the Division of

Keyboard Studies Jaymee Haefner, Director of Graduate Studies

in the College of Music John Richmond, Dean of the College of Music Victor Prybutok, Dean of the Toulouse

Graduate School

Ulasiuk, Dzmitry. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, by Emil Von Sauer: A Stylistic and

Historical Argument for Its Relevance to the Piano Literature. Doctor of Musical Arts

(Performance), May 2021, 45 pp., 4 figures, 21 musical examples, bibliography, 71 titles.

In 1895, Emil Georg Conrad Sauer (1862-1942), a world-renowned German pianist and

former student of Franz Liszt wrote his first piano concerto, which was published five years

later in 1900. Sauer performed it extensively to enthusiastic crowds in Europe and the United

States while on tour during the next several years. Then it vanished from the concert

repertoire. It is no longer performed and has only been commercially recorded once. The

purpose of this dissertation is to establish why it might have disappeared, and why there is

value in bringing it back to the standard piano repertoire.

ii

Copyright 2021

by

Dzmitry Ulasiuk

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my deep gratitude and thanks to my major professor, Dr. Pamela Mia

Paul, for her continuous guidance and encouragement throughout my time at the University of

North Texas. Her expertise, patience, and invaluable advice has made this dissertation come to

fruition.

I also wish to thank Dr. Brad Beckman, Professor Gustavo Romero and Dr. Steven Harlos

for their time and input. A very special thank-you as well to Professor Joseph Banowetz for

introducing me to the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Emil von Sauer, and to pianist and recording

artist Stephen Hough for his personal insights regarding the recording of this concerto and

Sauer’s music in general.

Finally, my sincerest thanks to my family, friends, and colleagues for their

understanding, love, continuous support, and encouragement. Thank you all for seeing me

through this journey.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................... v

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ........................................................................................................... vi

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO EMIL VON SAUER, PIANIST AND COMPOSER .............................. 1

1.1 Early Life and Education .......................................................................................... 1

1.2 Performing and Teaching Career ............................................................................ 2

1.3 Recording Artist, Editor, and Honors Awarded ...................................................... 4

CHAPTER 2. THE ROMANTIC PIANO CONCERTO ............................................................................ 7

2.1 Improvements to the Instrument ........................................................................... 7

2.2 Characteristics of the Romantic Piano Concerto .................................................... 8

2.3 Sauer’s First Piano Concerto as an Example of Romantic Style .............................. 9

2.3.1 Arpeggiation .............................................................................................. 10

2.3.2 Full Chords ................................................................................................ 12

2.3.3 Dynamic Contrast and Coloration ............................................................. 13

2.3.4 Competitive Interaction with Orchestra ................................................... 16

2.3.5 Cadenza ..................................................................................................... 18

2.3.6 Virtuosic Display ........................................................................................ 21

CHAPTER 3. SOCIO-POLITICAL FACTORS AFFECTING GERMAN MUSICIANS FROM 1900-1920 ... 26

3.1 Historical Perspective: Germans in America Before World War I ........................ 26

3.2 Effect of American Anti-German Sentiment on Classical Musicians .................... 27

3.3 The Effect on Emil von Sauer, German Pianist and Composer ............................. 33

CHAPTER 4. STYLISTIC DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ....................................... 35

BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................................. 40

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LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 3.1: Boston Symphony Orchestra Program, Season 28 (1908-1909) showing Beethoven, Brahms, Strauss, and Wagner (all German composers). .............................................................. 30

Figure 3.2: Boston Symphony Orchestra Program Season 39 (1919-1920) showing Franck, Schumann, Dukas, and Debussy (3 French composers, 1 German composer). ........................... 30

Figure 3.3: Comparison of the quantity of works performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Season 28 (1908-1909) and Season 39 (1919-1920), categorized by the composer’s country of origin. Data from archived programs for Season 28 and Season 39, Boston Symphony Orchestra........................................................................................................................................................ 31

Figure 3.4: Comparison of the number of composers whose works were performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Season 28 (1908-09) and Season 39 (1919-20), categorized by the composer’s country of origin. Data from archived programs for Season 28 and Season 39, Boston Symphony Orchestra. ....................................................................................................... 32

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LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Page

Example 2.1: F. Liszt, Concerto No 1, first movement, mm. 65-67............................................... 10

Example 2.2: F. Chopin, Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, mm. 191-194. .................................... 11

Example 2.3: E. Sauer, Concerto No. 1, second movement, mm. 239-246. ................................. 11

Example 2.4: F. Liszt, Sonata in B Minor, coda, mm. 700-708. ..................................................... 12

Example 2.5: J. Brahms, Rhapsodie No. 4, Op. 119, mm. 1-17. .................................................... 13

Example 2.6: Sauer, Concerto No. 1, first movement, mm. 306-313. .......................................... 13

Example 2.7: W. A. Mozart Fantasia in C minor, K. 475, mm. 143-153. ....................................... 14

Example 2.8: Sauer, Piano Concerto No. 1, third movement, mm 30-37. .................................... 15

Example 2.9: F. Liszt, Sonetta 123 del Petrarca, mm. 26-31. ....................................................... 15

Example 2.10: Brahms Piano Concerto, Op 15, first movement, mm. 303-309. .......................... 17

Example 2.11: C. Saint-Saens, Piano Concerto No. 2, Op 22, first movement, mm. 21-27. ......... 17

Example 2.12: Sauer, Concerto No. 1, first movement, mm 444-459. ......................................... 18

Example 2.13: S. Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No 1, Op. 1, first movement, mm 276-282. .... 19

Example 2.14: R. Schumann, Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 23, first movement, mm. 422-430........................................................................................................................................................ 20

Example 2.15: Sauer, Concerto No. 1, first movement, mm. 49-60. ............................................ 20

Example 2.16: P. Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23, first movement, mm. 240-243. ... 21

Example 2.17: Sauer Piano Concerto No. 1, fourth movement, mm. 178-180. ........................... 22

Example 2.18: F. Mendelssohn, Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 25, third movement, mm 261-266. 23

Example 2.19: Sauer, Concerto No. 1, fourth movement, mm. 193-195. .................................... 23

Example 2.20: E. Grieg, Piano Concerto in A Minor, third movement, mm. 348. ........................ 24

Example 2.21: Sauer, Concerto No. 1, fourth movement, mm. 202-212. .................................... 24

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO EMIL VON SAUER, PIANIST AND COMPOSER

The piano concerto repertoire is arguably richer and more varied than the concerto

repertoire of any other instrument. And yet pianists play the same pieces over and over; and

orchestras both large and small program those same pieces repeatedly. A glance outside the

confines of the “tried and true” reveals any number of interesting pieces that have been

overlooked. Why does a piece fall out of favor, and what would be needed to persuade

musicians to give such a piece a second look? In 1895, Emil von Sauer (1862-1942), a world-

renowned German pianist and former student of Franz Liszt wrote his first piano concerto,

which was published five years later. Sauer performed it extensively in Europe and the United

States while on tour during the next several years. Then it vanished from the concert

repertoire. It is no longer performed and has been commercially recorded only once. The

purpose of this dissertation is to establish why it might have disappeared, and why there is

value in bringing it back to the standard piano repertoire.

1.1 Early Life and Education

To better understand this unfamiliar Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E minor, one

should know more about the composer. Born Emil Georg Konrad Sauer on October 8, 1862, in

Hamburg, Germany, Sauer was famous as a pianist first, then as a teacher, composer, editor,

and recording artist. His first piano teacher was his mother; Emil didn’t really show much

interest in music initially until he went to a recital given by Anton Rubenstein in 1877, which

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ignited a spark of musical enthusiasm in him.1 He later performed for Mr. Rubenstein, who

recommended that Sauer study with his brother Nikolai at the Moscow Conservatory. Sauer

went to Moscow in 1879 and studied for two years with Rubenstein until Nikolai’s unexpected

death in 1881.

Without a teacher, Sauer decided to return home and start a performing career. His

Hamburg and Vienna debuts were well-received and he performed throughout Germany. He

had little success in England, but went on to Spain and then Italy, where he met the Countess

von Sayn-Wittgenstein, who recommended he travel to Weimar to participate in masterclasses

with her former lover and now close friend, Franz Liszt.2 He followed her advice, and spent two

summers (1884-1885) studying with the renowned pianist, thus his claim to fame as a student

of Liszt. Initially he was not impressed by the man. Sauer said in an 1895 interview, “It is not

correct to regard me as a pupil of Liszt, though I stayed with him for a few months. He was then

very old, and could not teach me much. My chief teacher has been undoubtedly, Nicholas

Rubenstein.”3 It wasn’t until later in his life that he admitted the impact Liszt had made on him

and openly favored Liszt’s compositional and performance style.4

1.2 Performing and Teaching Career

After studying with Liszt, Sauer resumed a concert career that lasted from 1886 until he

1 Allan Evans, liner notes for “Emil von Sauer 1940 Live recordings: Amsterdam & Vienna,” Emil von Sauer, pianist, Arbiter Records, 1998 https://arbiterrecords.org/catalog/emil-von-sauer/. 2 Evans, liner notes, Arbiter Records. 3 Harold Schonberg, The Great Pianists (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987), 317. 4 Farhan Malik, liner notes to “Emil von Sauer - The complete commercial recordings,” Emil von Sauer, pianist, Marston, CD 1998. https://www.marstonrecords.com/collections/piano/products/sauer.

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retired in 1940. Sauer spent most of his time performing throughout Europe and gained a

significant reputation as both an artist of great technical ability and an “elegant and polished,

aristocratic, refined and beautiful” pianist.5 He toured Russia, Denmark, Sweden, England, and

Germany. He toured the East Coast of the United States during the 1898-1899 season where he

appeared as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra,6 was engaged to perform with the

New York Philharmonic Orchestra but unfortunately fell ill the day of the concert,7 and as a

recitalist three times in Carnegie Hall.8 It was during this time that Sauer composed his first

concerto, which was published in 1900.

In 1908 his United States tour consisted of 40 concerts. He performed his own First

Concerto with such prominent orchestras as the Boston Symphony,9 the Philadelphia

Orchestra,10 and the Chicago Symphony11 (originally named Theodore Thomas Orchestra and

later renamed the Chicago Symphony12) to enthusiastic crowds, but this was his last tour of the

5 Jonathan Summers, A-Z of Pianists, Naxos 8.558107-10, released February 26, 2007 https://www.naxos.com/person/Emil_Sauer_44182/44182.htm. 6 Boston Symphony Orchestra concert program, Trip Series, Season 18 (1898-1899), Philadelphia Academy of Music, Concert 3, Boston Symphony Orchestra Program Books, Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Symphony Hall, Boston, MA. Accessed on June 3, 2020 at http://collections.bso.org/digital/collection/PROG/id/503041/rec/5. 7 New York Philharmonic archived programs, https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/search?search-type=singleFilter&search-text=Emil+Sauer&search-dates-from=02%2F01%2F1899&search-dates-to=02%2F09%2F1899. 8 New York Times, Wednesday, March 22, 1899, p7 digital archives. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/03/22/117916685.html?pageNumber=7. 9 BSO program notes archived http://collections.bso.org/digital/collection/PROG/id/100430. 10 Arthur Hornblow, editor, Theater Magazine, Vol. 8:346, Christmas, 1908. 11 Theodore Thomas Orchestra (Chicago Symphony) archived programs Vol. 18, 1908-1909, Fourth Program, 40. https://books.google.com/books?id=6hsvAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=emil+sauer+chicago+symphony&source. 12 Brad Hill, American Popular Music: Classical, New York: Facts On File, Inc., 223.

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U.S. He maintained an active and prolonged European concert schedule, retiring from public

performing in 1940.

In 1901, Sauer took a break from concert life and accepted a position as head of the

Vienna Conservatory, the meisterschule für klavierspiel, where he taught and did a little more

composing. He stayed there until 1907, then moved to Dresden to resume his concert career in

Europe. He returned to teaching at the Vienna Conservatory in 1915 where he remained on the

faculty until he retired in 1936.13

1.3 Recording Artist, Editor, and Honors Awarded

Emil von Sauer was more than a performer and teacher. He made recordings of Chopin,

Liszt, Schumann, and his own compositions for the fledgling recording company Spanish Regal

starting in 1923, and for other companies a few years later.14 He recorded the concertos of Liszt

with Felix Weingartner conducting in 1938.15 He composed several salon works, two sonatas,

and 24 concert études as well as two piano concertos.16 Over the years Sauer edited twelve

volumes of the works of Franz Liszt, two of Johannes Brahms, some Robert Schumann pieces

and a few works of Cesar Franck for Peters Edition. For B. Schott’s Söhne publishers, he edited

13 The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Don Michael Randel, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999, p 586. 14 Ward Marston, additional liner notes to “Emil von Sauer - The complete commercial recordings,” Emil von Sauer, pianist, Marston, CD 1998. 15 David Dubal, The Art of the Piano: Its Performers, Literature, and Recordings, (Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press, 3rd edition), 2004, 315. 16 Anita Boyle Renfroe, “Emil von Sauer: A catalogue of his piano works.” DMA diss., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1981. Microfiche.

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the complete works of Chopin17 and also edited piano études of Josef Pischna, Louis Plaidy,

and Theodor Kullak.18

Sauer was often recognized and rewarded for his talent and dedication to music. He

joined legendary pianists Franz Liszt, Anton Rubenstein, and Ignace Paderewski in receiving the

chevalier de la legion d’honneur award,19 was awarded the prestigious Royal Philharmonic

Society Gold Medal in 1910,20 and in 1917 was knighted by the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy,

which entitled him to use “von” in his name, thus becoming Emil von Sauer.21 He was the Royal

Court Pianist for the nobility of Romania, Saxony, and Bulgaria,22 even composing the Royal

Anthem of the Kingdom of Bulgaria in 1908.23 He was the first pianist to be made an honorary

member of the Vienna Philharmonic, with only two other pianists–Wilhelm Backhaus and Alfred

Brendel–sharing that distinction even today.24 Just as Sauer had been touched by the playing of

Anton Rubenstein, his playing affected and inspired others. A five-year-old girl from Greece

heard Sauer perform in 1924, and it was then that little Gina Bachauer decided that she, too,

would become a pianist.25

17 Jonathan Summers “A-Z of Pianists.” 18 Gdal Saleski, “Famous Musicians of Jewish Origin,” (New York: Bloch Publishing Company), 1949, 556. 19 Summers “A-Z of Pianists.” 20 Royal Philharmonic Society, “Gold Medal Recipients since 1870,” https://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/awards/gold-medal/gold-medal-recipients-since-1870. 21 Malik, liner notes. 22 Saleski, Famous Musicians, 556. 23 Nationalanthems.info, “Anthem of Bulgaria,” http://www.nationalanthems.info/bg%5E44.htm. 24 Boston Symphony Orchestra concert program, Thursday C Series, Season 126 (2006-2007), Concert 5, Boston Symphony Orchestra Program Books, Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Symphony Hall, Boston, MA. Accessed on 06-06-2020, http://collections.bso.org/digital/collection/PROG/id/465995/. 25 Schonberg, Great Pianists, p 460.

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Emil von Sauer was a family man, marrying his first wife, Alice Elb (1865-1939), in 1887

and helping to raise nine children. When she passed away, he married a former student,

Angelica Morales (1911-1996) of Mexico, and they had two sons.26 Emil von Sauer died on April

27, 1942 in Vienna.

It is now time to investigate why the first concerto of this great pianist with so many

impressive credentials is absent from today’s repertoire.

26 Malik, liner notes.

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CHAPTER 2

THE ROMANTIC PIANO CONCERTO

2.1 Improvements to the Instrument

The piano concertos of the mid- to late nineteenth century changed dramatically from

those of the classical era which preceded them, mainly due to the rapid and varied

developments of the piano itself. Changes in size, keyboard action, and structure enabled

pianists to produce more sound, play more notes faster, and create more colors and textures

with the improved instrument. Up until about 1830, the standard keyboard instrument was the

pianoforte, a smaller and more delicate instrument typically with 68 keys, two strings per key,

leather-covered hammers, a single-escapement action, and either an all-wood frame or a wood

frame with a few metal bars which limited the amount of tension the strings could bear to

about 24 pounds for each string.27 The pianoforte was perfect for an intimate salon setting, but

not large concert halls. From 1825-1880, various improvements were tried and perfected, and

by the late 1880s, the piano had evolved into the instrument we have today. One of the most

important improvements was installing a full metal frame inside the case to absorb thousands

more pounds of pressure, with each string now capable of withstanding approximately 170

pounds of pressure.28 This enabled pianists to play a much wider range of dynamics and project

their sound in larger venues. Felt-covered hammers replaced the leather ones to keep the

sound from becoming too brittle; longer, thicker strings became standard, especially with

27 Edwin M. Ripin, “Development of the modern piano” Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/art/keyboard-instrument/The-English-action, accessed July 10, 2020. 28 Ibid.

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Steinway & Sons’ patented idea for overstringing the bass notes.29 Piano keyboards were

expanded to the now-customary 88 keys, creating a range larger than any other musical

instrument. The perfecting of the double-escapement action allowed more rapid repetition of a

single key, plus improvements in the damper, or sustaining, pedal; the development of the

sostenuto and una corda pedals permitted more coloration and control, and more varied tone

quality. All these improvements enabled the pianist to play faster, louder, and with more

contrast in sound.30 There was finally an instrument that could project sound in a large concert

hall and compete with an orchestra. The composers of the Romantic era exploited these new

capabilities in their compositions, and new expectations of technique and performance arose

for concert pianists.

2.2 Characteristics of the Romantic Piano Concerto

The Romantic-styled piano concerto contained the typical aspects of Romantic music in

general: more emphasis on nature, mystery, emotions, and fantasy, with bigger sound and less

rigidity in structure.31 Some new characteristics were developed and appeared prominently

along with established ones not only because of the improvements made in the piano itself, but

due to the ideals of the Romantic era. Emphasis on arpeggiation, full chords, and cadenzas

resulted in a higher level of virtuosic display for pianists. Cadenzas were also written out by the

composer rather than improvised by the performer. With its new-found power and volume, the

29 James Barron, Piano: The Making of a Steinway Concert Grand (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2006), 100-102. 30 Arthur Loesser, Men, Women, & Pianos: A Social History (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1990), 339-340. https://books.google.com/books/about/Men_Women_and_Pianos.html?id=BtDCAgAAQBAJ. 31 Willi Apel, “Romanticism,” from Harvard Dictionary of Music, Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1969), 738.

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piano was capable of generating a more competitive interaction with the orchestra. Vast

dynamic contrasts and coloration became standard features. Harmony and rhythm were

explored to some extent, with chromaticism and a little adventurous dissonance being favored

by many composers.32

2.3 Sauer’s First Piano Concerto as an Example of Romantic Style

Sauer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-minor, composed in 1895 and published in 1900, was

chronologically on the cusp of the change from the Romantic Era to the new language of the

20th Century; but in terms of compositional style, it remained solidly in the Late Romantic

German idiom. This author has examined and compared the printed score for piano with full

orchestra33 and the two-piano score,34 both published by Schott to look for the characteristics

typical of this style. Both scores are the only editions of printed music available and Schott was

the original publisher. The scores were used to study the style of the concerto and relate it to

the historical standards and traditional techniques of that time period.

In examining Sauer’s concerto, the following pianistic and musical characteristics listed

earlier are prominent: arpeggiation, full chords, dynamic contrasts and coloration, competitive

interaction with the orchestra, cadenzas, and virtuosic display for pianists. Examples of each of

32 Simon Rushby, “The Concerto Through Time – The Romantic Concerto,” Music Teacher Online Magazine, Dec. 2016, 7. https://www.rhinegold.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MT1216-scheme-KS4_OCR-AoS2-the-Romantic-concerto.pdf. 33 Emil Sauer, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E-minor, orchestra score (Germany: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1900), 1-86. 34 Emil Sauer, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E-minor, piano solo part with underlying 2nd piano (Germany: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1900), 2-56.

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these characteristics are found in Sauer’s concerto and comparisons have been made with

similar piano works by well-known and firmly established Romantic composers.

2.3.1 Arpeggiation

Arpeggiation in its expanded form comes about as a result of improvements in the

actual instrument as mentioned in Section 2.1. A longer keyboard produced more notes to play,

the improvements of the double-escapement key action allowed pianists to play faster, and

two-handed full-keyboard arpeggios thus became a noted feature of Romantic composers such

as Liszt (Example 2.1) and Chopin (Example 2.2),35 as well as Sauer (Example 2.3).

Example 2.1: F. Liszt, Concerto No 1, first movement, mm. 65-67.36

35 Leonard G. Ratner, Romantic Music: Sound and Syntax (New York: Schirmer Books, 1992), 40-41. 36 Franz Liszt, Piano Concerto in E-flat Major, edited by Emil von Sauer. (Leipzig: Edition Peters, 1917, 8. https://ks.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usimg/5/5b/IMSLP164340PMLP02662Liszt_Klavierwerke_Peters_Sauer_Band_11_01_Konzert_Es-dur_scan.pdf. Two-piano reduction scores instead of full orchestra scores are used here and in other forthcoming examples for brevity and clarity.

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Example 2.2: F. Chopin, Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, mm. 191-194.37

Example 2.3: E. Sauer, Concerto No. 1, second movement, mm. 239-246.38

37 Frederick Chopin, Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, edited by Ignacy Jan Paderewski (Warsaw: Polish Music Publications, 1949), 53. http://imslp.eu/files/imglnks/euimg/e/e4/IMSLP73966-PMLP01649-Chopin_Paderewski_No_3_Ballades_Op_52_filter.pdf. 38 Sauer, Concerto, 30.

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2.3.2 Full Chords

Another development in piano music during the Romantic era was the use of full, heavy

chords capable of competing with an entire orchestra.39 This is a particular characteristic of

Liszt, the teacher of Sauer, and can be seen in the coda of his Sonata in B minor (Example 2.4).

Example 2.4: F. Liszt, Sonata in B Minor, coda, mm. 700-708.40

This same concept of using the piano like a full orchestra in this manner is evident from

the beginning of Brahms’s Rhapsodie No. 4, Op. 119 (Example 2.5), and again demonstrated in

the first movement of Sauer’s concerto (Example 2.6).

39 Ratner, Romantic Music, 46. 40 Franz Liszt, Sonata in B minor for Piano, edited by Emil von Sauer (Leipzig: Edition Peters, n.d. [1913-1917], 32. https://ks.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usimg/2/26/IMSLP08558-Liszt-_S178_Sonata_in_B_minor_(peters).pdf.

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Example 2.5: J. Brahms, Rhapsodie No. 4, Op. 119, mm. 1-17.41

Example 2.6: Sauer, Concerto No. 1, first movement, mm. 306-313.42

2.3.3 Dynamic Contrast and Coloration

The Romantic composers were very fond of writing multiple instructions for the

performer into the piano score, unlike their Classical predecessors. These concerned such

things as tempo, dynamics, phrasing, accents, pedaling, and even included instructions that

were more of an emotional nature rather than an objective one. These instructions were

41 Johannes Brahms, Rhapsodie No. 4, Op. 110, edited by Emil Sauer (Leipzig: C. F. Peters, 1910), 114. https://imslp.org/wiki/File:Brahms_-_Op.119_-_Sauer.pdf. 42 Sauer, Concerto, 14.

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reflective not only of the concept of Romantic music of the era, but also of the improvements

to the piano itself. The use of felt-covered hammers and the development of the pedals

allowed pianists to create a variety of subtle tones, dynamics, and coloration not available to

them with earlier instruments. The following examples show the differences in scores between

a typical Classical work by Wolfgang A. Mozart (Example 2.7) with minimal markings and two

Romantic works that provide a wider variety of instructions. Sauer (Example 2.8) included less

information about dynamics, tempo changes, and character needed to interpret the work than

did Liszt (Example 2.9), who was sometimes accused of being overly dramatic in his

compositions and transcriptions. It is interesting to note that the Liszt example was edited by

Sauer and has numerous pedal markings. Sauer’s own concerto is unedited, and yet he made

very few pedal markings in it. Blue marks are for tempo, dynamics, or emotion; red is for

pedaling and rolled chords; and green indicates style of attack such as staccato, marcato, or

accent.

Example 2.7: W. A. Mozart Fantasia in C minor, K. 475, mm. 143-153.43

43 W. A. Mozart, Fantasia in C minor, K. 475, (Vienna: Chez Artaria Comp. n.d. [1785]), 8.

15

Example 2.8: Sauer, Piano Concerto No. 1, third movement, mm 30-37.44

Example 2.9: F. Liszt, Sonetta 123 del Petrarca, mm. 26-31.45

44 Sauer, Concerto, 42. 45 Franz Liszt, Annees de Pelerinage: VI Sonetto 123 del Petrarca, from Piano Works, Volume 6: Works for piano and orchestra, edited by Emil von Sauer, (Leipzig: Edition Peters, n.d. [1913-1917]), 254.

16

2.3.4 Competitive Interaction with Orchestra

As a result of its many improvements through the middle and later parts of the 19th

century, the piano became an instrument of significant sound and power, capable of interacting

as more of an equal partner with an orchestra, particularly the larger orchestras required for

Romantic and Late Romantic music. An eloquent description of this ability was written in 1837

by Franz Liszt, a formidable pianist and composer. He wrote an essay for the French classical

music journal Gazette Musicale and described the wonders of the piano as follows:

…In the circumference of its seven octaves it embraces the whole circumference of an orchestra; and a man’s ten fingers are enough to render the harmonies which in an orchestra are only brought out by the combination of hundreds of musicians…We can give broken chords like the harp, long sustained notes like the wind, staccato and a thousand passages which before it seemed only possible to produce on this or that instrument….The piano has on the one side the capacity of assimilation; the capacity of taking into itself the life of all (instruments); on the other it has its own life, its own growth, its individual development…46 A frequent technique in Romantic concerto composition is having the orchestra and

piano go head-to-head, taking a motif and bouncing it back and forth, escalating the volume or

speed as if to see which side can dominate. This is quite evident in the following examples from

the D minor Piano Concerto of Brahms (Example 2.10), the Piano Concerto No.2 of Saint-Saens

(Example 2.11) and a similar passage from Sauer’s concerto (Example 2.12).

46 Oscar Bie, A History of the Pianoforte and Pianoforte Players, translated by E. E. Kellett and E. W. Naylor (London: J. M. Dent & Company, 1899), 282.

17

Example 2.10: Brahms Piano Concerto, Op 15, first movement, mm. 303-309.47

Example 2.11: C. Saint-Saens, Piano Concerto No. 2, Op 22, first movement, mm. 21-27.48

47 Johannes Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15, edited by Emil von Sauer (Leipzig: C. F. Peters, n.d. [ca.1920], 28-29. 48 Camille Saint-Saens, Piano Concerto No.2, Op. 22, edited by Adam Laussel (Moscow: Muzyka, 1966), 6. https://imslp.org/wiki/File:SaintSaens-Op022ar2pf.pdf.

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Example 2.12: Sauer, Concerto No. 1, first movement, mm 444-459.49

2.3.5 Cadenza

The cadenza in the classical concerto was originally improvised by the performer and

was an opportunity to demonstrate technical virtuosity. Cadenzas in the Romantic period were

written out by composers as opposed to having the performer improvise, and they were made

increasingly challenging and difficult to execute for pianists. Composers used all available

elements – chords, scales, and arpeggios mainly – to create technical fireworks traveling from

one end of the keyboard to the other, pushing the piano and pianist to extremes. In these next

examples, Rachmaninov (Example 2.13) and Schuman (Example 2.14) present the main theme

49 Sauer, Concerto, 21.

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by using the complete range of the modern piano, full chords moving up and down in inversion

with the melody on the top. Sauer (Example 2.15) uses the same technique to create a full

orchestral sound, as if to emphasize the piano as the king of all instruments.

Example 2.13: S. Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No 1, Op. 1, first movement, mm 276-282.50

50 Sergei Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 1 (Moscow: A. Gutheil, 1893), 48.

20

Example 2.14: R. Schumann, Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 23, first movement, mm. 422-430.51

Example 2.15: Sauer, Concerto No. 1, first movement, mm. 49-60.52

51 Robert Schumann, Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 (Moscow: Muzyka, 1985), 30. 52 Sauer, Concerto, 3-4.

21

2.3.6 Virtuosic Display

The long cadenza was used to showcase the soloist’s technical skills by playing without

orchestral accompaniment or interaction. However, composers of the Romantic piano

concertos interspersed passages of exceptional difficulty throughout the entire concerto,

whether or not their concertos had a cadenza. The passages requiring extraordinary technique

are examples of virtuosic display. All of the previous elements discussed here required from a

performer a new physical approach which included the use of the entire body, not just hands,

in order to be able to play these elements without sustaining injury.

One such element is the rapid movement known as tremolato, shown here in two

passages, Examples 2.16 and 2.17, from Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto and Sauer’s First Concerto,

respectively.

Example 2.16: P. Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23, first movement, mm. 240-243.53

53 Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23, edited by Rafael Joseffy (New York: G. Schirmer, 1905), 22.

22

Example 2.17: Sauer Piano Concerto No. 1, fourth movement, mm. 178-180.54

With the refinements to the piano’s double-escapement action came the ability of

playing notes much faster and cleaner than possible with the older pianoforte. Composers were

quick to oblige pianists with faster passages that traveled all over the keyboard and required a

nimbleness and degree of speed not imagined ten years earlier. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

wrote his first piano concerto in 1831 without any cadenza, but gave the pianist streaks of

virtuosic display throughout. He designated presto for the beginning of the third movement,

then upped it to molto allegro e vivace for a roller coaster ride on the keyboard as seen in

Example 2.18.

Sauer’s fourth movement has a metronome marking of 108 for a half note, with the

pianist playing two sets of triplets in that time, or the three measures of Example 2.19 in

approximately 3.3 seconds.

54 Sauer, Concerto, 58.

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Example 2.18: F. Mendelssohn, Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 25, third movement, mm 261-266.55

Example 2.19: Sauer, Concerto No. 1, fourth movement, mm. 193-195.56

Another typically Romantic virtuosic element used widely in this era was the passage in

double octaves. Piano works often featured several measures of octaves in both hands which

required the pianist to create a powerful sound while playing at great speed and with total

55 Felix Mendelssohn, Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 (Leipzig: C. F. Peters, 1895), 42. 56 Sauer, Concerto, 59.

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accuracy. The concerto of Edward Grieg (Example 2.20) makes use of this element as does the

concerto of Sauer (Example 2.21).

Example 2.20: E. Grieg, Piano Concerto in A Minor, third movement, mm. 348.57

Example 2.21: Sauer, Concerto No. 1, fourth movement, mm. 202-212.58

57 Edvard Grieg, Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, edited by Bertha Feiring Tapper (Boston: Oliver Ditson Company, 1908), 44. 58 Sauer, Concerto, 58.

25

Sauer’s Piano Concerto in E Minor has many of the same characteristics as other popular

Late Romantic piano concertos and was well received by audiences in Europe and the United

States at the turn of the century for several years. It waned in popularity, however, and was

quickly forgotten. Other factors figured in to the disappearance of Sauer’s concerto, and these

are investigated in the next chapter.

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CHAPTER 3

SOCIO-POLITICAL FACTORS AFFECTING GERMAN MUSICIANS FROM 1900-1920

Early twentieth century American socio-political events offer a possible reason for the

disappearance of the Sauer concerto. The outbreak of World War I and subsequent anti-

German sentiment in the United States altered the landscape of classical music in a matter of

months.

3.1 Historical Perspective: Germans in America Before World War I

To better understand the change in America’s social attitude at the beginning of her

1917 entrance into World War I, a brief description of German influence and immigration prior

to that time is helpful. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, German immigrants accounted

for the largest non-English speaking group to come to the United States.59 German was

commonly taught in public schools, streets and towns had German names, and German beer

was popularly produced and sold. German families started businesses, attended church services

in German, started social and philanthropic organizations, and were largely accepted into the

communities as hard-working entrepreneurs. During the nineteenth century, more than five

million German immigrants came to the United States for the chance to pursue the American

Dream.60

At the start of World War I in 1914 between the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-

59 Katja Wüstenbecker, "German-Americans during World War I," in Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 3, edited by Giles R. Hoyt, German Historical Institute, last modified September 25, 2014, http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=214. 60 Frederick Luebke, Germans in the New World: Essays in the History of Immigration, (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press) 1990, 163.

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Hungary, and Italy against the Allied group of Britain, France, and Russia, the United States was

politically neutral and didn’t enter the fight until three years later in 1917. During those years,

however, the social impact of taking sides in America grew, and sentiment became increasingly

anti-German. Schools no longer offered German classes, streets and towns were renamed with

more English-sounding names, Germans were increasingly aware of the rhetoric directed at

their ethnicity and had to curtail events celebrating their German heritage as well as openly

speaking their language. Even their beer was targeted, although that could have been due to

the temperance movement that led to the passage of the 18th Amendment in 1917.61 For

musicians and composers, these sentiments were devastating. Undoubtedly this affected Emil

von Sauer’s American concert engagements and performances of his piano concerto.

3.2 Effect of American Anti-German Sentiment on Classical Musicians

The vast majority of classical music performed by U.S. orchestras from the late 1800s up

until World War 1 was composed by German or Austro-Hungarian giants such as Bach,

Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Haydn, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann,

Johann Strauss Jr., Richard Strauss, and Wagner. However, in November of 1917, music by

Beethoven was banned in Pittsburgh, the world-renowned Austrian violinist, Fritz Kreisler, had

his concerts canceled there as well as in Cleveland, Washington D.C., and Baltimore, and all

music by German composers was excluded from the programming for the Philadelphia

Orchestra.62 The Metropolitan Opera Company of New York terminated many contracts with

61 Wüstenbecker, "German-Americans." 62 Frederick C. Luebke, Bonds of Loyalty: German-Americans and World War I (De Kalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press) 1974, 248-249

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German singers and prohibited the performance of any German opera starting in November of

1917.63

Prior to 1917, the best and most prominent orchestras in the United States engaged

conductors and musicians who were either German or German-American, and many American

conservatories were started by German-born musicians hoping to equal or surpass their

European counterparts. An overwhelming majority of orchestra musicians and conductors

were German or of German descent.64 Guest artists and soloists as well came frequently from

Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or were German immigrants or descendants.

Suddenly these musicians were suspected of anti-American feelings and activities, and thus

targeted for discrimination, incarceration, and even expulsion. Dr. Ernst Kunwald, the German

concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, was inexplicably arrested in December of

1917 and a month later interned in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia for the remainder of the war, and

then deported.65 Dr. Karl Muck, the conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, also was

interned with Kunwald after a misunderstanding over the playing of the National Anthem

before a concert, and similarly deported at war’s end.66 Many orchestras reduced or eliminated

their repertoire of Strauss and Wagner in particular to avoid being labeled disloyal. Wagner

especially was characterized as promoting German nationalism and identity. For some patriotic

63 J. E. Vacha, “When Wagner Was Verboten: The Campaign Against German Music in World War I,” New York History, Vol. 64, No. 2, (New York: Fenimore Art Museum) April 1983, 175-176. 64 Kathleen Neils Conzen, “Germans,” in The Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, ed. Stephan Thernstrom et al. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980), 425. 65 Melissa Burrage, The Karl Muck Scandal: Classical Music and Xenophobia in World War I America, (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press), 2019, 4-5 66 Neil Swidley, “The Muck Affair.” Boston Globe Magazine Online. November 02, 2017. https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2017/11/02/the-muck-affair/QczxAVe0i2EJZpLPGEKR9H/story.html.

29

zealots, this German music was considered a propaganda tool because it was thought to be

philosophically dangerous, stirring emotions and creating a frenzied military call to action for

the listeners.67

Archived programs of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since its inception in 1881

substantiate the changes in concert and programming and speak for themselves. The programs

list the music being performed and the orchestra personnel for that concert, but with no

commentary about any changes in personnel or conductor. Evidence of discrimination and US

rejection because of Sauer’s heritage is illustrated with Figures 3.1 and 3.2, programs from the

Boston Symphony Orchestra from the time period of Sauer’s 40-concert tour in the United

States (1908-1909) and a decade later with the same orchestra.68 In the program from 1908

(Figure 3.1), the conductor – Max Fiedler – was a German, and all musical selections for the

program were written by German composers. From 1912 to 1918, Dr. Karl Muck, another

German, was the conductor but was interned in 1918 and later deported. He was replaced by

French-American Pierre Monteux, who introduced non-German works by composers such as

Stravinsky and Ravel into the Symphony’s repertoire.69 The 1918-1919 program features three

French composers and only one German (Figure 3.2).

67 Wüstenbecker, "German-Americans." 68 Boston Symphony Orchestra concert program, Subscription Series, Season 28 (1908-1909), Week 1, page 7, Season 38 (1918-1919), Week 1, page 7, Boston Symphony Orchestra Program Books, Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Symphony Hall, Boston, MA. Accessed on 3/19/2020 at http://collections.bso.org/digital/collection/PROG/id/480836, and at http://collections.bso.org/digital/collection/PROG/id/30622. 69 Burrage, The Karl Muck Scandal, 217.

30

Figure 3.1: Boston Symphony Orchestra Program, Season 28 (1908-1909) showing Beethoven, Brahms, Strauss, and Wagner (all German composers).

Figure 3.2: Boston Symphony Orchestra Program Season 39 (1919-1920) showing Franck, Schumann, Dukas, and Debussy (3 French composers, 1 German composer).

The Boston Symphony Orchestra was already recognized as one of the top American

symphony orchestras at this time. By examining its archived concert programs from 1908, when

Sauer premiered his First Piano Concerto in the United States until 1919, a year after America’s

success in World War I, one can see the programming changes. Earlier programs are heavily

weighted towards Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. The later years contain broader

representation from non-Germanic composers. French composers such as Berlioz, Chabrier and

Debussy, American composer Edward MacDowell. Russian composers Rimsky-Korsakov,

31

Borodin, Glazunov, and Rachmaninoff appear more often. Lesser-known German composers

like Hermann Grädener, Paul Scheinpflug, and Gustav Strube had their works performed before

the war; afterwards they disappear in favor of composers from Allied or neutral countries.

Lesser-known American composers like Charles Griffes, Henry Gilbert, John Carpenter, and

Frederick Converse replaced the powerhouse German icons.70

Figure 3.3: Comparison of the quantity of works performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in

Season 28 (1908-1909) and Season 39 (1919-1920), categorized by the composer’s country of origin. Data from archived programs for Season 28 and Season 39, Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Two seasons of BSO programs have been selected to illustrate these changes: Season 28

70 Boston Symphony Orchestra concert program, Subscription Series, Season 28 (1908-1909) and Season 39 (1919-1920), Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Boston, MA. http://collections.bso.org/digital/collection/PROG/search/searchterm/1908-09%20Symphony%20Season/field/season/mode/exact/conn/and (Season 28); http://collections.bso.org/digital/collection/PROG/search/searchterm/1919-20%20Symphony%20Season/field/season/mode/exact/conn/and (Season 39).

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(1908-1909), when Sauer premiered his concerto with the Boston Symphony, and Season 39

(1919-1920), one year after the United States declared victory. The data comes directly from

looking at the concert repertoire for the entire season and categorizing it according to the

composer’s ethnic background and the frequency with which a concert piece was performed.

For example, in 1908-1909 Richard Wagner (a German) had several works performed multiple

times– a total of 59 performances of his works throughout the season. The English composer

Edward Elgar had one symphony performed only one time during that same season. The

following two pie graphs in Figure 3.3 show the change in musical programming frequency by

composers’ ethnic background from the first examined season and the last.

Figure 3.4: Comparison of the number of composers whose works were performed by the Boston

Symphony Orchestra in Season 28 (1908-09) and Season 39 (1919-20), categorized by the composer’s country of origin. Data from archived programs for Season 28 and Season 39, Boston Symphony

Orchestra.

33

Another way to examine the data is by looking at the composers themselves. In the

following pair of graphs in Figure 3.4, the number of composers from a particular country who

had their compositions performed by the BSO is shown for both Season 28 (1908-09) and

Season 39 (1919-20). One can see that the year Sauer premiered his concerto, nearly half the

composers were from either Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Eleven years later, this

number was down significantly, from seventeen to ten. The increases came from other

countries – noticeably France, Russia, Italy and the United States. In this case, the number of

French composers went from six to eleven during the same period.

3.3 The Effect on Emil von Sauer, German Pianist and Composer

Finally, one can look at what Sauer’s activity level was during this same time frame. He

first performed in the United States on January 14, 1899, at a time when German music and

German musicians were featured prominently in the United States as conductors, soloists, and

orchestra personnel. In 1901 Sauer was appointed head of the meisterschule für klavierspiel at

the Vienna Conservatory and spent the next seven years in that position. He succeeded as a

teacher and established an excellent reputation as a pedagogue. He left the Conservatory job

in 1908 to concertize again, performing his First Piano Concerto in forty performances in 1908-

09 in the United States alone.71 He was again wildly successful and well received by audiences.

He returned to his teaching position in 1915, most likely due to the obvious difficulty of touring

and securing European concerts during a period of widespread and devastating war.

71 Farhan Malik, liner notes to “Emil von Sauer - The complete commercial recordings,” Emil von Sauer, pianist, Marston Recordings, CD 1998.

34

In 1917, the same year the United States declared war on Germany, Sauer was given the

honorary title “von” by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in recognition of his extraordinary

contribution to the arts, an act of great honor for a German citizen but undoubtedly viewed

with suspicion by Americans. It is reasonable to conclude that Emil Sauer was not invited back

to the United States to perform because of his close ties with the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy.

As elegant, virtuosic, and as beautifully lyrical as it is, the demise of von Sauer’s Piano Concerto

No. 1 was furthered by the anti-German crusade of the United States and its Allies in Western

Europe before and during World War I. His concerto, like those of many other contemporary

German composers, fell out of favor with American audiences who perceived them as too

German, in spite of being hugely popular just a few years before.

The War had other effects on the world of classical music, but many changes were

coming before it even started. The War exacerbated, facilitated, and accelerated many of these

changes, to be explored next.

35

CHAPTER 4

STYLISTIC DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Another possible reason for the concerto’s plunge to oblivion is doubtlessly due to the

stylistic changes in classical music occurring during the transition period (approximately 1900-

1920) from Romanticism to Twentieth Century or Contemporary music. After the tremendous

tumult caused by World War I, many in the arts felt that there needed to be a total separation

from the past in order to have a future. Noted Hungarian composer Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

effectively stated in a 1920 essay for the German journal Melos: “The excesses of the

romanticists began to be unbearable for many. There were composers who felt: ‘This road does

not lead us anywhere; there is no other solution but a complete break with the nineteenth

century.’”72 The United States gained more influence in the realm of classical music

performance and composition as European, especially German, influences waned in the

aftermath of war and political upheaval. Many prominent European composers and performers

relocated to the United States to avoid turmoil in their homelands. French, Russian, English,

and American composers emerged as the next generation of classical music creators; the arrival

of the Russian School produced a new generation of pianists like Rachmaninoff, Horowitz,

Scriabin, Richter and Gilels. Sauer’s Late Romantic concerto was soon outdated as new

Twentieth Century styles emerged, styles featuring non-traditional forms and harmonies,

unpredictable rhythms, unusual instrumentations, and less recognizable tonal centers.73

72 Joseph Auener, “Music in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries: Western Music in Context,” (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2013), 2. 73 Donald Grout, A History of Western Music, revised edition (W. W. Norton & Company: New York, 1973) 662-663.

36

Composers such as Stravinsky, Bartók, Gershwin, Prokofiev, Copland, Ravel, and Scriabin carved

their own unique sounds with groundbreaking, and often unsettling, results. Traditionalist

composers vowed to be true to Romanticism, and while their works were well-written, lyrical,

and challenging to perform, they were quickly forgotten. Many famous pianists tried their hand

at composing, but most had more talent as performers than as composers, even if their works

were well-written. As Sauer was known more for being a pianist than for being a composer, the

many compositions that he wrote, as well as those of other Late Romantic pianist-composers,

were dismissed from the concert halls and piano repertoire in favor of new music.74 As

explained in an email to the author, pianist Stephen Hough, the only pianist to do a commercial

recording of Sauer’s First Concerto,75 stated, “Certainly by the time of the First World War

fashions had begun to change and the elegance of certain Romantic works seemed out of

date…He (referring to Sauer) is a casualty of the turbulence of the 20th century’s cultural

development.”

74 David Dubal, “Evenings with Horowitz: A Personal Portrait,” (New York: Birch Lane Press), 1991, 81. 75 Emil Sauer, Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-minor, Stephen Hough (piano) and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Lawrence Foster, (recorded in 1994, Hyperion CDA66790, 1995, compact disc).

37

CONCLUSION

Sauer’s demanding yet lyrical piano concerto is a beautiful piece of piano virtuosity that

this author believes should become a part of the standard piano literature. It is likely that

stylistic changes and developments in composition at the beginning of the twentieth century

contributed the most to its disappearance from the repertoire, accelerated by world events in

the socio-political arena. It is still possible to revive it as the political prejudices against German

music and composers are long gone, and concert audiences still love and attend performances

of Romantic-styled piano concertos today, as seen by the popularity of piano concertos by

Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Grieg, Liszt, and Chopin, to name a few.

The only commercial recording of this concerto, in a performance by Stephen Hough,

showcases the beauty and technical power of the concerto. The concerto appealed instantly to

the pianist, as he described to this author in an email, “…everything Sauer wrote is beautifully

crafted for the piano. You can tell what a wonderful pianist he must have been just from

looking at the scores.” The concerto also impressed music critics world-wide, as Hough’s

recording won the 1996 Gramophone Classical Music Award for Best Concerto.76

Music critic and reviewer John France shares the same belief, as he so eloquently states

about Sauer’s compositions in his review of the 4-CD set of solo piano works of Emil Sauer:

Von Sauer is no Rachmaninov or Liszt –and that probably explains the drop off of interest in his works during the twentieth century. Yet what we have here is a fine collection of very beautiful and totally absorbing piano pieces that are interesting, well written, technically perfect and quite charming. They deserve to be well known; they are required listening for every enthusiast of the romantic tradition of piano writing. Not

76 Gramophone, “Gramophone’s Recordings of the Year 1900-1999,” last modified May 21, 2015. https://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/gramophones-recordings-of-the-year-1990-1999.

38

being a genius is nothing to be ashamed of. Few composers actually are, although the term is often used to excess. What Von Sauer lacks in ‘divine’ inspiration he makes up for in technical expertise, wit and poetry…. They entertained a whole generation of concertgoers. And the tastes of these concertgoers were just as sophisticated as our tastes are today – perhaps even more so, as they were prepared to enjoy music that was just sheer pleasure to listen to. Emil Von Sauer teaches us that we can sit back and enjoy a little bit of light virtuosic music now and again –without having to apologise [sic] to ourselves or anyone else.77

The concerto overall fits the standards of Romantic music. It is not exceedingly complicated for

the listener, but it is definitely challenging for the performer. If pianists were made aware of

this “new” concerto, they might be inspired to learn it and thus have more variety in their

concert repertoire or perhaps something “fresh” for judges to hear in a competition. Again,

from Hough’s email, “I think it is important to have access to as much repertoire as possible,

especially when written by someone who was an important historical figure…. what is

absolutely essential is that the quality of playing (and recording) is first-class. With music by

such a sophisticated pianist-composer as Sauer it needs to be played with utmost commitment

and refinement.”

The Sauer concerto, in full or in part, has recently made appearances in small venues

such as the finals of the 2019 National Youth Music Competition in Cape Town, South Africa78

and the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki, Finland.79 If it can garner enough

attention once again from pianists, orchestra directors, scholars, and classical music fans, Emil

77 John France, “Emil von Sauer Piano Works in Four Volumes,” MusicWeb International http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/dec01/Sauer_Piano_Works.htm#ixzz6Qv040ihM. 78 National Youth Music Competition 2019, E. von Sauer Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Cape Town, Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Brandon Phillips, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su6o-QMNYJg. 79 Xiaoyu Yu & Hao Zhang, 2017 Worlds Pairs Long Program, Helsinki, Finland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6ewgHUcs44.

39

von Sauer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 can and should become a wonderful addition to the Romantic

era literature for the piano.

40

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Musical Scores

Brahms, Johannes. Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15. Edited by Emil von Sauer. Leipzig: C. F. Peters, n.d.

———. Rhapsodie No. 4, Op. 110, from Piano Works, Vol. II. Edited by Emil Sauer. Leipzig: C. F. Peters, 1910. https://imslp.org/wiki/File:Brahms_-_Op.119_-_Sauer.pdf.

Chopin, Frederick. Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, from All the Works of Frederick Chopin, Vol. III: Ballades. Edited by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, assisted by Ludwik Bronarski and Józef Turczyński. Warsaw: Polish Music Publications, 1949. (1973 reissue). http://imslp.eu/files/imglnks/euimg/e/e4/IMSLP73966Chopin_Paderewski_No_3_Ballades_Op_52_filter.pdf.

Grieg, Edvard. Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16. Edited by Bertha Feiring Tapper. Boston: Oliver Ditson Company, 1908.

Liszt, Franz. Annees de Pelerinage: VI Sonetto 123 del Petrarca, from Klavierwerke, Band 6: Werke für Klavier und Orchester [Piano Works, Volume 6: Works for piano and orchestra], edited by Emil von Sauer. Leipzig: Edition Peters, n.d. [1913-1917]. https://imslp.org/wiki/Ann%C3%A9es_de_p%C3%A8lerinage_II,_S.161_(Liszt,_Franz)

———. Piano Concerto in E-flat Major, from Klavierwerke, Band 11: Werke für Klavier und Orchester [Piano Works, Volume 11: Works for piano and orchestra]. Edited by Emil von Sauer. Leipzig: Edition Peters, 1917. https://ks.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usimg/5/5b/IMSLP164340-PMLP02662-Liszt_Klavierwerke_Peters_Sauer_Band_11_01_Konzert_Es-dur_scan.pdf.

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———. Sonata in B minor for Piano. Klavierwerke, Band 6: Original Kompositionen für Klavier zu zwei Händen [Piano Works Vol. 6: Original Compositions for Two Hands.] Edited by Emil von Sauer. Leipzig: Edition Peters, n.d. [1913-1917] https://ks.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usimg/2/26/Liszt_-_S178_Sonata_in_B_minor_(peters).pdf.

Mendelssohn, Felix. Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25. Leipzig: C. F. Peters, 1895.

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Fantasia in C minor, K. 475. Vienna: Chez Artaria Comp., n.d. [1785].

Rachmaninoff, Sergei. Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 1. Moscow: A. Gutheil, 1893.

———. Second Concerto pour le Piano avec Orchestre ou un 2d Piano [Second Concerto for Piano with Orchestra or a 2nd Piano], Op. 18. Two-piano score. Moscow, Russia: A. Gutheil. 1901.

Saint-Saens, Camille. Piano Concerto No.2, Op. 22. Edited by Adam Laussel. Moscow: Muzyka, 1966. https://imslp.org/wiki/File:SaintSaens-Op022ar2pf.pdf.

Sauer, Emil. Concerto pour Piano et Orchestre (mi-mineur) [Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E-minor] Partition d’Orchestre [Orchestra score]. Germany: B. Schott’s Söhne. 1900.

———. Konzert für Klavier und Orchester (E-moll) [Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E-minor), Klavier Solostimme mit unterlegtem 2. Klavier [Piano solo part with underlying 2nd piano]. Germany: B. Schott’s Söhne. 1900.

Schumann, Robert. Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54. Moscow: Muzyka, 1985.

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23. New York: Reprinted by E.H. Kalmus. 1965.

———. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23. Edited by Rafael Joseffy. New York: G. Schirmer, 1905.