The Periodical Overtures in 8 Parts

… is a remarkable series of sixty-one orchestral symphonies published in London by Robert Bremner between 1763 and 1783. In essence, it was a “symphony-of-the-month” publication over this twenty-year period, capturing the musical tastes of London during the era’s “rage for music.” Bremner was inspired to undertake the series after witnessing the success on the Continent of similar French periodical prints. In England, however, Bremner’s series went unrivaled for a decade, and no other later British publisher came close to matching his success with this periodical format.

From the start, Bremner promised to issue works that had never been printed in Britain and that were composed by “the most celebrated Authors.” He honored both of those commitments, and by 1783, the Periodical Overtures represented some twenty-eight well-regarded composers from across Europe. To accommodate smaller orchestras, the symphonies usually were limited to eight parts, representing first and second violins, viola, bass, a pair of oboes, and a pair of horns, although a few additional instruments began appearing in various issues as British ensembles grew more ambitious. Bremner also catered to a generally conservative British taste by adding figured bass if it were not already present and sometimes reducing the number of movements to three. The works were widely performed, appearing in the records of concert organizations in England, Scotland, and even in the American colonies. Late in the century, several of the most popular issues were arranged for keyboard, reflecting not only the increasing number of pianos in private homes, but also the Periodical Overtures’ staying power.

The objective of these Periodical Overtures Editions in the “Repertoire Explorer” series is to make this unique collection of orchestral works easily accessible and affordable. The music has been edited with a light touch, preserving the authenticity of Bremner’s original prints. Copyist errors have been corrected and notation has been standardized to meet modern conventions, along with the addition of bar numbers, rehearsal letters, and instrumental cues to facilitate performance. Horn parts in F are provided, along with parts in the symphony’s original key. Each score includes a short background and analytical essay along with a summary of the editorial approaches and changes. The Periodical Overtures Editions enrich the repertoire available to chamber orchestras, professional and amateur alike, providing them with valuable historical and musical insights as well as much delightful music-making, a great deal of which is unknown to contemporary audiences and performers.

> Historical Background & Catalogue

Orchestra

(1932)

I Poco lento (p. 1) – Più mosso (p. 6) – Allegro con fuoco (p. 10) – Allegro giusto (p. 18) –
Dolce meno mosso (p. 24) – Più lento (p. 37) – Allegro con fuoco (p. 39) – Tempo giusto (p. 59) – Meno mosso (p. 61) – Moderato (p. 63) – Tempo primo. Poco lento (p. 65)
II Poco lento (p. 69) – Molto tranquillo (p. 80) – Tempo primo (p. 86) – Meno mosso (p. 91)
III Poco moderato (p. 97) – Allegro (p. 98) – Lento (p. 127) – Tempo primo. Allegro (p. 134) – Maestoso più lento (p. 140) – Poco largamente (p. 141) – Molto vivace – Brillante molto (p. 142) – Largamente (p. 143) – Doppio movimento alla breve (p. 144) – Più lento (p. 159)

Preface
Even at the time of his death, Arnold Bax was already largely forgotten, only to be rediscovered in the early 1970s (Lewis Foreman’s achievements must be particularly mentioned here). Bax studied at the same time as York Bowen, Benjamin Dale, Myra Hess, Montague Phillips, Paul Corder, Arthur Hinton, William Henry Reed and Harry Farjeon at the Royal Academy of Music with Frederick Corder and Alexander Mackenzie (the latter still had known Liszt personally), where he became a good pianist, but on the other hand felt an aversion to conducting his own works or conducting at all. Bax earned a high reputation, however, particularly in the area of orchestration. Robin Hull wrote in 1942: “The orchestration of Bax’s symphonies confirms previous evidence that his natural mastery and original handling of this medium belong to the foremost rank. His scoring, though apparently generous, rarely outweighs the material: few composers can handle large resources with such self-restraint and fine judgment. Bax’s musical substance requires for its expression many novel and fascinating relationships between instruments whose combined use has opened up immense possibilities in the field of orchestral writing. …

Preface
“Ivan the Terrible”, as the title alone suggests, is a Russian historical-political story which Sergei Prokofiev, among others, used as the basis for a film score, from which a secular oratorio was created after his death.

The Soviet pianist, composer and conductor Sergej Sergejewitsch Prokofiew was born on April 23, 1891 in Sontsovka, in what is now Ukraine. Today, he is best known in German-speaking countries for his musical fairy tale “Peter and the Wolf”. He received his first piano lessons from his mother at the age of four and began writing his first compositions as early as 1896. In 1902 and 1903, he received private lessons from the composer and music teacher Reinhold Moritzewitsch Gliére (1875-1956), whose father came from the Vogtland region (Germany). From 1904 to 1914, he studied composition, counterpoint, orchestration, piano and conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and Anatoly Konstantinowitsch Lyadow (1855-1914), among others. In the meantime, Prokofiew toured America and France as a pianist and conductor and returned to Moscow in 1936. His arrival in Russia was followed by a great increase in compositional productivity. The composer died in Moscow on March 5, 1953.1

Prokofiew had a great musical interest in historicizing elements such as old dances and traditional forms, but also had a preference for daring harmonies, dissonances, unusual chord combinations and pushing the boundaries of tonality. Characteristic of his music are its piercing rhythms, wild motivity, expressive melodies, which can be humorously ironic, and unusual orchestration.2 …

First performance: 6. October 2005
Grieghallen, Bergen
Einar Røttingen, piano
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Ingar Bergby, conductor

Knut Vaage graduated as a pianist and composer from the Grieg Academy in Bergen. Vaage has worked in different styles of music, with special focus on improvised and contemporary music. Many of his projects have investigated the boundaries between improvisation and composed music. Vaage’s production ranges from symphonic works and opera to solo pieces. His music is frequently performed at concerts and festivals in Norway and abroad. Much of Vaage’s instrumental music has been released on CD.
Investigation of the acoustic/electronic hybrid-sound is another important area in Vaage’s music. He has also written a number of vocal works and works for the stage.
As an improviser Vaage early on explored the boundaries between improvisation and composition as a member of the trio JKL. The tension created between acoustic instruments and electronics was an important ingredient of their style. Vaage’s work with improvisation continues with the band Fat Battery, and in staged works like “Achilles or Stupor”, premiered at Grec Festival in Barcelona in 2015.
The dissemination of contemporary music for a wider audience forms an important part of Vaage’s compositional activity. He has participated in different concert projects aimed towards children, teenagers, and local choirs and orchestras. Vaage has also been deeply involved in administrative work, having served as leader and board member of several contemporary music organizations in Norway. http://www.knutvaage.com/ …

Pastorale p. 1
Zwiegespräch p. 20
Reigen p. 26
Burleske p. 40

Preface
In 1901, after completing his studies at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Hermann Zilcher moved to Berlin to pursue a career as a pianist and composer, but his compositional ambitions initially remained unknown there. His collaboration with the famous violinist couple Alexander and Lilli Petschnikoff, with whom he went on concert tours as their accompanist, was of particular importance during this time. He also composed works for them, including Two Pieces for Two Violins op. 7, the Double Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra in D minor op. 9, a Double Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra in D minor op. 9 and the Suite for Two Violins and Small Orchestra in G major op. 15. From then on, these pieces were included in the artists’ concert repertoire.

On 16 March 1904, Zilcher wrote in a letter to his much better-known colleague Engelbert Humperdinck – who had lived for a time in Frankfurt in the same house as the Zilcher family with the young Hermann: “I take the liberty of sending you tickets to my composition concert on 19 March in the Beethovensaal, 8 o’clock. Perhaps you would have the time and interest to listen to part of the programme? It begins with a symphony, then a song (from the choral work Reinhart!) with orchestra, followed by a violin concerto, then songs again & finally a suite for 2 violins and orchestra.” (Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library, Humperdinck estate, A I b 5979) …

Opera

Preface
The most successful opera by the Italian composer of the late Romantic period Italo Montemezzi is “L’Amore dei tre re”, or “The Love of the Three Kings”, which caused a storm of enthusiasm at its premiere at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Despite this worldwide success, the composer Italo Montemezzi is largely forgotten today.
The Italian musician and composer Italo Montemezzi was born on 4 August 1875 in Vigasio near Verona and studied composition with Vincenzo Ferroni until 1900, graduating with distinction. As his final piece, he set a text from the Song of Songs to music as a cantata for soprano, mezzo-soprano, choir and orchestra, which was premiered by Arturo Toscanini. He later taught harmony at the Milan Conservatory and mainly composed operas, most of which were premiered at La Scala in Milan. Montemezzi lived in the USA between 1939 and 1949.1 In addition to operas, he also created symphonic works such as the poem “Paolo e Virginia”, which he composed in 1929. Montemezzi died on 15 May 1952 in Vigasio. His opera compositions include “Giovanni Gallurese”, “L’Hellera”, “L’Incantesimo” and “L’Amore dei tre re”2.
The three-act, two-hour opera “L’amore dei tre re” – Montemezzi described it as a “poema tragico” – is based on a libretto by Sem Benelli after his drama “La cena delle beffe”, which was later also set to music by Umberto Giordano. Montemezzi did not give Benelli any instructions for the libretto, so that only the number of characters in the play had to be reduced and Montemezzi was able to set it to music almost word for word. The composition was written between 1910 and 1913.
On 10 April 1913, the opera “L’Amore dei tre re” was premiered at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan under the musical direction of Tullio Serafin. The singers were Nazzareno De Angelis (1881-1962) as Archibaldo, Carlo Galeffi (1884-1961) as Manfredo, Luisa Villani (1884-1961) as Fiora, Edoardo Ferrari-Fontana (1878-1936) as Avito, Giordano Paltrinieri (1890-1970) as Flaminio, Fernanda Guelpi as Un’ancella (maid), Enrica Merli as Una giovanetta (young girl), Cesare Spadoni as Un giovanetto (young man) and Rosa Garavaglia as Una vicchia (old woman). The performance was a resounding success – even if the reviews were mixed – and travelled as far as New York to the Metropolitan Opera, where the work was first performed under Arturo Toscanini and then played for thirty years. The American premiere took place on 14 March 1918 (1914 according to other sources) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with such great singers as Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), Claudia Muzio (1889-1936) and Pasquale Amato (1878-1942). It was only after the Second World War that the number of performances fell sharply. Today, performances of “L’Amore dei tre re” are rather rare.