Raff, Joachim

Joseph Joachim Raff – Suite for Solo Violin and Orchestra, opus 180

(b. Lachen near Zürich, 27. May 1822 — d. Frankfurt, 24. June 1882)

Preludio p.1
Minuetto p.34
Corrente p.55
Aria p.66
Finale p.79

First performance: December 9, 1873
Published: 1873 (Siegel)

Preface
Joseph Joachim Raff was born on May 27, 1822 in the Swiss town of Lachen. His father, a native of Württemberg in southwest Germany, fled to Switzerland in 1811 in order to avoid being drafted into Napoleon’s army. Württemberg had become a kingdom in 1805, changed sides several times in the Napoleonic wars (sending soldiers with Napoleon in his invasion of Russia but also sending soldiers in the allied invasion of France). Raff’s father was an organist, a music teacher, and a schoolmaster. While in Switzerland, Raff’s father married Katharina Schmid. Raff was sent to the Rottenberg Gymnasium in Württemberg, but had to return to Switzerland due to lack of money. He then attended the Jesuit Seminary in Schwyz, where he won honors in German, Latin, and mathematics. Raff was a fine self-taught musician, excelling in the piano, violin, and organ, and already beginning his career as a composer at a young age. After his schooling in Schwyz, Raff returned to the Lachen area in 1840 and became a schoolteacher in Rapperswil. Franz Abt, Zürich Kapellmeister and Raff’s friend, sent some of Raff’s early compositions to Mendelssohn, who recommended them for publication to Breitkopf & Härtel, which led to a favorable review of Raff’s Opus 2-6 in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. …

Read full English and German preface > HERE