The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2004-03-11 21:23
A student brought in some music by H. Neumann for clarinet and guitar and basset horn and guitar published by Andre. I couldn't find anything about the composer in Grove's or with a Google search. Does anyone have any info?
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2004-03-12 05:12
Apparently not much is known about Heinrich Neumann. Some information from the (rather good) liner notes for a CD with several of these works performed by Luigi Magistrelli:
He was born in Heiligenstadt in 1792 and died there in 1861. He started his career as a clarinetist and music teacher in Frankfurt, was a band conductor in Padeborn, then was principal clarinetist for a short time in the court orchestra of Leopold I in Detmold. He was also a band conductor in Cologne and then Antwerp. He wrote a number of works for wind ensemble as well as a number of works for clarinet and for bassetthorn.
The recording I have includes six serenades for clarinet and guitar. (I am listening to them as I write this.) They are, IMO, very pleasant works (and Magistrelli plays them with great joy), interesting in the variety of clarinets that they use -- two are for A clarinet, one for Bb, one for C and two for bassetthorn. One of the bassetthorn works uses two guitars. Nobody seems to know why Neumann wrote so many works for this combination. Perhaps they were written for outdoor performance where a piano would not have been readily available. The author of the liner notes believes that Neumann either consulted with a good guitarist while writing the works (or may have played the instrument, himself). Three of the works use thematic material from Schubert, ("Sehnsuchtswalzer"), Weber ("Oberon"), and Paisiello ("Nel cor iu non mi sento").
I wonder where your student got this music. It's actually quite a find, I think. The works were originally published by Andre but have been out-of-print for quite awhile. Magistrelli has edited a couple of them for the small publisher, Eufonia. In addition to the Magistrelli recording, I think Dieter Klocker has recorded the work based on Paisiello.
Best regards,
jnk
Post Edited (2004-03-12 13:54)
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