Talk:Cello Sonata (Grieg)

MS , 1882

The manuscript, dated 1882- not 1883, is at the Bergen public library, duplicated / reuploaded at IMSLP. It was published and premiered in 1883, but not composed then. (unless there is good evidence, e.g. Grieg's letters, that the ms was dated at the start of the process and that he was still working on the work during 1883; this needs citing, though, not assuming. :) ) Schissel | Sound the Note! 15:04, 13 July 2013 (UTC)

Did you check the manuscript with the first edition to see if they are the same? kosboot (talk) 16:22, 12 January 2015 (UTC)

Date of First Performance and performers

I have started researching this cello sonata, with the intention of expanding the article to cover the background in more detail than at present. I have discovered that the sources I have located so far are discordant in regards the date, location and cellist of the first performance. All sources I have located name Grieg as the pianist.

The article as it stands states the following: "Ludwig Grützmacher premièred the work with Grieg at the piano on 22 October 1883 in Dresden."

The book "Master Musicians: Grieg" gives the performance details as 27 October 1883 in Leipzig with Julius Klengel as the cellist.

The liner notes to Naxos CD 8.550878 gives the same date and performers as "Master Musicians: Grieg".

The liner notes to Signum CD SIGCD172 gives the same date and performers as "Master Musicians: Grieg".

The program notes by Lawrence Budmen simply state the priemier took place in October 1883, without giving a location and that the cellist was Friedrich Wilhelm Grützmacher

The program notes by Sandra Hyslop give the details of the first performance as being October 22, Dresden and the cellist was called Friedrich Ludwig Grützmacher.

I have also located online a set of program notes by Michael Parloff which gives the perfomance details as being, October 22, location is unspecified and the cellist is named Ludwig Gritzmacher. PROGRAM NOTES: October 19, 2008

Neither "Nordic Art Music: From the Middle Ages to the Third Millennium" or "The Cambridge Companion to the Cello" mention details of the first performance.

Obviously this needs to be sorted out, but I am reaching the end of the easily findable online resources, so I would like to ask for some help in tracking down a definite answer.

Graham1973 (talk) 17:28, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

Ok, here ya go.

Fog, Dan, Kirsti Grinde, Øyvind Norheim. Edvard Grieg (1843-1907): Thematisch-Bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis. Frankfurt/M: Henry Litolff's Verlag/C.F. Peters, 2008. ISBN 9783876269900

Page 172: dedicated to his brother John Grieg. Composition begun at Troldhaugen at Bergen in 1882 and completed on April 7, 1883. The dedication on the manuscript reads "Dem verehrten Meister Hugo Becker zur freund. [Page 173 from here to the end] Erinnerung an den Vormittag beim Gebr. Hals am 13 Novbr. 1905." The verso of the title page indicates "Bergen 1882" while after the final measure is the date "7de April 83." The manuscript was apparently given by Grieg to the cellist Hugo Becker, who gave it to his nephew Helmut Grohe, who then gave it to the Bergen Public Library. It also states that there is another autograph manuscript in the Morgan Library & Museum. This copy (online at: http://www.themorgan.org/music/manuscript/114134) has a dedication to John Grieg. On its last page it's dated 17/8/83 (August 17, 1883). A copy with corrections is also in the Bergen Public Library and that is dated "24de Novbr. 83" - a gift of Nina Grieg.

According to this thematic catalog, the first performance was on October 22, 1883 at the Tonkünstlerverein in Dresden with cellist Friedeich Wilhelm Grützmacher accompanied by the composer at the piano. In preparation for publication by C. F. Peters, Grieg played the sonata with Julius Klengel at the end of August 1883. The sonata was first published in September 1883; a 2nd edition (with corrections) appeared in December 1883. kosboot (talk) 17:26, 12 January 2015 (UTC)

(ec) You beat me to it, Kosboot :) I wouldn't worry about the different versions of Grützmacher's name: his full name was Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Grützmacher ([1]). That source mentions that the Grieg sonata was in his repertoire, but doesn't mention the first performance. Klengel was a pupil of Grützmacher ([2]). I suppose the playing with Klengel in August 1883 must have been a private event, then(?)

A JSTOR search yielded nothing at all. The bio of Grieg in Grove Online mentions F. Benestad and D. Schjelderup-Ebbe: Edvard Grieg: Chamber Music: Nationalism, Universality, Individuality (Oslo, 1993). That, and other possibly helpful books, are also listed on p.210 of String Quartets: A Research and Information Guide by Mara Parker (Google Books link). But the Thematisch-Bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis might be the best source in any case, I think. --Stfg (talk) 17:44, 12 January 2015 (UTC)

The thematic catalog doesn't indicate that the Klengel-Grieg collaboration was a performance, rather that it was to go through the work in preparation for publication, that is, in order to detect corrections and perhaps so Klengel could made editorial suggestions (but that's my own supposition). kosboot (talk) 17:52, 12 January 2015 (UTC)