Emilie Mayer (1812-1883)
Overture in D minor
Overture No.3 in C major
Overture No.2 in D major
Faust Overture Op.46 in B minor
Piano Concerto in B flat major
Tobias Koch (piano – 1859 Blüthner), Kölner Akademie/Michael Alexander Willens
rec. 2022, Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal, Germany
cpo 555554-2 [67]
After the early death of her mother, Emilie Mayer lived with her father until his death in 1840. She was given piano lessons and composed short pieces though there does not seem to be much information about this period in her life. In the early 1840s she moved to Stetin in Prussia and took lessons from Carl Loewe; her earliest surviving works date from around this period. She moved to Berlin in 1847 with further studies under Adolf Berhard Marx (1795-1866) and Wilhelm Wieprecht (1802-1872) and spent several years there financing her own concerts thanks to an inheritance from her father, before returning to Stetin. She remained there until 1876 spending her final years in Berlin where she died in 1883.
The concerts she arranged to perform her own works included at least five of her seven extant symphonies and several of her overtures; she counted twelve of the latter in her writings but only the four recorded here survive and only one of these, the Faust Overture, gained any recognition and was performed outside of her own concerts. The earliest overture is no.2 in D major – no.1 is mentioned in a review but is lost. Its style harks back to Mozart and Rossini and with its contrasting sections could easily precede a stage work by either. The introduction is characterised by dramatic chords and a rising motif in unison strings whilst a second theme is more lyrical and brings a change from quadruple to triple time. The faster music, heralded by a fanfare, bustles along before the imaginary opera’s comic character enters with a jaunty tune and the work continues, trotting all the players out for another turn on the stage. The C major overture appears to have been revised after she wrote her sixth symphony and has a richer orchestral palette with the addition of trombones and valve trumpets. Its C minor introduction is full of contrast between full bodied strings and melancholy winds. The allegro makes full use of the rising scale motif that opens it, a more lyrical melody that is announced by a sudden pause in proceedings, richly scored textures and thrilling final bars.
As with many of Mayer’s works dating is approximate but it seems that the unnumbered Overture in D minor was composed later then either of these. Once again it opens with a solemn introduction, lugubrious at first with the low bass motif but tension builds in the strings with the flute surging out over the top. The tempo may quicken but the tense mood remains with much interplay and hard-edged rhythms. There are lighter moments but these tend to be small parts of a much more dramatic structure. I am not so aware of the music of the earlier part of the century here; Mayer seems more confident in her own voice and brings more individuality to the writing, a confidence that is is even more evident in the Faust overture. An extended slow introduction carries import rather than being merely a prelude to the real action; from its nervous opening with unison bassoon and low strings Mayer engineers a slow crescendo of tension that only ends with the snap of the first theme, its sforzando chords part of the action rather than just attention grabbers. A brass chorale, later becoming a full orchestra chorale, aims to bring a note of reason but the striking main theme returns undaunted; ultimately the overture ends in a bright major key. I am not surprised that this work attracted wider attention as its themes are gripping and the orchestral writing is masterly; it would be a memorable and valuable addition to the orchestral repertoire.
If the Faust overture is Mayer at her peak the piano concerto once again harks back to Mozart in its style and brisk, dotted note opening theme and Rossini, who makes an appearance in the second theme. It does not appear to have been performed during her lifetime and the handwritten set of parts preserved at the Berlin State Library show no signs of use according to the booklet notes. The opening movement’s piano part is full of arpeggios, broken chords and scalic passages and has the potential to be formulaic but for the interesting harmonic turns and changes of texture that Mayer writes. Surprisingly there is no cadenza or even a place for one but the recapitulation includes some sparsely accompanied passages that fit the bill. The poco adagio has a gently flowing theme in D flat that Mayer extends with bridging passages before the soloist enters with his unaccompanied and decorated version which develops into more yearning music and some dramatic passagework. A general pause is interrupted by the return of the opening theme, this time with the roles reversed, soloist first and orchestra taking over to bring the movement to a close. The finale is a somewhat unusual rondo; the piano opens alone with a jaunty hunting theme before leaving the orchestra to expand on it. After this short exposition the soloist returns but with an adagio section in the minor key, almost a little piece on its own. Just as suddenly the hunting theme reappears though now both soloist and orchestra develop it. The movement continues this way combining increasingly decorated iterations of the opening theme with the slightly sombre adagio before ending in a flurry of virtuoso writing.
This CD shows the journey from Mayer’s accomplished writing in the style of composers from the early 19th century to her later works in which she finds her voice and culminating in the highly satisfying Faust overture. The Kölner Akademie under Michael Alexander Willens play magnificently and are obviously fired up by the drama of the later works while Tobias Koch is as sprightly as ever in the concerto.
Rob Challinor
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