Hans Schaeuble (1906-1988)
Music for Clarinet and String Orchestra Op.46 (1961, rev. 1969)
Sinfonia-Concertante Music for String Orchestra with piano obbligato Op.33 (1949, rev. 1973)
Music for Two Violins and String Orchestra Op.18 (1935, rev. 1950 and 1978)
Paul Meyer (clarinet)
Oliver Trindl (piano)
Matthias Lingenfelder (violin), Nina Karmon (violin)
Sinfonietta Rīga/Alexander Merzyn
rec. 2024, Reformation Church, Rīga, Latvia
Solo Musica SM476 [60]

Hans Schaeuble was a Swiss citizen born to Bavarian parents. As many other artists at his time, he studied at a commerce school in Lausanne – which proved crucial. He was able to attend many of the concerts given by Ernest Ansermet, confirming his preference for a career in music. He eventually enlisted at the Leipzig Conservatoire. He spent the years 1931-1942 in Germany, where he composed what may be regarded as his largest pieces, such as an opera (Dagmar Op.2 in 1927/1928) and large-scale orchestral scores (among them Sinfonische Musik Op.22). His music was published by Bote & Bock and taken up by important conductors such as Carl Schuricht. Later, he favoured smaller ensemble, as this disc clearly shows.

In the summer of 1939, Schaeuble returned to Switzerland and was conscripted in the army for a while before returning to Germany. His Symphony for Large Orchestra Op.25 was first performed in Winterthur by Hermann Scherchen, who also conducted In Memoriam Op.27a in Geneva. Volkmar Andreae premièred Hymnus für Orchester Op.29 (1945) in Zürich.

Of the many works Schaeuble composed after the war, mention may be made of an opera (Dorian Gray Op.32completed in 1947 and further revised in 1962 and 1974/1975), a ballet (Die Rose und der Schatten Op.43completed in 1957/1958) and three concertos for wind instruments. But Schaeuble never really achieved the reputation that his music might have earned him because of his presumed German sympathies. Some went so far as to describe him as a “Nazi composer”. This partly explains why he spent quite a lot of time revising and reworking some of his earlier scores. (I have supplied this longish historical introduction because Hans Schaeuble and his music are not particularly well known outside Switzerland.)

Schaeuble composed three concertos for wind instruments in fairly quick succession: the Oboe Concertino Op.44 (1959, rev. 1980), the Flute Concertino Op.47 (1959, rev. 1980) and the Clarinet Concerto Op.46 included here. The piece is also known as Music for Clarinet and String Orchestra. (Schaeuble’s works often bear the simple, nondescript title of Musik.) Originally in two movements, the concerto was first performed 1963 by clarinettist Jost Michaels and Karl Ristenpart. The music is beautifully and idiomatically written for the instrument. The first movement Allegro is full of lively, animated dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra, and includes a cadenza. The second movement Andante (Elegie) unfolds in closely argued counterpoint.

In 1969, Schaeuble added the finale Allegro vivace, a reworking of the third movement of the Cello Concerto Op.41 of 1955. This gives the piece a better structural balance, and offers a perfectly satisfying conclusion. The work should be part of the repertoire of any clarinettist worth their salt. Needless to say, Paul Meyer plays superbly.

The title Sinfonia-Concertante Music for String Orchestra with obbligato piano clearly states that Schaeuble’s Op.33 is not a piano concerto but a work in which the piano plays as a primus inter pares within the strings. The original piece was never performed, whereas the 1973 revision presented here was first performed in 1977. The work is conceived as a substantial theme and variations. The theme, restated in the concluding Epilog, is the Passacaglia from Toccata, Passacaglia and Finale Op.12 of 1933. (Well, yes, Schaeuble’s pieces often have a chequered evolution.)

From the statement of the theme on, there unfolds almost seamlessly a sequence of highly contrasting variations. They lead up to a climax followed, surprisingly enough, by a final restatement of the theme. Another substantial work, it remains in the shadows because – I think – of the undemonstrative though essential piano part, which Oliver Triendl plays marvellously.

The third piece here, too, has its own history. Schaeuble wrote Music for Two Violins and String Orchestra Op.18 in Berlin. Bote & Bock published it in 1936. The piece enjoyed a few performances but things became worse, for score and parts were held by the publisher and most likely destroyed during the war. After the war, Schaeuble set out to reconstruct the work from his draft in 1950, and revised it again in 1978; the latter version appears here. The work bears a clear testimony of Hindemith’s influence on Schaeuble’s music at that time. Heinrich Aemi quite rightly describes it in the interesting and well-informed notes as a mixture of “neo-Baroque and dry realism”. Nina Karmon and Matthias Lingenfelder play beautifully.

This most welcome release offers a fine survey of Hans Schaeuble’s still underrated output. It is well worth hearing. There is much to enjoy in his well-crafted and often beautiful music, more so when it is played with such commitment as here. In short, well-worth exploring.

Hubert Culot

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Note: The website www.musinfo.ch is recommended for more about Hans Scheauble’s and many other Swiss composers.