|
Booklet note to Anthony Hewitt’s CD “Protégé” released Nov. 2007
Liszt and Reubke Piano Sonatas: A comparison
Seated in his characteristically bowed form at the piano, sunk in his creation, Reubke forgot everything about him; and we then looked at his pale appearance, at the unnatural shine of his gleaming eyes, heard his heavy breath, and were aware of how wordless fatigue overwhelmed him after such hours of excitement. We suspected then that he would not be with us long”. (Franz Liszt: The Weimar Years (Vol.2): Alan Walke, 1989) Thus recounted the critic Richard Poll on hearing Reubke play his Piano Sonata in Weimar in 1857. Two years previously Reubke’s prospects had been more promising when he had journeyed to Weimar, the mid-19th century Mecca of the piano world. He had the ambition of emanating Liszt, whose protégés comprised the so-called Altenburg Fraternity and who studied with him on a near daily-basis in The Altenburg, Liszt’s home. Acceptance into his class was no cake-walk. One had to be immeasurably talented as well as passionate about the advancement of music. Liszt held master classes throughout the week which were open to the public and to which he invited eminent figures from across the arts to ensure that his protégés received the best all-round education.
The son of the organ builder Alfred Reubke, Julius was born in Hausneindorf in 1834. He studied first at the Conservatory in Berlin where in 1853 his compositional and pianistic talent had impressed Hans von Bülow so much that he personally recommended him to Liszt. In no way did he disappoint, becoming one of Liszt’s favourite pupils. This is a testament to Reubke’s gifts, given Liszt’s temperamental nature as a teacher: at times laid back and complimentary, at others fiercely critical and almost abusive. His students loved but feared him: “The student plays. Liszt listens and comments. Sometimes he impatiently sweeps the miserable wretch from the piano”. (Harold Schoenberg, The Great Pianists, 1963)
Many of these disciples in The Altenburg are rarely spoken of today and Reubke is one of them. Would Reubke have become a more familiar name had it not been for his tragically early death? There were signs that he would have matured into a composer of stature: his Sonata for Organ on Psalm 94 in particular shows his precocious ability, and his Piano Sonata (1857) met with favourable reviews.
|
