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Jan Ladislav Dussek

Complete original works for piano four-hands

DUO PLEYELALEXANDRA NEPOMNYASHCHAYARICHARD EGARR

Credits

Tracklist

Programme note

Biographies

Jan Ladislav Dussek Complete original works for piano four-hands

DUO PLEYELALEXANDRA NEPOMNYASHCHAYARICHARD EGARR

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Recorded in Kapel op ‘t Rijsselt, Eefde, The Netherlands,1–3 February 2019

Recording Producer & EngineerPhilip Hobbs

Post-productionJulia Thomas

Designstoempstudio.com

Cover Image‘Still Life Table’ by Carlo Magini (1720–1806),Faenza, Pinacoteca comunale,Luisa Ricciarini / Bridgeman Images

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DUO PLEYEL

ALEXANDRA NEPOMNYASHCHAYA

RICHARD EGARR

Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760–1812)Complete original works for piano four-hands

Grand Overture in C major, Op. 32 (C. 144)

1 — Largo – Molto allegro 9:34

2 — Larghetto non tanto 4:01

3 — Rondo: Allegretto 4:59

4 — Fuga in D major, Op. 64 No. 1 (C. 227) 6:20

Tempo molto moderato

Sonata in C major, Op. 67 No. 1 (C. 230)

5 — Andantino con moto 3:28

6 — Rondo: Allegro 2:06

7 — Fuga in G minor, Op. 64 No. 2 (C. 228) 6:53

Andante moderato

Sonata in F major, Op. 67 No. 2 (C. 231)

8 — [Larghetto] 4:54

9 — Rondo: Allegro 2:23

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10 — Fuga in F major, Op. 64 No. 3 (C. 229)  7:24

Tempo ad libitum mà non presto

Sonata in B flat major, Op. 67 No. 3 (C. 232)

11 — Allegro moderato 4:07

12 — Polonaise 3:56

Duo à quatre mains in C major ‘Grande Sonate’, Op. 48 (C. 186)

13 — Allegro 6:23

14 — Larghetto affettuoso e non troppo lento 6:16

15 — Intermezzo: Allegretto moderato ma energico –

Rondo: Allegretto moderato 6:20

Piano: Pleyel, 1848Pitch: a’ = 441Temperament: Young 2 (1800)

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MENUDussekAn unjustly ignored master

I … consider myself fortunate in being able to assure you that you have one of

the most upright, moral, and, in music, most eminent of men for a son. I love

him just as you do, for he fully deserves it. Give him, then, daily a father’s bless-

ing, and thus will he be ever fortunate, which I heartily wish him to be, for his

remarkable talents.

(Joseph Haydn, in a letter to Dussek’s father, 26 February 1792)

One can hear nothing more worthy and more finished on the piano than Dussek’s

playing now. Free from all striving, free from imposing himself on other play-

ers by successful tricks like tightrope dancing, free from attracting a crowd to

himself by certain little enticements … free even from all attempts to show off

by his playing: he devotes his great powers only to those things in his art that

he can respect. His sureness in conquering the greatest difficulties, even in his

abundance of unusual ideas, he considers only as a means to reach the higher

aims of art. Therefore it can be said of him, perhaps more than of any other

pianists, that his playing is speaking – he always knows what he wants to say

with it to the understanding and to the heart, and his educated listeners know

it too. Thereby supported, and also by the effect of his performance, by the fit-

ting calm and assured bearing of his whole being when he plays, as well as by

the expression of a very definite individuality in his compositions as well as in

his performance; he has a very special charm.

(Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, October 1811)

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MENU ‘Fashion’ in all of its forms can be a great waste and evil. Of course ‘taste’ in composers and their music will always be very personal, and inevi-tably change with the times. In 2012, the 200th anniversary of Dussek’s death, nothing happened in the musical world – none of the leading pianists playing recitals in major venues programmed any music by this most important piano genius: composer, arranger, virtuoso, publisher, technical innovator and all-round fascinating character.

Jan Ladislav Dussek was born in the Bohemian town of Čáslav in 1760, only four years after Mozart. He came from a musical family and soon made his way into the firmament of piano greats. In his own time, he was as famous and influential as Paganini, Chopin and Liszt were to their generation. His music is often unbe-lievably advanced in style compared to his more beloved contemporary Mozart. To our ears, Dussek’s music can often sound extremely ‘Romantic’ both in melodic and harmonic content.

Dussek travelled extensively throughout Europe as a virtuoso. He met and studied with C. P. E. Bach in Hamburg in 1782; ingratiated himself in 1786 with Marie-Antoinette in Paris; and reportedly interacted with the young Napoléon Bonaparte as well. In London in the 1790s (after leaving Paris just in time) he worked with all of the most famous musicians, and hobnobbed within the high-est echelons of society; Salomon, Haydn, Viotti, Clementi, Dragonetti, Cramer were his musical partners and friends. His dealings with ladies were copi-ous, particularly singers and harpists. He married Sophia Corri, daughter of Domenico Corri, an extremely famous singing teacher. She sang and played both the harp and piano. In a somewhat typical manner, Dussek left London in 1799

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MENUwhen his father-in-law’s publishing business (in which Dussek was a partner) began to fail. He simply disappeared, leaving Domenico (and incidentally the other business-partner, Lorenzo Da Ponte) facing prison, not to mention his wife and daughter whom he never saw again. After touring Germany and befriending Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, he returned to France in 1806 and soon penetrated the highest levels of the new social order.

In his younger days he had been known as ‘Le Beau’ and was particularly famous for his beautiful profile. This led to the then uncommon demand for the piano to be placed sideways to the public in order that they could appreciate this aspect more fully. However, he loved extravagance and hedonistic pursuits, which resulted in him ending his days in 1812 in great corpulence and suffering from awful gout.

I have been a Dussek enthusiast for over two decades. He is almost certainly known by anyone who ever had any piano lessons, because of his unremarkable Op. 20 sonatinas which are used at a very remedial level by many teachers. They are, however, utterly unrepresentative of Dussek’s huge output, and give no clue as to the importance of this musician and keyboard giant. When I began investigating his music in 2009, it soon became clear that Dussek was a crucial figure in the development of both piano music and the instrument itself. His music is extremely forward-looking, particularly harmo- nically, and some of it has the flavour of a young Liszt, Chopin or Schumann. He also worked alongside the great English piano-maker John Broadwood in the last decade of the eighteenth century, developing both the tonal and physical ranges of the piano.

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MENUCarl Czerny (another hugely undervalued pianist, pedagogue and com-

poser – with a particularly important intimate musical connection to Beethoven) was a musician who exhibited a particular interest in the four-hand piano repertoire. He is one of the few composers in history to have written a con-certo for piano duet. His four-hand piano arrangements of Mozart, Haydn and especially the Beethoven symphonies are of huge importance both musically and for historical performance practice. But more of those in the future …! Czerny’s monumental ‘Piano Forte School’, Op. 500, published in the 1830s in German, French and English, should be a required text for every student and profes-sional pianist. The mechanical/technical parts aside, it contains crucial information on nineteenth-century expressive piano playing. But by far the most priceless information comes in Czerny’s remarks about the music of composers. These range from Georg Muffat (music of the 1680s!), the Bach family (J. S., C. P. E. and W. F.!), Handel, Mozart, Chopin, Thalberg and his most famous student, Liszt. In the appendix to the fourth part of this ‘Piano School’ (a supplement entitled ‘Die Kunst des Vortrags der ältern und neuen Claviercompositionen’), Czerny provides a fas-cinating list of composers and compositions which students (and teachers!) should be aware of and study. The list particularly highlights a great many works by various composers for piano four-hands. It is fascinating to see who and what is included here. For Mozart, he lists only five solo piano sonatas, five concertos, some of the great individual solo works, ten chamber works with piano and five works for piano four-hands. Haydn comes up short with just two solo piano sonatas mentioned. Clementi scores highly with thirteen solo sonatas. Dussek finds considerable favour with ten solo sonatas, three individual pieces (including the amazing Fantasia and Fugue in F minor), three concertos, the piano quintet, the four-hand ‘Grande

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MENUSonate’ in C major, Op. 48, and the three Op. 64 fugues for four-hands (pieces which for us today are well and truly dead and buried).

Although Dussek was a true compositional pioneer, he was also willing and able (like many great composers) to cater for all audiences and provide brilliant lighter music when necessary. His original works for four-hand piano clearly demonstrate the full range of his output. They were evidently consi- dered important by musicians during the nineteenth century, a period that saw the piano-duet medium as an essential musical form.

On this recording are all of the original four-hand compositions by Dussek. The three Sonatas, Op. 67 (each in only two movements), are perhaps com-positions designed for the ‘non-professional’, as they are technically not too demanding and contain music of a ‘lighter’ type. However ‘light’, the musical quality is superb. Of particular note are the first movements of the second and third sonatas which display a particular deliciously romantic attitude. The two major works, the Grand Overture and ‘Grande Sonate’ (both in C major), show Dussek’s great compositional variety and range. Both the middle (slow) move-ments of these works are exquisite. It is also worth pointing out here that from the performers’ point of view, the actual duet writing and ‘scoring’ of the hands/arms is huge fun, intimate and extremely skillfully managed in every single piece. The three fugues, Op. 64, are simply extraordinary. When we finally got hold of the music (which took some doing), we were utterly taken aback at the boldness and the almost Straussian (R.) harmonic waywardness and (frankly) weirdness they all exhibit. I challenge any musician (without perfect pitch) listening to them to follow and be able to pinpoint their harmonic journey.

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MENUThey required a great deal of playing and acquaintance to fully appreciate their special qualities. No wonder Czerny makes mention of them! They are quite sim-ply and truly fantastic.

In playing these wonderful works on our trusty 1848 Pleyel, we allowed ourselves all of the essential freedoms needed for delivery of this repertoire: freedom of tempo and expression, and the obligatory and delicious necessity to embellish upon any repetition in the true spirit of this rich musical menu. Hopefully it will be a true feast and pleasure for the ears.

© Richard Egarr, 2021

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MENUDuo Pleyel

Duo Pleyel takes its name from Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya and Richard Egarr’s pet piano – a beautiful instrument made in 1848 by Chopin’s preferred maker, Pleyel. The Duo has been working for the past three years to bring the rich and exciting repertoire for piano fourhands to a wider public. It is particularly committed to providing mixed programmes ranging from the earliest music by Johann Christian Bach and Mozart, mixed with that by lesser- known early Romantics such as Hummel and Dussek, through to the great po- pular works by Fauré, Debussy and Ravel in the twentieth century.

Born in Moscow, Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya studied piano and early keyboards in Moscow, Amsterdam and Munich. She has won top prizes at compe-titions held in Austria, Saint Petersburg, Prague and Leipzig. She appears regularly as a soloist and chamber partner at Festivals all over Europe, Russia and Asia. She loves playing early keyboards, particularly with her Duo partner. She hates robots, and tries to avoid watching Star Trek whenever possible.

Born in Lincoln, Richard Egarr studied piano and early keyboards in Manchester, Cambridge, London and Amsterdam. He won top prize at the 1988 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Competition in Hamburg. He appears regularly as a conductor, soloist and chamber musician all over the planet. He loves playing early keyboards, particularly with his Duo partner. He loves old recordings, and watching Star Trek whenever possible.

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