Presents
Franz Lachner
Nonet in F Major
For Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon, Violin, Viola, Cello & Bass
Franz Lachner (1803-90) was born in Rain am Lech, a small Bavarian town and trained in Munich. In 1823, by winning a musical competition, Lachner was awarded a position as an organist in a church in Vienna. In Vienna, he met Schubert. “We two, Schubert and I, spent most of our time together sketching new compositions. We were the closest of friends, mornings performing for each other and discussing in depth every imaginable topic with the greatest of candor.” He left Vienna in 1834 and returned to Munich where he remained the rest of his life, serving as Conductor of the Royal Bavarian Orchestra from 1834 to 1868. He also held the position of Professor of Composition at the Royal Conservatory. That Lachner’s compositions began to disappear from the performance stage was due in large part to the fact that Lachner became an antagonist of Richard Wagner and his music. Wagner and his supporters, of course, retaliated and when they eventually gained the ear of the King, they were, by 1870, able to control what was performed, at least in Bavaria.
It should come as no surprise then that Schubert influenced Lachner’s musical compositions more than anyone else but the Nonet in F Major for standard wind quintet, string trio and bass shows a greater affinity to the work of early Beethoven, especially the Op.20 Septet. Published in 1875 without opus, the chamber music scholar and critic Larius J. Ussi writing in The Chamber Music Journal believes, based on its style, that the Nonet may well have been written many years before this and that Lachner, once retired, returned to it and then wrote the later date on the manuscript which is deposited in the Bavarian State Library in Munich. In any case, it is almost certain that Lachner was familiar with Louis Spohr’s Op.31 Nonet and it is probably no accident that his nonet calls for the same instrumentation. The relaxed and genial atmosphere is right out of the Septet. The work opens with a slow Andante introduction. The theme given out in the lower registers of the strings is dark and somewhat grim but is lightened when the violin and winds join in. In the main section, Allegro moderato, each theme is proceded by a solo which introduces it. The second movement is more or less a classical style Menuetto. The finale, Allegro ma non troppo, is the quite original and full of catchy and memorable melodies.
This is a first rate work for wind ensemble. An excellent candidate for the concert hall, but also a highly desirable choice for amateur ensembles.
| (A) Parts US & Non US Addresses | $59.95 |
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| (B) Parts & Score US Addresses | $79.95 |
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| (C) Parts & Score Non US Addresses | $89.95 |
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