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drplaceboIt's Forgotten Masterpiece Friday!
If you've seen the name of Carl Loewe (1796-1869) in this space before, it may be because I've mentioned him before -- he mentored a prior Forgotten Masterpiece Friday composer, Emilie Mayer. Loewe was a fairly prominent tenor singer and conductor during his lifetime; he was the conductor who handed 18-year-old Felix Mendelssohn his public debut as an orchestral composer. As a composer, Loewe was noted for his vocal music, some of which is still performed regularly today. He was sometimes referred to during his lifetime as the "Schubert of North Germany" and was admired by Wagner for his songs. Despite his fame as a vocal composer, his instrumental music was all but forgotten, much of it never performed until long after his death. His instrumental music has seen somewhat of a revival in the 21st century.
Loewe's second symphony is one of those forgotten pieces. Composed in 1832, it had to wait until 2004 for its premiere -- in fact, as recently as 2002 some sources listed Loewe as having only written one symphony! The more recently revived second symphony is as elegant and lyrical as one would expect of a composer known as the "Schubert of North Germany," yet full of drama and forward momentum, especially in its furious final movement. Also noteworthy is a scherzo that seems somewhat ahead of its time in one sense: instead of being based on the minuet as scherzo movements typically were, this one remains a dance but anticipates the future popularity of the waltz.
If you've seen the name of Carl Loewe (1796-1869) in this space before, it may be because I've mentioned him before -- he mentored a prior Forgotten Masterpiece Friday composer, Emilie Mayer. Loewe was a fairly prominent tenor singer and conductor during his lifetime; he was the conductor who handed 18-year-old Felix Mendelssohn his public debut as an orchestral composer. As a composer, Loewe was noted for his vocal music, some of which is still performed regularly today. He was sometimes referred to during his lifetime as the "Schubert of North Germany" and was admired by Wagner for his songs. Despite his fame as a vocal composer, his instrumental music was all but forgotten, much of it never performed until long after his death. His instrumental music has seen somewhat of a revival in the 21st century.
Loewe's second symphony is one of those forgotten pieces. Composed in 1832, it had to wait until 2004 for its premiere -- in fact, as recently as 2002 some sources listed Loewe as having only written one symphony! The more recently revived second symphony is as elegant and lyrical as one would expect of a composer known as the "Schubert of North Germany," yet full of drama and forward momentum, especially in its furious final movement. Also noteworthy is a scherzo that seems somewhat ahead of its time in one sense: instead of being based on the minuet as scherzo movements typically were, this one remains a dance but anticipates the future popularity of the waltz.