Rosamunde Piano

[Cándida Jolie]

RosamundeFrstin von Zypern (Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus) is a play by Helmina von Chzy, which is primarily remembered for the incidental music which Franz Schubert composed for it. Music and play premiered in Vienna's Theater an der Wien on 20 December 1823.[1][2]

The text version of Chzy's original play, in four acts, as premiered with Schubert's music, is lost.[3] However, a later modified version of the play, in five acts, was discovered in the State Library of Wrttemberg, and was published in 1996.[4] Fragmentary autograph sources relating to the first version of the play have been recovered, too.[5]

The story concerns the attempt of Rosamunde, who was brought up incognito as a shepherdess by the mariner's widow Axa, to reclaim her throne. The long-established governor Fulgentius (Fulvio in the revised version), who already has Rosamunde's parents on his conscience, attempts to thwart Rosamunde, initially by intrigue, then by a marriage proposal and finally by an attempt at poisoning. Rosamunde, whose claim is backed by a deed in her father's hand, enjoys the support of Cypriots and the Cretan Prince Alfonso, her intended husband. Finally, all the attempts of Fulgentius fail; he dies by his own poison, and Rosamunde ascends the throne.[6]

No. 3b was published in 1824 as Op. 26, in a version with piano accompaniment. Nos. 8, 4 and 7 were possibly first published in the same series. Other publications with one or more numbers followed. By 1867 all numbers except 3a and 6 had been published in one or more versions.[2]

It was not until Series XV, Volume 4 of the Breitkopf & Hrtel Gesammtausgabe was published in 1891 that all the numbers of the incidental music were joined in one publication, with the full orchestration.[2]

Excerpts from the Rosamunde music are frequently performed, and are some of Schubert's most performed pieces. They have been recorded several times, including versions conducted by Kurt Masur and Claudio Abbado.

The complete score, which lasts an hour, is seldom heard. In one rare performance, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, performed the full score at the Styriarte festival in Graz, Austria, in June 2004. The Arnold Schoenberg Choir sang the vocal parts with soloists Elisabeth von Magnus and Florian Boesch.

The Overture was used for a ballet sequence in the 1952 Samuel Goldwyn film Hans Christian Andersen, starring Danny Kaye.[10] The ballet sequence was danced by Zizi Jeanmaire.[citation needed] A fragment of Entr'acte #2 was used in many episodes of Wings of the Red Star. Another excerpt was incorporated into the Christmas carol Mille cherubini in coro, a song made popular by Luciano Pavarotti in a 1980 TV Christmas programme.[11]

I am talking about Rosamunde because this week we're listening to one of the best-known fragments, the Romanze, which would be the first orchestral Lied in history, if it weren't for the fact that, as we've seen, it wasn't intended to be a Lied. But Schubert himself wrote a piano accompaniment and the piece became part of the Art Song repertoire as Romanze aus "Rosamunde", D. 797/3b. Rosamunde is, as the title says, the princess of Cyprus; In order to protect her life, his father, before being murdered, asks a couple of shephers to take care of her as their daughter. When she turns eighteen, Rosamunde knows the truth about his origins and claims the throne, which she finally obtains in spite of Fulgentius, the villain in this story. At some point in the play, Rosamunde returns to the place where she grew up; that's when her adoptive mother, Axa, sings this nocturne.

This beautiful song, that we're listening performed by Ilker Arcayrek and Simon Lepper, will be performed by Katharina Konradi and Eric Schneider next Friday in Barcelona; as always, I'm adding here the songs of the programme we've heard so far in Liederabend, just in case you would like to review them.

The mastery Schubert exhibited in the area of Lieder, as well as in his wondrous piano sonatas, his forward-looking late symphonies and chamber works, provided no guarantee of success in his life-long ambition to be a composer of the theater.

Over and above his efforts as an opera composer (see the notes by Herbert Glass on page 77 for one case among the many), there were his disappointing attempts to succeed as a creator of incidental music. His final attempt in this genre, which we might compare to the modern-day underscoring of motion pictures, was uncommonly haphazard.

For the play "Rosamunde, Princess of Cypress," the composer assembled a score including a song, three choruses, and various ballet sequences, as well as interludes between the acts. The play was the work of one Helmina von Chzy, who already had a notorious track record. It closed after just two performances, and was never published.

According to Karl Schumann, "In the play there appear a cursed princess, who had been brought up by sailors, a pursuer, who travels around with poisoned letters - whoever reads them, dies - and a prince, who has to live among shepherds; there is a mysterious shipwreck and, further, ghosts, hunters, and shepherds are to found in a colorful, fairy-tale scenario." Hollywood, are you paying attention?

The popular "Rosamunde" Overture that is played so often was actually composed earlier for a play named Die Zauberharfe, but was in fact only added to the published score following the composer's death, as a replacement for the overture - originally composed in 1822 for an opera (Alfonso and Estrella) - which Schubert used to open the play. (This was one of the ways Schubert emulated Gioachino Rossini, who made a habit of recycling his opera overtures; Schubert's two so-called Overtures In the Italian Style were further efforts on the part of the Viennese composer to express himself in theatrical terms.)

There is about an hour of music in the full Rosamunde score, but most of it (aside from that Overture) is rarely heard. Ironically, however, the third of the Entr'actes Schubert composed for Rosamunde may be among his best-known music. The serene first theme became the subject for piano variations in the second set of Impromptus, Op. 142 (D. 935), which were published in 1838, ten years after Schubert's death. The same theme also appears in the slow movement of the String Quartet in A minor, D. 804.

Three international soloists, Daniel Veis (cello), Martino Tirimo (piano), and Ben Sayevich (violin) formed the Rosamunde Trio in 2002 and since then have toured extensively in the UK and performed in festivals and major venues across the USA, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic.

Please note that for Michaelmas Term 2021 our Lunchtime Concert Series is open only to current LSE students and staff to attend and concerts will be ticketed. For information on how to request a ticket, please click on the red 'How can I attend?' box.

Just economics and politics? Think again. While LSE does not teach arts or music, there is a vibrant cultural side to the School - from weekly free music concerts in the Shaw Library, and an LSE orchestra and choir with their own professional conductors, various film, art and photographic student societies, the annual LSE photo prize competition, the LSE Literary Festival and artist-in-residence projects. For more information please visit LSE Arts and Music.

Over the last 20-plus years, most of their performances have been in Europe. Last year, they performed in London and, for the first time, presented a series of performances and masterclasses in Greece.

Tirimo is a prolific recording artist and scholar, having recorded the complete piano works of Beethoven (over 20 hours of music), the complete Mozart piano sonatas, the complete Schubert piano sonatas, the complete piano works of Claude Debussy and Leoš Janček and a range of other works.

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