Important first edition
Friedrich Gernsheim's expansive sonata for cello and piano hints at the move from Romanticism to more recent trends.
In 2014, the 175th birthday of Friedrich Gernsheim (1839-1916) was celebrated much more quietly than that of his fellow composer Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901), who was born in the same year. Like Rheinberger, Gernsheim was also a successful composer and important teacher during his lifetime. Engelbert Humperdinck was one of his students. He was friends with Johannes Brahms and in 1870 conducted the first complete performance of Brahms' German Requiem in memory of the victims of the Franco-Prussian War. Younger contemporaries also appreciated him; both Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss conducted his Symphony No. 3 in C minor, op. 54 (Mirjam). After Gernsheim's death in 1916, his compositions gradually fell into oblivion. The performance ban imposed on Jewish composers in Nazi Germany in 1933 also had a devastating effect. By the end of the Second World War, his name had been almost completely erased from the music world's consciousness.
In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in his oeuvre. Several CDs of his four symphonies, numerous chamber music works and the virtuoso cello concerto have been released, which document the content of his music in the most beautiful way.
The 1914 Sonata in E minor op. 87 was premiered in Worms in September 2012 after almost 100 years of slumber and was published for the first time in 2014 by Dohr-Verlag in Cologne.
The extensive three-movement work presents both performers with rewarding tasks. The composer skillfully exploits the cello's range from low to high registers; the full-bodied piano part is sometimes reminiscent of Brahms. It is skillfully placed so that the cello cantilenas are not covered even in forte passages. The outer movements still breathe the spirit of the late Romantic period. There are occasional flashes of Dvořák or Grieg. The dramatic C minor middle section of the 2nd movement is particularly enjoyable, its sparkling piano arpeggios almost impressionistic.
The edition has been carefully edited and the music is very clearly and generously laid out. The preface, which is well worth reading, and the informative critical report also provide information on compositional connections to other works by Gernsheim.
Friedrich Gernsheim, Sonata in E minor op. 87 for violoncello and piano, first edition published by Christian Schmitt-Engelstadt, E. D. 11446, € 29.80, Edition Dohr, Cologne 2014
