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A Brief Survey Of The Solo Piano Works

Of Wilhelm Furtwängler

by Robert Rivard

-1989-

Between the years 189 an!19"# Wilhelm Furtwängler $om%ose! more than two !o&en

works for solo %iano' As fatewould have it, these compositionsapparently would be his entireoutput for that medium.Nevertheless, these pieces aremuch more than just historicallyinterestin. !hey vividly show thewonderment, youthful e"uberanceand the profound seriousness withwhich #urtw$nler %rst embracedthe world of musical sounds.#urthermore, they reveal theinnermost thouhts of ane"ceptionally ifted, sensitive and

visionary child who, from a veryearly ae, was &eenly aware of thespiritual, emotional and structuralelements that ive to musicsubstance, drama and innerstrenth.

Nine short pieces dated 189'-9(seem to be the earliestcompositions. !hey have beenbeautifully copied by #urtw$nler)s

mother in a sinle manuscriptboo&. !he collection includes acradle son, a Roman*e, two

Andantes, an overture, a sonata, atheme with ten short variationsand two fantasies. Althouh theseimainative wor&s are brief, theyare, nonetheless, une"pectedlycomple" and somewhatdemandin, particularly for theaverae pianist eiht years of ae.

A dynamic rane from +ppp+ to+f+ trills, turns, appoiaturascaden*as with rapid scales and

must be emphasi*ed that thetechnical reuirements are notthere for virtuoso display. Rather,they result from the e"pression of the composer)s musical ideas.!hese earliest wor&s have afreshness, a sense of discovery ande"ploration and the two fantasiesin particular are wonderfullyimprovisatory.

#rom 1890 to 1898 #urtw$nlercomposed a do*en or so pianopieces. Nine of them have beencopied by him in a sinlemanuscript boo&, complete withthematic table of contents thatincludes the dates of composition.n this collection are %ve well-developed and imainativesonatas, an elaborate rondo, twobrief preludes and fuues, and atheme with four variations. !hesewor&s display a remar&able rowthin musical maturity. 2erhaps, themost appealin of them are the3onata in 4 minor composed at ae

ten, and the !heme with 5ariationscomposed at ae eleven. !hesonata is probably the mostprofound of all these early wor&s.t is full of passion, tenderness anddetermination. !he e"pert handlinof sonata-allero form in the %rstmovement, the poinancy of thesecond movement, and therelentless intensity of the thirdmovement ma&e for a considerable

achievement. !he !heme with 5ariations is based upon abeautifully shaped melody that

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mature feelins that belie the ae of the composer. t is a wor& of hauntinbeauty.

6urin 1898 #urtw$nler alsocomposed two fuues 7for four voices,one in major, the other in : major.!hese fuues are not part of acollection, but are separate, individualpieces. 4uriously, the manuscriptswhich are in the composer)shandwritin have very fewperformance directions, a hihlyunusual occurrence for #urtw$nler.Nevertheless, the fuues oer anobility of concept, a penetratinspirituality, and at the end of their

restless search, a feelin of absoluteinner peace.

!he year 1898 mar&s a turnin point in#urtw$nler)s style of writin for thepiano. !he Alberti-bass accompanimentthat had been employed so freuentlynow appears only occasionally. n itsplace is a bass %ne with more melodiccharacter and contrapuntalindependence. n addition, larer,

orchestral-li&e sonorities are createdby the use of octave doublins andfour-note chords. !hese chanes canbe seen in #antasie in 6 minor and#antasie in 4 minor, both composedca. 1898-19;1.

!he manuscripts of these fantasias arenot in #urtw$nler)s handwritin. !heyhave been copied by someoneidenti%ed on the score with the initials

5.3., and the name 5orber. #antasie

is freely composed, bein heldtoether by the occurrence anddevelopment of three themes. #antasie is in ternary form, with its maintheme treated imitatively and eveninverted in the %nal section. :othfantasias share a feelin of randeur,

of impassioned emotions powerfullye"pressed. ndeed, there is almost aprophetic sense of traedy about them.

#urtw$nler)s %nal wor& for piano is aset of three character pieces beun in19;< and completed in 19;=. !he %rstpiece is in the &ey of major. t is induple meter and e"hibits a liht, fol& dance uality. ts %nal version is verysimilar to the earlier one. >nly thetalian tempo indications have beenchaned to ?erman ones, and pauseshave been written as rests of de%niteduration. !he second piece is a3cher*o in ? major. !he 19;< version

@ac&s a trio which was later added in

19;=. !he trio is unusual in threerespects. t is in the &ey of :-at major,in 4ommon !ime, and it is mar&ed

Andante. !he %nal piece of the set inthe 19;< version is an Andante conmoto in # major. Althouh it is uitebeautiful, it does not seem spirituallyto %t in with the other two pieces.2erhaps, that is the reason#urtw$nler composed a completelydierent %nal movement. #or the 19;=

version he composed a serenelybeautiful eley. !he &ey is aain major, li&e the %rst one of the set, thustonally brinin the wor& full circle.:ut what sets this piece apart from theearlier one are the lon-breathedarched phrases in the treble, thecountermelodies in the bass with itsslow, pulsatin heartbeat, and the

voicin of the %nal chords that brinthe entire set to a mystical, spiritualclose. t somehow seems %ttin that

this movement would be his last solopiano wor&, as it is reminiscent of thethird movement of #urtw$nler)s !hird3ymphony.

- < - Société Wilhelm Furtwängler

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Buch appreciation must be e"pressedto #rau lisabeth #urtw$nler and to6r. ?Cnter :ir&ner of the 4entralDibrary, ECrich for raciously ma&inavailable photocopies of themanuscripts. Fithout their enerosity,the study and performance of thismusic would have been impossible.

This article was written for theprogram notes included with thecassette tape. It was translated into

French for publication by the SociétéWilhelm Furtwängler.

In the preamble of the publication itwas specied that while the Sociétéwas not necessarily sharing theenthusiastic views of obert ivard onthese early wor!s " whatever their #ualities$ the Société was than!ful to obert ivard for having recordedthese wor!s. To its !nowledge it wasalso the rst time that a study waswritten on this output of the young Furtwängler.

- = - Société Wilhelm Furtwängler