Five Songs op. 23
| Full title | Five Songs for soprano or tenor and piano op. 23 / Fünf Lieder für eine hohe Singstimme und Klavier op. 23 | |
| Date composed | 1911 | |
| Details |
1. Im Dunkel /Al buio / In the Darkness (Walter Calè); vocal range: bb-a'; also available in a version for lower register 2. Der Gottsucher / In cerca di Dio / The Godseeker (Carl Busse); vocal range: c# 1-bb'' 3. Spielmannslied / II suonatore ambulante / Minstrel's Song (Adolf Holst); vocal range: e'-f'' 4. Seele / Un'anima / Soul (Gustav Falke); vocal range: c'-g'' [alternative version with vocal range: g-f#''] 5. Wanderlied / La canzone del viandante / Wayfarer's Song (G. Busse-Palma); vocal range: f'-a'' Weigl began work on this set of songs in 1910 and completed it on 1 March 1911, according to composer's holograph. No. 1, Im Dunkel, also exists in a second version for mezzo-soprano or baritone. No. 5, Wanderlied, may be the song of that name that Elsa Pazeller and Karl Weigl performed in Vienna on 8 February 1910. Texts translated into Italian by Vito Levi, into English by Vally Weigl and Elizabeth Norman Hapgood. Dedication: Ernst Bernheim freundschaftlich dankbar zugeeignet. |
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| Manuscript sources | NYPL JOB 73-102, holograph score (4 folios), with a completion date at the end of each song—for Im Dunkel: 23./II.1911; for Der Gottsucher: 6./VII. 1910; for Spielmannslies: 7./VII. 1910; for Seele: 9.[?]/VII. 1910; and for Wanderlied: 1./III. 1911. This set of holographs also includes a second holograph of Seele. See also ÖNB Mus.Hs.36834, holograph scores of nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5 (no. 4 missing). | |
| Publication details | Casa Musicale Giuliana, 1933. Today publisher of record is ACA. | |
| Availabiity | Score available from ACA and KWF; alternate version of Im Dunkel for medium-low voice and piano available from ACA. | |
| Recordings | Spielmannslied: Betty Allen and David Garvey; Seele: George Shirley and David Garvey (LP: Orion ORS 81407, 1973). | |
Performances (click
icon to expand or collapse list)| 25 January 1935*** | Vienna, Saal des Wissenschaftlichen Clubs, Konzerte Neuer Musik: Hanna Schwarz, soprano; Karl Weigl, piano. Also on program: works by Ernst Bachrich, Karl Stimmer, Otto Jokl, Marie Hofer, Walter Bricht. |
| May 1935 | Vienna: Hanna Schwarz, soprano; unidentified, piano. Also on program: works by Casella; Malipiero; Lualdi; Cenci; Bachrich; Stimmer; Otto Jokl; Walter Bricht; Marie Hofer. |
| 15 May 1935 | Vienna, Volkshochschule Wien, Komponisten-Konzert: Elsa Pazeller, soprano; Karl Weigl, piano. Also on program: works by Hans Gál; Walter Bricht; Josef Lechthaler; Josef Frankl, Paul; Amadeus Pisk; Karl Roger; Ernst Tittel; Max Ast; Kurt Pahlen; Arthur Johannes Scholz; performed by Felice von Antburg, soprano; Robert Walter Spitz, Stella Wang, and Bernard Kaff, piano. |
| 25 November 1935 | Vienna, Großer Ehrbarsaal, Oesterreichischer Komponistenbund: Hanna Schwarz, soprano; Karl Weigl, piano. Also on program: works by Alfred Freudenhain; Walther Klein; Johanna Müller-Hermann; Paul Josef Frankl; Max Springer. |
| 22 November 1938 | New York, private musicale, home of Miss Henriette Michelson, Chamber Music Evening, Compositions by Karl Weigl: Emil Rosenberg, tenor; Karl Weigl, piano (nos. 2, 3, and 5). |
| 10 August 1939 | Cape Cod Institute of Music, Massachusetts, Dr. Karl Weigl in a program of his own compositions: Lys Bert, soprano; Karl Weigl, piano [possibly the Five Songs listed in program were not op. 23]. |
| 7 April 1945 | New York, Brooklyn Museum, Ask The Composer, Outstanding Contemporary Composers and Their Music— Karl Weigl: Five Songs for mezzo-soprano and piano, with Alice Howland, soprano, and Karl Weigl, piano. Also on the program: Pictures and Tales op. 2 for piano duet, with Karl Weigl and Vally Weigl, piano; Five Songs for soprano and piano op. 23, with Sally Cherry Pestcoe, soprano, and Karl Weigl, piano; Adagio from Violin Sonata No. 1 op. 16, “The Singing Bird’s Song Before Night,” with Boris Schwarz, violin, and Karl Weigl, piano; Two Pieces for violoncello and piano op. 33, with James Scholz, cello, and Karl Weigl, piano. |
| 11 October 1956 | New York, Austrian Institute, Carnegie Recital Hall, Wolf-Mahler-Weigl Evening: Charlotte Holloman, soprano; Vally Weigl, piano. Also on program: Hugo Wolf, songs; Gustav Mahler, songs; introduction by Carleton Sprague-Smith. |
