Ferdinand Ries was without doubt one of the most prolific composers and most significant figures in the musical life of the early to mid-19th century. In our time, he is known above all as one of Beethoven’s few students, and though we cannot be sure that Beethoven ever uttered the famous sentence ‘He imitates me too much’, the towering figure of Beethoven certainly does cast its shadow over Ries’s wonderful œuvre. Though it’s true that Ries’s musical language owes much to that of Beethoven, with the gift of hindsight we can now fully appreciate the originality of the Ries’s style.
Although Ries did compose several oratorios and operas, today we see his music more as an important stage in the development of German absolute music, a key link in the progression from C.P.E. Bach, Haydn and Beethoven, through to Brahms and Bruckner.
This disc contains three of Ferdinand Ries’s numerous sonatas of a type ‘with accompaniment’ (more or less obbligato; in some sonatas of this kind, however, it is even possible to omit the melodic instrument part). The idea behind this format was to ‘fill in’ the decay of the keyboard instrument’s tones with the sustained sound of a violin or wind instrument, thereby increasing the dynamic power of the music and highlighting its important moments. The Sonata in F minor Op.19 was composed in 1810 and is in many ways very Beethovenian. The two sonatas Op.59 are numbered by the composer himself among his piano sonatas, so we may consider them essentially piano sonatas with violin accompaniment.
Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) was born in Bonn and moved to Vienna in 1801, where his life became closely related to that of Ludwig van Beethoven (also a native of Bonn..). Ries studied piano with him, copied his scores and was the interpreter of several new works, notably the premiere of the Third Piano Concerto. Ries also wrote the first biography of Beethoven, an invaluable source of first-hand information.
Ries’s style inevitably is modelled on that of his master Beethoven, he was however strong enough to stand on his own. This disc contains three of Ferdinand Ries’ numerous sonatas representing a common type of piano sonata ‘with accompaniment’. The idea of this type of music is to fill in the relatively short sound of the keyboard instrument with the sustained sound of a violin or wind instrument, thereby increasing the dynamic power of the music and highlighting its important moments.
Played by Robert Bachara, violin (Anonymous Italian, 18th c.) and Marek Toporowski fortepiano (Andrzej Włodarczyk (2021) after Krall & Seidler (ca.1830)). Both musicians earned their spurs in the Historically Informed Performance Practice. Their previous recording of violin sonatas by George Pinto won enthusiastic reviews from the international press.
Recorded in 2021 in Słupno, Poland.
Booklet in English contains notes on the composer and the works, written by the fortepianist, Marek Toporowski, as well as a description and technical specifications of the fortepiano and biographies of the artists.
Toporowski plays a 2021 Andrzei Włodarczyk fortepiano, after a model by Krall & Seidler (c.1830); Bachara plays an anonymous 18th-century Italian violin.
