Presents
Luise Adolpha Le Beau
Four Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op.24
Luise Adolpha Le Beau (1850-1927) was born in the German town of Rastatt. She began to study the piano with her father. Subsequently she studied composition with Johann Kalliwoda and piano with Clara Schumann after which she began a career as a piano soloist. She broke off her performing career to further her composition studies with Josef Rheinberger and Franz Lachner. She composed in most genres with chamber music playing an important part of her oeuvreand includes a piano quartet, a string quartet and string quintet as well as several instrumental sonatas. Her works won several prizes and were well regarded by such luminaries as Liszt, Berlioz, Bargiel, Joachim and several others.
The Four Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 24 were completed in 1879. Actually, to there were five. On the original autograph manuscript one finds the words Funf (five) which was partially erased and changed to Vier (four). The titling appears to have taken place after the pieces were completed, not before. The pieces were titled Romanze, Wiegenlied, Mazurka, Gavotte, and Barcarole. But when it came to publication, only the first four were published together, while last one, Barcarole was published separately some years later. The pieces are inthe Romantic style. In 1880, the prestigious music periodical Neue Zeitschrift für Musik announced a competition for new works for cello, in various forms ranging from easy pieces to more complex sonatas or concert pieces. Le Beau entered her excellent Cello Sonata which did not win any prize. She also submitted a second work the Four Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op.24 which received first prize in the catagory for shorter works.
Parts: $19.95
