# Unknown composer #3: Carl Tausig



## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

*Carl Tausig [aka Charles, Karl, Karol] (1841-1871)









I - Biography (an article from 2010)
II - List of Works
III - Some Recordings
*
**********

*I - BIOGRAPHY
(Published in 2010 as "MEPHISTOPHELES ON PARNASUS - THE LIFE OF CARL TAUSIG - 1841-1871")
*
One morning, Franz Liszt, known as the greatest pianist of all time, received at his Weimar home a distinguished Polish musician, who asked to introduce his 13-year-old son, and according to his father, a child prodigy. Liszt, despite having been a prodigy himself, did not like hearing them, as he knew that these children were often manipulated by their families for the profit and fame that young talent could bring them. Moreover, Liszt still considered them less able to express at the piano those feelings still unknown to them at their tender age.
Although Liszt apologized for his refusal, the child went to the piano and began playing the Heroic Polonaise (Opus 53) of Chopin. Upon hearing how well the young boy played, Liszt was immediately astonished and enchanted by the little pianist, who played the difficult piece with such technical and emotional control that it could have been his friend Chopin himself, whom Liszt had often heard playing this same work.









The child prodigy was Carl Tausig, born in Warsaw on November 4, 1841, and this first meeting with Franz Liszt occurred on July 21, 1855. On that same day, Liszt commented that it was better for Carl to leave himself free to find his own way, since he considered having nothing to teach the boy. However, with the insistence of the father and son, Liszt did agree to give lessons to the young Tausig, installing him in his house as a family member, while Carl's father Aloys returned to Warsaw.
Aloys Tausig was a composer and pianist well-known in Polish musical circles, and had been responsible for the musical education of his son until that day. He was a student of the composer and pianist Sigismond Thalberg, a virtuoso famous for having been a rival of Liszt in the previous decades; and thanks to studies with Thalberg, Aloys knew very well about educating his son Carl in the art of piano.
Upon his arrival in Weimar, the young Carl had not only an interesting repertoire but also a small number of compositions, and these early works already showed a seriousness and technique not usually associated with someone so young.
The works of this period are: an Impromptu (op.1), a Tarantella (Op.2), a Nocturne "L'Esperance" (Op.3), a Serenade (Op.4, considered lost), a little fantasy 'Reverie' (Op.5) and an Etude, "Le Ruisseau" (Op.6), all for solo piano.
This choice of mentor for the young Carl was significant, since Liszt represented the pinnacle of pianistic virtuosity, and was an avant-garde composer who "threw darts into the future." Many of his works were too complex for the standards of the time, and among his contributions was the creation of new musical forms. Inevitably, this contact encouraged the musical ideas of Tausig to take new directions, and his compositional style developed at a remarkable rate.









After one year, Tausig had already transcribed some of Liszt's symphonic works and played them, along with original works for piano, at soirées in the homes of Liszt's friends. The works included some of the "Transcendental Etudes" and Tausig's transcriptions of his beloved master's symphonic poems. He was undoubtedly Liszt's favorite pupil.
Curiously, during this Weimar period, according Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg (1827-1908), Tausig committed some petty crimes that could have had serious consequences. Once, under the guise of needing money, he sold all of his scores as well as a manuscript of Liszt's, who, not knowing what had happened, desperately sought the manuscript of his recently completed Faust Symphony, of which he had no copies. Fortunately, Gottschalg, was aware of the situation and bought back the score before it was too late. Liszt did forgive Tausig and said nothing more, later being accused of being too lenient with Tausig, having also paid a number of debts incurred by the boy.
In May 1858, Tausig moved to Zurich, where, on Liszt's recommendation, he was assisted by the composer Richard Wagner. That the young Carl was of Jewish origin did not seem to affect his relationship with Wagner, who, in a letter to Liszt, commented:
"... as a musician he is enormously talented, and his furious piano playing makes me tremble...of course the youth pleases me immensely in other ways, and although he acts like a naughty boy, he talks like an old man with a pronounced character."
Tausig's contact with the music of Wagner was important, as was the influence of two great friends from his early days at Liszt's house, Hans von Bülow and Peter Cornelius, who had introduced the young virtuoso to Wagner's music. But Tausig was more interested in making Wagner listen to Liszt's music, since Liszt's music were his favorite.








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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

The so-called New German School was developing at that time and Tausig joined the movement; his next compositions were clearly influenced by his contact with Liszt, Wagner and other composers in this group.
In this new phase of Tausig's musical life, some of his most interesting compositions appeared: "The Ghost Ship, Symphonic Ballad based on a põem by Strachwitz" - which Tausig again numbered "Opus 1," having dismissed his old compositions and resolved to purchase and destroy all the copies of his early works; "Reminiscences of Halka" (also known as "Concert Fantasy on Themes from the opera Halka by Moniusko") Op.2; and "Hernani Gallop" Op.3, considered lost since the beginning of the last century.

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In these works, Tausig composed at a level of virtuosity that only Liszt had reached in his most demanding paraphrases of the operas "Don Giovanni" and "Norma." Critics have called this moment of Tausig's life "Sturm und Drang" (Storm and Stress) for his mystical, wild and spontaneous playing and writing, clearly inspired by the German literary movement spearheaded by Goethe and Schiller. Examples include the "Fantasia on Themes from the Opera Halka," one of the grandest extravaganzas ever created by a piano virtuoso.
It is also interesting to note the extent of Tausig's influence on the people who knew him, and, based on the way in which piano technique was used in his famous "Mephisto Waltz," Liszt himself was clearly influenced by Tausig's "Ghost Ship." Liszt dedicated "Mephisto" to Tausig almost two years after the completion of "Ghost Ship," in recognition of his importance to him.
After a brief period, Tausig gave several concerts in German cities and made Dresden his home base. Until that time, some critics remained less enthusiastic about the young man, as they considered him too violent and virtuosic, but that he would become a pianist of perfection as soon as he passed through those "stormy and impetuous" days.
Such criticism pushed Tausig to move to Vienna in 1862, and like his friend Hans von Bülow, he dedicated himself to conducting his own new orchestral works and the works of the New German School. His compositions from this period includes an orchestral version of "Ghost Ship," some symphonic poems, including one entitled "Manfred", one with chorus on text by Schiller, and a Fantasy in polonaise style for piano and orchestra.
Finding it impossible to edit these works, and losing considerable funds from unprofitable orchestral concerts, Tausig health got bad and he decided to suspend his career for some years.
From this period dates the first publication of his five "Valses Caprices on Themes of Johann Strauss Jr.," dedicated to Liszt, who especially favored the melody of the first Valse; Liszt even improvised on the piece when playing piano duet with his daughter Cosima at one of his many soirées.
In that same year, 1862, a friendship between Tausig and the German composer Johannes Brahms was forged. If on the one hand Wagner represented the future of music and the abandonment of the past, on the other, Brahms was the personification of conservatism, believing that it was necessary to study the past thoroughly in order to create music of quality. In fact, these two geniuses were two sides of the same coin - and Brahms was clearly the more open one of the two, since he would often speak with Tausig about Wagner's music.
Tausig was the only one known to have befriended these two pillars of German Romantic music at the same time, and was responsible for the only meeting between them; consequently however, and not surprisingly, he was also the cause of their alienation, which became known as the "Tannhäuser scandal":
Tausig had succeeded in acquiring from Wagner one of his Tannhäuser manuscripts originating in Paris; some years later when he met Brahms, knowing that he too collected manuscripts, including some original Mozart Symphonies, Tausig decided to give Wagner's manuscript as a gift to his new friend. When Wagner discovered this, he was quite offended and asked Peter Cornelius to contact Brahms and ask him to return the score, saying that Tausig had made a mistake in assuming that the document belonged to him. Despite several attempts, Brahms never answered Cornelius, and almost 10 years after this event, Wagner wrote a personal letter to Brahms asking for the manuscript back; it was then that Brahms responded by sending him the score, and, as thanks, Wagner sent him another of his manuscripts, which Brahms reciprocated with another rare manuscript from his collection. This would be their final contact.
Tausig's contact with Brahms was mutually very productive: Brahms gave him sketches of his "Variations on a Theme of Paganini Op.35," which Tausig undertook to give a more virtuosic "flavor". And among these studies, analyses and conversations, there are two works by both composers using double notes in the right hand (sixths & thirds): with the same basic notes of the Chopin Etude, Op.25 No.2, they created two difficult and very interesting ways to see a Chopin work in a new light - as Leopold Godowsky would achieve with the Chopin's Etudes 40 years later. Tausig also directed his energies toward transcribing works by Johann Sebastian Bach, including the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor and a set of Chorale Preludes, which he dedicated to Brahms
In 1864, Tausig married a Hungarian pianist, Seraphine von Vrabely, a student of a well-known pianist and composer of that period, Alexander Dreyschock. Tausig dedicated his "Fantasia on Hungarian-Gypsy Themes" to his wife, but they divorced shortly afterwards and very little is known about this marriage.
In this Fantasia, Tausig used themes that appear also in Liszt's works (S.241 Ungarisch Romanzero, for example); such themes were relatively familiar to connoisseurs of gypsy folk music (often confused with Hungarian folk music of the time, as reflected in the title of the work). The way in which he treats the entire composition, a Lisztian rhapsody structure, makes it clear that he had abandoned his period of "Strum und Drang."
The following year, he moved to Berlin and resumed his career as a pianist, and this time the critics received him as a genius - his interpretations of Chopin were especially acclaimed as among the best ever heard. Tausig was considered comparable to Liszt and Anton Rubinstein, the two most important names in piano virtuosity.

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In 1866, together with the musicians Adolph Jensen, Louis Ehlert and C.F.Weitzmann, Tausig opened the Virtuosenakademie (Schule des höheren Klavierspiels), a school for virtuoso pianists. As a teacher, Tausig was strict and not very patient, an account of which is presented in the book "Music Study in Germany," by the American pianist Amy Fay. Some of Tausig's students are worth noting: Rafael Joseffy, Alexander Michalowski, Adolph Andrey Schulz-Evler, Sophie Menter, Vera Timanoff, Amy Fay and Gustav V. Lewinsky. Gradually Tausig's busy schedule of recitals and concerts were taking more and more of his energy and he spent little time at the Virtuosenakademie; in October 1870, the school closed its doors permanently.
In the winter of that year, Tausig was invited by Liszt to participate as soloist in a concert of the festival "Tokünstler-Versammlung"; though Tausig declined the offer, Liszt's repeated insistence won him over, and that was the final meeting between these two musical geniuses.
Despite his fame, Tausig was now in the depths of depression, making some trips without any purpose, traveling across Europe and taking the first train back. This was his last compositional period, during which he wrote two Concert Etudes - once again called "Opus 1," as he disregarded everything he had done until then.
In these Etudes, Tausig used a new language, ripe in its style, without the excesses of exaggerated virtuosity, though the works are still difficult to play, being intended for musicians of exceptional talent.
His concert schedule was maintained until June 1871 - but in early July, Tausig contracted typhoid fever and died on the 17th in Leipzig. At the end, he was cared for by his longtime friend, Marie von Mouchanoff-Kalergis, who as a youth had been pupil of Frederic Chopin. Kullak, who had seen him just days before the onset of fever, observed that there were no signs of ill-health up to that time.
The impact of Tausig's death was even greater on Liszt, who was unable to attend the funeral of his beloved friend. Marie Mouchanoff, as ill as she was at the time, journeyed to Weimar to tell the full story to Liszt; in the company of Emile Genast, they spent an entire night remembering Tausig. At one point, Liszt quietly went to the piano and played "The Life Beyond" - the only song played that night.
Carl Tausig left a significant number of transcriptions and compositions for solo piano, which contribute in a unique way to the evolution of piano technique and the history of music, as well as a set of technical studies which greatly assist students aspiring to a professional level of pianism.

July 15th, 2010
Artur CImirro

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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

CARL TAUSIG (1841-1871)

*II - LIST OF WORKS

a) COMPOSITIONS
*
FIRST PERIOD - 1850's - 1856
- Op.1a Impromptu
- Op.2a Introduction and Tarantella
- Op.3a L'Esperance - Nocturne Varié
- Op.4 Sérénade {NOT FOUND - PROBABLY LOST}
- Op.5 Rêverie
- Op.6 Le Ruisseau - Etude

SECOND PERIOD - 1857-1864
- Op.1b Das Geisterschiff - Symphonische Ballade [piano version]
- Op.1b Das Geisterschiff - Symphonische Ballade [orchestral]
- Op.2b Reminiscences of Halka
- Op.3b Hernani-Galop {NOT FOUND - PROBABLY LOST}
- Fantaisie for piano & orchestra {NOT FOUND - PROBABLY LOST}
- Manfredo Symphonic Poem {NOT FOUND - PROBABLY LOST}
- Der Triumph der Liebe (after Schiller) for orchestra and chorus and soloists {ONLY ONE PAGE FOUND}
- Der Triumph der Liebe (after Schiller) for piano {ONLY ONE PAGE FOUND}
- Ungarische Zigeunerweisen
- Tägliche Studien (including the "Preludes")

THIRD PERIOD 1864-1871
- Op.1c 2 Concert Etudes

*b) TRANSCRIPTIONS / ARRANGEMENTS / EDITIONS
*
BACH, J.S.
- Toccata and Fugue in d minor BWV.565
- 6 Choralvorspiele für Orgel - BWVs 614, 622, 648, 656, 680 & 737
- Praeludium, Fuge und Allegro BWV.998
- Well Tempered Clavier (selection) [Edition / fingerings]

BEETHOVEN, L.V.
- Adagio aus dem Quartett Op.59 No.1
- Scherzo aus dem Quartett Op.59 No.2
- Andante aus dem Quartett Op.59 No.3
- Kavatine aus dem Quartett Op.130
- Presto aus dem Quartett Op.131
- Scherzo aus dem Quartett Op.135
- Missa Solemnis Op.123 (reconstructed)
- 6 Minuetten [NOT FOUND, PROBABLY LOST]
- Concerto No.4 Op.58 [piano solo] [Edition / fingerings]

BERLIOZ, H.
- Gnomenchor und Sylphentanz aus "Fausts Verdammung (Op.24)"

CHOPIN, F.F.
- Piano Concerto No.1 Op.11 [piano solo / piano and orchestra]
- Piano Concerto No.2 Op.21 - 2nd. Mov. [piano solo] (reconstructed)
- Etude Op.10 No.2 (reconstructed)
- Etude Op.25 No.2

CLEMENTI, M.
- Gradus ad Parnassum Op.44 [Edition / fingerings]

LASSEN, E.
- Albumleaf [incomplete]

LISZT, F.
- Faust-Symphonie (reconstructed)
- Dante-Symphonie
- Symphonic Poems
...............No.01 Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne
...............No.02 Tasso (ending reconstructed)
...............No.03 Les Preludes
...............No.04 Orpheus
...............No.05 Prometheus (reconstructed)
...............No.07 Festklange (3/4 reconstructed)
...............No.08 Heroide funebre
...............No.09 Hungaria
...............No.10 Hamlet
...............No.11 Hunnenschlacht (reconstructed)
...............No.12 Die Ideale

SCARLATII,D.
- Pastorale in D minor (K.009)
- Capricio in E major (K.020)
- Sonate in G minor (K.012)
- Sonate in G minor (K.426)
- Sonate in F minor (K.519)
- Sonata in C major (K.487)

SCHUBERTM F.P.
- Militar Marsch Op.51 No.1
- Andantino und Variationen Op.84 No.1
- Rondo Op.84 No.2
- Polonaise Melancolique d'après F.Schubert

SCHUMANN, R.
Contrabandista Op.74 No.10

STRAUSS II, J.
- Nouvelles Soirees de Viene (Valses-Caprices d'apres J. Strauss II)
...............Valse-Caprice No.1 "Nachtfalter" (Op.157)
...............Valse-Caprice No.2 "Man lebt nur einmal" (Op.167)
...............Valse-Caprice No.3 "Wahlstimmen" (Op.250)
...............Valse-Caprice No.4 "Immer Heiterer" (Op.235)
...............Valse-Caprice No.5 "Wienerchronik" (Op.268)

WAGNER, R.
- Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg
...............Complete vocal score
...............Vorspiel
...............Vorspiel [4 hands]
...............Einleitung zum dritten akt

- Die Walküre
...............Siegmunds Liebesgesang
...............Der Ritt der Walküren
...............Der Ritt der Walküren [4 hands]

- Drei Paraphrasen über Tristan und Isolde
...............No.1 Liebesscene - Verklärung
...............No.2 Brangänens Gesang. Matrosenlied
...............No.3 Melodie des Hirten

- Kaiser-Marsch

WEBER, C.M.V.
- Aufforderung zum Tanz Op.65

WRONGLY ATTRIBUTED WORKS:
- "Morgenblätter" Walzer von J.Strauss Op.279 - Paraphrasirt für den Concert Vortrag von Karl Tausig - Oeuvre Posthume (c.1878)
Actually it was composed by J.Rive-King.

- "Kiss Waltz" Walzer von J.Strauss recorded by Benno Moiseiwitsch
Actually it was composed by E.Schütt


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Cimirro I am sorry I interrupted you post, thanks again.


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

*III - RECORDINGS*

While we can easily find some youtube recordings of some Tausig compositions like "Das Geistershiff", "Reminiscences of Halka", "Reverie", etc, most part of them are not in a "decent" interpretation for someone who makes the Scientific Interpretation System. 
So I prefer to show only the ones who are not in disagreement with the musical score - Yes, that means I DO NOT reccomend Ponti, de Waal, Draghi, Hough or Har-Zahav. Anyway, there was Dennis Hennig interpretations which are not so bad. And you are free to check what you want.

I add here 3 tracks from the CD I made with Acte Prealable CDAP0359 (http://www.acteprealable.com/albums/new_ap0359.html) and one youtube link:

The first piece of each Tausig period as composer:

His first work - Impromptu Op.1a 
http://www.arturcimirro.com.br/TAUSIG_Op1a-CIMIRRO.mp3

His first works after meeting Franz Liszt - Das Geistershiff Op.1b
http://www.arturcimirro.com.br/TAUSIG_Op1b-CIMIRRO.mp3

His first paraphrase in Lisztian style - one of the most difficult pieces to play - Reminiscences of Halka Op.2b





His first work from his last period - Etude Op.1c No.1
http://www.arturcimirro.com.br/TAUSIG_Op1c_1-CIMIRRO.mp3

Other very interesting recordings: 
Lhevinne - Tausig - Hungarisches Zigeunerweisen





Hoffman - Schumann/Tausig - "Der Contrabandiste" (No.10 from Spanisches Linderspiel Op.74)





Lhevinne - Schubert/Tausig - Military March Op.51 No.1




others who recorded this included Backhaus, Brailowsky, Godowsky, d'Albert, Cziffra and Horowitz.

Hennig - Wagner/Tausig - Ride of the Walkyries





Setrak - Chopin/Tausig - Concerto Op.11 (the rearrangement)





I'll post some more things during the weekend

All the best
Artur Cimirro


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Thank you very much for sharing cimirro, as I mentioned yesterday I only know some fragments from his works.





Pugg said:


> Cimirro I am sorry I interrupted you post, thanks again.


Pugg you are always welcome, and no problems at all with your messages, The thread is started and that is the idea!


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

A concert program:


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

Another interesting concert program


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Alas not so much interested folks, cimmiro.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I did not know Tausig, and I believe I had not heard any of his music. I listened to a number of works found on Naxos. 

Valse Caprice in A Major, Op. posth.
2 Concerto Etudes, Op. 1c
No. 1 in F-Sharp Major 
No. 2 in A-Flat Major 
Fantasia on Moniuszko's Halka (maybe this is Op. 2b?)
Das Geisterschiff Op.1b 

The Valse Caprice was my favorite with beautiful passages. Interesting that this does not seem to be in the list of works above. I did enjoy the others as well. 

I generally am less interested in transcriptions probably because I usually prefer the originals. I have heard some of Liszt's transcriptions and find them amazing, but I'm not moved to listen more than once. I did listen to Tausig's Ride of the Walkyries since I adore the original. Again, it was interesting and enjoyable, but I find myself thinking more of the original.

I would have liked to hear some of his orchestral works such as Fantaisie for piano & orchestra, but I guess that's not to be.

Thanks for the information, Artur. I knew nothing of this composer and am glad I could sample some of his works and learn a bit about his life.


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

Interesting music. I don't believe that there is anything unique or special about Tausig, but he is neglected for sure.


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

mmsbls said:


> Valse Caprice in A Major, Op. posth.
> Fantasia on Moniuszko's Halka (maybe this is Op. 2b?)
> (...)
> The Valse Caprice was my favorite with beautiful passages. Interesting that this does not seem to be in the list of works above. I did enjoy the others as well.


The Valse Caprice you mention is from "Nouvelles Soirees de Viene" (Valses-Caprices d'apres J. Strauss II) you can check in the list
If you check the recording with the score you will notice if it is No.3 or No.5 since both are in A major

And yes, the full name of the Fantasia on Moniuszko's Halka is
"Reminiscences de Halka - Fantaisie de concert d'après St.Moniuszko Oper Op.2"

The letters "a" "b" & "c", was used to make clear what was the order of the compositions. It was wrong in internet before I published my CD.



mmsbls said:


> I generally am less interested in transcriptions probably because I usually prefer the originals. I have heard some of Liszt's transcriptions and find them amazing, but I'm not moved to listen more than once. I did listen to Tausig's Ride of the Walkyries since I adore the original. Again, it was interesting and enjoyable, but I find myself thinking more of the original.


Normally people see the big list of transcriptions and forget the original works.
Anyway, you can check his works with opus number since they are not transcriptions. Give a second try with other recordings too.

By the way, the "Geistershiff" (Op.1b) was made in orchestral version too. At the moment I'm trying to find an orchestra interested in premiere the work - this is difficult because it is a difficult piece to play and it is necessary a huge orchestra.



mmsbls said:


> I would have liked to hear some of his orchestral works such as Fantaisie for piano & orchestra, but I guess that's not to be.


Unfortunately this score was not found yet.



Pugg said:


> Alas not so much interested folks, cimmiro.


Yes, this is why I selected him as "unknown composer" 



Portamento said:


> Interesting music. I don't believe that there is anything unique or special about Tausig, but he is neglected for sure.


The main problem is that he made few compositions and a lot of transcriptions/arrangements.
The "special" in his work is that he is the only composer who in the 50's/60's was composing in the same level of Liszt, Wagner, Berlioz, Reubke (who is also very "unknown") & Brahms.
And his importance to the piano technique is unique.

Tausig last 2 compositions - "Concert etudes Op.1c" were object of study of the big Russian generations of composers/pianists who are still remembered, it was also edited by Balakirev. Tchaikowsky, Anton Rubinstein, Scriabin, Rachmaninov and others were strongly influenced by him.
Also:
"Geistershiff" (Op1b) is a Symphonic Poem in a Lisztian tradition and it influenced Liszt's Mehisto Waltz (you can clearly notice this in the writing and in the hand techniques) which was made just some months after Liszt hear this piece for the first time. By the way, the Mephisto Waltz was dedicated to Tausig.

"Reminiscences of Halka" (op2b) is a concert paraphrase in the same Liszt's level (no other had made paraphrases with such technical elements)

"Ungarisches Zigeunerweisen" is a perfect mixture of Lisztian Hungarian Rhapsodies and Brahms "Hungarian style".

All the living composers of those times ranked Tausig works as great, the problem is he made few things, and from time to time it was not so interesting to publish such difficult-to-play music - and then... unknown...

All the best
Artur Cimirro


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I listened to all five works in Nouvelles Soirees de Viene performed by Dennis Hennig.

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Also found at: Nouvelles Soirees de Viene

I think the Valse Caprice in A Major #5 was still my favorite, but all were definitely enjoyable.


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