Raff, J.: Symphony No. 5, "Lenore" / Dame Kobold: Overture

Featuring

Nicholas Carthy
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
Joseph Joachim Raff

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Composer Biography

Joachim Raff served as an assistant to Franz Liszt in Weimar for six years, and it is believed he may have instrumented some of Liszt's famous symphonic poems.

Critical Reception

Raff's comic opera, Dame Kobold, received only moderate success and was harshly criticized by Franz Liszt, who called it a 'skilfully arranged hotch-potch'.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Raff's interest in symphonic composition was largely inspired by literary or descriptive sources, leading nine of his eleven symphonies to have enlightening subtitles.

Composer Biography

Joachim Raff, a prolific symphonic composer, was largely self-taught in music and worked as a tutor to support himself.

Compositional Technique

Despite programmatic elements, Raff's symphonies are musically more influenced by Mendelssohn and Schumann than by the harmonic innovations of Liszt and Wagner.

Composition History

Felix Mendelssohn was deeply impressed by Raff's early compositions and successfully recommended their publication, allowing Raff to dedicate himself to music.