Raff: Piano Works, Vol. 6

Featuring

Tra Nguyen
Joseph Joachim Raff

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Composer Biography

Raff was entirely self-taught and overcame early poverty, even being briefly imprisoned for debt in Weimar.

Composer Biography

Raff walked for two days through pouring rain to attend a recital by Franz Liszt, a great piano virtuoso, in Basel in 1845.

Composer Biography

Joseph Joachim Raff, born in Switzerland, gave up a promising teaching career to focus on composition, which initially led to poverty despite encouragement from Mendelssohn.

Composer Biography

Although primarily known as a symphonist, Raff was prolific in most genres, with over 130 works for piano, making it his largest output.

Critical Reception

Raff's reputation was once so high that in the 1860s and 1870s, many considered him the foremost symphonist of his day.

Composer Biography

Raff's breakthrough came in 1863 when both his First Symphony and a cantata won major prizes, leading to his appointment as founding director of the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt in 1877.

Composer Biography

Franz Liszt was so impressed with the young Raff that he took him to Germany and helped him find work, later inviting him to join his household in Weimar as an amanuensis.