Walter Niemann: Piano Music, Vol. 1

Featuring

Tomasz Kamieniak
Walter Niemann

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

Walter Niemann, the composer, was born into a family crowded with musical talent, including his great-grandfather, grandfather, and uncles who were all musicians.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Niemann admired composers who drew inspiration from their own cultures, such as Debussy, Ravel, and Grieg, while denouncing the 'pathological' music of Richard Strauss, Mahler, and Schoenberg.

Composer Biography

Walter Niemann studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck, the composer of the opera 'Hänsel und Gretel', who had apprenticed with Richard Wagner.

Performer Biography

Tomasz Kamieniak, the pianist on this album, has performed Liszt's Wagner transcriptions on Liszt's own 1876 piano at the Steingraeber Haus in Bayreuth.

Critical Reception

Despite being dismissed by some critics as a 'mere piano composer', Niemann's piano works were among the most frequently performed in Germany during his lifetime.

Composer Biography

Walter Niemann's father, Rudolph Niemann, was a concert pianist who toured extensively across Europe and even visited the Sultan's Court in Constantinople.