Five Songs for soprano and string quartet

Full title Five Songs for soprano and string quartet / Fünf Lieder für Sopran und Streichquartett
Date composed 1934
Details 1. Trost / Consolation (Ina Seidel); vocal range: e'–g''
2. Sommernachmittag / Summer Afternoon (Vally Weigl); vocal range: d'–g''
3. Regenlied / Rain Song (Klaus Groth); vocal range: d'–a''
4. Ave Maria (Rudolf List); vocal range: eb'–a''
5. Einladung zur Martinsgans / Invitation for Supper at Martinmas (from Des Knaben Wunderhorn); vocal range: g'–g''

Texts by Ina Seidel, Vally Weigl, Klaus Groth, and Rudolf List, and from the collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn; translated into English by Ronald V. Smith.
Composition completed December 1934. An earlier setting of Trost, for voice and piano, dates back to 1932; an earlier setting of Sommernachmittag, also for voice and piano, dates to 1926 (see Manuscript sources, below).
Even before finishing this cycle of songs Weigl reused the opening theme of Trost, together with the accompaniment in which it is embedded, as the principal thematic material of the first movement of his String Quartet No. 5. Weigl’s 9 July 1936 contract with Universal Edition (U.E.) for that work includes the following clause: "Das thematische Material des Anfangs des 1. Satzes liegt einem Liede zugrunde, welches für Gesang und Streichquartett von mir gesetzt wurde. Das Verlagsrecht über dieses Lied steht der Universal-Edition zu, bezw. kann ich über dasselbe nur im Einvernehmen mit der Universal-Edition verfügen.” At this time a standard U.E. contract gave copyright to the publisher without a reciprocal assurance of publication, and though Weigl signed a contract for the Five Songs for soprano and string quartet (the contract date remains to be determined), U.E. did not publish the work.
Performance duration: ca. 12 min.
Manuscript sources NYPL JOB 73-155, holograph (13 numbered pages), with composer's note on title page: Wien, im Dezember 1934; and a completion date at the end of each song: for Trost, 22 November 1934; for Sommernachmittag: 8 December 1934; for Regenlied: 9 December 1934; for Ave Maria: 29 October 1934; and for Einladung: 7 December 1934. For the earlier setting of Trost, see NYPL JPB 78-21, presentation holograph (4 unnumbered pages), with two composer’s notes, one at the end: 24./XII.1932; the other at page bottom: Meiner lieben Vally / Weihnachten 1932 / Karl. For the earlier setting of Sommernachmittag, see NYPL JPB 78-21, presentation holograph (1 page), with two composer’s notes, one at the end: 5./IX.1926 KW.; the other at page bottom: Meiner lieben Vally zum 11./IX.1926.
Publication details John Markert & Co., 1959, with the posthumously assigned opus number 40.
Availabiity Newly engraved score, piano reduction, and parts available from ACA; original UE miniature score available from KWF.
Recordings Evelyn Chih-Yih Chan and Akadémia Kvartett (2-CD set: KWF991001, 1999; available from KWF); Patricia Brooks and Iowa String Quartet (LP: CRI 242 SD, 1969).
Listen

Five songs for soprano and string quartet: no. 1, Trost
Sophie Klussman and Soloists of Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

Five songs for soprano and string quartet: no. 2, Sommernachmittag
Sophie Klussman and Soloists of Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

Five songs for soprano and string quartet: no. 4, Ave Maria
Patricia Brooks and Iowa String Quartet

Performances (click icon to expand or collapse list)
7 March 1937*** Vienna, private musicale, Eichendorff-Runde Musikalisch-literarischer Abend: Zoë Prasch-Formacher and the Kolbe Quartet (Raimund Kolbe et al.). Also on program: Alfons Blümel, Drei Lieder; Franz Hasenöhrl, Drei Lieder für Alt und Streichquartett; Hedy Frank-Autherid, Lieder.
5 November 1937 Vienna, Brahms-Saal, Oesterreichischer Abend: Elisabeth Schumann and the Rosé Quartet (Arnold Rosé, Stvertka, Weiß, Friedrich Buxbaum). Also on program: songs by Josef Rinaldini, Franz Schubert, Joseph Marx, and Hugo Wolf.
1 December 1937** London, Austrian Embassy, musical reception: Elisabeth Schumann and the Brosa Quartet (Antonio Brosa, Thel Bridge, Frank Bridge, Bernard Richards).
28 April 1939 New York, private musicale, home of Mrs. Frank (Rebecca) Bradbeer: Alice Howland and Karl Weig (arrangement for voice and piano). Also on program: works by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, and Dvorak.
10 April 1940 New York, private musicale, home of Mrs. H.A. Guinzburg, Works by Karl Weigl: Alice Howland and the Elsie Stein string quartet (Elsie Stein, Jason Goldwater, Murray Pollak, Vally Gara).
8 April 1941 New York, private musicale, home of Mrs. H.A. Guinzburg, Works by Karl Weigl: Alice Howland and Stein String Quartet (Elsie Stein, Hans J. Rhones, Leo Ratner, Vally Gara).
4 June 1941 New York, New Collegium Musicum, First Concert of Chamber Music: Alice Howland and the Elsie Stein String Quartet (Elsie Stein, Hans J. Rhones, Leo Ratner, Vally Gara). Also on program: works by Josef Wagner; H.E. Heller; Eric Zeisl; Josef Wagner; Fritz Schreiber; Robert Henried; Kurt G. Roger; Frederick Jacobi.
26 May 1942** New York, private musicale, home of Mrs. H. A. Guinsburg: Alice Howland and the quartet (Marjorie Fulton, Louis Fischzohn, Kalman Fleisig, Sidney Edwards). Also on program: Ysaye, Prelude for violin solo; Bach, arias arranged for soprano and cello.
14 December 1943 New York, New Collegium Musicum: Cynthia Rosen and the Elsie Stein String Quartet (Elsie Stein, Hans J. Ronis, Alfred Troemel, Vally Gara-Stein). Also on program: Alban Berg, Piano Sonata op. 1; Eda Rapoport, Lamentations on Hebrew Themes; Marion Bauer, Aquarel; Kurt G. Roger, Ballade; Eda Rapoport, 3 songs; Frederic Jacobi, Hadiographa for string quartet and piano.
1 February 1946 New York, WNYC radio performance and broadcast: Barbara Troxell and members of the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society.
22 October 1946 Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn Chamber Music Society: Barbara Troxell and the string quartet (Carl H. Tollefsen, Irving Kligfield, Jack Shapiro, Youry Bilstin). Also on program: Beethoven, Trio in B flat op. 97; Robert Schumann, Quintet for piano and strings op. 44; performers included Karl Weigl, piano.
21 July 1953 New York, WNYC radio performance and broadcast, David Randolph’s Music for the Conneisseur—Music by Karl Weigl: Alice Howland and the Woodstock Quartet (Sidney Harth et al.).
11 October 1956** New York, Austrian Institute, Carnegie Recital Hall, Wolf-Mahler-Weigl Evening: Charlotte Holloman and the quartet (Felix Galimir, Sonja Monosoff, Renee Galimir-Hurtig, Stefan Auber). Also on program: Hugo Wolf, songs; Gustav Mahler, songs; introduction by Carleton Sprague-Smith.
1 September 1987 Detroit, Michigan, Wayne State University, Community Arts Auditorium, The Karl Weigl Festival, concert 1: Three Songs for contralto and string quartet (Hilda Harris and New World String Quartet [Curtis Macomber, Vahn Armstrong, Robert Dan, Ross Harbaugh]), Viola Sonata (Paul Silverthorne and Doris Richards), Five Duets for soprano and tenor (Ernestine Nimmona, George Shirley, and Doris Richards), Two Pieces for cello and piano (Marcy Chanteaux and Doris Richards), and Five Songs for soprano and string quartet (Ernestine Nimmona and New World String Quartet).
8 September 1987 New York, Merkin Hall, The Karl Weigl Concerts, The Unbroken Tradition—Karl Weigl in Vienna and in Exile, concert I, All Weigl Program: Three Songs for contralto and string quartet (Hilda Harris and New World String Quartet [Curtis Macomber, Vahn Armstrong, Robert Dan, Ross Harbaugh]), Viola Sonata (Paul Silverthorne and Doris Richards), Five Songs for soprano and string quartet Lucy Shelton and New World String Quartet), Wild Dance from Two Pieces for cello and piano (Marcy Chanteaux and Doris Richards), and Five Duets for soprano and baritone (Lucy Shelton, George Shirley, and Alan Smith).
12 February 1988 Cambridge, Massachusetts, Blodgett Chamber Music Series at Harvard, Compositions by Karl Weigl: String Quartet No. 3 (New World String Quartet [Curtis Macomber, Vahn Armstrong, Robert Dan, Ross Harbaugh]). Three Songs for mezzo-soprano and string quartet (Hilda Harris and New World String Quartet), Five Songs for soprano and string quartet (Nancy Armstrong and New World String Quartet), and String Quartet No. 5.
1 December 1989 Chicago, University of Chicago, Goodspeed Recital Hall, Viennese Crosscurrents, Karl Weigl, Neo- Romanticism, and the Modernist Movement, concert 1: String Quartet No. 5 (Chester String Quartet [Fritz Gearhart, Glenn Basham, Ronald Gorevic, Thomas Rosenberg]); Five Songs for soprano and string quartet (Kati Guerra and Chester String Quartet); String Quartet No. 3 (Chester String Quartet).
25 September 1999 Altenberg, Austria, Heiligenkreuzer Herbst, Kammermusikfestival im Stift Heiligenkreuz, Konzert in memoriam Karl Weigl: Five Songs for soprano and string quartet (Sylvia Greenberg and Artis Quartet [Peter Schumayer, Johannes Meissl, Herbert Kefer, Othmar Müller]); String Quartet No. 5 (Artis Quartet). Also on program: Mozart, String Quartet KV 575.
25 September 1999 Altenberg, Austria, Heiligenkreuzer Herbst, Kammermusikfestival im Stift Heiligenkreuz, Konzert in memoriam Karl Weigl: Five Songs for soprano and string quartet (Sylvia Greenberg and Artis Quartet [Peter Schumayer, Johannes Meissl, Herbert Kefer, Othmar Müller]); String Quartet No. 5 (Artis Quartet). Also on program: Mozart, String Quartet KV 575.
5 October 1999 Budapest, Benczúr Ház, The Music of Karl Weigl Memorial Concerts, concert 2: Seven Songs op. 1 (Michael Kutner and Bárkányi Eva); Five Songs op. 10 nos. 2 and 3 and Six Songs for mezzo-soprano no. 5 (Evelyn Chih-Yih Chan and Bárkányi Eva); Viola Sonata (Garth Knox and Stephan Ginsburgh); Five Songs for soprano and string quartet (Evelyn Chih-Yih Chan and Akadémia Quartet [Környei Zsófia, Bodó Antónia, Móré László, Maróth Bálint]).
4 August 2006 Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Musikalischer Sommer Festival: Evelyn Chan, and the Jade Quartett (Anneli [Han-Lin] Liang, Lisa [Hyun-Ji] You, Erik [Wen-Bo] Xu, Gina [Shi-Yu] Yu). Also on program: Franz Schubert, Sonata in A Minor op. 143 and Quintet in C Major D 956.
15 March 2008 Paris, American Cathedral, Lyrisme viennois, Mozart er le XXe siecle: Evelyn Chih-Yih Chan and the Jade String Quartet of Stuttgart ([Annelie (Han-Lin) Liang, Lisa [Hyun-Ji] You, Daniel Rehfeldt, Gina [Shi-Yu] Yu). Also on program: Anton Webern, Langsamer Satz; Mozart, String Quartet in G Major, K. 387; Arnold Schoenberg, String Quartet No. 2.
10 April 2013 Paris, Institut Goethe de Paris: Five Songs for soprano and string quartet, performed by Céline Laly, soprano, and the Quatuor Gémeaux (Yu Zhuang, Manuel Oswald, Sylvia Zucker, Matthijs Broersma). Also on the program: Olivier Greif, Lettres de Westerbork op. 291 for soprano and two violins; and Igor Stravinsky, Trois pièces pour quatuor à cordes.
4 May 2013 New York, Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, “Vienna: Window to Modernity: Five Songs for soprano and string quartet, nos. 1 and 3, performed by Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet. Also on the program: Richard Strauss, Drei Lieder der Ophelia op. 67; Brahms, Ophelia Lieder; Wagner, two songs from Wesendonck Lieder op. 91; Wellesz, no. 5 from Sonnette der Elisabeth Barrett-Browning; Schoenberg, two Cabaret Songs; Erich Zeisl, three songs; Brahms, Intermezzi op. 118, nos. 1 and 2; Webern, Drei Stücke; and Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht. For more background on the program see “Renée Fleming in Conversation with Leon Botstein and André Previn: Viennese Composers in the United States,” the fourth of five interview clips available at www.carnegiehall.org/m/event.aspx?view=full&id=10737418349. In this fourth interview, at mention of Weigl’s name, the music in the background is the opening of the second movement of Weigl’s String Quartet No. 5. For the concert program notes by Michael Haas see www.carnegiehall.org/m/event.aspx?view=prog&id=10737418349.
5 October 2015 Schiermonnikoog, Netherlands, International Schiermonnikoog Music Festival: Five Songs for soprano and string quartet, performed by Renate Arends and the Malibran Quartet (Tatiana Samouil, Aki Saulière, Tony Nys, and Justus Grimm). Also on the program: Weigl, Three Songs for mezzo-soprano and string quartet, with Marie-Paule Milone and the Malibran Quartet; Strauss, Capriccio op. 85; and Schubert, String Quintet, D. 956.
24 April 2016 Munich, Allerheiligen Hofkirche der Residenz, in a program titled Hommage an das Rosé Quartett: Five Songs for soprano and string quartet, performed by Josephine Renelt and the instrumentalists Sonja Korkeala, Teresa Allgaier, Hariolf Schlichtig, and Kristin von der Goltz. Also on the program: Erich Wolfgang Korngold, String Quartet No. 1, op. 16; and Johannes Brahms, String Quintet op. 111.
15 July 2016 Kimito Island, Finland, Kimito Island Music Festival: Five Songs for soprano and string quartet, performed by Mia Huhta, soprano, and the instrumentatlists Sonja Korkeala, Katinka Korkeala, Hariolf Schlichtig, and Samuli Peltonen.