Joseph Joachim Raff was born on 27 May 1822 in the
small town of Lachen, on the shores of lake Zürich in
Switzerland. His father, Joseph, was a native of
Empfingen, in Württemberg, south west Germany. In
1811, Joseph Raff had fled south to avoid compulsory
conscription into Napoleon's army. After spells as
organist & music teacher in a monastery in Wettingen
and also in Lucerne, he set himself up as a
schoolmaster in Lachen. In time he married the daughter
of the local cantonal president - Kat...(+)
Joseph Joachim Raff was born on 27 May 1822 in the
small town of Lachen, on the shores of lake Zürich in
Switzerland. His father, Joseph, was a native of
Empfingen, in Württemberg, south west Germany. In
1811, Joseph Raff had fled south to avoid compulsory
conscription into Napoleon's army. After spells as
organist & music teacher in a monastery in Wettingen
and also in Lucerne, he set himself up as a
schoolmaster in Lachen. In time he married the daughter
of the local cantonal president - Katharina Schmid. The
Raff family was poor but young Joachim had a basic
education from his father. The boy was later sent to
the Rottenberg Gymnasium in his father’s native
Württemberg to study philosophy, philology and
mathematics before financial pressures on the family
forced his return to Switzerland. He finished his
education with two years at the Jesuit Seminary in
Schwyz, where he carried off prizes in German, Latin
and mathematics. When Raff left Schwyz in 1840 it was
to return to Rapperswil, near Lachen, to begin work as
a teacher. As a child, though, Raff had already shown
great natural talent as a pianist, violinist and
organist, performing at the Sunday concerts in the
nearby spa of Nuolen. Having taught himself the
rudiments of music, he began to compose too.
Many of Raff’s works were premiered in Wiesbaden,
sometimes with Raff himself conducting, but his
world-wide fame spread until he came to be regarded as
one of the foremost composers of his day - the equal of
Brahms and Wagner. His skill at orchestration was
prodigious and his ability as a melodist was
universally praised, but he was not without his
critics. Their main charge was grounded on the
accusation that Raff was a Vielschreiber - someone who
wrote (too) much and was too unselfcritical. He was
accused of being an eclectic whose style was a
synthesis of other composers’ styles rather than
being his own. They felt that Raff’s natural aptitude
was for character and salon pieces, rather than the
symphonies, concertos and chamber music which he
continued to produce. Raff could be a blunt and
tactless person, who revelled in argument and enjoyed
confrontation. He did little to placate his critics,
however, and with growing success tended to become
arrogant. "He was too proud" wrote even his daughter
Helene.
He died at 60 of a heart attack on the night of 24/25
June 1882 after several months of illness brought on by
his heavy workload. His final years had brought him all
the recognition and security he could have desired and
he had been confident that posterity would continue to
place him in the first rank. So confident, in fact,
that he had neglected to provide for his family,
assuming that royalties would continue to give them an
ample income. Perhaps in writing the motto of his 6th.
Symphony: "Lived, Struggled, Suffered, Fought, Died,
Glorified", Raff was unconsciously penning what he
hoped might be his own epitaph.
Raff's seven Piano Suites are the core of his "serious"
output for piano and central to his efforts to
perpetuate baroque forms in music. Typically they have
five movements, "old bottles" called gigue or prelude
into which Raff poured his highly romantic "new wine".
It is easy to forget the extent to which he was a
pioneer in this trend which was later to prove so
popular. This first a minor suite of February 1857 set
the pattern - a Preludio, followed by Mazurka,
Toccatina and Aria before a final Fuga. Unlike many of
the later suites however, which are very substantial
pieces, each movement in this collection is short - but
still full of Raff's typical virtouso pianism and
romantic melos. The 2nd. and 3rd. suites followed
within three months!
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Raff).
Although originally created for Piano, I created this
Interpretation of the Gigue from the Suite No. 6 in G
Major (Op. 163 No. 6) for String Quartet (2 Violins,
Viola & Cello).
