Joseph Joachim Raff (27 May 182224 or 25 June 1882) was a Swiss composer, pedagogue and pianist.

Biography

Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. His father, a teacher, had fled there from Württemberg in 1810 to escape forced recruitment into the military of that southwestern German state that had to fight for Napoleon in Russia. Joachim was largely self-taught in music, studying the subject while working as a schoolmaster in Schmerikon, Schwyz and Rapperswil.

In 1845, Raff walked to Basel to hear Franz Liszt play the piano. After a period in Stuttgart where he became friends with the conductor Hans von Bülow, he worked as Liszt's assistant at Weimar from 1850 to 1853. During this time he helped Liszt in the orchestration of several of his works, claiming to have had a major part in orchestrating the symphonic poem Tasso. In 1851, Raff's opera König Alfred was staged in Weimar, and five years later he moved to Wiesbaden where he largely devoted himself to composition.

The Lenore symphony (No. 5), famous in its time, was inspired by a ballad of the same name by Gottfried August Bürger that also inspired works by several other composers, including Maria Theresia von Paradis (1789), Henri Duparc, Franz Liszt (late 1850s, mentioned by Alan Walker in his Liszt biography vol. 2), for example. The world premiere recording of Lenore was made in 1970 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bernard Herrmann, who championed Raff's orchestral music.

  • Dame Kobold, comic opera in three acts (Weimar, 1870)
  • Die Parole, comic opera in three acts (not performed)
  • Benedetto Marcello, lyric opera in three acts, loosely on the life of the composer Benedetto Marcello (first concert performance, Metzingen 2002)
  • Die Eifersüchtigen, opera in three acts (Arth (CH), 3 September 2022)

Other orchestral works

  • Orchestral pieces, Op. 85
  • Jubilee overture, Op. 103 (1864)
  • Festival overture, Op. 117 1864)
  • Concert overture, Op. 123 (1862)
  • Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott, Ouvertüre zu einem Drama aus dem Dreißigjährigen Krieg (A mighty fortress is our God", Overture to a drama about the Thirty Years' War), Op. 127 (1854; revised 1865)
  • Rhapsody for Orchestra "Abends", Op. 163b
  • Festival March, Op. 139
  • Sinfonietta, Op. 188
  • Elegy for Orchestra, WoO. 48
  • Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's "The Tempest", WoO. 50
  • Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's "Macbeth", WoO. 51
  • Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", WoO. 52
  • Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's "Othello", WoO. 53
  • Grand Fugue for Orchestra, WoO. 57
  • Overture to Benedetto Marcello
  • Overture to Dame Kobold, Op. 154
  • Overture to Die Parole
  • Orchestration of Bach's Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2

Chamber music

  • String Quartet No. 1, Op. 77
  • String Quartet No. 2, Op. 90
  • Suite in D minor for solo piano Op. 91
  • Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 102
  • Piano Quintet, Op. 107
  • Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 112
  • String Quartet No. 3, Op. 135
  • String Quartet No. 4, Op. 136
  • String Quartet No. 5, Op. 137
  • Piano Trio No. 3, Op. 155
  • Piano Trio No. 4, Op. 158
  • String Octet, Op. 176
  • String Sextet, Op. 178
  • Sinfonietta for 10 Wind Instruments, Op. 188 (2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2bn, 2hn)
  • String Quartet No. 6, Op. 192 No. 1 "Suite in Ancient Style"
  • String Quartet No. 7, Op. 192 No. 2 "The Maid of the Mill" [Die Schöne Müllerin]
  • String Quartet No. 8, Op. 192 No. 3 "Suite in Canon Form"
  • Piano Quartet No. 1, Op. 202 No. 1
  • Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 202 No. 2
  • Fantasy for Piano Quintet, Op. 207a

References

;Notes

  • An encyclopedic site devoted to Raff's works, with reviews, sound clips, and discussion forums Raff.org
  • Sound-bites from String Quartet Nos.1 & 7, String Octet, and Piano Trio Nos.3 & 4

;Sheet music