Interesting exhibition Documents and Articles from the Hans Adler Memorial Music Collection at the The University

of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg South Africa

Dr Albert Schweitzer, Musician, Nobel Laureate, Physician and Philanthropist. Gained prominence in his early life as a music scholar and organist. Spent most of his life as a Medical Missionary in French Equatorial Africa, where he opened a noted Hospital and Clinic. Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.

Maurice Ravel, who needed money, engaged this Paris Fashion Magazine in 1919 to publish Frontispice. As Durand & Fils owned sole publishing rights, they took legal action and stopped distribution of the magazine. The copies already printed had to be destroyed, in terms of the Court Order. Even Vlado Perlemuter, Ravels only surviving pupil, was surprised to hear that such a rare piece of music existed.

The British Museum, acknowledging receipt of the gift of the Magazine and Ravels Frontispice, copy of which they had been unable to obtain.

The Ravel Composition Ex Feuillets dart

Two compositions in honour of Hans Adler: March by Julian Dawson-Lyell on right, Nov, 1978. Two preludes for Piano Duet, By John Ogdon, left and below.

Original Josef Suk Serenada

Signed original Josef Suk Manuscript - Serenada. Signed Josef Suk Original Manuscript - Serenada

Signed copy of the limited edition of 1000 printings of Karlheinz Stockhausens Skizzen und Manususkripte with some annotations and editing in French, perhaps by an orchestra member. Dedicated to HA during the composers invitation to perform on a promotional tour of South Africa in 1971.

Facsimile of Debussys approx. 1882 composition of Jane conveyed to HA on behalf of Paul Hollanders de Ouderaen (who helped in the biography of Anna Magdalena Bach, JSs second wife). Madam Paul Hollanders owned a number of manuscripts and facsimiles of Debussy works, including this original manuscript. Of special interest is the fact that this was donated in 1956, and Jane seems to have been first published in the 1960s

Facsimile of the score of 3 Pieces Breves pour vibraphone et piano dedicated to HA by Detleff Kieffer, possibly from his own publishing of the composition, dated December 1963. Mr Kieffer toured Southern Africa in 1971 with Les Percussions des Strasbourg.

A few Articles on some of the Unusual finds visiting musicians made in the H.A. home library

..A Special section in the library, like Piano music for various number of hands, . Smetana Sonata for 8 hands on 2 pianos and Stravinsky March for 3 hands. Oddities like Variations on a Russian Theme for large Orchestra, written by Artciboucheff, Wihtol, Liadov, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Sokolow & Glazonov ..a violin piano sonata with 2 movements composed by Schumann, 1 by Brahms & 1 by Albert Dietrich in honour of Joachim. A piano duet Maurice Ravel called Frontispice A copy of Debussys Symphony en Si a movement of a symphony in B minor composed when he stayed with Madame von Meck (Tchaikovskys patroness) in Russia. It disappeared and remained untraced. In 1933 the MS was found in a Moscow market and published in a 4 hands edition. Rarities: like his copies of a Schumann quartet for 4 horns and piano. Finally a thematic catalogue of Beethoven compositions, which had eluded him for years.. An American Lexicon of Musical Invective, giving misguided opinions of eminent critics on composers from Beethovens time on. Beethovens symphony #2 was described by Kotzebue as crass monster..incoherent shrill chaotic and earsplitting. Newmans views on one of Bartoks works are scarcely more complimentary. A Lexicon of Jews in Music, published in Berlin (1940) to avoid contaminating Aryan ears with Semitic creations. The whole thing is systematically worked out: born Jews are marked with an asterisk, e.g. Meyerbeer, Mendelsohn, Bloch etc. (Rand Daily Mail, Johannesburg)

Everyone knows Beethoven wrote 5 piano concertos. H A took down a manuscript with Beethovens 6th piano concerto, that hed owned for about 6 years. It is the composers own arrangement for piano and orchestra of his violin concerto. Two other piano concertos may also be regarded as Beethovens. One in E flat major, written when he was a teenager, and some doubt it was an original work. Groves Dictionary of Musicians lists the work as Un Concert pour le clavecin ou fortepiano. Piano part only extant. But H A has the orchestral score too constructed from orchestral notes Beethoven included in the piano part. He also has the piano part and orchestral score of another D major piano concerto published in the late 18 th century as a concerto by Beethoven. Because the original manuscript was not in his handwriting, nor contained his signature, some musicologists doubt its authenticity. After the war, Breitkopf & Haertel published it as a Beethoven concerto. H A also has a rondo for piano originally intended to be the last movement for Concerto #2. A well-known American Orchestra could not find a copy anywhere, so they were able to borrow his copy. (The Star, Johannesburg)

Jean-Pierre Rampal and accompanist Robert Veyron-Lacroix are always searching for flute music whenever they tour, and have found some in obscure little libraries all over the world. In HAs library they discovered a first edition of flute music by Clementi, an 18th Century composer. (The Star, Johannesburg)

A first edition discovered quite by chance by the Kontarsky Brothers in H As Music Library. A long lost Schumann Andante & Variations in its original arrangement for two pianos, two cellos and a French horn. This went out of print a century ago. Because of the difficulty of getting such players together, Schumann rearranged the work for two pianos alone. (S.A. Digest, Rand Daily Mail)

..In 1791, Mozart composed a piece for the Glasschord, played by the blind musician, Marianne Kirschgessner. This sheet music (for glasschord, flute, oboe, viola and cello) are in the HA library. And the Schumann composition, (two pianos two celli and horn) for which the the renowned piano duo, Lubochutz and Nemenoff had been looking out for, for about 20 years, was found in HA's library. The Harpsichord maker Sperrhake was amazed to see the harpsichord collection during a visit to South Africa at this time, and tried to buy it lock, stock and barrel.

Musicologist Eva Badura-Shodas remarks and HAs continues searching for an 18th Century biography of JS Bach. He has the 1802 biography by JR Forkel, published a half century after Bachs death but many think there must be an earlier issue. His Library has an original manuscript of Joseph Suks (Dvoraks son-in-law) String Orchestra Serenade, probably the only one to slip through the Iron Curtain from Czechoslovakia, and keeps turning down good offers

Remarks on Ravels Frontispice, and how all copies were to be destroyed due to copyright infringements. Even Vlado Perlemuter, Ravels Concert pupil, who thought he had close knowledge of his teachers work, was unaware that this piece had been written. (Sunday Times, Johannesburg)

Volumes include Bachs biography (1802) by JR Forkel, Arithmetica Geometria et Musica Boetii (1492) by Boethius, Opus Marianus Capella (1499), Musurgia Universalis by Athanasius (1650), Le Parnasse Francois by du Tillet (1732), Dictionaire du Musique by the famous JJ Rousseau (1732), Traite de LHarmonie by Rameau (1722), Institutione Harmonishe (1573) by Zarlino, Violin Tutorial , perhaps General the first by Leopold Mozart, richly illustrated with many diagrams for holding the bow (1756), 4 volumes of the first English History of Music by Burney (1776), History of Music by Hawkins (1776). (South African Panorama)

Professor Eva Badura-Skoda, the noted Viennese musicologist writes:. It was a

great surprise to find here one of the finest

libraries of musical instruments in the world. De Institutione Musica printed in 1492, shortly after the invention of printing is a scientific treatise on acoustics. Institution Harmoniche by Gioseffo Zarlini (1573) deals with harmony. A musical dictionary from 1650 is one of the few of its type still extant, and

possibly equally rare is probably the first

violin tutor published (Leopold Mozart Violin Schule). Occasionally some of the rare music is played on equally rare keyboard instruments, one of the most remarkable being the elaborately carved harpsichord of the world famous harpsichordist, Wanda Landowska.

Alexander Borodin, great composer and medical innovator, a professor of medicine and chemistry, who founded the worlds first school of medicine for women. A well known

Pharmaceutical Company
sponsored Linking Medicine and Music. A recording of an almost forgotten Borodin Piano Quintet created worldwide interest in this lesser known works. The music has long been out of print. A piano quintet score was discovered in the HA library, and Walter Klien ,

one of a number of artists

interested in the music, and touring South Africa at the time, was presented with a copy. (Rand Daily Mail, Jewish Herald, Johannesburg)

Books on Boethius treatise, the Bach Biography of 1802, Leopold Mozarts Violin tutor, published the year Wolfgang was born, the Ravel Frontispice and the gift to the British Museum. One of the finest privately owned sheet music collections in the world, attracting global attention. Of piano concertos alone there are 300. Visiting artists frequently find among this music, works previously unknown to them, some by famous composers and others by forgotten ones. (Rand Daily Mail, Johannesburg)

Erik Satie's well known 20 Compositions on Sports & Divertissements of 1914. Rare numbered collectible copy #382 of only 900 produced.