Ferdinand Ries

Vol. 3 of our recording of the string quartets of Ferdinand Ries with the Schuppanzigh Quartet presents selected works underscoring his great importance as a composer! Once again Ries proves to be a master and in retrospect a pathbreaking composer who today is a rewarding rediscovery. Throughout his life the Beethoven pupil Ries occupied himself with the composition of string quartets and string quintets. His String Quintet No. 2 received virtually hymnic praise in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1817: it was »in every respect one of the most outstanding works by this composer; in fact it even ranks with the most outstanding works of all that have come out in this genre for a number of years.« In this work Ries apparently hit on the blend of traditional and innovative elements corresponding to the expectations of discriminating listeners from his times.

Die zweite Folge unserer Quartett-Einspielung mit dem Schuppanzigh-Quartett präsentiert ausgewählte Werke von Ries, die die große Bedeutung des Komponisten unterstreichen! Ries zeigt sich erneut als Meister und im Nachhinein als wegweisender Komponist, dessen Entdeckung sich lohnt. Zeit seines Lebens hat sich der Beethoven-Schüler Ries mit der Kompositionen von Streichquartetten beschäftigt, aber erst 1816 trat er mit seinem drei Werke umfassenden op. 70 erstmals an die Öffentlichkeit, wovon das hier eingespielte Quartett op. 70, 2 das am stärksten an der Tradition orientierte in klassizistisch-heiterem Tonfall ist.

Eine weitere ausgewählte Kammermusik von Ries, die dem Komponisten wieder eine neue Bewertung seitens cpo sichert! Jetzt starten wir eine Edition mit seinen Streichquartetten – eine Gattung, die im Werk von Ries eine einzigartige Stellung einnimmt. Er komponierte 26 Quartette, von denen er allerdings nur elf drucken ließ, die übrigen 15 blieben ungedruckt, wobei die beiden jetzt eingespielten Quartette zu den ungedruckten gehören. Das ältere WoO 10 entstand gegen Ende von Ries' Wiener Lehrzeit bei Beethoven, jedoch sind in der Komposition keine Einflüsse von Beethoven mehr spürbar, das zweite Quartettt WoO 37 entstand 1827, im ersten Jahr seines Frankfurter Aufenthaltes, es ist das drittletzte seiner Quartette.

The two long works are very much worth hearing, and the whole recording is a treat. The pianist is very good, and more power to her in bringing out the works of Ries and other composers, many recognized in their day but since fallen into obscurity. There is much neglected 19th century music that deserves to be heard. Ries is fully comparable to Mendelssohn, Grieg, and others in the "standard" repertoire.

This is a rather exuberant collection of cello sonatas by Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838), a student of Beethoven and, along with Beethoven, an innovator of the cello/piano sonata form. Neither Mozart nor Haydn composed cello sonatas; for their more intimate music they preferred the trio or even the string quartet where, in either case, the cello's role always remains submerged. Ries gave the cello a greater and more melodic role (which he learned from Beethoven), and the genre is all the more enriched because of it. But you won't hear Beethoven in any of Ries' works.

It is our good fortune that Ferdinand Ries bequeathed to posterity six remarkably beautiful Quartets for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Violoncello. These compositions sparkle like gems in the early Romantic chamber literature including the flute. On the present release, Vol. 2 of our complete recording, his Quartets in G major WoO 35, 2 and E minor op. 145, 2 as well as his remarkable String Trio in E minor WoO 70, 2 are heard. On the one hand, conventional elements verging on practically Baroque sequential processes stand out in the trio. On the other hand, here we also find innovative musical surprises and full-fledged, motivically organized development sections, above all in the fourth movement.

If the number of compositions written for a specific instrument is any indication of a predilection, then Ferdinand Ries did indeed have a soft place in his heart for the flute. He penned no fewer than six quartets for flute and string trio, a quintet for flute, violin, two violas, and violoncello, a trio for piano, flute and violoncello, and many works for flute and piano - more works than for any other wind instrument. His first Flute Quartet presents itself as a grand, imposing quartet in the affirmative key of C major and contains many surprising elements. Here too, as already in his symphonies and string quartets, Ries proves to be an entirely independent and original composer - despite his close association with Beethoven.

Some composers have a strong influence on later generations. Sometimes this influence persists a long time after their death. Beethoven is just one example. It took a while before Brahms dared to write a symphony; he wasn't sure he could live up to the standard Beethoven had set. Another is George Frideric Handel. He was a man of the theatre and preferred to compose operas but it was mainly because of his oratorios that he was admired - and feared. Mozart was so impressed by Handel's oratorios that he arranged several of them and Haydn's oratorio 'Die Schöpfung' is unthinkable without the model of Handel's Messiah. The oratorio 'Die Könige in Israel' by Ferdinand Ries shows how long Handel's influence lasted. It shows the traces of Handel's style and yet for all this Ries feared the standard Handel had set. This explains the story behind the oratorio.

Beethoven’s gifted pupil Ferdinand Ries was never entirely forgotten, but it is only in recent years that CPO and Hermann Max have dedicated themselves with great success to the rediscovery of this spirited late classicist and romanticist. Ries’ oratorio Der Sieg des Glaubens (The Triumph of Faith), is heard here for the first time since 1829 where is was written in response to a commission for the Lower Rhine Music Festival in Aachen. The work develops a philosophical discourse dealing with the power of faith and the grace of God.

Up until recently, it has pretty much been the job of the excellent German record company, cpo, to provide the interested collector with recordings of music by Ferdinand Ries (1784–1838). Susan Kagan, a Fanfare contributor herself, has been furthering the cause on the Naxos label, though, and the present disc is the second volume of a projected series of the composer’s piano sonatas and sonatinas.