The music world began to take an interest in Hans Rott
in 1989, following the world premiere of his Symphony
No. 1 in E major, completed in 1880 and rediscovered
by Paul W. Banks. The symphony's first movement had
not been a success in a composition contest in 1878,
despite Bruckner's dissenting vote. In the remarkably
mature work of a 21-year-old we hear besides reminiscences
of Wagner, Bruckner and Brahms also well-known themes
from Mahler's uvre which was conceived only years
later.
Mahler who was familiar with the symphony and - as
can be proved - had access to Rott's musical estate
acknowledged the composer who had sunken into oblivion
as "the founder of the new symphony ... as I understand
it". In the end, however, he refrained from performing
Rott's symphony with the Viennese Philharmonic Orchestra.
Rott's Œuvre does go far beyond this symphony, the
more so as he might have begun composing already before
1874. Of about 80 compositions (part of them are only
drafts) about 25 have come down to us in a performable
state. Some works, among them a string sextet and essential
parts of his Second Symphony, had been almost
completely destroyed by Rott. All known compositions
are kept in the Music Collections of the Austrian National
Library in Vienna. In the meantime almost all performable
works have been edited and published (for more detailed
information please refer to the comments on the respective
works).
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Although Rott had been clearly influenced by his teacher
Anton Bruckner on the one hand and by Richard Wagner's
music on the other hand, he succeeds in creating music
that is his very own, part of which is definitely ahead
of its time. Thus especially the first part of the Pastoral
Prelude and the Winter Song reveal impressionistic
tendencies - years ahead of Debussy and Ravel. The double
fugue of the Pastoral Prelude sounds like an
anticipation of Max Reger's music.
Up to now, besides the Symphony No. 1 in E major
which is being performed very often in Europe and the
USA, the Symphony for String Orchestra, the Pastoral
Prelude, the Prelude to "Julius Caesar",
the String Quartet in C minor and other chamber
music, lieder and choral works had their world premiere.
The premiere of the Suite in E major is to take
place in 2005.
So far the Symphony No. 1, the Pastoral Prelude,
the Orchestral Prelude, the Prelude to "Julius
Caesar" and the String Quartet in C minor
are recorded on CD.
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