Continental Britons: Franz-Theodor Reizenstein (1911-1968)

Enthusiasts of Gerard Hoffnung will have come across the music of Franz-Theodor Reizenstein. The unbelievably hilarious Concerto popolare (1956), where orchestra and soloist have not previously agreed on which particular ‘pot-boiler’ of a concerto is to be played. And then there is a gentle teasing of Britten with Let’s Fake an Opera which showcases the ‘Toreador’s Song’ from Carmen, the opening of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, bits of Lohengrin and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

Franz-Theodor Reizenstein was born in Nuremberg on 7th June 1911. During the 1930s he studied piano with Leonid Kreutzer and composition with Paul Hindemith.  In 1934 Reizenstein emigrated to Great Britain. He continued his studies at the Royal College of Music with Ralph Vaughan Williams and had private tuition with the pianist Solomon. At this time, he acted as pianist for the violinist Carl Flesch in London.  In 1939 he was interned on the Isle of Man. After his release he worked as a clerk on the railways for the duration of the war.

Reizenstein was active as a pianist both in the recital room and in the BBC studios. For the final ten years of his life he was professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music (1958-68) and latterly at the Royal Manchester College of Music (now the Royal Northern College of Music). Franz-Theodor Reizenstein died in London on 15th October 1968.

The composer’s catalogue of music is not large but includes a considerable corpus of chamber music and piano works.  Larger scale compositions feature a radio opera Anna Kraus, op.30 (1952), the oratorio Genesis, op. 35, as well as two concertos for piano and two for violin and one for cello. His most popular work is the Variations on ‘The Lambeth Walk’ (c.1958), which displays the composer’s talent for pastiche as well as his ‘Anglified’ sense of humour.  Reizenstein was not a serial composer, neither did he choose to follow the path of the leading avant-gardists of his age. He was a modernist in so far as he used several compositional devices typical of the period, but never eschewed a traditional feel for form and tonality.

Conventionally, Reizenstein’s creative output has been analysed into three periods. Firstly, from the time of his exile until the end of the Second World War his music exhibits an energetic vitality, makes use of contrapuntal devices and sometimes speaks with an eloquent lyricism. The second period is the mature composer. Here his music is more eloquent and expressive: Bartok and Hindemith are his exemplars. This ‘middle’ period produced his two masterpieces – the Second Piano Concerto, op.37 (1959), and the Piano Quintet, op.23 (1948). The final period, overlapping the second, witnesses the composer indulging in a more romantic style. This was when Reizenstein developed an interest in writing film music as well has completing his works for Hoffnung.

If you can only hear one work by Franz-Theodor Reizenstein…

The Piano Sonata No.1 in B major, op.19, was composed in 1944 and is dedicated to William Walton. At the time of its première, critics regarded the work as displaying ‘unassimilated styles.’ It was possible to discern the influence of Paul Hindemith, Alan Rawsthorne and Walton himself.  Looking back on this work some 75 years after its composition, the listener finds Reizenstein has created a masterpiece: there is certainly no cribbing or lack of originality.  He was not attempting to be ‘modernistic’ in his writing: there is nothing to deter even the most cautious listener, although Reizenstein does make use of some acerbic harmonies and adventurous rhythms. The musical style is neo-romantic. The range of emotion in this 26-minute sonata is considerable, and it is probably this diversity that led to the contemporary criticism.

The listener will hear a tempestuous opening movement that explores a wide range of technical devices. The second movement is more lyrical and is pensive in mood. The finale is a rondo that displays a surprisingly memorable theme and some fine fugato passages, before a dynamic coda brings this powerful sonata to a conclusion.

A splendid performance of this Piano Sonata is available on Lyrita (SRCD 2342) played by Martin Jones.  This has been uploaded to YouTube:  1^st movement; 2^nd movement; 3^rd movement.
With thanks to the English Music Festival, where much of this note was first published in their house journal Spirited (Winter 2016/2017)