Popular Classics for Violin and Piano

Bodewalt Lampe, Bodewalt Lampe, Stephanie Chase

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9780486316581
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

This rare collection features violin parts with separate piano reductions of works by Brahms, Dvorak, Handel, Herbert, Saint-Saëns, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Massenet, Elgar, and others. Contents include Dvorak's Humoresque, Anton Rubinstein's Melody in F, Mendelssohn's Spring Song, Schubert's Serenade, Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms, Love's Greeting by Elgar, and Handel's Largo from Xerxes.

DOVER PERFORMANCE EDITION

POPULAR CLASSICS

FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO

Compiled and Edited by

J. BODEWALT LAMPE

New Introduction by

Stephanie Chase

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.
Mineola, New York

INTRODUCTION

The music in this collection edited by J. Bodewalt Lampe was originally published in 1912 as Collection of Popular Classics by Famous Composers for Violin and Piano. It is a compilation of short works for violin and piano, a number of which were originally composed for other instruments, as orchestral works, or derived from operas. It includes music by such well-known composers as Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms alongside works by composers whose prominence was more confined to the era, such as Benjamin Godard, Joachim Raff and Ed Poldini.

In addition to the concert stage, a number of these works are appropriate for weddings or other celebrations, student recitals, and especially for amateur musicians at home. They vary in difficulty from quite easy to moderately challenging for both musicians.

In early 20th-century America, Jens Bodewalt Lampe (1869–1929) was among the most notable composers of ragtime songs. Born in Ribe, Denmark, he emigrated with his parents in 1873 to St. Paul, Minnesota, where his father became director of the Great Western Band—an ensemble then comprised principally of European immigrants. He studied a number of instruments and was especially proficient on the violin, to the extent that he became a member of the first violin section in the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra when he was only 16 years old. Shortly after moving to Buffalo, New York, in the early 1890 s, he established himself as a composer and music publisher as well as the leader of a dance band. The publication—and subsequent recording by Sousas Band in 1902—of his cakewalk “Creole Belles” led to wide success for him as a composer, and its sheet music sold over a million copies. Over the course of his career, Lampe composed, arranged or edited many musical works. Among his arrangements is A Vision of Salome, which was published in 1908. Derived from music composed by Richard Strauss for his 1905 opera Salome, it has been used in at least twenty-seven films and cartoons.

(Jean) Gabriel (Prosper) Marie (1852–1928) was born in France. By his early thirties he was recognized as an important composer of light works for a variety of instruments (including the recently invented saxophone) and ensembles. Marie was especially noted for writing dance music, including his popular La Cinquantaine (“Golden Anniversary”) in 1887, which was composed in the “old style” and has been arranged for various ensembles that include cello, piano, and octet.

The Träumerei (translated here as “Reverie”) and Little Romance (Kleine Romanze) by Robert Schumann (1810–1856) are, respectively, from a suite of thirteen short pieces for piano known as Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), which represent adul...