Description
Johannes Snoer – Drei kleine Stücke, op. 7
Snoer made a specialty of composing collections of short character pieces (in ABA’ form) or of even shorter, improvisation-like demonstrations of specific musical ideas and moods. Each is chiseled in his typical stylized manner with blocks of chords, rising tunes and daring modulations. In appearance, these miniatures refer to the old German chordal tradition going back to the three B’s (Bach, Beethoven and Brahms). But they also display an air of modernity if we allow ourselves to think of Snoer’s ingenious chord sequences as sound clusters.
Besides these “three short pieces” op. 7 republished here, newly edited and explicated within the original facsimile, Drei leichte Stücke op. 10, Kleine Vortrags-Stuecke op. 24 and Vier Albumblätter (Four Album Leaves) op. 38, belong to the same musical genre.
Little masterpieces in quirky expression, these simple but complex pieces abound with flights of fancy and subliminal meaning. In effect, Snoer is trying to bust the door down, to overcome the perceived limitations of the pedal harp, especially in regards to chromaticism, or to hold back the sun-setting of the late-romantic style by moving into uncharted territory. As an orchestral harpist, he was privy to the novel experiments of composers such as Mahler and Richard Strauss. Contrary to them, though, he was dealing in miniatures, with less room to develop their unique drama than in symphonic works. Playing with the tightly woven fabric of the “infinitely small”, Snoer had to make quick, obvious musical moves.
Individually, each one of these three pieces takes us into a different, highly defined musical world. Together they provide an indelible experience of German late-romantic expression at its zenith. This kind of harp music was the first to disappear, because it had not yet gained a foothold in the standard repertoire. Due to events beyond their control, its practitioners died without having an opportunity to gain a following.
