Jakob Rosenhain Explained

Jakob Rosenhain (Jacob, Jacques) (2 December 1813 – 21 March 1894) was a German Jewish pianist and composer.

Rosenhain was born in Mannheim;^[1] he made his debut at the age of 11.^[2] During their 1837 season, he was a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (on 17 April), which in 1854 (also in April) programmed one of his symphonies.^[3]

He was a friend of Felix Mendelssohn at least from 1839. He worked with Johann Baptist Cramer on a published school of piano-playing. From 1849 he made his home in Paris.^[4]

Rosenhain died in Baden-Baden.^[2]

Selected compositions

Four operas:

• Der Besuch in Irrenhause (1834)
• Liswenna (1835)
• Le Démon de la Nuit (1851); Liswenna rewritten
• Volage et Jaloux (1863)

Orchestra

• Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 42^[5]
• Symphony No. 2 in F minor, Op. 43 (performed, possibly premiered, 1846 by Mendelssohn in Leipzig)^{[6] [7]}
• Symphony No. 3 "Im Frühling", Op. 61^[5]

Concertante

• Piano Concerto in D minor, Op. 73^{[8] [9]}

Chamber works

• Piano Quartet in E, Op. 1^[10]
• Sonata in E for piano with violoncello or violin, Op. 38^[11]
• Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 44?; à M. Fétis^[12]
• Sonate Symphonique in F minor (Piano Sonata No.2?), Op. 70 (pub. Breitkopf, 1887)
• Piano Sonata (No.3?) in D, Op. 74 (published by Breitkopf, 1886)
• 3 String Quartets, Opp. 55, 57, 65 (pub. 1864)^[13]
• Sonata in D minor for cello (or violin, or viola) and piano, Op. 98.^[14] (manuscript for viola, noted in RISM Online and dates from 1893)
• Four Piano Trios^[15]

Songs

• at least two dozen^[16]

Bibliography

• Web site: Singer. Isidore. Isidore Singer. Sohn, Joseph . Article on Rosenhain from The Jewish Encyclopedia. 2009-01-19.
• Brown, James Duff (1886). . A. Gardner. page 522.
• Hubbard, W. L. (William Lines) (1910/2005 reprint) . Kessinger Publishing. .
• May, Florence (1905). . E. Arnold. Pages 28–9.
• Pratt, Waldo Selden; Mendel, Arthur (1907). . G. Schirmer. Page 538.
• Web site: Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Rosenhain. The Lied, Art Song, and Choral Texts Archive. 2009-01-19.
• Web site: Scan of Rosenhain F minor (1st) Piano Sonata at Bavarian Digital Library. Heugel (Paris). 1857. 2014-03-02.

Notes and References

1. Meyers Konversationslexikon (Leipzig, 1889), vol. 13, p. 190.
2. Obituary, 21 April 1894, p. 378.
3. [:wikisource:Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol. 2.djvu/712|List of works performed by the Philharmonic Society]
4. See Pratt, Mendel (1907)
5. See Brown (1886).
6. , vol. 40, 1899 (1 August 1899 issue), pp. 530-1. Discusses letters between Rosenhain and Mendelssohn from August 1839.
7. Book: Library of Congress Permalink for Second Symphony, Sommermeyer Edition. Emil Sommermeyer [n.d.;] . 2009-01-17.
8. Web site: Library of Congress Permalink for Piano Concerto, Breitkopf & Härtel Edition. 2009-01-17.
9. Web site: 1890-2 Crystal Palace Sunday Concerts, Including First English Performance of Rosenhain Piano Concerto. 2009-01-28.
10. Web site: Piano Quartets Page. Dutch. 2009-01-19.
11. at IMSLP.
12. Scanned in at Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Site, in References. Op. 41 is mentioned in HMB as another work entirely from 1845, and Op. 44 in F minor seems to be Rosenhain's first sonata - so this may be a typo or misreading on someone's part (it seemed to be Op. 41, but now am assuming this should be Op. 44).
13. Publication of all 3 quartets by Richault mentioned, together with dedicatees (Rossini, Vieuxtemps, Jean Becker), in the Bibliographie de la France, 2e série, 53e année, nº 48, 26 Novembre 1864, p. 562, registration 2854.
14. HMB gives a cello sonata here and RISM Online gives a manuscript D minor viola sonata from 1893, but these may be the same work
15. Hubbard, p. 235.
16. See the Ezust Lied and Art Song Texts Page, in References.