This reduction for violin and piano is the first sheet music publication of the Violin Concerto in One Movement, composed in 1875 by the Swedish violin virtuoso and composer Amanda Maier (1853-1894.) Noteworthy Musical Editions' reduction for violin and piano was edited by American conductor and music scholar Mark Starr from Maier's own manuscripts. The detached solo violin part, also edited by Mr. Starr, is published separately; it, too, is available for purchase on Amazon.com. The orchestral score and a complete set of parts are available only on rental directly from Noteworthy Musical Editions [noteworthymusic@zasu.us] for public concerts and commercial recordings. Both the reduction for piano and violin and the detached part for solo violin contain an epilogue by Mark Starr entitled "Historical Background" that details the life and career of Amanda Maier, copiously illustrated with historical photographs. This violin concerto is a remarkable work in every respect. The musical character is passionately Romantic and dramatic, interspersed with many lyrical moments and an imposing cadenza. There are intimations of Schumann, Grieg and Brahms -- but Maier had a fiery musical personality all her own. The virtuoso violin part is brilliant and idiomatic. The orchestration (edited by Mark Starr) is large-scale [2222, 2200, T ] strings] and highly accomplished. The duration is about 17 minutes. In 1874, Maier began composition of her Violin Concerto in One Movement, which she completed in November of 1875 (she was then 21.) In December of that year, she premiered the work as soloist with the Halle Symphony in Germany. Both the work and her performance of the solo violin part were acclaimed by critics and the public. Immediately, more invitations followed to perform her concerto, including concerts at the Gewandhaus conducted by the noted composer and conductor Carl Reinecke. She performed the work, together with Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, with the Royal Swedish Orchestra in Stockholm. Between 1876-1879, Maier performed her concerto at least 37 times. After Maier's withdrawal from public musical performances and her untimely death from tuberculosis in 1894, her Violin Concerto in One Movement effectively disappeared, remaining unpublished until now, and unperformed by other violinists. A recent recording of Maier's Sonata for Violin and Piano in B minor -- another remarkable work -- has stirred up considerable interest in Maier's music among musicians and music listeners internationally, especially on the internet. The publication of Mark Starr's edition of her Violin Concerto in One Movement by Noteworthy Musical Editions serendipitously occurs at a time when many are inquiring what Maier's other works sound like.
Amanda Maier was a major violin soloist in Scandanavia and Germany in the 1870s, performing concertos with important symphony orchestras -- such as the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and the Royal Swedish Orchestra in Stockholm. Her multi-faceted musical talent emerged at an early age. At 16, she entered the Royal School of Music in Stockholm -- where she studied violin, organ, piano, cello, composition, harmony, music history and aesthetics. In 1872, she receive from the school the academic title of Music Director, the first woman to be so honored. In 1880, she married the pianist and composer Julius Rntgen -- who would become Director of the Conservatory of Music in Amsterdam. Maier gave up her public musical career -- both as a violin soloist and as a composer -- in favor of a domestic life as the wife of an important musician and the mother of two sons. The Rntgens frequently gave musical evenings at their home in Amsterdam at which they and colleagues performed works by themselves and by other composers. Among the guests were many notable traveling musicians -- including Edvard Grieg, Anton Rubinstein, Clara Schumann, Joseph Joachim and Johannes Brahms. Grieg and Brahms admired Maier both as a violinist and as a composer. Grieg called her one of his "favourites" and described her Piano Quartet in E as "beautiful." Brahms sent Maier an early version of his Violin Sonata no. 3, asking her for comments and suggestions. On the score, she made many markings and suggested changes, most of which Brahms incorporated into his final published version of this work. At one of the Rntgen's musical evenings, Maier performed Brahms' Violin Sonata no. 3 with Clara Schumann -- who later wrote to Brahms that Gaier had played his work "with love."
