[Trombone-l] Origin of the so-called Weber Romanza?

[Charles DePaolo]

This from the Brass Wind (a music publisher in the UK) website:

  Romance was probably written between 1811 and 1821, when Weber rested from opera, if indeed the piece is genuinely by Weber. There seems to be no hard evidence from any contemporary source that it is by him, but since it first appeared with Weber's name at the top around the beginning of the 20th century no other composer has been found to replace it. Trombonists of course are woefully lacking in works by the great classical and romantic composers, so they have never thought it worthwhile to abandon this piece, even if its origins are questionable.

  An urtext edition of this piece is impossible, so I have included what I consider to be the best features of several versions that have appeared over the years, plus some additional editorial changes. It is highly likely that the piece was originally written for bassoon, so some low music that is not possible on the tenor trombone, but appears in some editions, has been omitted. I am supported in this by the fact that the Bb/F trombone was not developed until after Weber's death. Similarly, one or two florid ornaments that might work well on the bassoon have been simplified, along with some extra dynamic and tempo markings.

  --Christopher Mowat


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Robert Holland 
  To: Trb. List 
  Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 10:59 AM
  Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Origin of the so-called Weber Romanza?


  Philip Brink wrote:

  > I have recently played the above piece and several of my students are
  > working on it [cause and effect? Maybe...], and this has given rise to
  > questions from students which I cannot answer. Is this by Weber, or by
  > someone posing as him for more sales? Whether it is by Weber or by  
  > someone
  > else, is it originally for trombone? Internal evidence suggests that  
  > it may
  > be for bassoon or cello but I don't know enough about Weber's output  
  > to
  > judge this, and Thailand is not the best place to begin such a search.
  >
  > Anyone who knows more about this piece and its origins, please let  
  > me [and
  > the list] know about the Romanza [Romance, Romanza Appassionata]...
  > inquiring minds want to know!

  I also looked into this, and as far as I know, it's never been  
  resolved. This and the Frescobaldi Toccata for 8 trombones are two  
  pieces in the trombone literature of most questionable origin and are  
  almost certainly not by with composer with whom they are usually  
  associated. Neither is in the style of those composers, and as Howard  
  Weiner points out, the tunes don't appear in the thematic catalogs.

  The misattributions were most likely done intentionally, as the  
  history of deceptive publishing practice extends back into the  
  Baroque. The most famous example in the 19th century was probably  
  Fritz Kreisler publishing under a pseudonym, but he eventually claimed  
  authorship of his tunes. Brahms also published under pseudonym at the  
  beginning of his career if I remember correctly.

  I remember a brief article from some journal that discussed the  
  Frescobaldi, which I provided to John Marcellus but didn't keep for  
  myself. I doubt it's even possible to establish authoritatively who  
  wrote the Romanza and the Toccata.

  Robert Holland, Publisher
  Briar Music Press
  publisher at briarmusic.com
  http://www.briarmusic.com

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