needing help with Wagner Adagio

[steltz]

I can do simple edits, but I think this one's beyond me.

Wagner didn't write the Wagner Adagio. It was published for many years under Wagner's name, so scans of earlier publications will show the name Wagner, as indeed the recently uploaded scan does. People knew it wasn't by Wagner, but they didn't know who to attribute it to, so it was left under Wagner's name -- I remember a teacher telling me this when I was in college. Eventually, a quintet by Heinrich Baermann was discovered, and the second movement was the movement that had been attributed to Wagner for so many years.

However, even the edition that has been posted seems to be an arrangement of some sort, since it's for 6 and not 5. My university library has the full quintet, so I can look tomorrow to see if the standard string quartet was the original -- I seem to remember there might have been historical notes inside the cover. I will add in the original instrumentation when I have that info.

We have a work page for Heinrich Baermann, and the Adagio that is listed there is this work, though not the same edition. I added comments at the bottom to make the connection to Wagner, but in fact the recent download needs to be moved to the Baermann page, with a reference or link made in the Wagner workpage. People might still look under Wagner.

And I think the Baermann page needs to show the quintet, with these editions as excerpts.

If someone could help with this, it would be most appreciated.

[Notenschreiber]

Excuse me for posting the Adagio under the name of Wagner, I didn´t know the whole story.
One should indeed move the composition to the work page of Baermann. In the quintet already
uploaded, there is missing the clarinet part, so this will be completed now. The other voices
coincides, the bass voice of the "Wagner-Score " is augmented. In my collection I found copies
of all voices as manuscripts taken from the score. Perhaps I should upload the clarinet part.

Notenschreiber

[KGill]

Well, I don't know if this is the 100% best solution, but here's what I did: moved your (Notenschreiber's) file to the Baermann page under 'Arrangements and Transcriptions', since that seems to be the consensus as of now, and redirected the Wagner page to it. However, the work will still appear as 'Adagio etc.' in Wagner's page, since I added the necessary category references to the redirect page. Does that work?

[Notenschreiber]

I don´t know, if one should say "string orchestra" , because in the "Wagner-Edition" we found he name
"Streichquintett". On the other side it is part of the serie "Orchesterwerke" by Breitkopf & Härtel.

The other changes are pretty good, I think.

Notenschreiber

[steltz]

Let me check the (critical?) notes on our edition today when I go into work. I suspect it should be a quintet. I changed Baermann's page for the Adagio from Concerto to Quintet, but can change it to something else if that was the original.

The "concerto" designation was interesting -- most of Baermann's chamber music for clarinet has concerto-like virtuosity in the clarinet part, with string parts that border on mere accompaniment, but then he was writing for himself. I personally don't think that warrants a concerto designation for something that is a quintet, though.

Will get back to you tonight.

[Melodia]

Well it used to be that people thought it was for clarinet and string orchestra, I believe (and it's been recorded that way, certainly).

[steltz]

Okay, here's a summary of the information in the Breitkopf & Hartel edition, pub.1981, edited by John P. Newhill:

Breitkopf & Hartel published all three of Baermann's quintets in 1820-1. After Baermann's death all of his music fell into oblivion, so when a manuscript of the slow movement of op.23 was re-discovered in 1926, it was mis-attributed to Wagner, and published like that for the next 50 years. In this form, it was "for clarinet and strings" [and undoubtedly this is what gave rise to recordings with orchestras, and the "concerto" appellation].

The title page reads "Quintetto pour Clarinette en si, deux Violons, Viola & Violoncelle avec deux Cors en mi ad libitum . . . . " Newhill has removed the horn parts, citing a rudimentary nature.

Despite the fact that it was originally for 7, the title is still "Quintetto", so I propose the page stays as it is currently.

If it's felt that a reference on the composer page needs to be made to the Adagio, then it can redirect to the quintet page? Other than that everything is fine as it.

Thanks for the help.

[KGill]

I don't completely like doing that because it means there are two different entries in the same work page for the same work, but I see your point, so I did it anyway. Obviously it can be changed back if there are objections.