Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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The Schott Student Edition series continues to expand, offering outstanding new collections of pedagogy classics and rediscovered gems. I have reviewed several previous titles here, and was delighted to recently receive a superb addition to the set: Dora Pejačević: Early Piano Pieces.
By happy synchronicity, I was teaching at The Thinking Pianist course just a few days after the Schott Music volume landed in my postbox, and during the week my faculty colleague and friend Ivana Gavric gave an illuminating lecture recital introducing Dora Pejačević.
Having commercially recorded and performed the music of her famous compatriot, Ivana has a natural affinity with Pejačević’s music, promoting it with sensitivity, balanced enthusiasm, and retelling the story of this formidable Croatian cultural icon. Having packed Dora Pejačević’s Early Piano Pieces for the trip, we were able to discuss this new volume, and I am indebted to Ivana for her insights.
Meanwhile, introducing the Schott Music book, its editor Monika Twelsiek (who has previously brought us many outstanding publications in the Schott catalogue) tells us,
“Dora Pejačević (1885-1923) is a star in Croatia: streets, schools and cafés are named after her, there is a perfume and a sparkling wine bearing her name, and a statue named ‘Dora’ is awarded at the Croatian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Outside Croatia, however, the composer only became known late. After having been forgotten for many years, her works did not reach the public until the 1980s…
Who is this woman?“
So… “Who is this woman”?
The quest for an answer to this question ultimately brings us to a startling personal story, accompanied by a varied and extraordinary musical output. Twelsiek’s Schott Music publication offers an accessible and appealing place to start the journey.
As is typical in the superb Schott Student Edition series, there is a substantial and informative Preface outlining the composer and her music, here written by Twelsiek, from which much of the information which follows has been gleaned.
The Countess Maria Theodora Paulina “Dora” Pejačević was the daughter of a Croatian Count and the Hungarian Baroness Elisabeta-Lilla Bay de Vaya, who was herself a professional singer and pianist. Dora spent a sheltered childhood at the family’s castle in the Slavonian town of Našice, surrounded by beautiful landscaped parkland, and educated by the best private tutors the money could buy.
Showing an aptitude and inclination for music from an early age, Dora’s earliest surviving composition is the Berceuse Op.2, which appears in the volume being reviewed, and was composed when she was 12 years old. Although largely self-taught as a composer, from 1909 she took piano and violin lessons with leading teachers in Dresden and Munich.
The Pejačević family travelled widely, and Dora spent much time in European capitals including Vienna, Budapest, and Prague, as well as journeying further afield, including to Egypt. She was popular, and moved within intellectual circles associated with figures such as Karl Kraus, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Rainer Maria Rilke, whose poetry she later set to music.
The First World War (1914-1918) marked a stark turning point in Pejačević’s life. As a volunteer nurse caring for wounded soldiers, Dora experienced a different reality of life for the first time. Twelsiek tells us that Pejačević’s “familiar surroundings appeared in a new light and disgusted her”, and quotes from the composer:
“The majority of men and young people, particularly the ‘high’ aristocrats, were aware and still are today of no other and higher purpose in life than poker and bridge. They were not the least indignant at the most terrible and shameful deeds of war. They are devoid of all higher feelings, far from all big ideas, any kind of humanity, or any social progress.”
Having been seen as living a “gypsy life” by her friends, she now sought security and stability in turbulent times; aged 36 she married the Austrian officer Ottomar von Lumbe, who was seven years her junior, and moved to Munich with him. But in 1923, a few weeks after giving birth to their son Theodor, she died of sepsis, aged just 37.
In a letter to Ottomar (quoted both by Twelsiek, and by Ivana in her talk), Pejačević had a premonition of dying young and wrote these deeply moving words, which perhaps sum up her enlightened outlook:
“May God grant that our child (if I were to leave it to you) brings you joy – that they become a truly open, great human being; pave their paths, but never prevent them from experiencing the suffering that enriches the soul, for only then will they become a person. Let them develop like a plant, and if they possess great talent, provide them with everything that can serve their development; above all, give them freedom, wherever it may be required. For dependence on parents and relatives crushes many talents – I know this from my own experience – and therefore treat them equally, whether it be a girl or a boy.”
Early Piano Pieces
Dora Pejačević left behind 58 works, of which 25 are for solo piano, comprising 2 Sonatas and 23 miniatures. Her earliest works, presented in this volume, reveal the influence of Schumann, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Chopin, and are written in the high Romantic style of her time.
This is not to suggest that any of these pieces lack individuality: Pejačević gives us bold modulations, impressionistic colour, and the seemingly small pieces in this collection are consistently enlivened by her supreme melodic gift, colourful sense of harmony, and inventive personality.
The collection traces almost a decade of Pejačević’s musical development, beginning with her earliest surviving work and concluding with some of her finest youthful piano miniatures:
- Berceuse op. 2
- Barcarolle op. 4
- Chanson sans paroles op. 5
- Papillon op. 6
- Menuet op. 7
- Impromptu op. 9a
- Chanson sans paroles op. 10
- Berceuse op. 20
- Valse caprice op. 28/2
- Valse caprice op. 28/4
- Valse caprice op. 28/8
- Valse caprice op. 28/3
Beginning with the Berceuse written by the 12-year old Dora, these pieces chronicle the development of a formidable musician, and although these are youthful works, it is striking that the emotional depth and surprising originality associated with Pejačević’s later music is already beginning to emerge.
The Berceuse itself is truly remarkable, showing an intuitive understanding of the piano’s resonance and expressive power. It is built around a LH figuration that requires a fairly large hand span, with supple flexibility. The memorable melody line requires a cantabile touch and good balance between the hands, while the perfectly executed modulations are the work of a seemingly mature composer.
The next six pieces all date from Pejačević’s teenage years, and offer a fascinating glimpse of her imaginative, emotional, and creative development. While the Barcarolle (Gondola Song) and Chanson sans paroles (Song without words) might be expected to conjure Mendelssohn’s prototypes, their yearning harmonies and simplicity of texture and expression rather recall Grieg’s easier Lyric Pieces.
These simple charms give way to greater sophistication by the time of the Berceuse Op.20, which dates from 1906, Pejačević now a 21-year-old woman. Twelsiek muses that the piece can be considered the “big sister” of the Op.2 piece. With its undulating chromaticism, evocative colour, and more complex pianistic texture, it is certainly a mature work, but no less endearing.
The four Valse caprices from Op.28, written in her early 20s, are delightful works dating from Pejačević’s student years and dedicated to her professor Percy Sherwood. The collection’s most technically advanced pieces, they would make wonderful concert pieces or ‘own choice’ exam repertoire for early advanced pianists.
The publication
As with all the publications in the Schott Student Edition library, Dora Pejačević: Early Piano Pieces has a simple but appealing card cover, and is printed on quality cream paper within.
The superbly written Preface goes into more detail about the composer’s life and works, and appears in both English and German. There is a multilingual contents page, leading to the scores.
The notation is well spaced and beautifully presented. I am finding Schott Music’s music engraving among the best available these days, combining excellent clarity, editorial accuracy, and a generous font size. The fingering recommendations are (unlike some publications I review) consistent throughout, equally present and helpful across the whole publication.
The book ends with Twelsiek’s extensive and useful Teaching Notes, three pages in English, repeated in German. These give plenty of detail about each piece’s origin, along with thoughtful tips for practice, performance, and interpretation. The attention to detail, and readability here are particularly commendable.
The only omission is recorded audio, although the increasing availability of excellent commercial recordings largely compensates, notably including a complete recording of Pejačević’s piano solo music by Nataša Veljković which can be accessed on good streaming services. Look no further for model performances for all the music in this superb volume.
Closing reflections
Dora Pejačević is one of the many women composers whose music has found its way back into the spotlight in recent years, and rightly so. My own journey of discovering Pejačević’s music, which began with Ivana Gavrić’s exquisite performances and illuminating lecture recital, and continued through this Schott Student Edition, has been truly rewarding.
For those wanting to play Pejačević’s mature works, Ivana recommends the Life of Flowers Op.19 as a high point in the composer’s piano output, while the two Sonatas are significant concert works for those wanting a more significant challenge.
Gavrić recommends the editions provided by the Croatian Music Information Centre, and their Piano Miniatures Volume 3 includes the Life of Flowers, while Piano Miniatures Volume 1 includes Erinnerung.
These editions, the autographs and early prints held on the Croatian Music Information Centre‘s website also form the basis for Monika Twelsiek’s Schott Student Edition collection presently reviewed.
Twelsiek and her publishers must be commended for bringing these earlier pieces to our attention, and their addition as a collection in the Schott Student Edition library significantly benefits from the additional information, teaching tips, fingerings and superb presentation they receive here.
This volume is an outstanding publication, and a great way to begin your own journey of discovering the wonderful piano music of Dora Pejačević.
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