Walter Niemann

Compositions for: Piano

3 Sonatinas, Op.24 Schmetterling, Op.82 Eine kleine Wassermusik, Op.32 Japan, Op.89 Der Orchideengarten, Op.76 Alt-China, Op.62 3 Moderne Klavierstücke, Op.68 Ballade, Op.49 Piano Sonata No.1 'Romantische', Op.60 3 Kompositionen, Op.7 Romantische Miniaturen, Op.33 Piano Sonata No.2 'Nordische', Op.75 Deutsche Ländler und Reigen, Op.26 Sommernacht am Flusse, Op.45 Das weiße Haus, Op.80 Piano Sonata No.3 'Elegische', Op.83 Pharaonenland, Op.86 Fantasie-Mazurka, Op.53 Suite nach Hermann Hesse, Op.71 Singende Fontäne, Op.30 Pastellbilder, Op.5 Der Kuckuck, Op.38 Masken, Op.59 Violin Sonata, Op.70 Kleine Suite, Op.102 Introduction und Toccata, Op.106 3 Poetische Studien, Op.57 3 Amoretten, Op.15 Sanssouci, Op.65 Trianon, Op.66 5 Tonbilder, Op.61 Meissner Porzellan, Op.6 Schwarzwald-Idyllen, Op.21 Suite nach Friedrich Hebbel, Op.23 Suite nach Bildern von Karl Spitzweg, Op.84 Erinnerungen, Op.9 Silhouettes, Op.47 4 Balladen, Op.81 Piano Sonata No.4 'Fränkische', Op.88 Suite, Op.87 Heidebilder, Op.12 10 Ausgewählte Klavierstücke 24 Preludes, Op.55 Musikalisches Bilderbuch, Op.19 Das magische Buch, Op.92 Moderne Tanzsuite, Op.115 2 Sonatinas, Op.152 Aus einem alten Patrizierhause, Op.121 Bali, Op.116 Brasilianische Rhapsodien, Op.110 Das Haus zur goldenen Waage, Op.145 Galante Musik, Op.109 Gartenmusik, Op.117 Hamburg, Op.107 Im Kinderland, Op.46 Impressionen, Op.112 Janmaaten, Op.136 Kleine Variationen über eine alt-irische Volksweise, Op.146 Kocheler Ländler, Op.135 Krippenmusik zur Weihnacht, Op.143 Mein Klavierbuch, Op.114 Phantasien im Bremer Ratskeller, Op.113 Porzellan, Op.120 Rokoko, Op.148a Variationen über eine Sarabande von Froberger, Op.168

Wikipedia

Walter Rudolph Niemann (10 October 1876 – 17 June 1953) was a German composer, arranger, and music critic.

Born in Hamburg, Niemann was the son of composer and virtuoso pianist Rudolph Niemann (1838–1898). His uncle, Gustav Adolph Niemann (1843–1881) was a violinist and important musical figure in Helsinki. Walter Niemann studied with Engelbert Humperdinck as a youth in Leipzig. He then entered the Leipzig Conservatory where he was a pupil of Carl Reinecke. He pursued doctoral studies in musicology at the University of Leipzig under Hugo Riemann and Hermann Kretzschmar, earning a doctorate in 1901. His dissertation was on early ligatures and mensural music.

Niemann first worked as a teacher in Hamburg then served as the editor of the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik in Leipzig from 1904 to 1906. From 1907 through 1917 he was a writer and critic for the Neueste Nachrichten in Leipzig. He also taught during those years on the faculty of the Hamburg Conservatory. In 1927, H. Abert in the Illustriertes Musiklexikon styled Niemann "The most important composer for piano today, who understands how to make music both fine and colored, although he often strays into the salon." He died in Leipzig, aged 76.

Niemann's compositions include 189 opus numbers, of which more than 150 are works for solo piano, chiefly of character pieces. He also composed violin sonata, several orchestral works, and some chamber music. Niemann was one of the very few German composers to explore Impressionist music. His works are characterized by color and exoticism, and the titles reflect interests in the past ("From Watteau's time", "Sanssouci" "Meissen porcelain"), and exotic subject matter on poetic titles ("Old China, Op. 62," "The Orchid Garden, Op. 67", "The Exotic Pavillon").

His book, "Masters of the Piano: past and present," published in 1919 is considered a classic. He also wrote popular biographies of composers; his biography of Brahms emphasized that composer's north German roots at the expense of his Viennese retirement and liberalism. As a reviewer he was outspoken in his criticism of "pathological" and "sensuous" composers like Richard Strauss, Mahler, and Arnold Schoenberg, and was threatened in 1910 with a libel suit by composer Max Reger. He praised nationalists and folk-influenced composers like Hans Pfitzner, Sibelius, and Edward MacDowell, and was influential in popularizing Scandinavian composers in Germany. Following the second world war, Niemann's artistic viewpoint and consequently his work fell out of favor.