Carl Hemann, neglected Yorkshire composer – free download!

Carl Hemann (J T Biltcliffe) 1857-1930

I wear this distinguished connection lightly, but I am in fact the great-grand-niece of Carl Hemann – ‘Barnsley’s leading composer of music’ according to his obituary in the Barnsley Chronicle of January 1930*.   A church organist all his life, his real name was John Thomas Biltcliffe but he wrote under the name of Carl Hemann as ‘English people and other nationalities took more notice of a piece when it was under a German composer’s name’.

Perhaps his best known work is Carl Hemann’s First Six Months at the Pianoforte which sold all over the world, and is still (amazingly) in print, and still a fine introduction to the repertoire of the Victorian family soiree.  Long evenings trawling ebay and the Amazon Used listings have provided me with further works from his considerable oeuvre of over 100 solos and studies.

Below is a typical example of his less demanding compositions for the salon. Note the economy of musical material, and use of slow harmonic progression and repetitive motifs, arguably anticipating Philip Glass by almost a century.

Extract from Spring, Rondo in C major, by Carl Hemann

Carl Hemann’s most popular piece was entitled British Cavalry – Grand-Galop de Concert.  To this tune (according to the Barnsley Chronicle) generations of Barnsley children marched into school every day.  Modern children sadly do not have this privilege.  So to stimulate a revival of interest in my great-grand-uncle’s neglected music, I offer a charming morceau de concert, Laughing Waters, recorded by world-renowned pianist John Lenehan, as a FREE DOWNLOAD for readers of this blog.

*For my overseas readers I should explain that Barnsley is a small-ish town in Yorkshire, England, built on now-defunct heavy industries such as coal mining  – but still ‘a lively shopping and social hub’ according to the Welcome to Yorkshire website.   Other celebrities from Barnsley include chat show host Michael Parkinson, and Arthur Scargill, NUM leader, who crossed swords with Margaret Thatcher in the miners’ strike of 1984.

John Lenehan

John Lenehan is of course one of Britain’s finest pianists and it was awfully good of him to bend his talents to such inconsequential stuff.  He can normally be found accompanying the likes of Kennedy, Tasmin Little, and John Harle, or playing with leading orchestras in concert halls around the world.   His solo recordings include Nyman, Satie, John Ireland, and his recitals often include film projection and jazz repertoire.  With the London Soloists Ensemble he is about to commence a residency at St John’s Smith Square, London.  For more about John visit his website.   He retains copyright in the recording, by the way.
 

Thank you St Edward’s Church, Barnsley for sending me the obituary of John Biltcliffe and the splendid portrait.