Franz Behr: Morgenthau (Morning Dew) @PSearPianist

Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

Phillip Sear plays an 1898 piece by the German composer Franz Behr (1837–1898). I have seen it described as Op.17, but that conflicts with the listing of his works on IMSLP, and the chronology of his other work
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Franz Behr (1837–1898) was a prolific German composer of salon music, and is best known today for the polka which forms the basis of Rachmaninov's 'Polka de W.R.'. He also wrote under various pseudonyms, including 'Charles Godard'. He had reached Op. 200 by 1870, and went on to write works with opus numbers in the high 600's.

Thumbnail image generated by Gemini (within Google Slides).
#germanmusic #morningmusic #dewy
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Played by Phillip Sear
psear.co.uk (Email: piano4@psear.33mail.com
WhatsApp: wa.me/441444483794 ) TikTok: tiktok.com/@pianogems
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Henry Weyts: À toute volée (At full tilt), Op.651

Franz Krenn: Rondino (über ein Motiv aus Flotows Oper „Die Matrosen“)

$Harvey Löhr: Hansel and Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Op.23 No.14 #14 from Grimm Fairy Tales (Silhouettes), Op.23 (1904) Phillip Sear plays a piece from a set of 25 by the English composer of German descent (Richard) Harvey Löhr (1856–1927). Born in Leicester, Löhr was the youngest son of the German-born organist and conductor George Augustus Löhr (1821–1897), who had settled in England and became a significant figure in the musical life of the East Midlands. The family background provided a distinctly German orientation to Harvey Löhrs early musical formation. He received his advanced training at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under William Henry Holmes, Ebenezer Prout, and Sir Arthur Sullivan. He twice won the prestigious Charles Lucas Medal, in 1877 and 1878, attesting to early distinction as a student composer. He subsequently held the post of organist at St Jamess Church, Marylebone, a position that sustained his connection to Londons musical life throughout his professional career. Löhr died in Hastings, and his manuscripts are preserved at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Löhrs piano music occupies a modest but characteristic corner of the late-Victorian keyboard repertoire, oriented towards the lyric miniature and the genre piece rather than the large-scale sonata. A Shakespeare Cycle, Op.19 (1898), a set of twelve pieces published by Schott & Co., represents his most ambitious contribution to the genre, drawing on literary imagery in a manner consistent with the characteristic piece tradition of the period. Other collections include Garden Idylls, Op.25 (1910), an album of twelve lyric pieces, and When We Were Children, Op.26 (1913), six character pieces also issued by Schott, suggesting a secondary market in pedagogical and domestic salon repertoire. Lighter pieces such as Ariel (1889) and Scenes from Fairyland, Op.21 (1901) reinforce an imaginative, illustrative approach to keyboard writing. The piano music forms only a fraction of Löhrs considerable catalogue, which includes five symphonies, two piano concertos, two string quartets, a piano quintet, a piano quartet (Op.15), and a piano trio (Op.22), alongside the operas A Border Raid (1883) and Kenilworth (1906). His choral output embraces the oratorio The Queen of Sheba, Op.20 (1900) and several anthems and part-songs, complemented by a large body of solo song. Though Löhr attracted little sustained critical attention in the twentieth century, his enduring legacy is institutional: a scholarship bearing his name was established at the Royal Academy of Music for British-born composers between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four, a fund that has supported subsequent generations of student composers, among them Craig Armstrong.” (Perplexity AI, 21 June 2026). Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel, KHM 15) is one of the best-known tales collected by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812. During a time of famine, a poor woodcutter and his wife abandon their children in the forest, but clever Hansel attempts to mark their path home with white pebbles and later with breadcrumbs, which birds eat. Lost and starving, the children discover a tempting house made of bread, cake, and sugar, only to find that it belongs to a cannibalistic witch who imprisons Hansel and intends to fatten him before eating him. Gretel outwits the witch by pretending not to understand how to climb into the oven, then pushes her inside and shuts the door, killing her; the children discover the witch’s treasure and escape. After crossing a stretch of water with the help of a white duck, they eventually find their way home, where the treasure ends their poverty. The tale combines the grim realities of hunger, abandonment, and predatory danger with a triumphant celebration of the children’s courage, resourcefulness, and mutual loyalty. (Perplexity AI, 15 August 2026). This piece provides a pleasant alternative to the much better-known music of Humperdincks opera of the same name. Thumbnail image created with Picsart ( https://tinyl.co/4WqE ). #britishmusic #brothersgrimm #hanselandgretel #hänselundgretel Played by Phillip Sear http://www.psear.co.uk (Email: piano4@psear.33mail.com WhatsApp: http://wa.me/441444483794 ) TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pianogems ****See all my latest videos here: https://tinyurl.com/phillip210 ****$

Alexandre Goria (arr. Henri Cramer): Volkswehr—Marsch (Peoples militia march)

Henry Weyts: Confetti (A Carnival Scene)

Percy Elliott: Dawn of Love (Valse romantique)

George Templeton Strong: I wrote some lines ..., Op.31 No.5

James Lyon: 3 Valses, Op.9: 2—Tempo giusto

$Harvey Löhr: Snow-white (Schneewittchen), Op.23 No.21 #21 from Grimm Fairy Tales (Silhouettes), Op.23 (1904) Phillip Sear plays a piece from a set of 25 by the English composer of German descent (Richard) Harvey Löhr (1856–1927). Born in Leicester, Löhr was the youngest son of the German-born organist and conductor George Augustus Löhr (1821–1897), who had settled in England and became a significant figure in the musical life of the East Midlands. The family background provided a distinctly German orientation to Harvey Löhrs early musical formation. He received his advanced training at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under William Henry Holmes, Ebenezer Prout, and Sir Arthur Sullivan. He twice won the prestigious Charles Lucas Medal, in 1877 and 1878, attesting to early distinction as a student composer. He subsequently held the post of organist at St Jamess Church, Marylebone, a position that sustained his connection to Londons musical life throughout his professional career. Löhr died in Hastings, and his manuscripts are preserved at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Löhrs piano music occupies a modest but characteristic corner of the late-Victorian keyboard repertoire, oriented towards the lyric miniature and the genre piece rather than the large-scale sonata. A Shakespeare Cycle, Op.19 (1898), a set of twelve pieces published by Schott & Co., represents his most ambitious contribution to the genre, drawing on literary imagery in a manner consistent with the characteristic piece tradition of the period. Other collections include Garden Idylls, Op.25 (1910), an album of twelve lyric pieces, and When We Were Children, Op.26 (1913), six character pieces also issued by Schott, suggesting a secondary market in pedagogical and domestic salon repertoire. Lighter pieces such as Ariel (1889) and Scenes from Fairyland, Op.21 (1901) reinforce an imaginative, illustrative approach to keyboard writing. The piano music forms only a fraction of Löhrs considerable catalogue, which includes five symphonies, two piano concertos, two string quartets, a piano quintet, a piano quartet (Op.15), and a piano trio (Op.22), alongside the operas A Border Raid (1883) and Kenilworth (1906). His choral output embraces the oratorio The Queen of Sheba, Op.20 (1900) and several anthems and part-songs, complemented by a large body of solo song. Though Löhr attracted little sustained critical attention in the twentieth century, his enduring legacy is institutional: a scholarship bearing his name was established at the Royal Academy of Music for British-born composers between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four, a fund that has supported subsequent generations of student composers, among them Craig Armstrong.” (Perplexity AI, 21 June 2026). Snow White (Schneewittchen, KHM 53) is one of the most famous tales in the Brothers Grimm collection, first published in 1812 and revised through to the final 1857 edition. A queen, sewing at a window with an ebony frame during a winter snowfall, pricks her finger and wishes for a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony; soon afterwards she gives birth to a daughter named Snow White and dies. The king remarries a beautiful but proud woman who possesses a magic mirror; when the mirror declares that the seven-year-old Snow White is now “a thousand times fairer” than the queen, the jealous stepmother orders a huntsman to kill the child and bring back her lungs and liver as proof. The huntsman spares Snow White, who flees into the forest and finds refuge with seven dwarfs, but the queen, learning from the mirror that her stepdaughter still lives, disguises herself three times and tries to kill Snow White with a poisoned bodice, a poisoned comb, and finally a poisoned apple. The apple casts Snow White into a deathlike sleep; she is placed in a glass coffin until a prince, struck by her beauty, takes her away, and when the coffin is jolted the apple piece dislodges from her throat and she revives. The tale ends with Snow White’s marriage to the prince and the wicked queen’s punishment, often interpreted as a story of innocence threatened by envy but ultimately preserved through kindness and loyalty. (Perplexity AI, 26 August 2026). Thumbnail image created with Reve AI. #britishmusic #brothersgrimm #snowwhiteandthesevendwarfs Played by Phillip Sear http://www.psear.co.uk (Email: piano4@psear.33mail.com WhatsApp: http://wa.me/441444483794 ) TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pianogems ****See all my latest videos here: https://tinyurl.com/phillip210 ****$