Josef Löw: Garten-Ständchen (Garden-Serenade), Op.321 @PSearPianist

Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

Phillip Sear plays a 'morceau', probably from the 1870s, by the Jewish German-Bohemian composer, organist, pianist, and teacher Josef Löw (1834–86).
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Löw, who was born and died in Prague, received his musical training at the Musikinstitut Jiránek there, and later built a career there as a sought-after keyboard teacher and organist.

Löw’s solo piano writing forms the core of his output and consists chiefly of character pieces, educational works and salon miniatures, often conceived with a didactic or poetic purpose. Among the named piano compositions that survive in modern catalogues are 'Teacher and Pupil' and a substantial body of lyrical and virtuosic pieces issued in large opus sequences, alongside works for piano and harmonium. His idiom is typically Romantic, with an emphasis on cantabile melody, concise forms and accessible keyboard textures, placing this music closer to the domestic and pedagogical repertory than to the concert sonata tradition.

Beyond the piano, Löw composed for organ, harmonium, choir and orchestra, including a few orchestral tone poems and choral works, but his reputation rested above all on his keyboard music. Sources suggest an exceptionally large catalogue, with around 680 opus numbers attributed to him, despite his relatively short life, and publication in many European and American centres indicates considerable contemporary circulation.

This piece has an alternative French title of 'Sérénade printanière' (Spring serenade), but the season is not reflected in what I presume is the original German title.

Thumbnail image created with Picsart ( tinyl.co/4WqE ).
#czechia #bohemia #serenade #gardenmusic
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Played by Phillip Sear
psear.co.uk (Email: piano4@pseaér.33mail.com
WhatsApp: wa.me/441444483794 ) TikTok: tiktok.com/@pianogems
****See all my latest videos here: tinyurl.com/phillip210 ****

Josef Löw: Garten-Ständchen (Garden-Serenade), Op.321

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$Harvey Löhr: The Golden Goose (Die goldene Gans), Op.23 No.13 #13 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). “The Golden Goose (Die goldene Gans, KHM 64) is a Grimm tale about the youngest of three brothers, a humble fellow nicknamed Simpleton or Dummling, who is mocked by his family but turns out to be the one who acts with kindness and good sense. He shares his food with a little old man in the forest, and as a reward is given a golden goose, whose feathers prove irresistible: everyone who tries to pluck one gets stuck fast to the bird, so a growing procession of people ends up glued together behind it. Simpleton then passes a princess who is laughing so much at the absurd sight that she cannot stop, and the king promises her hand in marriage to whoever can make her laugh again. By the time the procession reaches the palace, more and more people have joined the comic chain, and the king’s daughter is eventually won by Simpleton, who also proves that plain honesty and generosity are worth more than his brothers’ cleverness. The tale ends in the familiar Grimm spirit of reversal, where the despised youngest child gains fortune and status while the others are left behind. (Perplexity AI, 14 August 2026). Thumbnail image created with Picsart ( https://tinyl.co/4WqE ). #britishmusic #brothersgrimm #goldengoose 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 ****$

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