Ignaz Pleyel and Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson: the Mystery of the “Twelve German Songs” (original) (raw)
The extensive musical legacy of Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) includes a collection of songs entitled ‘Winter-Unterhaltung am Forte-Piano in Zwőlf Deutschen Liedern’, numbered ‘47stes Werk’ and published in Hamburg by Gűnther and Bőhme. It has been recorded in Rita Benton’s thematic catalogue of Pleyel’s compositions and numbered ‘(7070) 742-753’. In the library of the Russian Institute of Art History in St Petersburg, another publication by Gűnther & Bőhme has been preserved. Its title page reads: ‘Zwoelff deutsche Lieder von den besten Dichtern in Musik gesetzt fűr’s [sic!] Forte-Piano von Tepper von Ferguson’. The content of the anthology, the order of the songs and their melodies are identical to Pleyel’s ‘Winter-Unterhaltung’. The paper analyses the reasons for the attribution of the musical opus to Tepper de Ferguson, including a visual comparison of Pleyel’s edition at Einsiedeln Abbey (Switzerland) with Tepper’s one at the Russian Institute of Art History in St Petersburg. They have different title pages, but all typographic features and typesetter’s errors in the music sheets are identical. There is no doubt that both were printed from the same plate. The conclusion is that the work of a young and little-known composer was issued by Gűnther and Bőhme – intentionally or by mistake – under the name of a much more famous and popular author which was a common case in publishing practice of the era. As early as 1865, German musicologist Carl-Ernst Schneider was very critical in his analysis of Pleyel’s ‘Winter-Unterhaltung…’. However, in 1960, the Russian musicologist A.M.Stupel, analysing Tepper’s ‘Zwőlf Deutsche Lieder...’ without any association with Ignaz Pleyel, remarked that ‘in these songs /.../ a typical feature of Tepper as composer is shown: stylistic sensitivity and flexibility. His songs on German texts are a typical example of German Lieder from the end of the XVIII century, the intonations of which we know well from the early songs by Beethoven’. Today, the name of Pleyel attached to the ‘Winter-Unterhaltung...’ magically influences Western musicians and listeners alike: it seems that the shortcomings of the composition are not noticed anymore: it is performed without reservations and pretty successfully. Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson was less lucky – his work lost its authorship and was forgotten.
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