Mathilde Brehm with her husband Ernst Heim and her

Daughter Mathilde Helene Heim, photo by Roessinger-Jeanneret (1885).

 

There's very little information about Heim-Brem.  I got the above biography and photo from a German language website that I ran through a free translator.  The only other place I found that had any biographical information also seems to have gotten it from the linked German site.

 

Heim-Brem is the first female composer I've recorded for this project.  Most compositions I've found that were written by women were written for the piano, an instrument I'm not very comfortable on.  But I decided, comfort or no, that I should try.

 

Date: 1885

 

Original Instrumentation: Violin, piano​

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Why this one:

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​I'd been psyching myself up to add piano to the Lazarus Music Project and of the scores I added to my potential "to do" list, this one both wasn't very long and didn't look too hard so I figured it would be a good way to ease into the piano.   After recording it an hearing it for the first time, I think it's also very beautiful, but I didn't know that when I picked it.​

 

Description:  

 

Key:  C

Time: 6/8  BPM= Eighth=150

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This piece is structured AABAC, with the 8 bar A section serving as the main theme.  The B section is a bit longer at 24 bars and feels like it's pulling to maybe to F major.  (There's a lot of Bbs in that section.  The melody is in the violin and it's both beautiful and poignant.  It makes me picture someone in an idyllic setting thinking about fond memories of times now gone.  

 

The tempo is marked as "Andante con espressione ma semplice" which means "walking pace, expressively but simple."

 

The full title is 'Kleines Vortragsstück in erster Lager" which means "Small recital piece in first position"

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Performance:​

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I'm an extremely un-confidant piano player so I was nervous for this one, especially given that I'd never recorded classical piano before.  I was really well rehearsed, though, and as I mentioned above I picked this piece because it didn't look too difficult.  I didn't have any trouble with the piano at all.

 

I recorded this on Mike's rather nice digital piano, which is touch sensitive and has weighted keys so it plays like a "real" piano.  Mike does have a baby grand in the live room and he mentioned we could try throwing a mic on it, but we tried the faster (and probably easier) option first.  I was happy with how it played and the sound we got from it.  i.e. it sounds like an acoustic piano a human is playing.

 

I basically sight read the violin part as it looked pretty easy and during my prep work I was way more focused on the piano.  I didn't have any trouble with the mandolin and only really had one punch in for a measure where I lost my concentration and misread the score.

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Album Art:

 

Schwäbisch Hall in Germany, about 140 Miles from Wasserburg am Bodensee.  (Though Wasserburg is in Bavaria and Schwäbisch is in the neighboring state go Baden-Wurttemberg)   Photo by Amanda Lyn.