Raphael Dressler

c. 1784 – 1835

Duos for Flute and Guitar

Raphael Dressler was born in Graz around 1784. In 1809 he joined the orchestra of Vienna's Kärntnertortheater as first flute. In 1817 he moved to the Königliche Hofkapelle in Hanover in the same position. From 1820 until 1834 he worked in England, before dying in Mainz on 12 February 1835. During his lifetime Dressler was a flautist of such renown that his New and Complete Instructions for the Flute, op. 68 was published almost simultaneously by several publishers in London, Bonn, and New York in 1827–28. The fact that he was not yet included in the first edition (1837–44) of Fétis’ Biographie universelle des musiciens, but appeared only in the third volume of the second edition (1862), suggests that his reputation endured for some time after his death. Later, however, both Dressler and his works unjustly fell into complete oblivion
His output — around one hundred works, of which roughly seventy were published during his lifetime — consists chiefly of chamber music and solo works, alongside three concertos for flute and orchestra: études and variations for solo flute, flute duos and trios, and several works for flute with strings or piano. During his final years in Vienna in particular, he composed a number of duos for flute and guitar. Unfortunately, it is not known for which guitarist these works were written. Although he dedicated his Six Thèmes variés, op. 43 “à son ami Theodor Gaude” (just as the guitarist Theodor Gaude, in turn, dedicated his Sonata for flute and guitar, op. 24 to Dressler), the two probably did not become acquainted until after 1817. While the guitar parts in most of these duos are generally kept quite simple, they occasionally contain passages of such technical difficulty and such an idiomatic command of the instrument that one is tempted to assume that between 1815 and 1817 Dressler had been in contact with one of Vienna’s leading guitarists.
This applies above all to his Variations sur la Romance de l’Opera « Joseph et ses freres de Mehul », op. 2828, probably published in 1816, which must rank among the finest works written for this combination. Joseph, premiered in Paris in 1807, was the most successful opera by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (1763–1817). Its combination of a biblical subject with exotic local colour appealed strongly to contemporary audiences and earned it particular acclaim in Germany. In Vienna the work was presented at the Theater an der Wien in 1809 under the title Joseph in Ägypten, and at the Kärntnertortheater in 1815 as Joseph und seine Brüder. It is reasonable to assume that Dressler became acquainted with the opera through his position as first flute at the Kärntnertortheater and composed his variations on the romance A peine au sortir de l’enfance while the performances were still fresh in his mind.
Joseph’s account of his abduction by his brothers forms one of the opera’s lyrical high points, a scene that Méhul evidently crafted with particular care. The fact that Dressler refers to it simply as la Romance in his title suggests that he assumed it to be widely known. Accordingly, even in his presentation of the theme he allows himself a few — albeit slight — liberties, making the melody more fluid and expressive where Méhul’s original follows the natural inflections of the French language.
With his Variations sur un Theme hongré [sic!], op. 25, published in 1815 and based on a typical Verbunkos — a traditional Hungarian recruiting dance, especially associated with Gypsy bands — Dressler followed the growing fascination with Hungarian music that had emerged around 1790 and also left its mark on the music of composers such as Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert.

Andreas Grün

PLAY Variations sur un thème hongrois, op. 25
PLAY Variations sur la Romance de l'opéra « Joseph et ses frères » de Méhul, op. 28

Music editions (first modern publications)

Variations on a Romance by Méhul
for Flute and Guitar, ed. by Frank Michael / Andreas Grün, Musikverlag Zimmermann, ZM 33330
buy sheet music (www.schott-music.com)

Variations on a Hungarian Theme
for Flute and Guitar, ed. by Frank Michael / Andreas Grün, Musikverlag Zimmermann, ZM 34700
buy sheet music (www.schott-music.com)

Press comments

This late Classical work is certainly one of the most successful sets of variations for these two instruments, from a prolific period for this form.
The flute part, while being very virtuosic in places, retains the lyrical style of the original aria from the Méhul opera, and the guitar part has considerable melodic and rhythmic interest. It is a valuable addition to the repertoire for two instrumentalists of Grade 8+.

Pan Magazine

Outre l’avantage de sortir des sentiers battus en exhumant une œuvre et un auteur inconnus, cette partition devrait intéresser tous les instrumentistes désireux de mettre en valeur le caractère brillant de la flûte.

Traversières Magazine

Colpito dalla romanza di Giuseppe A peine au sortir de l’enfance gli dedicò questo lavoro cameristico molto interessante.

Syrinx

Eine gute Repertoireergänzung für Duos!.

Concertino

Heinrich Aloys Präger, Theodor Gaude und Raphael Dressler haben Musik hinterlassen, die zu vergessen, schlicht eine Schande wäre.

Die Rheinpfalz