Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Bachelor of Music Honours

School

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts

First Supervisor

Stewart Smith

Abstract

This dissertation focusses on the early string chamber music of German-English composer and pianist Agnes Zimmermann (1847-1925), written whilst she was a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Whilst almost unknown today, Zimmermann was one of the finest pianists of the late[1]Nineteenth Century, appearing throughout Europe both as a concerto soloist and as a distinguished chamber music collaborator. She was also an accomplished composer, writing piano pieces, songs, music for the church and, especially, chamber music. Her models were the great Germanic figures of the Nineteenth Century, especially Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Brahms.

This dissertation examines two early manuscript chamber works—the C minor Piano Quartet and the A major Piano Trio, both major works of about fifteen minutes duration each. Critical editions of both works are offered alongside an analytical commentary, which aims to contextualise the music both amongst her other early works (all of which are preserved in three manuscript commonplace volumes at the Royal Academy of Music) and in relation to the Austro-Germanic tradition from Beethoven to Brahms.

A biographical sketch is offered which focusses on her time at the Royal Academy of Music and her later career as a chamber music performer is also explored. This sketch draws on the existing literature, which is scant, and on new data, mined from contemporary newspapers and periodicals. Zimmermann’s three commonplace manuscript books reveal a chronology whereby early juvenilia— such as the Haydn-esque String Quartet in E-flat—quickly give way to music of depth and merit. Zimmermann’s legacy as a pianist is part of the historical past, and given that she made no recordings, is unable to be reconstructed in any audible way. On the other hand, her very fine music, and in particular the Piano Trio and the Piano Quartet, here offered in premiere editions, reveal a gifted composer and a valuable new addition to the chamber music repertoire.

DOI

10.25958/ac50-gw47

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