A lost composition by Leó Weiner (1885‒1960), the world-famous Hungarian composer and music pedagogue, has been discovered in the estate of pianist Marianne Adler (1890‒1966). The manuscript collection from the bequest was purchased by Brian Lamb, a British pianist‒organist, and art collector, based in the Netherlands, at an online auction at Darabanth Auction House in Budapest in February 2024.
The piano composition for four hands was auctioned as an excerpt from Leó Weiner’s famous incidental music, Csongor és Tünde (op. 10). Lamb could not identify the composition on the basis of the available information, and suspecting that he was dealing with an unknown work, he reached out to Ágnes Kőry, director of the Béla Bartók Centre for Musicianship. Thanks to her, Lamb managed to reach Veronika Kusz, senior research fellow on Leó Weiner’s oeuvre at the HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute for Musicology, for assistance. Her identification revealed that the manuscript is undoubtedly Weiner’s handwriting but the work has indeed nothing to do with Csongor és Tünde, which means that the inscription on the title page of the manuscript – perhaps from a different hand – is partly wrong. However, the “Scherco” [sic!] and “op. 1” markings on the same page suggest the possibility that Weiner’s first opus, which was thought to be lost, has turned up.
The composer’s Scherzo, originally composed for a string quintet, was performed at the Liszt Academy of Music in June 1905, a year before Weiner’s graduation, and a year later the orchestral version was played at a concert of the Budapest Philharmonic Society (22 October 1906, conducted by István Kerner). Despite the positive reception by the audience, Weiner was probably not entirely satisfied with his work – which is presumably why it remained in manuscript – but he certainly continued to be preoccupied with scherzo writing. According to György Sándor Gál, who conducted extensive interviews with the elderly composer in the late 1950s, Weiner distanced himself from his popular work when he managed to finally find the scherzo tone he felt was ideal in Csongor és Tünde. According to the Weiner’s own notes, he destroyed the manuscript but apparently did not do a perfect job, as he may have forgotten about an excerpt for four hands he had previously given to the Adlers, presumably for home use. The suspicion that the unknown work in Weiner’s handwriting might be the Scherzo Op. 1 is confirmed by a number of exciting musical and biographical factors – which will be presented in the near future at HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute for Musicology.
Brian Lamb, who has been collecting music manuscripts since childhood and is passionate about the relationship between composers’ writing styles and interpretative nuances, is particularly keen on the works of less prominent composers. As he put it:
“Nowadays I would be categorised as a nerd but who worries about titles, I am only interested in bringing music to light that deserves it and not just the tired old mainstream composers.”
Mr. Lamb claims that the discovery of an excellent early Weiner work is one of the highlights of his collecting career and his best 75th birthday present. Preparations for the publication and presentation of the work have already begun.
Veronika Kusz
