Adolf Gollmick: True Love, Wanderlied – piano transcriptions
Adolf Gollmick (1825-83) was born in Frankfurt-on-Main but moved to London in 1844 where he found success as pianist, violinist and composer. He wrote several operas and ‘opera-cantatas’ (including ‘The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green’ of 1877 – also set by Arne), a symphony and chamber and instrumental works. He seems to have been well-known for his piano transcriptions of German folksongs, of which (I believe) these are two. Although the piano writing is quite conventional in its use of stock salon techniques, they are deployed skilfully to attractive melodies, and the pieces are certainly fun to play. Note that ‘True Love’ does not seem to be the Thuringian folksong ‘Ach, Wie ist’s möglich dann’ which sometimes goes under this title. I should be interested to hear from anyone who knows the provenance of the themes. ————————————————————————————————————————————- Played by Phillip Sear www.psear.co.uk
do you sight-read these pieces, or practice before you post on youtube?
I always practise them! No way could I sightread pieces like these well enough to play in public!
Wonderful!
super je trouve que sa ressemble à une étude de burgmuller.
Pure pleasure to listen
Well – played, like always 
Thank you!
Yes indeed. Gollmick was trained in Germany and his style is very similar to that of Friedrich Burgmuller.
I’m glad you enjoyed these pieces. They deserve to be played by someone!
ok merci
I’m always afraid to play variations. They are so hard to perform because one must be on the alert of keeping the main theme always in mind, ear and fingers, while giving the variation its proper attention. You did it wonderfully on both pieces.
Thank you. I share your apprehension. Interestingly the composer does not seem to expect the theme to be projected that strongly in the second piece, as he puts no accents in, and doen’t otherwise mark it out.
Very nice and nostalgic! I can hear what you mean by mentioning the slightly conventional salon writing, but it is still very charming — and, I’m sure, fun to play!
Thank you. The pieces are indeed fun to play, and give a lot of pleasure for not very much work.