Description

SOPHIE CARMEN ECKHARDT-GRAMATTÉ (MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 6 JANUARY 1899 [O.S. 25 DECEMBER 1898] – STUTTGART, GERMANY, 2 DECEMBER 1974)

 

 

 

 

Born in Moscow in 1899, Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté (1899-1974) trained on both piano and violin, a rare combination for a composer. She initially studied at the Paris Conservatory, and later continued her music education in Berlin. Eckhardt-Gramatté was a well-travelled performer, often performing her compositions for both violin and piano. In 1920, she married painter Walter Gramatté and spent two years living in Spain, where she studied under Pablo Casals. It was during this period that Eckhardt-Gramatté wrote her first piano concerto.

Following the death of her husband Walter Gramatté, she embarked on a tour in the United States, performing to critical acclaim with Leopold Stokowski in Philadelphia and Frederick Stock in Chicago. In 1934, she married Austrian art historian Ferdinand Eckhardt and later pursued further lessons in composition with Max Trapp at the Berlin Academy of Arts. Her compositional style underwent a gradual transformation, influenced by the conservative aesthetic of her instructor, Max Trapp, and further informed by her relocation from Berlin to Vienna in 1939. This shift marked a pivotal point in her artistic development.

Eckhardt-Gramatté was, in many ways, a composer’s composer—resolutely independent in voice and uninterested in following the prevailing compositional fashions of her time. Her are marked by their expressive power, rhythmic vitality, and technical demands—often composed with her abilities in mind. Drawing from a broad palette of influences.

Eckhardt-Gramatté created a dense, aggressive style that was much closer to, and dependent on, late romanticism than on twentieth-century techniques. Her use of dissonance was a logical development from post-Wagnerianism, although it never reached the emotional atonality of the Viennese masters (Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern). Nevertheless, one detects some characteristics, especially in the style of her early works, that “show(s) a lively mind in grips with modern tendencies and using high technical accomplishments in exploiting the resources of a new and musicianly polyphony.” — Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1954.

Since her passing in 1974, Eckhardt-Gramatté’s work has slowly garnered the attention it demands—not just as historical curiosity, but as repertoire worthy of serious study and performance. The Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, established in 1976, continues to champion new music and emerging performers, many of whom find in her work a model of uncompromising originality.

She received an honourary doctorate in music from the University of Brandon and the title of professor from the Minister of Education, Vienna, Austria.

Eckhardt-Gramatté was the first Canadian composer to receive the Diplôme d’Honneur

In addition to writing music, she developed a piano teaching method, the ‘E-Gré Piano Technique’, whose basis is the use of rotary movement.

 

 

 TRACKLIST

 

 

Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté – The Complete Recordings

Label: Masters of the Bow – MB 1031

Format: Vinyl, LP

Country: Canada

Released: 1980

Genre: Classical

Style: Modern, Baroque

Concerto In A Minor (1925, Barcelona)

Composed By – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté

A1 Allegro Ma Non Troppo

A2 Molto Sostenuto E Espressivo

B1 Allegro E Revolutio, Giocoso

B2 Piu Lento

B3 Partita No. 2, In D: Chaconne BWV 1004

Composed By – Johann Sebastian Bach

15:20

Violin – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté

Originally recorded 1934-1935, recordings released Odeon 1936.

 

S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté – E. Gré Plays E. Gré – A Documentary Of The Composer, Violinist & Pianist – S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté Performing Her Own Compositions – Record III

Label: Discopaedia – WRC1-1598

Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono

Country: Canada

Genre: Classical

Style: Modern

Violin Caprice No. 1 “Die Kranke Und Die Uhr” (1924) (E. 47)

Violin Caprice No. 4 “La isla de oro” (1927) (E. 63)

Violin Caprice No. 5 “Danse marocaine” (1927) (E. 64)

Violin Caprice No. 6 “El parjarito” (1927) (E. 67)

Violin Caprice No. 7 “Le départ d’un train” (1928) (E. 69)

Violin Caprice No. 9 “Chestnut Hill at Night” (1929) (E. 81)

Violin Caprice No. 10 “Klage” (1934) (E. 90)

Violin Suite III (1924) (E. 50) “Mallorca Suite”

Andante (Ariette) (2nd Movement)

Giocoso E Aroso (Badinage) (3rd Movement)

Duo No. 1 For 2 Violins (1944) (E. 108)

Violin – Carl Johannis

Mässig Schnell (1st Movement)

Ruhig (2nd Movement)

Lebhaft (Gigue) (3rd Movement)

Made By – World Records

Lacquer Cut At – The Lacquer Channel Limited

Pressed By – Quality Records Limited

Composed By – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté

Liner Notes – Ferdinand Eckhardt

Violin – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté

 

S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté – E. Gré Plays E. Gré – A Documentary Of The Composer, Violinist & Pianist – S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté Performing Her Own Compositions – Record II

Label: Discopaedia – WRC1-1597

Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono

Country: Canada

Genre: Classical

1.Piano Sonata V (1950) (E. 126)

Moderato (Maessig, Jedoch Lustiges Tempo; Grotesk, Rhythmisch – Gay, Grotesque & Rhythmical) (1st Movement); Frei Phantasierend (2nd Movement – Both Movements Played Without Break)

Vivo Ma Non Troppo (3rd Movement)

Piano Sonata VI (1928/52) (E. 130)

Prestissimo E Molto Preciso (Mode Ancien) (1st Movement – For Left Hand Only)

Moderato (Mode Moderne) (2nd Movement – For Right Hand Only)

Vivo Assai E Marcato (Mode Néoclassique) (3rd Movement – For Both Hands)

Piano Caprice No. 2 (1937) (E. 96) “Gute Ruh”, Lento, Molto Espressivo

Piano Caprice No. 3 (1932) (E. 87) “Aufschrei”, Moderato, Con Molta Espressione

Piano Caprice No. 4 (1937) (E. 97) “Wohin”, Frei Und Gelassen

Piano Caprice No. 5 (1937) (E. 98) “Meeresmuschelperlchen”, Fantasievoll, Mit Viel Relief Im Ausruck

Composed By – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté

Piano – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté

 

S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté – E. Gré Plays E. Gré – A Documentary Of The Composer, Violinist & Pianist – S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté Performing Her Own Compositions – Record I

Label: Discopaedia – WRC1-1596

Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono

Country: Canada

Genre: Classical

Piano Concerto No. 1, In A Minor For Piano And Orchestra (1926) (E. 60)

Conductor – Dr. Ernst Kunwald

Orchestra – Berlin Symphonics

A1 Maestoso (1st Movement)

A2 Andante (2nd Movement)

A3 Vivo Ma Non Troppo (§rd Movement)

Piano Sonata II (1924) (E. 46) “Biscaya Suite”

B1 Movement 1 (First Few Bars. Recorded On A Small Cassette Unit In Winnipeg In 1969)

B2 Movement 2 (First Few Bars. Recorded On A Small Cassette Unit In Winnipeg In 1969)

B3 Andante (After The Storm) (3rd Movement)

B4 Allegro Con Brio (4th Movement)

Piano Sonata III (1924) (E. 52)

B5 Lento (1st Movement)

B6 Vive E Marcato (Ländlicher Tanz) (2nd Movement)

B7 Largo Sostenuto (3rd Movement)

B8 Spanischer Tanz (4th Movement)

Composed By – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté

Piano – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté

 

S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté – E. Gré Plays E. Gré – A Documentary Of The Composer, Violinist & Pianist – S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté Performing Her Own Compositions – Record IV

Label: Discopaedia – WRC1-1599

Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono

Country: Canada

Genre: Classical

Duo Concertante For Flute & Violin (1956) (E. 138)

Flute – Dirk Keetbaas

A1 Allegro Assai E Risoluto (1st Movement)

A2 Quasi Largo, Molto Calmo (2nd Movement)

A3 Deciso E Molto Preciso (3rd Movement)

A4 “Merkantes Stück” For Two Pianos And Orchestra (1948) (E. 121) – Vivo Assai

Conductor – Wilhelm Schüchter

Orchestra – Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Piano – Hans Weber (4)

“Ruck-Ruck” Sonata For Clarinet And Piano (1947) (E. 113)

Clarinet – Friedrich Wildgans

B1 Lebhaft (1st Movement)

B2 Molto Andante, Quasi Lento (2nd Movement)

B3 Lustig – Mädle Ruck, Ruck, Ruck…! (3rd Movement)

B4 Berceuse For Flute And Piano (1925) (E. 55)

Flute – Unknown Artist

B5 Presto I For Flute And Piano (1923/34) (E. 89)

Flute – Unknown Artist

B6 Presto II For Flute And Piano (1951) (E. 129)

Flute – Franz Opalesky

Composed By – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté

Piano – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté

Violin – Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté