Classical Music on Stamps
A weekly feature presented by David Barker

31. Unsung Composers Pt 3

And the final set of sixteen.

Franz Schmidt	Clara Schumann	Carlos Seixas	Antonio Soler
Louis Spohr	Johan Svendsen	Jan Sweelinck	Karol Szymanowski
Mikos Theodorakis	Eduard Tubin	Joaquin Turina	Fartein Valen
José Vianna da Motta	Leo Weiner	Healey Willan	Carl Ziehrer

32. Opera & operetta from Austria

Two sets today from Austria, celebrating long traditions of opera, in the form of the 100th anniversary of the Staatsoper, and operetta.

The Staatsoper set from 1969 shows what I presume to be drawings made from photographs taken at actual productions. A surprising inclusion was Swan Lake.

Carmen	Don Carlos	Don Giovanni	Fidelio
Lohengrin	Der Rosenkavalier	Die Zauberflöte	Swan Lake

The operetta set shows scenes from six famous works. It was difficult to know whether to use German or English titles, as The Merry Widow seems to be generally referred to in translation, unlike Die Fledermaus.

Franz Lehár The Merry Widow	Carl Millöcker Der Bettelstudent	Robert Stolz Two Hearts in Waltztime
Oscar Straus Ein Walzertraum	Johann Strauss Die Fledermaus	Carl Zeller Der Vogelhändler

33. Johannes Brahms

Attendeing a concert with a fine performance of the Brahms Symphony 2 at the weekend leads me to look at his philatelic representations.

Rather surprisingly, there are no stamps featuring the composer before 1971, and even more surprisingly, when he does appear, it is on a stamp issued by the Arabian nation of Ras al Khaima, now part of the United Arab Emirates. It was one of a set of five, the other four showing Vivaldi, Rossini, Chopin and Haydn.

The following year was the 75th anniversary of his death, but the three stamps are not from countries that you would imagine would be celebrating this: Niger and Dahomey.

1983 was the 150th anniversary of his birth and brought some activity from more expected sources: East and West Germany and Czechoslovakia, as well as Monaco.

Fourteen years later, we have the 100th anniversary of his death, and four more issues. That one is from Austria is only surprising in that it has taken this long for them to issue a stamp featuring Brahms, but Uruguay and Equatorial Guinea are rather less obvious. By now, you will have realised that the stamp designs for some countries don't seem to need a connection to the country. The fourth is from Monaco, which does seem to have a significant tradition of music-themed issues. I'm surprised that the reunified Germany did not see fit to issue a stamp.

34. Franz Liszt

Liszt's reputation as a pianist is probably more substantial than that as composer. Whatever the reason, his legacy on stamps is much greater than the subject of last week's article, Johannes Brahms. There are in excess of 50 Liszt-related stamps from numerous countries, not surprisingly led by the country of his birth, Hungary.

I don't intend to "list" (pardon the pun) every issue, as almost half come from those countries whose stamp-issuing behaviour is rather scattergun as we have seen before. Instead, I will limit today's article to releases from Hungary, Austria and Germany.

The first stamp to bear his likeness is one of the earliest to feature a composer: 1932 in a set of famous Hungarians.

It was followed in 1953 by another release in a set of Hungarian composers, and in 1956 with an issue marking Stamp Day.

1961 was the 150th anniversary of his birth. To recognise this, Hungary issued two stamps, and was joined by Austria (one) and East Germany (four, which also include Berlioz and Chopin).

1967 saw another Hungarian release, a famous portrait of Liszt, in a set of paintings held in the National Gallery. In 1973, there is an East German issue in a set celebrating famous artists who spent time in Weimar.

We have to move forward to 1986 for more, this being the centenary of his death, though rather oddly, the Hungarian release clearly is celebrating the 175th anniversary of his birth. Here the German stamp is from West Germany; there was none from East Germany.

Finally in 2011, the bicentenary of his birth, we have three more releases.

35. Berlioz in Monaco

Hector Berlioz certainly expressed a liking for the south of France, and the principality in particular, but he was only ever a brief and occasional visitor. The royal family of Monaco were great admirers, and were responsible for the statue of the composer that was erected in 1903, the centenary of his birth, outside the opera house-casino.

In 1969, Monaco recognised the centenary of his death with a set of 10 stamps, one showing the statue, the others scenes from La Damnation de Faust. These are quite detailed depictions, so you can click on them to get a larger view.

36. The Salle Garnier in Monaco

We shall spend a second week in Monaco, with two 1979 sets celebrating the 100th anniversary of the opening of the opera theatre inside the Monte Carlo casino. As you will have gathered by its name, the architect was the same person who created the opera house in Paris that also bears his name: Charles Garnier.

Ten of the twelve stamps depict scenes from operas and ballets, including eight that premiered in the Salle Garnier. The two exceptions are Strauss's Salome and Auric's Les Matelots. The other two - the highest values in each set - show architectural features. Again clicking on the image gives you a larger view.

 

Le Jongleur de Notre Dame (Massenet)	Hans le Joueur de Flûte (Ganne)	Don Quichotte (Massenet)
L'Aiglon (Honegger/Ibert)	L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (Ravel)	Casino exterior
Les Biches (Poulenc)	Les Matelots (Auric)	Les Spectre de la Rose (Weber/Berlioz)
Gaîté Parisienne (Offenbach)	Salome (Strauss)	Salle interior

37. The Mozart bicentenary in 1991

1991 saw a huge push by record labels to promote the music of Mozart, Philips with its complete edition being the leader. The philatelic world did its bit, with more than 20 countries releasing around 40 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of his death. I've included one from each country. I think it's fair to say that there are as many unexpected entries as there are obvious ones.

Albania	Andorra	Austria	Belgium
Benin	Bulgaria	Czechoslovakia	France
Germany	Guyana	Hungary	India
Israel	Italy	Liechtenstein	Mexico
Northern Cyprus	Senegal	Sierra Leone	Grenadines of St Vincent

38. The Mozart bicentenary in 1956

Mozart, of course, had another bicentenary within living memory for many, that of his birth. It was probably the first substantial musical anniversary to be widely recognised on stamps. The Bach death bicenentary six years earlier only saw releases from the two Germanies.

The Belgium stamp showing the young Mozart was also replicated, in different colours, in issues by two Belgian colonies, Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi.

Austria	Belgium
Bulgaria	Czechoslovakia	East Germany
West Germany	Romania	USSR

39. Hungarian opera

Actually, only two of the operas depicted on this 1967 set are Hungarian. There seems to be no particular anniversary or commemoration that the set is linked to. Again, click on the images for a better view.

Prince Igor	Der Freischütz	The Magic Flute	Bluebeard's Castle
Carmen	Don Carlos	Tannhäuser	László Hunyadi (Erkel)

40. "Music of the Stamps"

This is the title given by La Poste (France) to this 2010 booklet of 12 stamps featuring musical instruments depicted in paintings from the nineteenth century and earlier. Again, click on the images for a better view.

 

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