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John Orth: What the old oak said

277 views · Published 23 September 2017 · 2:01 · Indexed 21 October 2026

Channel: PSearPianist · 2017 · Music

Phillip Sear plays the fourth of a set of six 'Nature Pieces' (or - alternative title - 'Nature Scenes') from 1918 by the German-American composer John Orth (1850-1932).
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The composer, pianist and organist John Orth (1850-1932) was born in Bavaria, but emigrated to the USA as a baby. He returned to Germany for his music study, where his impressive list of teachers included Liszt, Kullak and Philipp Scharwenka. Back in America he lived and taught piano in Boston (including a spell at the New England Conservatory), and lectured on his experiences at Liszt's classes in Weimar. Interestingly, Orth only seems to have started using opus numbers quite late in his career - his Op. 15 dates from 1905, so it is surprising that he only reached Op. 18 thirteen years later. This short piece is dedicated to Vera Berenice Chesley, whom I assume to be a pupil. The score is headed by a quotation from the well-known American poem from 1830 'Woodman, spare that tree', by George Pope Morris (1802-64) - Orth excluded the lines in square brackets:

"That old familiar tree,
Whose glory and renown
Are spread o’er land and sea—
[ And wouldst thou hew it down?
Woodman, forbear thy stroke!
ut not its earth-bound ties;]
Oh, spare that aged oak
Now towering to the skies!"
"By all the nymphs that nightly dance
Upon thy streams with wily glance!"

The poem achieved its popularity via an 1837 parlour song setting by Henry Russell, and the thumbnail shows a picture from an old sheet music title page.

The thumbnail shows an illustration from an early 19th c. edition of 'Comus'.
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk (Email: [email protected]
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John Orth: What the old oak said

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