List of compositions by Alexandre Goria

This is the list of compositions by Alexandre Goria who wrote about 130 drawing-room pieces among polkas, berceuses, nocturnes, waltzes, rêvéries, and his Serenade for the left hand, which became widely known during his active years. Among his 31 grand études, those in Opp. 72 and 63 were highly praised by every audience. He also wrote barcarolles, fantasies and mazurkas, and a good number of characteristic and genre pieces one quotes from memory are the beautiful Allegrezza, l'Attente, Le Calme, lighter works indeed but which have a real cachet of originality. His transcriptions of selected motifs from several operas such as Souvenires du Théâtre Italien, Belisario, Il Trovatore, Le Pardon de Ploërmel, Montenegrins, Una Furtiva Lagrima, all cleverly written, prove the great popularity of his name which had real commercial value.

Goria distinguished himself among all the virtuosos of his generation by the beautiful sound which he drew from the piano without brutalizing the instrument and by applying only enough pressure on the keyboard to obtained a breadth of sound which belonged to him. He used the pedal with great art and tact and also knew how to oppose the happy contrasts of softness and grace to the powerful effects that he possessed better than any pianist. A favorite artist of lovers of brilliant music, concert and salon fantasies, his piano pieces were structured for the needs of the sale, almost improvised, but correctly written while praising the skill of the happy choice of patterns implemented and their variety. His concert and salon compositions have neither the merit of craftsmanship nor the ingenuity of the masters whom he had taken as influence but are unique on their own.

Goria's first popular hits were his 1st. and 2nd. concert-études, in E-flat major, Opp. 7–8, his charming Bluette, which imitates Thalberg, from whom he obviously proceeds, as well as Prudent, but one thing must be said of those who imperfectly said he sounded pretentious and full of his own merit. This unfortunate appreciation is explained indeed by futile causes. Goria had neither the physiognomy of an Adonis nor the stretched features of the consumptive pianists. He was really at the opposite pole. His large size caused a natural reaction against the awkwardness of his cumbersome corpulence. A real shyness that he sought to disguise under an air of self-assurance whose exaggeration was just one more clumsiness.

Compositions with opus number Note:The purpose of this list is to collect the prime date of publication of each composition and number them by year. They are categorized here by opus number (or WoO), and title, key, genre, and year in "sortable mode". By clicking the button on its respective cell all content in that column will be displayed in ascending or descending order creating so groups of compositions in relation to their key, musical form or date of publication. The notes section displays very useful and amusing information up to the point of establishing a connection among Goria's compositions, like that between Opp. 7-8-15-16-17-23-39 displayed in bone-colored opus numbers around the stories that permeate them. His transcriptions show alabaster-colored titles while his scores are last displayed where much of the expected reference is impressed on paper. TitleOpusKeyGenreYear NotesScores Le Papillon1C majorBluette 1852Bluette is a musical form, a short brilliant piece of music like Bluette Musicale sur "La Ronde Bachique de Demons" de l'opera La Tentation de Fromental Halevy" pour le piano forte: Op. 114 by Friedrich Wilhelm Michael Kalkbrenner. Music score reviewed and revised by Hugo Hartmann. Aibl, 1852. Harmonie du Soir: nocturne sur une mélodie de Jacques Offenbach2A minorNocturne1850.Berceuse: 1re. romance sans paroles3 C majorRomance 1845Published in Berlin by Stempelmann and Heinrih Weiss. Canzonetta: 2me. romance sans paroles4D♭ majorAlso published as Deux romances sans paroles, Berceuse et Canzonetta.Olga: 1re. Polka-Mazurka5E♭ majorMazurka1843Published in Berlin by Stempelmann, Weinholtz u Co., Heinrich Weiss, Julius Weiss, in Erfurt by Bartholomäus, in Hannover by Bachmann, in Leipzig by Klemm and Hofmeister, in Magdeburg by Heinrichshofen. Olga: 1re. Polka-Mazurka5 bisPublished in Mainz. Heure de la prière: 1re. caprice-nocturne caractéristique 6A♭ majorNocturneOriginally titled Caprice-Nocturne. Published in Berlin by Stempelmann, Weinholtz u Co., Julius Weiss, in Erfurt by Bartholomäus, in Hannover by Bachmann, in Leipzig by Klemm and after 1852 in Turin, Italy, by A. Racca. 1re. étude de concert pour le piano7E♭ major Étude1845Published also as Étude de Concert [Op. 7], transcripte pour la Harpe par Charles Oberthür. Op. 101." (1892). In Milan by F. Lucca in 1846 with dedicatee "à son ami Émile Prudent", in Berlin by Philipp, Stempelmann, Henrich Weiss, in Erfurt by Bartholomäus, in Hannover by Bachmann and in Pest by Rózsavölgyi. 1re étude de concert, en mi♭ arrangée à quatre mains pour le piano 7 bisDuo"À son ami E. Prudent." Mayence, Les fils de B. Schott [1860ca.]. Published in Milan by F. Lucca in 1846.2me. étude de concert pour le piano 8Étude1844The first part of this composition is for the left hand only, although the brilliance of the whole is enhanced by the right one. Published in Berlin by B. u Bock. Sérénade pour la main gauche seule et ensuite a deux mains9 B♭ majorÉtude1846A Serénade for Six Hands → "M. Goria is a great and powerful pianist, tall in size, powerful in sound, which, of course, is not very common for this dry instrument, despite the genius of our skilled manufactures of this instrument whose intonation does not live under the pressure of the fingers, bow or human breath, which makes the voice the most beautiful of all instruments. In the concert M. Goria gave on the 29th last month (February 1845), he was past of the charming trio "The Osborne" with MM. Hermann and Seligman. His Serenade for the Left Hand earned him a parfoemance by all the listeners' hands; his study, entitled: L'Eleganza, proves the distinction of his musical thought. After this piece for three pianos, which was very well played by MM. Lacombe, Ravina and the beneficiary, three students of Mr. Zimmermann, author of this trio, M. Goria finished his concert, which attracted a large and distinguished audience, with a nocturne of his own composition that was no less successful than his other works." Revue et Gazette Musicale (1845)L'Attente (Die Erwartung): 2me. caprice-nocturne caractéristique10C minorNocturne1847The Missing Nocturne → L'Attente (Die Erwartung) means "The Expectation". "Pazdírek (1839—1919) (op. cit) mentions one WoO by Czerny called "Attente, nocturne" but there is no trace of that work elsewhere. The French composer Alexandre Edouard Goria, who lived for some time in Vienna and knew Czerny well, published a nocturne in 1847 called "L'attente", his opus 10. It is thus probable that Pazdirek's indication is erroneous." Richard d'Ari. Dedicatée: À son ami Ch. Gounod, Paris Le Calme: 3me. caprice-nocturne caractéristique 11A major18453me. caprice-nocturne caractéristique together with Op. 10-6. Also published under the title 3 nocturnes caractéristiques. No 1. Caprice-nocturne. Op. 6. No 2. L'Attente. Op. 10. No 3. Le Calme. Op. 11. [P.F.] no. 3. Alice: Valse brillante pour piano12 C major Valse1847Dedicatée à Mlle. Fanny Lecomte Alice: Valse brillante pour piano arrangée à quatre mains12 bisDuoAndante de salon13B majorAndante1845A tempo marking used as a title for this composition.2me. mazurka brillante pour piano14A majorMazurka. L'eleganza: 3me. étude de salon 15C majorÉtude.Improvisation: 4me. étude de salon 16G major.Barcarolle: 5me. étude de salon 17F majorMayenceNadièjda (L'Espérance): 3me. mazurka brilliant originale pour piano18 A♭ majorMazurka1846Published in Berlin by Stempelmann, B. u Bock, Weinholtz u Co., in Erfurt by Bartholomäus and in Prague by Wetzler. Rêverie19B♭ majorRêverie Charles Gounod's Family Bonds Ulysse was produced the 18th of June 1852 under Offenbach's directorship. I had just married, a few days before, Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmermann's daughter, the celebrated professor of piano at the Conservatory and to whom is due his reputation coming from the same "school" from which Prudent, Marmontel, Goria, Lefébure-Wély, Ravina, Bizet, and ao many others come. I became then, by this alliance, brother-in-law of the young painter Édouard Dubufe who was already most ably carrying his father's name the heritage and reputation of which his own son, Guillaume Dubufe, promises to brilliantly maintain." Charles Gounod - "à Mme. Juliette Dubufé". Also published as "Rêverie. Pour le piano. Composée et dédiée à Mrs. R.A. Reinagle (of Oxford) etc. <Op. 19>." London : R. Cocks & Co., Fantaisie brillante sur des motifs de "Les Plaintes de la jeune fille" de Franz Schubert 20E♭ majorFantaisieA lieder entitled "The Maiden's lament" written by Schubert in the beginning of his career.Fantaisie de concert sur des motifs de l'Opéra "Les Mousquetaires de la Reine" de Fromental Halévy21D major.Souvenir du Théâtre Italien 1re. fantaisie brillante sur des motifs de l'Opéra "Norma" de Vincenzo Bellini 2me. fantaisie brillante sur des motifs de l'Opéra "La sonnambula" de Bellini22E♭ major 1847.B major Saltarelle: 6me. étude de salon23C majorÉtudeThis 6me. étude de salon completes his set of studies École moderne du pianiste, 6 Études brillantes, 2me. suite together with his Op. 63.Fantaisie élégante sur des motifs de l'Opéra "La Sultane" de Maurice Bourges 24FantasieJean Maurice Bourges, distinguished musical critic, born at Bordeaux Dec. 2, 1812; came early to Paris, and studied composition under Barbereau. In 1839 he became joint-editor of the 'Revue et Gazette musicale,' the high reputation of which paper is in great measure owing to him. In 1846 'Sultana,' an opera of his, was successfully produced at the Opéra Comique. He made an excellent translation of the words of Mendelssohn's 'Elijah.' He died in 1868, after an illness of many years. Grand étude dramatique pour piano25Étude1847. 3 pensées caractéristiques Ophelia: Mélodie originale pour piano Miranda: Polka originale pour piano Odessa: 4me. Mazurka originale pour piano26E♭ majorC majorA♭ major MorceauThis score reads: Odessa Op. 26. 3/8 Introduction; 3/4 Andantino con morbidezza. Another score (only one) reads: 2 Pensées caractéristiques pour Piano, No. 1. Ophelia, mélodie. No. 2. Miranda, polka. Op. 26. London : R. Cocks & Co, . No. 1 Ophelia reads: "1ere. Pensée Caracteristique". Dedicated to Madame. H. Offenbach. Mayence [etc.] : les fils de B. Schott, [ca 1847]Fantaisie de concert sur des motifs de l'Opéra "Belisario" de Gaetano Donizetti27A♭ majorFantaisie In three sections: section 1 unlabeled; section 2 Terzetto; and section 3 Intermezzo. Dedicatee: M. Alfred Jaell, de Vienne.