Ginkgoh gives voice to rediscovered music of 19th century women composers. In his poem “Ginkgo biloba”, the German poet Goethe muses on the twofold nature of the ginkgo leaf and on his own duality. The oboe, oboe d’amore, and English horn are all instruments with a double reed. The ginkgo leaf symbolizes both the double reed instruments and our musical duo. Click to read Goethe's poem in German and English
Ann Lemke, oboe, oboe d’amore & English horn
Amanda Sabelhaus, piano
NEW: Oboe Salon
Beautiful chamber music by 19th century women composers
Many premiere recordings!
Welcome to the Oboe Salon, an imaginary space where five fascinating 19th century women composers come together in our music. We recreate for you the intimate atmosphere of the salon, where music, literature, and inspiration are shared in an elegant home setting.
The CD itself is a beautiful work of art. The cover and digipak were designed by French artist Emmanuelle Ayrton, and it is the only CD with an illustration by her currently available.
Listen to Samples
Oboe Tracks 1 - 7
Clémence de Grandval: Two Pieces for Oboe and Piano, dedicated to the legendary French oboist Georges Gillet *first recording with this instrumentation
Clara Schumann: Three Romances, Op. 22, originally composed for violin and piano and dedicated to violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim. Arranged for oboe by Ann Lemke.
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel Adagio composed on May 28, 1823 for violin and piano, arranged for oboe by Ann Lemke *first recording with this instrumentation
Clémence de Grandval: Concerto for Oboe, Op. 7, II. Andantino con moto. Dedicated to Georges Gillet. *first recording with this instrumentation
Oboe d’amore Tracks 8 - 13
The oboe d’amore tracks are Ann Lemke’s transcriptions of songs for voice and piano. Click here to read the original poems in German and Ann’s English translations. All of these pieces are recorded here for the first time with this instrumentation.
Bettina von Arnim: The first two songs were published in her collection dedicated to Gaspare Spontini: #5 Herbstgefühl (poetry by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) and #4 Ein Stern der Lieb’ am Himmelslauf (poetry by Achim von Arnim). The third, Ach neige, du Schmerzenreiche, is a setting from Goethe’s Faust.
Johanna Kinkel: Op. 7 is a collection of six songs originally published under the name Johanna Matthieux and dedicated to Bettina von Arnim. For this album, we chose #1 Nachtlied (poetry by Emmanuel Geibel), #2 Wunsch (poetry by August Kopisch), and #5 An den Mond (poetry by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
English horn Tracks 14 - 17
Clémence de Grandval: Four Pieces for English Horn and Piano dedicated to Georges Gillet.
©℗ 2022 Ann Lemke. All rights reserved.
Meet the Composers
-
Ginkgoh!
-
Clémence de Grandval (1828 – 1907)
prolific French composer, pianist, and singer who composed exceptional works for oboe and English horn
-
Clara Schumann (1819 – 1896)
virtuoso German pianist who concertized across Europe, composed, and taught piano
-
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805 – 1847)
gifted German pianist and prolific composer who organized private concerts at her home in Berlin
-
Bettina von Arnim (1785 – 1859)
celebrated German writer, author of Goethe’s Correspondence With a Child and other epistolary books, who composed songs
-
Johanna Kinkel (1810 – 1858)
German composer, pianist, pedagogue, writer, and director of choral concerts in Bonn, who emigrated to London following the 1848-49 revolution
Meet the Artists
-
Oboe, oboe d’amore, English horn, program notes, project conception
Ann Lemke performs internationally as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician and teaches at her thriving private studio in Metro Detroit, at Cranbrook School, and online. With this album, she brings together her performing artistry and extensive research as a scholar of women composers. A Michigan native, Ann trained at the Manhattan School of Music with Elaine Douvas and at Interlochen Arts Academy. As the recipient of Fulbright and DAAD grants to Germany, Ann studied the music manuscripts of Bettina von Arnim and Johanna Kinkel. Fascinated with the undiscovered works of these and other 19th century women writers & composers, Ann published a collection of Goethe songs by women composers (Furore) and completed a Ph.D. dissertation on Bettina von Arnim’s Musical Voice (Indiana University). Through oboists Laila Storch and Lajos Lencsés, Ann was inspired to explore the compositions of Clémence de Grandval. In 2012 she gave the US and Canadian premiere performances of the Grandval Oboe Concerto (Lencsés orchestration) with the International Symphony Orchestra.
-
Piano
Amanda has been a collaborative pianist at Oakland University (Michigan) since 2007. She also performs regionally and internationally as an instrumental and vocal accompanist. For fifteen years she performed as a touring artist with the Michigan Opera Theatre and served as the official accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions held at the Detroit Opera House. Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway invited her on numerous occasions to perform at their International Flute Festival in Switzerland. She has performed both on the Grand Stage of Carnegie Hall and at Lincoln Center in New York City. With a passion for educational outreach through music, Amanda has collaborated with many Metro Detroit organizations that serve the needs of the community.
-
Cover Art, Graphic Design
French artist Emmanuelle Ayrton, created illustrations for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Her books of illustrations, including Les Musiciens: scènes de vie (self-published in 2018) and Silence! Singers at Work, with an introduction by the internationally acclaimed opera singer Joyce DiDonato (Peters, 2015), show musicians’ everyday lives in a humorous way. Her approachable drawings, which aim to assert the necessity of music and the arts in all of our lives, have been exhibited in France. Emmanuelle studied at Parsons School of Design in Paris and New York and lives in France. See EmmanuelleAyrton.com
-
Recording, mixing, and mastering
Recording engineer Terry Herald is a faculty member and Technical Coordinator at Oakland University’s School of Music, Theater & Dance, where he teaches audio techniques, film music, and composition. He has a wealth of experience as a composer, conductor, arranger and classical guitarist. He composed the orchestral score for the award-winning PBS special Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents, the original score for the film Journey to Justice, and Fantasie on Danny Boy, commissioned as a tribute to Sir James Galway. Terry serves as music director for guitarist Earl Klugh and jazz flutist Alexander Zonjic. See TerryHerald.com