Erwin Schulhoff

Suite WV 18

Here is a piece of music that is fun to play, an early work by a composer of the late Dada period and classical jazz. Erwin Schulhoff made his name in the 1920s with piano music inspired by jazz and Dadaistic compositions. This five-movement suite for violin and piano falls into the first phase of maturity in Schulhoff's musical development. In 1911 the young composer proudly gave this work the title Opus 1, thus deliberately setting it above a whole series of earlier compositions. The Suite, which is published here for the first time, combines boisterous fun with a wealth of witty ideas. In the autograph manuscript the words 'Eroticism' and 'Dance of the little devils' have been written above the first and last movements of the violin part. Theatrical interpretations are therefore entirely appropriate.