As an artist with a compulsion to create, Raff continually had ideas about potential compositions and, quite naturally, some of these never came to fruition. No doubt most of these passing fancies died without Raff making any record of them. However, some of these projects are recorded in his daughter's biography of him and elsewhere and are listed here, together with all that is known of them:
| Projected works | Date |
Notes |
|||
RP.1 |
Overture in C minor | Orchestra | 1849-50 | Planned in December 1849. Abandoned in 1850 in favour of the E minor Symphony WoO.18. | |
RP.2 |
Overture | Orchestra | 1849-50 | Planned in December 1849. Abandoned in 1850 in favour of the E minor Symphony WoO.18. | |
RP.3 |
Overture | Orchestra | 1849-50 | Planned in December 1849. Abandoned in 1850 in favour of the E minor Symphony WoO.18. | |
RP.4 |
Quick Waltz, Polonaise & Saltarello | Piano | 1853 | Planned second set of Three Dance Caprices to follow op.54. | |
RP.5 |
Opera: Agnete | Opera | 1865 | Libretto provided by Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld, based on a Danish fairy tale. | |
RP.6 |
Lachen Mass | A Capella choir | 1868-1869 | A capella mass for Raff's baptismal church in Lachen, Switzerland. Kyrie & Gloria WoO.31 possibly part of this project. | |
RP.7 |
Symphony: Auf der Wartburg Symphony: At the Wartburg |
Orchestra | Early 1870s | Programmatic symphony about the Wartburg castle. Mentioned in a letter to a publisher but not in Helene Raff's biography. Probably evolved into the Thuringian Suite WoO.45. | |
RP.8 |
Oratorium: Das Wasser Oratorio: The Water |
Orchestra, choir & soloists | 1877-1882 | Some sketches made. | |
RP.9 |
Opera: Don Quixote | Opera | 1877-1882 | Some sketches made. | |
RP.10 |
Opera: Sancho Barbado | Opera | 1877-1882 | Some sketches made. | |
RP.11 |
Musikdrama: Die Vandalen Music drama: The Vandals |
Opera | 1877-1882 | Some sketches made. | |
RP.12 |
Opera |
Opera | 1877-1882 | On an unknown biblical subject. Some sketches made. May have evolved into the oratorio World's End - Judgement - New World op.212 or the oratorio John the Baptist RP.15. | |
RP.13 |
Opera | Opera | 1877-1882 | Set at the Wartburg castle in the Hohenstaufen era. Some sketches made. | |
RP.14 |
Opera | Opera | 1877-1882 | Set in Frankfurt. Some sketches made. | |
RP.15 |
Oratorium: Johannes der Taufer |
Orchestra, choir & soloists | 1882 | Preparatory work begun: selection of texts from the bible and some musical sketches made. Work interrupted by Raff's death. | |
RP.16 |
Violin Sonata |
Violin & piano | 1882 | The manuscript of the Duo for violin & piano WoO.55 suggests that it was written as the finale for a Sixth Violin Sonata, left uncompleted at Raff's death. | |
A definitive 314 page Catalogue of Raff's Music has been published by raff.org. It contains much more information than can be included on the website and can be ordered direct from the Raff Shop.
