August Klughardt
Encyclopedia
August Friedrich Martin Klughardt (November 30, 1847– August 3, 1902) was a German
composer and conductor.
. One year later, Klughardt gave his debut as pianist. After having finished school, he moved to Dresden in 1866. There, he took further lessons and brought his compositions to the public for the first time. One year later, he began to earn his living as a conductor. At first, he worked at the municipal theatre in Posen(Poznań
) for one season, then in Neustrelitz
for one season, and finally in Lübeck
for several months. From 1869 to 1873, he worked at the court theatre in Weimar
. There, he met Franz Liszt
, which was very important for his creative development. In 1873, he returned to Neustrelitz where he became chief conductor. He was even appointed manager in 1880. In 1876, he visited the first Bayreuth Festival
. From 1882 to the end of his life, he was director of music at the court in Dessau. In 1892 and 1893, he conducted Richard Wagner
's Der Ring des Nibelungen
. He received many distinctions in his last years: he was appointed member of the Berlin Academy of Arts in 1898 and he was made honorary doctor by the University of Erlangen. He was also asked to direct the "Singakademie" in Berlin, but he rejected this offer. Klughardt died suddenly in Roßlau
at the age of 54.
and a lot of chamber music
. Likewise, he did not compose a single symphonic poem
, a genre that was propagated by Liszt, but several more old-fashioned programmatic overture
s. In fact, Robert Schumann
's influence is probably more obvious in Klughardt's works. He intended to create a synthesis of these dissimilar tendencies. In his opera
s, he used Wagner's leitmotif
technique, but he held to the older number opera instead of Wagner's through-composed music-drama. Some of his compositions show Klughardt as a child of his times, for example his choral work Die Grenzberichtigung (The correction of the frontier), Op. 25, which was composed when Germany won the Franco-Prussian war
in 1870/71. Altogether, Klughardt must be considered as a rather conservative composer in spite of his interest in more modern tendencies. Today, most of his output is nearly forgotten. Only his Violoncello concerto
, his Schilflieder (Reed Songs) and his Wind quintet
are played from time to time.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
composer and conductor.
Life
Klughardt, who was born in Köthen, took his first piano and music theory lessons at the age of 10. Soon, be began to compose his first pieces, which were performed by a music circle Klughardt had founded himself at school. In 1863, his family moved to DessauDessau
Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...
. One year later, Klughardt gave his debut as pianist. After having finished school, he moved to Dresden in 1866. There, he took further lessons and brought his compositions to the public for the first time. One year later, he began to earn his living as a conductor. At first, he worked at the municipal theatre in Posen(Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
) for one season, then in Neustrelitz
Neustrelitz
Neustrelitz is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital of the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz...
for one season, and finally in Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
for several months. From 1869 to 1873, he worked at the court theatre in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
. There, he met Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
, which was very important for his creative development. In 1873, he returned to Neustrelitz where he became chief conductor. He was even appointed manager in 1880. In 1876, he visited the first Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
. From 1882 to the end of his life, he was director of music at the court in Dessau. In 1892 and 1893, he conducted Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
. He received many distinctions in his last years: he was appointed member of the Berlin Academy of Arts in 1898 and he was made honorary doctor by the University of Erlangen. He was also asked to direct the "Singakademie" in Berlin, but he rejected this offer. Klughardt died suddenly in Roßlau
Roßlau
Roßlau is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, part of the town Dessau-Roßlau. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, here crossed by two railway bridges, 3 m. by rail N. of Dessau and 35 m. S.E. of Magdeburg. Pop. 13,939...
at the age of 54.
Style
Klughardt's meeting with Liszt established his enthusiasm for the music of the "Neudeutsche Schule" around Wagner and Liszt. Indeed, his works reflect some of their conceptions. Nevertheless, Klughardt did not shy away from keeping up genres which Wagner and Liszt rejected. He wrote six symphoniesSymphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
and a lot of chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
. Likewise, he did not compose a single symphonic poem
Symphonic poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...
, a genre that was propagated by Liszt, but several more old-fashioned programmatic overture
Overture
Overture in music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera...
s. In fact, Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
's influence is probably more obvious in Klughardt's works. He intended to create a synthesis of these dissimilar tendencies. In his opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, he used Wagner's leitmotif
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
technique, but he held to the older number opera instead of Wagner's through-composed music-drama. Some of his compositions show Klughardt as a child of his times, for example his choral work Die Grenzberichtigung (The correction of the frontier), Op. 25, which was composed when Germany won the Franco-Prussian war
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
in 1870/71. Altogether, Klughardt must be considered as a rather conservative composer in spite of his interest in more modern tendencies. Today, most of his output is nearly forgotten. Only his Violoncello concerto
Violoncello concerto
A cello concerto is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments....
, his Schilflieder (Reed Songs) and his Wind quintet
Wind quintet
A wind quintet, also sometimes known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players . The term also applies to a composition for such a group....
are played from time to time.
List of works
- Symphonies
- Waldleben (Life in the forest), symphony (1871, withdrawn)
- Symphony No.1, Op. 27 Lenore (1873)
- Symphony No.2 in F minor, Op. 34 (1876)
- Symphony No.3 in D major, Op. 37 (ca. 1880)
- Symphony No.4 in C minor, Op. 57 (1897)
- Symphony No.5 in C Minor, Op. 71 (1897, arrangement of the Sextet opus 58)
- other works for orchestra
- Sophionisbe, ouverture, Op. 12 (1869)
- Die Wacht am RheinDie Wacht am Rhein"Die Wacht am Rhein" is a German patriotic anthem. The song's origins are rooted in historical conflicts with France, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War....
. Siegesouvertüre (The watch on the Rhine. Victory ouverture), Op. 26 (1871) - SuiteSuiteIn music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
in A minor, Op. 40 (1883) - Auf der Wanderschaft (On the tramp), suite, Op. 67 (1896, originally for piano)
- Violin concertoViolin concertoA violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
in D major, Op. 68 (ca. 1895) - Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 59 (by 1892)
- Konzertstück for oboe and orchestra in F Major, Op. 18 (ca. 1870)
- Romance for bass clarinet and orchestra
- Operas
- Mirjam, Op. 15 (ca. 1870)
- Iwein, Op. 35 (1877/78)
- Gudrun, Op. 38 (1883)
- Die Hochzeit des Mönchs (The friar's wedding), Op. 48 (ca. 1885)
- other vocal music
- Die Zerstörung Jerusalems (The deletion of Jerusalem), oratorioOratorioAn oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
(ca. 1898) - Judith, oratorio (ca. 1900)
- choral works
- songs
- Die Zerstörung Jerusalems (The deletion of Jerusalem), oratorio
- Chamber music
- String quartetString quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
in F major, Op. 42 (ca. 1883) - String quartet in D major, Op. 61 (ca. 1890)
- String quintetString quintetA string quintet is a musical composition for a standard string quartet supplemented by a fifth string instrument, usually a second viola or a second cello , but occasionally a double bass. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who favoured addition of a viola, is considered a pioneer of the form...
in G minor, Op. 62 (ca. 1890) - String sextetString sextetIn classical music, a string sextet is a composition written for six string instruments, or a group of six musicians who perform such a composition. Most string sextets have been written for an ensemble consisting of two violins, two violas, and two cellos....
in C sharp minor, Op. 58 (ca. 1890) - Piano trioPiano trioA piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...
in B flat major, Op. 47 (ca. 1885) - Piano quintetPiano quintetIn European classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly piano, two violins, viola, and cello . Among the most frequently performed piano quintets are those by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, César Franck, Antonín Dvořák...
in G minor, Op. 43 (ca. 1883) - Schilflieder (Reed songs), 5 Fantasiestücke after poems by LenauNikolaus LenauNikolaus Lenau was the nom de plume of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau , was a German language Austrian poet.-Biography:...
for piano, oboe and viola, Op. 28 (1872) - Wind QuintetWind quintetA wind quintet, also sometimes known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players . The term also applies to a composition for such a group....
in C major, Op.79 (ca. 1898)
- String quartet
Media
External links
- Klughardt String Quintet in g minor, Op.62 Discussion of work, soundbites and short biography