Carl Valentin Wunderle
Encyclopedia
Carl Valentin Wunderle (April 13, 1866 - February 16, 1944) was a German-American musician and composer. He was a child prodigy in music, and spent his entire adult life playing violin and viola in major U.S. orchestras in Chicago
, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati, while at the same time maintaining a separate concertizing career. He played numerous instruments including the viola d'amore
, for which he wrote several compositions.
on the Austrian border. He lived in Munich
for at least part of his youth. Little is known about his parents, but it is clear that they had the means, the know-how, and the drive to promote their three musically talented children as “child wonders.” Beginning in early 1882 when Carl was 15 years old, he and his brother Constantine, age 14, and his sister Minna, age 13, formed the “Wunderkind” Trio. They spent six years performing together. Carl played the violin, and also accompanied his siblings on the piano when they sang duets. Constantine also played the zither, and Minna the guitar. All three children gave recitations. The Wunderkind trio toured throughout Europe, performing in Germany, Austria, Russia, Spain and England before kings, countesses, and nobles.
Carl was also a student at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
in Munich, Germany from 1880 to 1886. While there he studied and that he studied violin under a man named Brückner (not Anton Bruckner) and eventually also counterpoint under Josef Rheinberger
. His fellow students included the likes of Richard Strauss
and Horatio Parker
.
In 1888, when Carl was 21 years old, the Wunderkind trio disbanded, and he continued his professional career in a number of European orchestras. In 1888 he played with the Exposition Orchestra in Munich
. In 1889 he was concert master of the Kurhaus Orchestra in Bad Kissingen
. In 1890 he played with the Meininger Court Orchestra in Meiningen
. In 1891 he was at the Hochschule in Berlin where he studied under Joseph Joachim, and he spent the summer of that year as the concert master of the Kurhaus Orchestra in Riga
, Russia (now Latvia). In 1892 he was with the Exposition Orchestra in Vienna
and later with the Hans von Bülow
Orchestra in Hamburg
.
, who later went on to fame as the producer of the Ziegfeld follies. This means he must have started at the Exposition by playing for Ziegfeld’s father, Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld, Senior. Dr. Ziegfeld was the founder and president of the Chicago Musical College
, and had opened a night club at the Fair called the Trocadero, where he wanted to entertain people with classical music. Ziegfeld, Sr. had sent his son to Europe in the fall of 1892 to recruit talent for this undertaking.
The official orchestra at the World’s Columbian Exposition was under the direction of Theodore Thomas, who was also the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
. It seems likely that Wunderle ended up playing in Thomas’s Exposition orchestra, as well, because he became a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
later that same year.
Carl Wunderle had married a fellow German, Margaretha Winzer, by the time he joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
in 1893. She was a professional harpist, who also played in the Exposition orchestra in 1893, and also became a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
that same year.
Wunderle played in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
until the death of its director, Theodore Thomas, in January 1905. At that time Carl and Margaretha and their new baby moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, where Carl, and eventually also Margaretha joined the Pittsburgh Orchestra under the direction of Emil Paur
. Within two years, Carl and Margaretha were divorced. In 1907, Carl moved back to Chicago
and rejoined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
under the direction of Thomas’s successor, Frederick Stock
. Carl had played viola and percussion during his first stint with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
. When he came back, he played 1st violin.
Carl remarried, this time for life, in March 1907. He and his second wife, Elizabeth, went on to have three children.
In 1910, Carl and his family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio
, where he joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
, playing under Leopold Stokowski
. Carl remained with the Cincinnati Orchestra for 32 years until his retirement in 1941. Carl passed away on 16 February 1944.
circuit in the 1910s.
Carl was also well known for promoting early music. He gave concerts and lecture recitals on such instruments as the viola d'amore
, the viola pomposa
, and the ravanastron, and would often dress in period costumes for these occasions. He claimed to have mastered 19 different musical instruments during his lifetime.
Manuscript works by Carl Wunderle include
Compositions and arrangements for the viola d’amore which were donoted by John and Pearl Poellet to the [New York Public Library for the Performing Arts] at Lincoln Center and are housed with the Walter Voigtlander Collection there. The works of Carl Wunderle in this collection include:
Manuscript Compositions
Manuscript Arrangements
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati, while at the same time maintaining a separate concertizing career. He played numerous instruments including the viola d'amore
Viola d'amore
The viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.- Structure and sound :...
, for which he wrote several compositions.
Early Life in Germany
Carl Valentin Wunderle was born on 13 April 1866 in Meleck, Germany, a small village in the mountains just south of MunichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
on the Austrian border. He lived in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
for at least part of his youth. Little is known about his parents, but it is clear that they had the means, the know-how, and the drive to promote their three musically talented children as “child wonders.” Beginning in early 1882 when Carl was 15 years old, he and his brother Constantine, age 14, and his sister Minna, age 13, formed the “Wunderkind” Trio. They spent six years performing together. Carl played the violin, and also accompanied his siblings on the piano when they sang duets. Constantine also played the zither, and Minna the guitar. All three children gave recitations. The Wunderkind trio toured throughout Europe, performing in Germany, Austria, Russia, Spain and England before kings, countesses, and nobles.
Carl was also a student at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
The Hochschule für Musik und Theater München is one of the most respected traditional vocational universities in Germany specialising in music and the performing arts. The seat of the Hochschule is the former Führerbau of the NSDAP, located at Arcisstraße 12, on the eastern side of the Königsplatz...
in Munich, Germany from 1880 to 1886. While there he studied and that he studied violin under a man named Brückner (not Anton Bruckner) and eventually also counterpoint under Josef Rheinberger
Josef Rheinberger
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger was a German organist and composer, born in Liechtenstein.-Short biography:...
. His fellow students included the likes of Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
and Horatio Parker
Horatio Parker
Horatio William Parker was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in musical life in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the teacher of Charles Ives....
.
In 1888, when Carl was 21 years old, the Wunderkind trio disbanded, and he continued his professional career in a number of European orchestras. In 1888 he played with the Exposition Orchestra in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. In 1889 he was concert master of the Kurhaus Orchestra in Bad Kissingen
Bad Kissingen
Bad Kissingen is a spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and is the seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is a world-famous health resort.- Town structure :...
. In 1890 he played with the Meininger Court Orchestra in Meiningen
Meiningen
Meiningen is a town in Germany - located in the southern part of the state of Thuringia and is the district seat of Schmalkalden-Meiningen. It is situated on the river Werra....
. In 1891 he was at the Hochschule in Berlin where he studied under Joseph Joachim, and he spent the summer of that year as the concert master of the Kurhaus Orchestra in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Russia (now Latvia). In 1892 he was with the Exposition Orchestra in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and later with the Hans von Bülow
Hans von Bülow
Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...
Orchestra in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.
Symphony Career in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati
Carl Wunderle emigrated to America on 15 April 1893 to play in an orchestra at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, which opened its doors two weeks after his arrival. He enjoyed telling people that he was recruited for this by Florenz ZiegfeldFlorenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...
, who later went on to fame as the producer of the Ziegfeld follies. This means he must have started at the Exposition by playing for Ziegfeld’s father, Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld, Senior. Dr. Ziegfeld was the founder and president of the Chicago Musical College
Chicago Musical College
Chicago Musical College is a division of Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt UniversityIt was founded in 1867, less than four decades after the city of Chicago was incorporated...
, and had opened a night club at the Fair called the Trocadero, where he wanted to entertain people with classical music. Ziegfeld, Sr. had sent his son to Europe in the fall of 1892 to recruit talent for this undertaking.
The official orchestra at the World’s Columbian Exposition was under the direction of Theodore Thomas, who was also the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
. It seems likely that Wunderle ended up playing in Thomas’s Exposition orchestra, as well, because he became a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
later that same year.
Carl Wunderle had married a fellow German, Margaretha Winzer, by the time he joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
in 1893. She was a professional harpist, who also played in the Exposition orchestra in 1893, and also became a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
that same year.
Wunderle played in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
until the death of its director, Theodore Thomas, in January 1905. At that time Carl and Margaretha and their new baby moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, where Carl, and eventually also Margaretha joined the Pittsburgh Orchestra under the direction of Emil Paur
Emil Paur
Emil Paur was an Austrian orchestra conductor. Paur was born in Czernowitz, Austria, now Ukraine, and trained in Vienna before working as a conductor in Kassel, Königsberg and Leipzig. He then emigrated to the United States where he led the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and...
. Within two years, Carl and Margaretha were divorced. In 1907, Carl moved back to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and rejoined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
under the direction of Thomas’s successor, Frederick Stock
Frederick Stock
Frederick Stock was a German conductor and composer.-Biography:...
. Carl had played viola and percussion during his first stint with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
. When he came back, he played 1st violin.
Carl remarried, this time for life, in March 1907. He and his second wife, Elizabeth, went on to have three children.
In 1910, Carl and his family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, where he joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
As the fifth oldest orchestra in the United States, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has a legacy of fine music making as reflected in its performances in historic Music Hall, recordings, and international tours...
, playing under Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
. Carl remained with the Cincinnati Orchestra for 32 years until his retirement in 1941. Carl passed away on 16 February 1944.
Other Musical Activities
In addition to his symphony work, Carl Wunderle built a reputation for himself as a performer, musical educator, and composer. He performed professionally in various ensembles including the Wunderle String Trio, where he played violin. He performed with this and other ensembles on the ChautauquaChautauqua
Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...
circuit in the 1910s.
Carl was also well known for promoting early music. He gave concerts and lecture recitals on such instruments as the viola d'amore
Viola d'amore
The viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.- Structure and sound :...
, the viola pomposa
Viola pomposa
The Viola pomposa is a five stringed instrument developed around 1725. There are no exact dimensions applicable to all instruments used under this name, although in general the pomposa is slightly smaller than a standard viola...
, and the ravanastron, and would often dress in period costumes for these occasions. He claimed to have mastered 19 different musical instruments during his lifetime.
Compositions
Published works by Carl Wunderle include- American Fantasia für die Harfe. Chicago: Lyon & Healy, 1903. Repository: Music and Dance Library, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA. Digital copy available from Brigham Young University.
- Swedish Fantasy for viola d'amore. Edited by Dr. Gordon Childs, and published as a Viola d'amore Society of America Edition.
- Homage à Spohr for viola d'amore. Edited by Dr. Gordon Childs, and published as a Viola d'amore Society of America Edition.
Manuscript works by Carl Wunderle include
Compositions and arrangements for the viola d’amore which were donoted by John and Pearl Poellet to the [New York Public Library for the Performing Arts] at Lincoln Center and are housed with the Walter Voigtlander Collection there. The works of Carl Wunderle in this collection include:
Manuscript Compositions
- Fantasie Suedoise (Swedish Fantasy) for Viola d'amore and Piano
- American Fantasie for Viola d'amore and Piano
- Concertino Op. 47, “Homage a Spohr” for Viola d'amore and Harpsichord
Manuscript Arrangements
- Concerto for Viola d'amore and Lute - Vivaldi (Score and Parts. Arr. 1: Violin I & II, Bass, Viola d'amore, Lute part transcribed for Viola. Arr. 2: Largo Movement for Viola d'amore, Flute, 3 Violins, Violincello, Cembalo)
- Baroque Dances derived from Violin, Cello and Keyboard Suites - Bach (Gavotte, Siciliano, Praeludio, Sarabande I, Sarabande II)
- Cavatina “Se pel rigor” from La Juive for Viola d'amore and Piano - F. E. Halevy
- Sonata da Camera Op. 6 No. 3 for Viola d'amore and Cembalo - Locatelli (Andante, Minuetto con Altro, Allegro)
- Concerto for Viola da Gamba & Continuo arr. Viola d'amore and Piano - G. Tartini (Poco largo, Allegro moderato, Grave, Finale allegro)
- Valse for Viola d'amore and Piano - Brahms
- Theme & Variations for Viola d'amore and Piano - P. Locatelli
- “Celeste Cecile,” Meditation Religioso for Viola d'amore and Harp - C. Miris
- 2nd Tarantella, “La Belle Napolitaine” for Viola d'amore & Piano - G. Papini (piano part missing)
- Confidence for solo Viola d'amore - H. Engelmann
- Ballet No 52 from Orpheus for Viola d'amore & Cembalo - C. W. Gluck
- Chaconne from Orpheus for Viola d'amore, Flute or Violin - C. W. Gluck (Viola da Gamba or Violincello, Cembalo)