Heinrich von Herzogenberg
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Picot de Peccaduc, Freiherr von Herzogenberg (10 June 1843 – 9 October 1900) was an Austrian composer and conductor descended from a French aristocratic family.
He was born in Graz
and was educated at a Jesuit school in Feldkirch
and also in Munich
, Dresden
and Graz
before studying law, philosophy and political science at the university of Vienna
. He soon turned his energies to music, however, and attended the composition classes of Felix Otto Dessoff
until 1864. He was early attracted to the music of Wagner
, but through the study of J. S. Bach
he was led to a strong attachment to the classical tradition and became an ardent admirer of Brahms
. In 1866 he married Elisabet von Stockhausen, who had been a piano pupil of Brahms; Brahms's letters to and from both Herzogenbergs form one of the most delightful sections of his correspondence. They lived in Graz until 1872, when they moved to Leipzig
: in 1874, with the Bach scholar Philipp Spitta
, Herzogenberg founded the Leipzig Bach-Verein, which concerned itself with the revival of Bach’s cantata
s. Herzogenberg was its artistic director for ten years, during which time Ethel Smyth
was one of his composition pupils. From 1885 he was Professor of Composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin
: it was in this capacity that he advised the young Ralph Vaughan Williams
to study with Max Bruch
. He died suddenly in Wiesbaden
, aged 57; in his last years he used a wheelchair due to necrosis
of the joints.
Herzogenberg was a learned composer of definite gifts, and was the first to write a set of Variations on a theme of Brahms (his op.23, for four hands at one piano, composed in 1876 on the Brahms song, Die Trauernde, op.7 no.5), but despite Elisabet’s cajoling Brahms almost never expressed approval of his works. It has been theorized that he was piqued that Herzogenberg had married Elisabet, of whom he was himself extremely fond. Toward the end of his life, Brahms grudgingly relented somewhat writing, “Herzogenberg is able to do more than any of the others.”
While Herzogenberg has tended to be characterized as a mere epigone of Brahms, many of his compositions show little or no overt Brahmsian influence, for example his two string trios Op.27 Nos. 1 & 2, while some early compositions pre-dating his acquaintance with Brahms have features in common with the older composer.
Towards the end of his life he concentrated on providing music for communal worship in the Lutheran
Evangelical Church
in Strasbourg
, under the influence of Friedrich Spitta
, brother of Philipp Spitta
, who was professor of theology there, though Herzogenberg himself remained a Roman Catholic. His models in these pieces were the Bach oratorios and passions, with chorales designed to be sung by the congregation and only a small instrumental ensemble. He also wrote a large-scale Mass in memory of Philipp Spitta, for which Friedrich Spitta selected the text. Several of Herzogenberg’s major works were thought to have been destroyed during World War II
but resurfaced during the 1990s.
Vocal works
Orchestral works
Chamber music
Piano music
Organ works
He was born in Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
and was educated at a Jesuit school in Feldkirch
Feldkirch, Vorarlberg
- Schools :* Bundesgymnasium und Bundesrealgymnasium Feldkirch * Bundeshandelsakademie und Bundeshandelsschule Feldkirch* Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium und Bundesrealgymnasium Schillerstrasse...
and also 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...
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
before studying law, philosophy and political science at the university of 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...
. He soon turned his energies to music, however, and attended the composition classes of Felix Otto Dessoff
Felix Otto Dessoff
Felix Otto Dessoff was a German conductor and composer.-Biography:Dessoff was born in Leipzig and entered the conservatory there where he studied composition, piano and conducting with some of the foremost teachers of the day, including Ignaz Moscheles for piano and Moritz Hauptmann and Julius...
until 1864. He was early attracted to the music of 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...
, but through the study of J. S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
he was led to a strong attachment to the classical tradition and became an ardent admirer of Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
. In 1866 he married Elisabet von Stockhausen, who had been a piano pupil of Brahms; Brahms's letters to and from both Herzogenbergs form one of the most delightful sections of his correspondence. They lived in Graz until 1872, when they moved to Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
: in 1874, with the Bach scholar Philipp Spitta
Philipp Spitta
Julius August Philipp Spitta was a German music historian and musicologist best known for his 1873 biography of Johann Sebastian Bach.-Biography:...
, Herzogenberg founded the Leipzig Bach-Verein, which concerned itself with the revival of Bach’s cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s. Herzogenberg was its artistic director for ten years, during which time Ethel Smyth
Ethel Smyth
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth, DBE was an English composer and a leader of the women's suffrage movement.- Early career :...
was one of his composition pupils. From 1885 he was Professor of Composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
: it was in this capacity that he advised the young Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
to study with Max Bruch
Max Bruch
Max Christian Friedrich Bruch , also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire.-Life:Bruch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, where he...
. He died suddenly in Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, aged 57; in his last years he used a wheelchair due to necrosis
Necrosis
Necrosis is the premature death of cells in living tissue. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, toxins, or trauma. This is in contrast to apoptosis, which is a naturally occurring cause of cellular death...
of the joints.
Herzogenberg was a learned composer of definite gifts, and was the first to write a set of Variations on a theme of Brahms (his op.23, for four hands at one piano, composed in 1876 on the Brahms song, Die Trauernde, op.7 no.5), but despite Elisabet’s cajoling Brahms almost never expressed approval of his works. It has been theorized that he was piqued that Herzogenberg had married Elisabet, of whom he was himself extremely fond. Toward the end of his life, Brahms grudgingly relented somewhat writing, “Herzogenberg is able to do more than any of the others.”
While Herzogenberg has tended to be characterized as a mere epigone of Brahms, many of his compositions show little or no overt Brahmsian influence, for example his two string trios Op.27 Nos. 1 & 2, while some early compositions pre-dating his acquaintance with Brahms have features in common with the older composer.
Towards the end of his life he concentrated on providing music for communal worship in the Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
Evangelical Church
Evangelical Church
The term Evangelical Church may refer specifically to:* Slovak Evangelical Church* Armenian Evangelical Church* Assyrian Evangelical Church* Christian Evangelical Church of Romania* Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus...
in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, under the influence of Friedrich Spitta
Friedrich Spitta
Friedrich Spitta , German Protestant theologian, was born at Wittingen, Lower Saxony.Friedrich studied at Göttingen and Erlangen, and in course of time became professor ordinarius and university preacher at Saint Thomas Church in Strasbourg...
, brother of Philipp Spitta
Philipp Spitta
Julius August Philipp Spitta was a German music historian and musicologist best known for his 1873 biography of Johann Sebastian Bach.-Biography:...
, who was professor of theology there, though Herzogenberg himself remained a Roman Catholic. His models in these pieces were the Bach oratorios and passions, with chorales designed to be sung by the congregation and only a small instrumental ensemble. He also wrote a large-scale Mass in memory of Philipp Spitta, for which Friedrich Spitta selected the text. Several of Herzogenberg’s major works were thought to have been destroyed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
but resurfaced during the 1990s.
Selected works
Choral works- LiedLiedis a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
er for mixed chorus, op. 10 - Columbus, op. 11, Cantata (published Leipzig, 1872).
- Psalm 116, op. 34 (printed by Hänssler Musik Verlag, 1990)
- Nanna's Klage for soprano, alto, small chorus and orchestra, op. 59 (Leipzig: Rieter-Biedermann, 1887)
- Requiem, op. 72 (published Leipzig, 1891)
- Cantata Todtenfeier, op. 80 (1893) (libretto by Philipp Spitta's brother, Friedrich)
- MassMass (music)The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
in E minor for soloists, chorus and orchestra, op. 87 (published by Carus-Verlag in Stuttgart, 2002) - Oratorio Die Geburt Christi, op. 90 (1894)
- Die Passion, op. 93 (1896)
- Die Erntefeier, op. 104 (published by Leipzig : Rieter-Biedermann, 1899)
Vocal works
- Five songs for high voice and piano, op. 29 (published Leipzig and Winterthur, 1881)
- Five songs for high voice and piano, op. 30 (published Leipzig and Winterthur, 1881)
- Geistliche Gesänge for high voice, violin and organ, op. 89
Orchestral works
- Eight symphonies
- Odysseus, op. 16 (published Leipzig, 1873)
- Symphony no. 1 in C minor, op. 50
- Symphony no. 2 in B major, op. 70
- Symphony in F, WoO 25
- Cello Concerto, WoO.30 (1880) (lost)
- Violin Concerto in A major Joseph Joachim gewidmet, WoO 4 (1889)
- Rondo for Violin & Orchestra (Transcription of MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's rondo K511 for piano solo)
Chamber music
- 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 C major, op. 17 (1875) (Leipzig:Breitkopf & HärtelBreitkopf & HärtelBreitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...
, 1876) - 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 C minor (2 Violins, 2 Violas, Cello), op. 77 (Leipzig: Rieter-Biedermann, 1892- date of composition and publication) - Piano trios in C minor, op. 24 (1875-6, first published 1877 by Rieter-Biedermann) and in D minor, op. 36 (1882, first published 1884 by Rieter-Biedermann) (both republished by Carus-Verlag, 2001)
- String trios, op. 27 no. 1 in A (1879) and no. 2 in F (from the cpo recordings)
- Five string quartets, op. 18 in D minor, op. 42 nos. 1-3 (in G minor, D minor, and G major), dedicated to Johannes Brahms (published Leipzig: Rieter-Biedermann, 1884), op. 63 in F minor, dedicated to Joseph Joachim
- Quintet for winds and piano, op. 43 in E major
- Trio for piano, oboe and horn, op. 61
- 2 piano quartets, opp. 75 and 95 (dedicated to Brahms)
- Legends for viola and piano, op. 62
- Sonatas including
- Violin sonata op. 32 in A Joseph Joachim gewidmet (Leipzig: Rieter-Biedermann, 1882)
- Violin sonata, op. 54 in E (published in Leipzig, 1887)
- Violin sonata, op. 78 in D minor (Leipzig: Rieter-Biedermann, 1892)
- Cello sonata no. 1 in A minor, op. 52 (around 1886)
- Cello sonata no. 2 in D, op. 64 (1890)
- Cello sonata no. 3 in E major, op. 94 (around 1895) (Leipzig: J. Rieter-Biedermann, 1897)
Piano music
- Eight variations, op. 3
- Four fantasy pieces, op. 4 (published in Leipzig about 1866)
- Fantastic Dances, op. 9 (published around 1870 in Vienna)
- Theme and variations, op. 13 for 2 pianos (Wien: Gotthard, 1872)
- Variations on a Theme by Johannes Brahms for four hands, op. 23 (Gräfeling: W. Wollenweber, 1998)
- Allotria for piano duet, op. 33
- Five piano pieces, op. 37 (published about 1879 in Leipzig)
- Waltzes for piano duet, op. 53
- Variations on the Minuet from 'Don Juan' , op. 58
- Capriccio, op. 107
Organ works
- Orgel-Phantasie "Nun komm der Heiden Heiland", op. 39
- Orgel-Phantasie "Nun danket alle Gott", op. 46
- Six choral preludes, op. 67