Karl Höller
Encyclopedia
Karl Höller was a German
composer of the late Romantic tradition.
, Bavaria
. He came from a musical family on both sides: his father Valentin Höller was the Bamberg Cathedral
organist for 40 years, and his grandfather and great-grandfather were organists at Würzburg Cathedral
. His aunt Gretchen was the first female organist at Würzburg. His mother was a singer, whose father had been a choir director and musician.
He showed aptitude for the organ
at an early age. He was a choirboy from age six, and he studied piano
, organ and cello
in Bamberg. He went to the Würzburg Conservatory where he studied composition under Hermann Zilcher
; and to the Munich Academy of Music, where he studed composition with Joseph Haas
and Waltershausen, organ with Gatscher, and conducting with Siegfried von Hausegger. After taking his composition and organ examinations in 1929, he became a master-class student of Haas.
He taught at the Munich Academy (1933–37), from 1937 in Frankfurt at the Hoch Conservatory
and Hochschule für Musik
(1938–46), and the Munich Conservatory
(Hochschule für Musik) (1949–72; taking over the composition class of his teacher Joseph Haas). He was also president of the Munich Hochschule für Musik from 1954 to 1972.
Höller became a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts
in 1952, and an honorary member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1958.
His compositions are characterized by polyphony and colourful, impressionistic harmony. They are redolent of Paul Hindemith
, Hans Pfitzner
, Max Reger
and the French 20th century school. He wrote in a tonal idiom regardless of the prevailing fashions, which meant that he was initially criticised as modernist, and later as a reactionary. His music has been recorded by such artists as Eugen Jochum
(Symphonic Fantasy and Sweelinck Variations), Wilhelm Furtwängler
(Cello Concerto No. 2, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
) and others.
Karl Höller died on 14 April 1987 in Hausham
, Miesbach
, Bavaria
.
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 of the late Romantic tradition.
Biography
Karl Höller was born in BambergBamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. He came from a musical family on both sides: his father Valentin Höller was the Bamberg Cathedral
Bamberg Cathedral
The Bamberg Cathedral is a church in Bamberg, Germany, completed in the 13th century. The cathedral is under the administration of the Roman Catholic Church and is the seat of the Archbishop of Bamberg....
organist for 40 years, and his grandfather and great-grandfather were organists at Würzburg Cathedral
Würzburg Cathedral
Würzburg Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg...
. His aunt Gretchen was the first female organist at Würzburg. His mother was a singer, whose father had been a choir director and musician.
He showed aptitude for the organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
at an early age. He was a choirboy from age six, and he studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organ and cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
in Bamberg. He went to the Würzburg Conservatory where he studied composition under Hermann Zilcher
Hermann Zilcher
Hermann Zilcher was a German composer and conductor.- Selected works :Stage* Fitzebutze, Traumspiel in 5 acts by Richard Dehmel, Op. 19...
; and to the Munich Academy of Music, where he studed composition with Joseph Haas
Joseph Haas
Joseph Haas was a German late romantic composer and music teacher.-Biography:He was born in Maihingen, near Nördlingen to teacher Alban Haas from his second marriage, being half-brother to the theologist and historian Alban Haas. At an early age he came into contact with music...
and Waltershausen, organ with Gatscher, and conducting with Siegfried von Hausegger. After taking his composition and organ examinations in 1929, he became a master-class student of Haas.
He taught at the Munich Academy (1933–37), from 1937 in Frankfurt at the Hoch Conservatory
Hoch Conservatory
Dr. Hoch’s Konservatorium - Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on September 22, 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for music and the arts was established for all age groups. ...
and Hochschule für Musik
Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts
The Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts is a state Hochschule for Music, Theater and Dance in Frankfurt and is the only one of its kind in the Federal State of Hesse. It was founded in 1938....
(1938–46), and the Munich Conservatory
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...
(Hochschule für Musik) (1949–72; taking over the composition class of his teacher Joseph Haas). He was also president of the Munich Hochschule für Musik from 1954 to 1972.
Höller became a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
in 1952, and an honorary member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1958.
His compositions are characterized by polyphony and colourful, impressionistic harmony. They are redolent of Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
, Hans Pfitzner
Hans Pfitzner
Hans Erich Pfitzner was a German composer and self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera Palestrina, loosely based on the life of the great sixteenth-century composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.-Biography:Pfitzner was born in Moscow, Russia, where his...
, Max Reger
Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...
and the French 20th century school. He wrote in a tonal idiom regardless of the prevailing fashions, which meant that he was initially criticised as modernist, and later as a reactionary. His music has been recorded by such artists as Eugen Jochum
Eugen Jochum
Eugen Jochum was an eminent German conductor.Born in Babenhausen, near Augsburg, Germany, Jochum studied the piano and organ in Augsburg until 1922. He then studied conducting in Munich...
(Symphonic Fantasy and Sweelinck Variations), Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...
(Cello Concerto No. 2, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
The Berlin Philharmonic, German: , formerly Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester , is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In 2006, a group of ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the...
) and others.
Karl Höller died on 14 April 1987 in Hausham
Hausham
Hausham is a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria in Germany.-geographical classification:Hausham is located approximately 45 km south of Munich, between Miesbach and Schliersee...
, Miesbach
Miesbach
Miesbach is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and is the capital of the Miesbach district. The district is at an altitude of 697 metres above sea level. It covers an area of approximately 863.50 km² of alpine headlands and in 2004 had a population of 93,942. The town is located 48 km southeast...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
.
Orchestral
- Concertino for violin, viola, piano and chamber orchestra, Op. 9 (1930)
- Chamber concerto for violin and orchestra, Op. 10 (1930; revised as Violin Concerto, Op. 23, 1938; new version 1967)
- Divertimento for Chamber Orchestra, Op. 11a (1939)
- Concerto for Organ and Chamber Orchestra, Op. 15 (1930/32; revised 1966)
- Toccata, Improvisations and Fugue (orchestration of Op. 16 for 2 pianos) (1942)
- Hymn on Gregorian Chorales, Op. 18 (1932/34)
- Chamber Concerto for Harpsichord and Small Orchestra or 6 solo instruments (Op. 19, 1933/34; revised 1958)
- Symphonic Variations (or Symphonic Fantasy) on a Theme of Girolamo FrescobaldiGirolamo FrescobaldiGirolamo Frescobaldi was a musician from Ferrara, one of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. A child prodigy, Frescobaldi studied under Luzzasco Luzzaschi in Ferrara, but was influenced by a large number of composers, including Ascanio...
, Op. 20 (1935, rev. 1956, 1965) - Passacaglia and Fugue on a Theme of Frescobaldi, Op. 25 (1938/39)
- 2 cello concertos (No. 1, Op. 26, 1940/41; No. 2, Op. 50, 1949)
- Heroische Musik, Op. 28 (1940)
- 2 little symphonies, Opp. 32a (1965), 32b (1969)
- Concerto grosso for 2 violins and orchestra, Op. 38a (1965; a re-working of the Trio Sonata for 2 violins and piano, Op. 38)
- 2 symphonies (No. 1, Op. 40, 1942–46; No. 2, Op. 65, 1973, "Homage to 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...
") - Sonata for orchestra, Op. 44a (1966)
- Serenade for chamber orchestra, Op. 46a (1957; rev. for large orchestra 1972)
- Symphonic Concerto for violin and orchestra, Op. 47 (1947/48)
- Fugue for string orchestra (1948; a reworking of the first movement of the String Quartet No. 5, Op. 48)
- Divertimento for flute and strings, Op. 53a (? 1978)
- Sweelinck Variations ("Mein junges Lebe hat ein End"), Op. 56 (1950/51)
- Intrade, Allegro and Fugue, for timpani, percussion and strings, Op. 60 (1962)
- ”Bamberger” Piano Concerto, Op. 63 (1972/73)
- Transcription for orchestra of Franz SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's Five German Dances for piano - Transcription for orchestra of Max RegerMax RegerJohann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...
’s "Praeludium und Fughetta", Op. 80 (1974)
Chamber
- 8 violin sonatas (unnumbered, Op. 4, 1929, revised 1968; No. 1, Op. 30, 1942; No. 2 in G minor, Op. 33, 1943 – dedicated to the memory of Alma MoodieAlma MoodieAlma Templeton Moodie was an Australian violinist who established an excellent reputation in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. She was regarded as the foremost female violinist during the inter-war years, and she premiered violin concertos by Kurt Atterberg, Hans Pfitzner and Ernst Krenek...
, who died in March 1943; No. 3, Op. 35 "Fränkische", 1944; No. 4, Op. 37, 1945; No. 5, Op. 39 "HoneggerArthur HoneggerArthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
Sonata", 1946; No. 6, Op. 44, 1947; No. 7, Op. 52, 1949) - Chamber Trio for 2 violins and piano, Op. 6 (1930)
- Piano Quartet (Op. 7, 1930; revised 1955)
- Divertimento for flute, violin, viola, cello and piano, Op. 11 (1931)
- 6 string quartets (No, 1, Op. 24, 1938, revised 1966; No. 2, Op. 36, 1945; No. 3, Op. 42, 1947 – see also Serenade for Wind Quintet, Op. 42a; No. 4 in C, Op. 43, 1947; No. 5, Op. 48, 1948; 1st movt. Reworked as "Fugue for String Orchestra"; No. 6, Op. 51, 1948)
- Largo appassionato (violin/piano, 1939)
- Music for violin and piano, Op. 27 (1940/41; rev. 1956)
- 2 Cello Sonatas (No. 1, Op. 31, 1943, rev. 1967; or viola and piano; also for Viola and Clarinet, 1967; No. 2, Op. 66, ? 1979)
- Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 34 (1944; also for Harp, Violin, and Cello, Op. 34a, 1966)
- Trio Sonata ‘in the old style’, Op. 38 (2 violins and piano, 1946; rev. as Concerto Grosso for 2 Violins and orchestra, Op. 38a, 1965)
- Serenade for wind quintet, Op. 42a (after the String Quartet No. 3, Op. 42)
- 2 Flute Sonatas (No. 1, Op. 45, 1947; No. 2 in C, Op. 53, 1948)
- Clarinet Quintet in A minor, Op. 46 (1947)
- Fantasy, Op. 49 (violin and organ, 1949)
- Divertimento for 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass and flute, Op. 53a
- Improvisation on the sacred folksong "Schonster Herr Jesu", Op. 55 (cello and organ, 1950; or violin and piano)
- Viola Sonata in E minor, Op. 62, "In memoriam Paul HindemithPaul HindemithPaul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
" (1966/67) - Scherzo for wind octet (1972)
Piano
- Suite, Op. 2
- 3 Little suites, Op. 2a (1975; includes a reworked Suite, Op.2)
- Toccata, Improvisation and Fugue, Op. 16 (2 pianos, 1932, rev. 1966; see also Orchestral)
- Sonatina, Op. 29 (1942)
- 2 Little sonatas for Piano, 4 Hands (Op. 32, 1943)
- 3 Little sonatas (Op. 41, 1946)
- Little Dance (1950)
- 2 Little sonatas for 2 pianos, Op. 41a (1967)
- Tessiner Klavierbuch, Op. 57 (1957/61)
- Impression; Scherzoso; Elegie; Etude; Notturno; Capriccio ("Kuckuck"); Die Glocken von; Capriasca; Tanz; Epilog
- 2 Sonatinas, Op. 58 (1962)
- Capricious Dance
Organ
- Chorale Partita "O wie selig seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen", Op. 1 (1929)
- Fantasy (1930)
- Chorale Variations "Helft mir Gottes Güte preisen", Op. 22, No. 1 (1936)
- Chorale Variations "Jesu meine Freude", Op. 22, No. 2 (1936)
- Ciacona in B minor, Op. 54
- Chorale-Passacaglia on "Die Sonn' hat sich mit ihrem Glanz gewendet", Op. 61 (1962)
- Triptychon on the Easter sequence "Victimae paschali laudes", Op. 64
- Chorale Prelude "Zu Bethlehem geboren"
Vocal
- Missa brevis, Op. 3 (chorus a cappella, 1929)
- 3 Old German Minnelieder, Op. 5 (1929)
- Motet "Media vita in morte sumusMedia vita in morte sumusMedia vita in morte sumus is the title and first line of a Latin antiphon, which translates as In the midst of life we are in death. It was erroneously attributed to Notker the Stammerer late in the Middle Ages, but was more probably written around 750 in France...
", male choir, tenor and bass solos, Op. 8 (1930) - Jubilate Deo, for 5- or 8-part choir and organ (1930)
- "Weihnachtsmusik", Op. 12a (female and children’s voices, violin and organ; 1931)
- 3 Songs on poems of Thea Graziella (1931)
- Passionmusik, Op. 12b (soprano, female and children’s voices, violin and organ; 1932)
- Hymnen, Op. 13 (male chorus, 3 trumpets, timpani and organ, 1932; revised as Hymnischer Gesang for male chorus or mixed chorus and orchestra, Op. 13a)
- Requiem Missa pro defunctis, Op. 14 (chorus and organ, 1931/32)
- Emitte spiritum, choir and organ (1932)
- 6 Sacred songs, Op. 17 (chorus and organ, 1932; version for chorus and piano, 1972)
- Lied zur Fastnacht, 3-part female or children’s chorus and piano 4-hands (1933)
- Motet "Tenebrae factae sunt", Op. 21 (male chorus, flute, oboe and clarinet; 1937)
- Weg in die Zukunft, 2-part choir and winds or piano (1939)
- Volk, du bist das Wesen, 3-part choir (1939)
- Summer Night, 5 songs for 4- and 8-part choir a cappella, Op. 59 (1963)
Film scores
- Raum in kriesenden Licht (1936)
- Antwort des Herzens (written 1949 for a 1950 documentary)
Other
- Hörspielmusik Cenodoxus, der Doktor von Paris (1933)
- Hörspielmusik Thomas PaineThomas PaineThomas "Tom" Paine was an English author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States...
(1934)