Max Butting
Encyclopedia
Max Butting was a German
composer
.
from 1908 to 1914. There, he received instruction in composition from Friedrich Klose
, conducting from Felix Mottl
and Paul Prill, as well as singing from Karl Erler. He also attended lectures in psychology
, philosophy
and musicology
at the Munich University. Butting learned composition by private instruction from Walter Courvoisier, for the most part, whom Klose had recommended to him after a disagreement.
Butting was not called for military service in the First World War
due to bad health. On the urging of his father, he worked as an assistant in his father's business when he returned to Berlin in 1919, where he remained until 1923. However, he was allowed sufficient free time for composing. He quickly got in contact with other young artists and became friendly with Walter Ruttmann
and Philipp Jarnach
, among others. In 1921, Butting was admitted into the left-wing Novembergruppe and he led their musical events until 1927. In 1925, he was also a musical journalist for the "Sozialistischen Monatsheften" (Socialist Monthly Magazine). His works became better known through performances at the music festivals of the Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (Society for New Music), where Butting worked as a member of the board in the German section between 1925 and 1933, and at the Donaueschinger Musiktage
. In 1929, Hermann Scherchen
conducted Butting's Third Symphony in Geneva
, which also brought him recognition at the international level. In the same year, the composer became the vice-chairman of the Genossenschaft deutscher Tonkünstler (Co-operative of German Composers).
Max Butting was one of the first composers to confront his art with the medium of radio
. He was thus a member of the cultural advisors of the Funkstunde (Radio Hour) from 1926 until 1933 and the leader of a studio for radio interpretation at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory
from 1928 until 1933. Aside from that, he held master courses in radio composition at the Rundfunkversuchsstelle (Radio Experimental Office) of the Berliner Hochschule für Musik (Berlin College of Music), where Ernst Hermann Meyer
was one of his students.
In January 1933, Butting was even named a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts
, however it became clear soon after Adolf Hitler
took power that he was not wanted by the National Socialists. Until 1938, Butting was still able to work in the copyright company, STAGMA. After that, he again had to exist from his father's ironmonger business, partial ownership of which he had inherited after his father's death in 1932, and which he took over on his own at the beginning of 1939. To ensure the survival of the business and thus be able to support himself, the composer finally found himself obliged to join the NSDAP in 1940.
After the Second World War, Butting gave up his business activities and lived as a freelance composer in East Berlin. In 1948, he became a member of the Kulturbund der DDR (Cultural Association of the DDR
) and chief editor in the state radio committee of the GDR. In 1950, he was a founding member of the Deutsche Akademie der Künste
(German Academy of the Arts), of which he was vice-president from 1956 until 1959, and a board member of the Verband Deutscher Komponisten und Tonsetzer (Association of German Composers, the VdK of the GDR) as of 1951, as well as the leader of the advisory council of the Anstalt zur Wahrung der Aufführungsrechte (AWA, Institute for the Protection of Performance Rights). In the GDR, Butting received numerous honors: he received the silver Vaterländischer Verdienstorden (Fatherland Order of Merit) in 1961 and later in gold, an honorary doctorate from the Humboldt University of Berlin
in 1968, and the National Prize of East Germany
in 1973.
and Max Reger
and moved closer to more modern trends in the 1920s. He gradually managed to develop a distinctive personal style, which is pre-eminently characterized by counter-point and is equally close to both musical neoclassicism
and expressionism
. The meter/rhythm is complex for the most part and commonly contains changes in time. The harmony varies within an often dissonant, sharpened tonality. From time to time, there are twelve-tone themes, for example in Sinfonie Nr. 9, however Butting never develops a true dodecaphony
, in the sense of Arnold Schoenberg
, whom he critically admired. The composer also formally oriented himself on traditional models, such as the sonata form
, however he commonly varied it or gave it up entirely in more than a few works in favor of a development form which has no breaks. He always tried to find an individual form for each work, as his symphonic works show in an exemplary manner, in which all cyclic formations are represented, from single-movement to five-movement works.
A rather moderately productive composer before 1945 and almost completely silenced during the Nazi regime, Butting experienced a new creative impetus after the end of the war. The fact that the largest number of his works by far were created in the GDR is explainable above all in that he now made it one of his responsibilities to also write "everyday music", which was supposed to fulfill the state demand for a popular, easy-to-understand art. He started from some works he had already written especially for the radio at the end of the 1920s, which are stylistically close to sophisticated light music.
In the center of Butting's works are the ten symphonies, which identify him as one of the most important German symphonists of his generation. In addition to these, he wrote a chamber symphony for thirteen solo instruments, two symphoniettas ("little symphonies") and a triptychon for large orchestra. Aside from that, he wrote chamber music above all, among which ten string quartet
s stand out. Others of his remaining works include a piano concerto
and a flute concerto
, numerous shorter orchestral pieces, predominantly small piano works, as well as the oratorio
"Das Memorandum", the opera
"Plautus im Nonnenkloster" after Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
and several cantata
s.
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
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Life
Max Butting was the son of an ironmonger and of a piano teacher. He received his first musical instruction from his mother and later from the organist Arnold Dreyer. After attending secondary school (Realgymnasium), he studied at the Akademie der Tonkunst (Academy of Composition) in 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...
from 1908 to 1914. There, he received instruction in composition from Friedrich Klose
Friedrich Klose
Friedrich Klose was a German composer. His opera Ilsebill is inspired by the music of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, and the plot is based on the Brothers Grimm tale of a fisherman who catches a huge fish which grants wishes....
, conducting from Felix Mottl
Felix Mottl
Felix Josef von Mottl was an Austrian conductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day. He composed three operas, of which Agnes Bernauer was the most successful, as well as a string quartet and numerous songs and other music...
and Paul Prill, as well as singing from Karl Erler. He also attended lectures in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and musicology
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
at the Munich University. Butting learned composition by private instruction from Walter Courvoisier, for the most part, whom Klose had recommended to him after a disagreement.
Butting was not called for military service in the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
due to bad health. On the urging of his father, he worked as an assistant in his father's business when he returned to Berlin in 1919, where he remained until 1923. However, he was allowed sufficient free time for composing. He quickly got in contact with other young artists and became friendly with Walter Ruttmann
Walter Ruttmann
Walter Ruttmann was a German film director and along with Hans Richter and Viking Eggeling was an early German practitioner of experimental film....
and Philipp Jarnach
Philipp Jarnach
Philipp Jarnach was considered in the 1920s to be one of the most important composers of modern music....
, among others. In 1921, Butting was admitted into the left-wing Novembergruppe and he led their musical events until 1927. In 1925, he was also a musical journalist for the "Sozialistischen Monatsheften" (Socialist Monthly Magazine). His works became better known through performances at the music festivals of the Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (Society for New Music), where Butting worked as a member of the board in the German section between 1925 and 1933, and at the Donaueschinger Musiktage
Donaueschingen Festival
The Donaueschingen Festival is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen...
. In 1929, Hermann Scherchen
Hermann Scherchen
Hermann Scherchen was a German conductor.-Life:Scherchen was originally a violist and played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens...
conducted Butting's Third Symphony in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, which also brought him recognition at the international level. In the same year, the composer became the vice-chairman of the Genossenschaft deutscher Tonkünstler (Co-operative of German Composers).
Max Butting was one of the first composers to confront his art with the medium of radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
. He was thus a member of the cultural advisors of the Funkstunde (Radio Hour) from 1926 until 1933 and the leader of a studio for radio interpretation at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory
Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory
The Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory was a music institute in Berlin, established in 1893, which for decades was one of the most internationally renowned schools of music. It was formed from the existing schools of music of Xaver Scharwenka and Karl Klindworth, the Scharwenka-Konservatorium and...
from 1928 until 1933. Aside from that, he held master courses in radio composition at the Rundfunkversuchsstelle (Radio Experimental Office) of the Berliner Hochschule für Musik (Berlin College of Music), where Ernst Hermann Meyer
Ernst Hermann Meyer
Ernst Hermann Ludimar Meyer was a German composer and musicologist.Meyer was a significant composer and musicologist, his works include numerous songs, as...
was one of his students.
In January 1933, Butting was even named a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts
Prussian Academy of Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts was an art school set up in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Prussia. It had a decisive influence on art and its development in the German-speaking world throughout its...
, however it became clear soon after Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
took power that he was not wanted by the National Socialists. Until 1938, Butting was still able to work in the copyright company, STAGMA. After that, he again had to exist from his father's ironmonger business, partial ownership of which he had inherited after his father's death in 1932, and which he took over on his own at the beginning of 1939. To ensure the survival of the business and thus be able to support himself, the composer finally found himself obliged to join the NSDAP in 1940.
After the Second World War, Butting gave up his business activities and lived as a freelance composer in East Berlin. In 1948, he became a member of the Kulturbund der DDR (Cultural Association of the DDR
Cultural Association of the DDR
The Cultural Association of the GDR was a federation of local clubs in the German Democratic Republic . It formed part of the Socialist Unity Party-led National Front, and sent representatives to the Volkskammer. The association had numerous writers as its member, including Willi Bredel, Fritz...
) and chief editor in the state radio committee of the GDR. In 1950, he was a founding member of the Deutsche Akademie der Künste
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...
(German Academy of the Arts), of which he was vice-president from 1956 until 1959, and a board member of the Verband Deutscher Komponisten und Tonsetzer (Association of German Composers, the VdK of the GDR) as of 1951, as well as the leader of the advisory council of the Anstalt zur Wahrung der Aufführungsrechte (AWA, Institute for the Protection of Performance Rights). In the GDR, Butting received numerous honors: he received the silver Vaterländischer Verdienstorden (Fatherland Order of Merit) in 1961 and later in gold, an honorary doctorate from the Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
in 1968, and the National Prize of East Germany
National Prize of East Germany
The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic was an award of the German Democratic Republic given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement...
in 1973.
Tone language
Butting's music at first took up the style of Anton BrucknerAnton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
and Max Reger
Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...
and moved closer to more modern trends in the 1920s. He gradually managed to develop a distinctive personal style, which is pre-eminently characterized by counter-point and is equally close to both musical neoclassicism
Neoclassicism (music)
Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint...
and expressionism
Expressionism (music)
,Expressionism as a musical genre is difficult to exactly define. It is, however, one of the most important movements of 20th Century music. The three central figures of musical expressionism are Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils, Anton Webern and Alban Berg, the so-called Second Viennese...
. The meter/rhythm is complex for the most part and commonly contains changes in time. The harmony varies within an often dissonant, sharpened tonality. From time to time, there are twelve-tone themes, for example in Sinfonie Nr. 9, however Butting never develops a true dodecaphony
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
, in the sense of Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
, whom he critically admired. The composer also formally oriented himself on traditional models, such as the sonata form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
, however he commonly varied it or gave it up entirely in more than a few works in favor of a development form which has no breaks. He always tried to find an individual form for each work, as his symphonic works show in an exemplary manner, in which all cyclic formations are represented, from single-movement to five-movement works.
A rather moderately productive composer before 1945 and almost completely silenced during the Nazi regime, Butting experienced a new creative impetus after the end of the war. The fact that the largest number of his works by far were created in the GDR is explainable above all in that he now made it one of his responsibilities to also write "everyday music", which was supposed to fulfill the state demand for a popular, easy-to-understand art. He started from some works he had already written especially for the radio at the end of the 1920s, which are stylistically close to sophisticated light music.
In the center of Butting's works are the ten symphonies, which identify him as one of the most important German symphonists of his generation. In addition to these, he wrote a chamber symphony for thirteen solo instruments, two symphoniettas ("little symphonies") and a triptychon for large orchestra. Aside from that, he wrote chamber music above all, among which ten string quartet
String quartet
A 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...
s stand out. Others of his remaining works include a piano concerto
Piano concerto
A piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
and a flute concerto
Flute concerto
A flute concerto is a concerto for solo flute and instrumental ensemble, customarily the orchestra. Such works have been written from the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
, numerous shorter orchestral pieces, predominantly small piano works, as well as the oratorio
Oratorio
An 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...
"Das Memorandum", the 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...
"Plautus im Nonnenkloster" after Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
Conrad Ferdinand Meyer was a Swiss poet and historical novelist, a master of realism chiefly remembered for stirring narrative ballads like "Die Füße im Feuer" .-Biography:...
and several cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s.
Orchestral Works
- Trauermusik op. 12 (1916)
- Symphony No. 1 op. 21 for 16 Instruments (1922)
- Chamber Symphony for 13 Instruments op. 25 (1923)
- Symphony No. 2 op. 29 (1926)
- Symphony No. 3 op. 34 (1928)
- Sinfonietta mit Banjo op. 37 (1929)
- Serene Music op. 38 (1929)
- Symphony No. 4 op. 42 (1942)
- Symphony No. 5 op. 43 (1943)
- Symphony No. 6 op. 44 (1953, first version 1945)
- Totentanzpassacaglia op. 51 (1947)
- Symphony No. 7 op. 67 (1949)
- Sonatina for String Orchestra op. 68 (1949)
- Concerto for Flute and Orchestra op. 72 (1950)
- Symphony No. 8 "Die Urlaubsreise" op. 84 (1952)
- Symphonic Variations op. 89 (1953)
- Five Serious Pieces after DürerAlbrecht DürerAlbrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
op. 92 (1955) - Symphony No. 9 op. 94 (1956)
- Sinfonietta op. 100 (1960)
- Symphony No. 10 op. 108 (1963)
- ConcertoPiano concertoA piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
for Piano and Orchestra op. 110 (1964) - Triptychon op. 112 (1967)
- Stationen, op. 117 (1970)
- Gespenster besuchten mich, op. 120 (1972)
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...
No. 1 in A major op. 8 (1914) - 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 op. 10 (1915) - String Quartet No. 2 in A minor op. 16 (1917)
- String Quartet No. 3 in F minor op. 18 (1918)
- String Quartet No. 4 in C sharp minor op. 20 (1919)
- Quintet for Violin, Viola, Cello, Oboe and Clarinet op. 22 (1922)
- Miniatures for String Quartet op. 26 (1923)
- String Quartet No. 5 op. 53 (1947)
- 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...
op. 54 (1947) - String Trio (1952)
- String Quartet No. 6 op. 90 (1953)
- String Quartet No. 7 op. 95 (1956)
- String Quartet No. 8 "Die Nachgeburt" op. 96 (1957)
- String Quartet No. 9 op. 97 (1957)
- String Quartet No. 10 op. 118 (1971)
Piano music
- Sonata op. 82 (1951)
- Sonatina for Gretl op. 87 (1852)
- Two Toccatas op. 88 (1953)
Vocal music
- "Das Memorandum" op. 52, Oratorium (1949; libretto: Max Butting)
- "An den Frühling" op. 59, Kantate (1948; libretto: Max Butting)
- "Der Sommer" op. 61, Kantate (1948; libretto: Max Butting)
- "Der Herbst" op. 62, Kantate (1948; libretto: Max Butting)
- "Der Winter" op. 63, Kantate (1948; libretto: Max Butting)
- "Die Lügengeschichte vom schwarzen Pferd" op. 71, Kantate (1949; libretto: A. Eckener)
- "Plautus im Nonnenkloster" op. 98, Oper (1958; libretto: Hedda ZinnerHedda ZinnerHedda Zinner, or Hedda Erpenbeck-Zinner was a German political writer.-Biography:Born in Lemberg, Zinner began working as an actress but her interest in the workers' movement led her to move to Berlin and, in 1929, join the Communist Party. She became a journalist for left-wing journals...
)
Literature
All references are in German- Max Butting: Musikgeschichte, die ich miterlebte. Henschel, Berlin 1955.
- Dietrich Brennecke: Das Lebenswerk Max Buttings. Deutscher Verlag für MusikBreitkopf & 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...
(DVfM), Leipzig 1973.