Walter Bricht
Encyclopedia
Walter Bricht was a noted Austrian-American
pianist
, composer
and teacher
.
Bricht was exposed to multiple musical influences from his youth. His father, Balduin Bricht, was a music critic for the Volkszeitung, a newspaper in Vienna. His mother, Agnes Pylleman Bricht was a concert singer and pianist, and became his first teacher. His talent was recognized early on. Bricht received his first piano
lesson at age four, and began composing piano pieces and songs by age twelve. He was educated at the Vienna Academy for Music, graduating in 1928 with degrees in composition, conducting and piano. Bricht was a student of famed composer Franz Schmidt
.
status" by Adolf Hitler
, providing he would swear allegiance to the Nazi party, but instead chose to emigrate to the United States of America. All of his important papers and letters of recommendation were confiscated at the border, and he arrived in the U.S. not speaking a word of English
.
Upon his arrival in the U.S., Bricht settled in New York City
, earning a living by serving as church organist, accompanying and coaching. In 1939, Bricht joined the faculty of the Mason College of Music in Charleston, West Virginia
, becoming chairman of the music department the following year. He met his future wife, Donna Kuhn after hiring her as a professor of violin. Bricht returned to New York in 1944, teaching and coaching there until 1963. He also made regular trips to Washington D.C., to teach members of the U.S. Army Chorus. Two daughters were born to the Brichts during this period, Dana Eve (1955), and Wendy Diane (1959).
In 1963 Bricht was invited to become a professor at the Indiana University School of Music. He was hired as a professor of piano, however, by 1967, he was teaching applied voice and song literature exclusively. He wrote three compositions while at Indiana University, the Sonata for Flute
and Piano (1964), the Chaconne for String Quartet
(1967), and the Trio for Flute, Cello
and Piano (1968). In 1967, an entire recital devoted to his compositions was performed at the I.U. School of Music to much acclaim.
In the mid-1960s Bricht was diagnosed with emphysema, which resulted in his death in 1970, at the age of 65. He is survived by his widow, Donna Bricht Gibbs, and daughters Dana Bricht Higbee and Wendy Bricht Bogdanoff.
Austrian-American
Austrian Americans are Americans of Austrian descent. According to the 2000 US census, there are 735,128, or 0.3% Americans of full or partial Austrian descent. The states with the largest Austrian American populations are New York , California , Pennsylvania , Florida and New Jersey...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, 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...
and teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
.
Early life
Born in ViennaVienna
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...
Bricht was exposed to multiple musical influences from his youth. His father, Balduin Bricht, was a music critic for the Volkszeitung, a newspaper in Vienna. His mother, Agnes Pylleman Bricht was a concert singer and pianist, and became his first teacher. His talent was recognized early on. Bricht received his first 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...
lesson at age four, and began composing piano pieces and songs by age twelve. He was educated at the Vienna Academy for Music, graduating in 1928 with degrees in composition, conducting and piano. Bricht was a student of famed composer Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt
Franz Schmidt was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist of Hungarian descent and origin.- Life :Schmidt was born in Pozsony , in the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . His father was half Hungarian and his mother entirely Hungarian...
.
Career and personal life
Upon the completion of his education at the Vienna Academy, Bricht taught at the Vienna Volkskonservatorium from 1931 to 1938. From 1934 to 1938, he also taught voice, piano, and composition at the Horak-Schulen in Vienna. As a composer, he was prolific during this period, writing the majority of his works, and hearing many of them publicly performed. In 1938, Bricht was forced to leave Austria, because the Nazi regime had discovered that he had Jewish-born grandparents. He was offered "honorary AryanAryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
status" by 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...
, providing he would swear allegiance to the Nazi party, but instead chose to emigrate to the United States of America. All of his important papers and letters of recommendation were confiscated at the border, and he arrived in the U.S. not speaking a word of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Upon his arrival in the U.S., Bricht settled in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, earning a living by serving as church organist, accompanying and coaching. In 1939, Bricht joined the faculty of the Mason College of Music in Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
, becoming chairman of the music department the following year. He met his future wife, Donna Kuhn after hiring her as a professor of violin. Bricht returned to New York in 1944, teaching and coaching there until 1963. He also made regular trips to Washington D.C., to teach members of the U.S. Army Chorus. Two daughters were born to the Brichts during this period, Dana Eve (1955), and Wendy Diane (1959).
In 1963 Bricht was invited to become a professor at the Indiana University School of Music. He was hired as a professor of piano, however, by 1967, he was teaching applied voice and song literature exclusively. He wrote three compositions while at Indiana University, the Sonata for Flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
and Piano (1964), the Chaconne for 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...
(1967), and the Trio for Flute, 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...
and Piano (1968). In 1967, an entire recital devoted to his compositions was performed at the I.U. School of Music to much acclaim.
In the mid-1960s Bricht was diagnosed with emphysema, which resulted in his death in 1970, at the age of 65. He is survived by his widow, Donna Bricht Gibbs, and daughters Dana Bricht Higbee and Wendy Bricht Bogdanoff.
Compositions
Bricht's music is characteristic of the German Late Romantic Style, and includes multiple choral works, songs, sonatas, chamber music and symphonic works. A listing is provided below.Compositions with opus number
- Op. 1: Suite in G Dur für Klavier (Date unknown)
- Op. 2: Variationen in D Dur über ein eigenes Thema für zwei Klaviere (July 20, 1925)
- Op. 3: Klaviersonate I in G Moll (Winter 1925-1926)
- Op. 4: Klavierkonzert I in F Dur (Date unknown)
- Op. 5: Sieben Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (1926-1928)
- Op. 6: Zwei Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (November?-December 14, 1922)
- Op. 7: Klaviersonate II in E Moll (1926)
- Op. 8a: Kleine Variationen in A Moll für Klavier (Date unknown)
- Op. 8b: Kleine Variationen in C Moll für Klavier (Date unknown)
- Op. 9: Zehn nächtliche Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (1926-1932)
- Op. 10: Klaviersonate III in A Moll ("Grosse") (July 12, 1927)
- Op. 11: Fünfzehn kleine Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (1926-1933)
- Op. 12: Klaviersonate IV in Fis Moll (1928)
- Op. 13: Kleine Klavierstücke (1926-1927)
- Op. 14: Streichquartett I in H Moll (March 18, 1928)
- Op. 15: Zwei Mazurken für Klavier (May 10, 1928)
- Op. 16: Klaviersonate V in D Moll (August 29, 1929)
- Op. 17: Klavierkonzert II in A Moll (February 16, 1929)
- Op. 18a: Verwehte Blätter, für Klavier (1926-1927)
- Op. 18b: Verwehte Blätter: Acht kleine Stücke für Orchester (im zusammenhange aufzuführen) (October 30, 1932)
- Op. 19: Zwei Elementarphantasten für fünfstimmigen/sechsstimmigen Männerchor und grosses Orchester (July 29-August 5, 1930)
- Op. 20: Klaviersonate VI in A Moll ("Kleine") (June 19, 1930)
- Op. 21: Drei Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (Date unknown)
- Op. 22: Variationen in Fis Moll über ein Thema von Franz Schmidt für Orgel (June 23, 1931)
- Op. 23: Kleine Tanzstücke für Klavier (1926-1927)
- Op. 24: Vier Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (August 29, 1930)
- Op. 25: Symphonische Suite in A Moll für grosses Orchester (October 22, 1931)
- Op. 26: Zwei Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (March 20-21, 1932)
- Op. 27: Variationen und Fuge in Cis Moll über ein eigenes Thema für Orgel (March 30, 1932)
- Op. 28: Fünf Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (May 8-14, 1932)
- Op. 29: Suite in G Moll für Gesang und Klavier (September 5, 1932)
- Op. 30: Vier Klavierstücke für die linke Hand allein (June 17, 1933)
- Op. 31: Drei Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (November 23, 1932)
- Op. 32: Streichquintett in D Moll (September 20, 1933)
- Op. 33: Symphonie in A Moll für grosses Orchester (July 16, 1934)
- Op. 34: Sonate in A Moll für Violoncello und Klavier (1936)
- Op. 35: Fünf Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (August 8, 1935)
- Op. 36: Streichquartett II in A Moll (August 8, 1935)
- Op. 37: Das grosse Halleluja für Männerchor, Orgel, 4 Hörner, 3 Trompeten, 3 Posaunen, Basstuba, Pauken, und Becken (August 11, 1937)
- Op. 38: Possibly the missing Sonate für Violine und Klavier (1938?)
- Op. 39: Klaviersonate VII in E dur (August 4, 1940)
- Op. 40: Variations in F Major on an Old German Children's Song for Pianoforte (left hand alone), Flute (or Violin), and Violoncello (August 18, 1942)
Compositions without opus number
- WoO 1: Zwei Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (December 16-19, 1919-?)
- WoO 2: Zwei Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (March ?-December 6, 1921)
- WoO 3: Elf Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (January 2-September 6, 1922)
- WoO 4: Drei Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (Date unknown)
- WoO 5: Zwei Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (Mid-February, 1923-Winter 1923-24)
- WoO 6: Praeludium, Intermezzo, und Finale in Cis Dur für Orgel (August 31, 1925)
- WoO 7: Zwei Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (January 4-April 29, 1926)
- WoO 8: Bruchstücken für Klavier (1926-1927?)
- WoO 9: Einrichtung, Satz 3, Streichquartett I in H Moll, für Klavier (1928)
- WoO 10: Duett-Variationen über "Ein Männlein steht im Walde" für Gesängen und Klavier (1931)
- WoO 11: Duett für Gesängen und Klavier (June 3, 1931)
- WoO 12: Duett-Bruchstücke für Gesängen und Klavier (1931)
- WoO 13: Herbst, für gemischten Chor a cappella (September 7, 1932)
- WoO 14: Die Suchenden, für sechsstimmigen Männerchor a cappella (December 26, 1932)
- WoO 15: Phantasie in C Dur über Themen aus Gounod's "Faust" für Klavier (linke Hand allein) (1936)
- WoO 16: Phantasie in A Dur über Themen aus Strauss' "Fledermaus" für Klavier (linke Hand allein) (1937)
- WoO 17: Fünf Lieder für Sopran mit Begleitung von Streichquartett (1937)
- WoO 18: Vier Lieder für Gesang und Klavier (March 17-20, 1940)
- WoO 19: Four Songs for Voice and Piano (December 25, 1940)
- WoO 20: Chorale Prelude on the Hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth" for Organ (Date unknown)
- WoO 21 -- Fragments for Organ (Date unknown)
- WoO 22 -- Quintet in A Minor for Piano and Strings (May 1952)
- WoO 23 -- Sonata for Flute and Piano (December 8, 1964)
- WoO 24 -- Chaconne for String Quartet (January 20, 1967)
- WoO 25 -- Trio for Flute (alternating with Alto Flute and Piccolo), Violoncello, and Piano (May 4, 1968)