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drplaceboIt's Forgotten Masterpiece Friday!
In the second half of the 19th century, European musicians were embroiled in what became known as the "War of the Romantics." They sorted themselves into two opposing camps, one rallying behind Wagner, Liszt, and the "music of the future," and another behind Brahms and "absolute music." The Wagner/Liszt camp believed that the traditional forms of instrumental music had been played out and program music was the only way forward, and saw Brahms as boring and stodgy. The Brahms camp saw program music as grandiose wallowing in cheap emotions, believed that music could stand on its own without a dramatic narrative to go with it, and tried to integrate new musical language into traditional forms. Musicians and critics became fanatically devoted to one side or the other; some orchestras even went as far as to hire two conductors, one from each camp, because so many conductors refused to conduct the other side's music. As far as Brahms and Wagner themselves were concerned, the rivalry may have been overblown. The war was driven mostly by critics. Brahms and Wagner disdained one another's philosophies, and Brahms was especially put off by Wagner's spectacular ego, but each held a grudging respect for the other's music. While Wagner derided Brahms in public, he quietly invited Brahms to early rehearsals of his operas and sent Brahms a copy of the score to Das Rheingold with a handwritten note expressing admiration for Brahms's musical craftsmanship. Brahms was more open about his admiration for Wagner's music, jokingly calling himself "the best of Wagnerians" and publicly praising several of Wagner's operas.
Only a handful of musicians bridged the gap between the two camps. August Klughardt (1847-1902) was one of them. Early in his career as a conductor and composer, he was mentored by Franz Liszt, and after attending the first Bayreuth Festival, he became one of Wagner's greatest proponents, conducting several performances of the Ring Cycle. In complete contrast to Klughardt the conductor, Klughardt the composer was far more like Brahms than Wagner. He composed only a few programmatic overtures, and instead focused on symphonies and chamber music. He seems to have attempted to reconcile the two schools; he composed four operas in which he used Wagner's leitmotif technique but held to the old number opera format. Similarly, Klughardt's symphonies and chamber music included rhapsodic passages reminiscent of Liszt but at least loosely followed traditional forms.
Caught in the middle of the War of the Romantics, Klughardt's compositions gained little interest during his life even though he was noted as a conductor. He also suffered somewhat from coincidence: his first two symphonies both had evocative titles that were used by the older and better-known Joachim Raff at the same time. The coincidence did not keep Raff from conducting the premiere of Klughardt's first (and now lost) symphony "Waldleben" (Forest Life) shortly after Raff's own third symphony "Im Walde" (In the Forest); and the two composers each apologized for not giving the other any advance notice of what they were working on when each completed a symphony titled "Lenore" the same year. Both times, Raff's work overshadowed Klughardt's. Today, Klughardt's cello concerto, wind quintet, and Schilflieder ("Reed Songs") are occasionally performed, and most of his other music has been all but forgotten.
(Raff's 9th symphony, "Im Sommer," has been featured in a past Forgotten Masterpiece Friday post.)
Klughardt composed his Piano Quintet in 1884, at the height of his career. It was possibly Klughardt's most successful work during his life, hailed as a masterpiece after performances across Germany and France. Just as Klughardt tried to synthesize the ideas of both camps in the War of the Romantics, his Piano Quintet is a synthesis of two different impulses. Here, the balance is between the intimacy of chamber music and Klughardt's instinct for symphonic music, pulled together to create a strikingly unique style with broad quasi-orchestral gestures and finely balanced interplay between solo instruments both abundantly in evidence.
In the second half of the 19th century, European musicians were embroiled in what became known as the "War of the Romantics." They sorted themselves into two opposing camps, one rallying behind Wagner, Liszt, and the "music of the future," and another behind Brahms and "absolute music." The Wagner/Liszt camp believed that the traditional forms of instrumental music had been played out and program music was the only way forward, and saw Brahms as boring and stodgy. The Brahms camp saw program music as grandiose wallowing in cheap emotions, believed that music could stand on its own without a dramatic narrative to go with it, and tried to integrate new musical language into traditional forms. Musicians and critics became fanatically devoted to one side or the other; some orchestras even went as far as to hire two conductors, one from each camp, because so many conductors refused to conduct the other side's music. As far as Brahms and Wagner themselves were concerned, the rivalry may have been overblown. The war was driven mostly by critics. Brahms and Wagner disdained one another's philosophies, and Brahms was especially put off by Wagner's spectacular ego, but each held a grudging respect for the other's music. While Wagner derided Brahms in public, he quietly invited Brahms to early rehearsals of his operas and sent Brahms a copy of the score to Das Rheingold with a handwritten note expressing admiration for Brahms's musical craftsmanship. Brahms was more open about his admiration for Wagner's music, jokingly calling himself "the best of Wagnerians" and publicly praising several of Wagner's operas.
Only a handful of musicians bridged the gap between the two camps. August Klughardt (1847-1902) was one of them. Early in his career as a conductor and composer, he was mentored by Franz Liszt, and after attending the first Bayreuth Festival, he became one of Wagner's greatest proponents, conducting several performances of the Ring Cycle. In complete contrast to Klughardt the conductor, Klughardt the composer was far more like Brahms than Wagner. He composed only a few programmatic overtures, and instead focused on symphonies and chamber music. He seems to have attempted to reconcile the two schools; he composed four operas in which he used Wagner's leitmotif technique but held to the old number opera format. Similarly, Klughardt's symphonies and chamber music included rhapsodic passages reminiscent of Liszt but at least loosely followed traditional forms.
Caught in the middle of the War of the Romantics, Klughardt's compositions gained little interest during his life even though he was noted as a conductor. He also suffered somewhat from coincidence: his first two symphonies both had evocative titles that were used by the older and better-known Joachim Raff at the same time. The coincidence did not keep Raff from conducting the premiere of Klughardt's first (and now lost) symphony "Waldleben" (Forest Life) shortly after Raff's own third symphony "Im Walde" (In the Forest); and the two composers each apologized for not giving the other any advance notice of what they were working on when each completed a symphony titled "Lenore" the same year. Both times, Raff's work overshadowed Klughardt's. Today, Klughardt's cello concerto, wind quintet, and Schilflieder ("Reed Songs") are occasionally performed, and most of his other music has been all but forgotten.
(Raff's 9th symphony, "Im Sommer," has been featured in a past Forgotten Masterpiece Friday post.)
Klughardt composed his Piano Quintet in 1884, at the height of his career. It was possibly Klughardt's most successful work during his life, hailed as a masterpiece after performances across Germany and France. Just as Klughardt tried to synthesize the ideas of both camps in the War of the Romantics, his Piano Quintet is a synthesis of two different impulses. Here, the balance is between the intimacy of chamber music and Klughardt's instinct for symphonic music, pulled together to create a strikingly unique style with broad quasi-orchestral gestures and finely balanced interplay between solo instruments both abundantly in evidence.