Paul von Klenau(1883-1946): a Danish Romantic

[Dundonnell]

Paul von Klenau studied initially in his native Denmark but left the country to study further in Germany under Max Bruch and Max von Schillings. He remained in Germany until 1940, only returning to Denmark for the last six years of his life. His reputation was therefore built up within the concert halls and opera houses of Germany both as a composer and conductor. He conducted Schoenberg's Gurreleider in Vienna and Delius's Mass of Life in London in 1925.

von Klenau wrote nine symphonies and a number of operas, the latter described as dodecaphonic(but still, apparently, acceptable in the Germany of the 1930s). The 8th 'Im Alten Stil'(1942) and 9th (1945) symphonies have only relatively recently been rediscovered in Vienna. Of the other seven, the 3rd (1913) is a choral symphony, the 4th is entitled 'Dante' and the 6th 'Nordische'. Nos. 1, 5 'Triptikon' and 7 'Die Sturmsymphonie' have been recorded by Dacapo. So too has a big choral work 'Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Kornetts Christoph Rilke'-

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/oct00/klenau.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Feb01/klenau.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Feb03/klenau7.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Aug07/klenau_6220532.htm

I confess to rather liking von Klenau's grand Germanic romanticism with its blend of Wagner, Bruckner, Schrecker, Zemlinsky and early Schoenberg. One wonders whether his possibly too easy accommodation with the Nazi regime in Germany from 1933 has inhibited interest in his music. I hope however that Dacapo do intend to continue their exploration of this colourful, rich, post-Brucknerian romanticism. von Klenau, on the hearings so far, was not a great or particularly original composer but one worth more exploration.

[eschiss1]

on the flip side (or rather, not so much- you mention this at the end of your post- sorry; I think I skimmed a bit too much so; am tired) he gets mentioned by Schoenberg in a - interesting? amusing? context ... - in a brief essay by the former, as having written (Klenau) a serial opera while in Nazi Germany (I believe) to show, he said, that such works were perfectly compatible with their ideology (the set, Klenau explained, was akin to Der Führer, and the various forms - inversions, retrogrades, etc.- well, etc.) Schoenberg -- who on earlier occasions did find Klenau and his music promising- found this (understandably, I think) ridiculous, as he also found inverted-parallel examples from across the Soviet border.  Was the first I'd heard of him, but I am curious about his orchestral and chamber music myself (and even his operas too.)

[Dundonnell]

Klenau appears to have been one of those cunning or, to be less charitable, opportunistic composers who sought simultaneously to develop their style while 'keeping in with' the regime in Nazi Germany. He wrote nine operas in total and the last three 'Michael Kohlhaas'(1932/33), 'Rembrandty van Rijn'(1934/35) and 'Elisabeth von England'(1939), judiciously renamed 'Die Konigin' in 1940(!) were described by the composer as "key-determined twelve-tone music" and as influenced by Alban Berg(of whom Klenau was certainly a friend). Klenau further argued-obviously successfuly-that his type of twelve-tone music was not incompatible with National Socialist art.

As you say Schoenberg ridiculed this proposition but it enabled Klenau's operas to be performed!

[albion]

Thanks for this information about Klenau - he's completely new to me, but certainly sounds very interesting. I can get Symphonies 1, 5 and 7 on Spotify plus Die Weise von Liebe und Tod, Paolo and Francesca and Jahrmarkt bei London so I'll have a listen!

[Dundonnell]

Another reason for the reluctance within Denmark to recognise Klenau's music-apart that is from his very obvious Germanification-was the fact that he made no secret of his conviction that Danish music was too insular and had not taken proper notice of developments in music within the rest of Europe. When he returned to Copenhagen as a conductor in the 1920s he insisted on conducting music by composers like Scriabin, Delius and Schoenberg, relatively unknown at that time in Denmark.

Carl Nielsen regarded Klenau as an immensely competent and technically proficient composer but disapproved of his aesthetic.