August Klughardt

[Alan Howe]

Another very interesting composer is August Klughardt...

August Friedrich Martin Klughardt (November 30, 1847– August 3, 1902) was a German composer and conductor.

Life

Klughardt, who was born in Köthen, took his first piano and music theory lessons at the age of 10. Soon, be began to compose his first pieces, which were performed by a music circle Klughardt had founded himself at school. In 1863, his family moved to Dessau. One year later, Klughardt gave his debut as pianist. After having finished school, he moved to Dresden in 1866. There, he took further lessons and brought his compositions to the public for the first time. One year later, he began to earn his living as a conductor. At first, he worked at the municipal theatre in Posen(Poznań) for one season, then in Neustrelitz for one season, and finally in Lübeck for several months. From 1869 to 1873, he worked at the court theatre in Weimar. There, he met Franz Liszt, which was very important for his creative development. In 1873, he returned to Neustrelitz where he became chief conductor. He was even appointed manager in 1880. In 1876, he visited the first Bayreuth Festival. From 1882 to the end of his life, he was director of music at the court in Dessau. In 1892 and 1893, he conducted Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. He received many distinctions in his last years: he was appointed member of the Berlin Academy of Arts in 1898 and he was made honorary doctor by the University of Erlangen. He was also asked to direct the "Singakademie" in Berlin, but he rejected this offer. Klughardt died suddenly in Roßlau at the age of 54.

Style

Klughardt's meeting with Liszt established his enthusiasm for the music of the "Neudeutsche Schule" around Wagner and Liszt. Indeed, his works reflect some of their conceptions. Nevertheless, Klughardt did not shy away from keeping up genres which Wagner and Liszt rejected. He wrote six symphonies and a lot of chamber music. Likewise, he did not compose a single symphonic poem, a genre that was propagated by Liszt, but several more old-fashioned programmatic overtures. In fact, Robert Schumann's influence is probably more obvious in Klughardt's works. He intended to create a synthesis of these dissimilar tendencies. In his operas, he used Wagner's leitmotif technique, but he held to the older number opera instead of Wagner's through-composed music-drama. Some of his compositions show Klughardt as a child of his times, for example his choral work Die Grenzberichtigung (The correction of the frontier), Op. 25, which was composed when Germany won the Franco-Prussian war in 1870/71. Altogether, Klughardt must be considered as a rather conservative composer in spite of his interest in more modern tendencies. Today, most of his output is nearly forgotten. Only his Violoncello concerto, his Schilflieder (Reed Songs) and his Wind quintet are played from time to time.

List of works

Symphonies

Waldleben (Life in the forest), symphony (1871, withdrawn)
Symphony No.1, Op. 27 Lenore (1873)
Symphony No.2 in F minor, Op. 34 (1876)
Symphony No.3 in D major, Op. 37 (ca. 1880)
Symphony No.4 in C minor, Op. 57 (1897)
Symphony No.5 in C Minor, Op. 71 (1897, arrangement of the Sextet opus 58)

Other works for orchestra

Sophionisbe, overture, Op. 12 (1869)
Die Wacht am Rhein. Siegesouvertüre (The Watch on the Rhine. Victory Overture), Op. 26 (1871)
Suite in A minor, Op. 40 (1883)
Auf der Wanderschaft (On the Tramp), suite, Op. 67 (1896, originally for piano)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 68 (ca. 1895)
Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 59 (by 1892)[1]
Konzertstück for oboe and orchestra in F Major, Op. 18 (ca. 1870)
Romance for bass clarinet and orchestra

Operas

Mirjam, Op. 15 (ca. 1870)
Iwein, Op. 35 (1877/78)
Gudrun, Op. 38 (1883)
Die Hochzeit des Mönchs (The Friar's Wedding), Op. 48 (ca. 1885)

Other vocal music

Die Zerstörung Jerusalems (The Destruction of Jerusalem), oratorio (ca. 1898)
Judith, oratorio (ca. 1900)

Chamber music

String Quartet in F major, Op. 42 (ca. 1883)
String Quartet in D major, Op. 61 (ca. 1890)
String Quintet in G minor, Op. 62 (ca. 1890)
String Sextet in C sharp minor, Op. 58 (ca. 1890)
Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 47 (ca. 1885)
Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 43 (ca. 1883)
Schilflieder (Reed songs), 5 Fantasiestücke after poems by Lenau for piano, oboe and viola, Op. 28 (1872)
Wind Quintet in C major, Op.79 (ca. 1898)

[albion]

Many thanks - just one of a whole plethora of fascinating names and extensive work-lists added recently which give lots of food for thought regarding potential avenues for positive assessment. Do the sources consulted give any indication as to which works were published and which remain in (hopefully-extant) manuscript? Particularly interesting could be the operas by Abert, Klughardt and Urspruch (especially The Tempest).





An excellent disc.

[eschiss1]

I know the 4th symphony was published in full score (if only because IMSLP has it)... the Free Library of Philh. has in full score and in most cases parts Auf der Wanderschaft, the 3 Pieces Op.87 (Scores&parts), the overture op.54 (score), overture op.78 (score), violin concerto op.68 (again score and parts), overture op.45 (ditto), symphony "Lenore" no.1 (ditto), symphony 3 (ditto - ms score in this case, parts), bassoon romance (ms score & pts), cello concerto (score & parts). Library of Congress has Psalm 100 opus 65 (full score), violin concerto (parts), 5th symphony (reduction and maybe score or parts?), "orchestral parts" for overture opus 78, full score (that's what it says, anyway - 338 pages) of the oratorium Judith, parts to symphony 4, and other works (not always catalogued, as I seem to have hinted, with much clarity as to what-is-there). Symphony no.2 in F minor op.34 in some form. Also the full score (295 pp.) of Die zerstörung Jerusalems is listed (hrm, only 70 pages more than the 2-language vocal score?)
The score and parts of opus 78, also of the psalm setting for mixed chorus, bass solo and orchestra opus 65, are at Munich Library; likewise the 5th symphony op71 and many other works... Hrm. Just found something...

[sdtom]

I received a copy of the CPO recording of his Symphony No. 5. It also has two overtures. I found the symphony to have some good ideas and found it a pleasant listen. The two overtures did little for me.
Tom

[Mark Thomas]

This recording has its own thread here.

[Amphissa]

I've heard only one of his symphonies, the Symphony No. 1, but do have the CD that includes the Cello Concerto, Concert Piece for Oboe, Concert Overture and Wanderschaft. I also have a live concert performance of the Violin Concerto and the string quintet.

The pieces are okay, but curiously unsatisfying for me. For works composed so late in the 19th century, the orchestration and style seem strangely awkward and outdated. They seem to lack melodic fluidity that I associate with late-19th century romanticism. I don't know if that is because the performances are not really conveying the best aspects of his music, or if he was just not a gifted melodist, but I had a hard time locating a single memorable melody in any of the recordings I have. Even the cello concerto (and I really like romantic expressiveness of cello music) seems rather a sterile exercise.

Perhaps I'm missing his best work, having never heard his symphonies 2-5. What should I be hearing that I'm not hearing?

[Alan Howe]

I'd say start with the CD of Symphony 3/Violin Concerto. I can hear the opening of the symphony as I type now...
Audio samples here:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/August-Klughardt-1847-1902-Symphonie-Nr-3-D-Dur-op-37/hnum/2096647
Whole symphony here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvF5XrlEXXo

[Jolyon50]

I uploaded a recording made by the Gewandhaus Wind Quartet of his Op 79 on my blog http://fluffontheneedle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Klughardt this was the first recording made in 1923 but the sound is better than you would expect. I'm still unsure if the players knew the composer or not

Jolyon

[cypressdome]

For those interested in Klughardt's music I just wanted to make you aware that a synthesized performance of his 3 Pieces for String Orchestra, Op. 74 is now available on IMSLP.

[eschiss1]

as is a relatively freely-distributed more recent recording (actual, not synthesized) of his wind quintet (he did not, to my knowledge, write a wind quartet, but correction on that point is appreciated, btw). (See Pandora Records for the source of that recording and many others.)

[adriano]

There is also a Sterling CD with orchestral works by Klughardt; a collection of some Radio tapes with different orchestras and conductors.

[Alan Howe]

Here's the brief thread about the Sterling CD:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,3261.0.html

[sdtom]

I've yet to hear his first symphony. Is this one I should have in the collection?
Tom

[Alan Howe]

Try these excerpts:
http://www.sterlingcd.com/catalogue/cds1096.html

[sdtom]

worth having in the collection
Tom