Felix Draeseke

[Alan Howe]

To my mind, with the exception of Raff, the greatest of the unsung 19th-century Austro-German composers is Felix Draeseke.



Felix August Bernhard Draeseke (October 7, 1835 – February 26, 1913) was a composer of the "New German School" admiring Liszt and Richard Wagner. He wrote compositions in most forms including eight operas and stage works, four symphonies, and much vocal and chamber music.

Life

Felix Draeseke was born in the Franconian ducal town of Coburg, Germany. He was attracted to music early in life and wrote his first composition at age 8. He encountered no opposition from his family when, in his mid-teens, he declared his intention of becoming a professional musician. A few years at the Leipzig conservatory did not seem to benefit his development, but after one of the early performances of Wagner's Lohengrin he was won to the camp of the New German School centered around Franz Liszt at Weimar, where he stayed from 1856 (arriving just after Joachim Raff's departure) to 1861. In 1862 Draeseke left Germany and made his way to Switzerland, teaching in the Suisse Romande in the area around Lausanne. Upon his return to Germany in 1876, Draeseke chose Dresden as his place of residence. Though he continued having success in composition, it was only in 1884 that he received an official appointment to the Dresden conservatory and, with it, some financial security. In 1894, two years after his promotion to a professorship at the Royal Saxon Conservatory, at the age of 58, he married his former pupil Frida Neuhaus. In 1912 he completed his final orchestral work, the Fourth Symphony. On February 26, 1913, Draeseke suffered a stroke and died; he is buried in the Tolkewitz cemetery in Dresden.

Music and Styles

During his career Draeseke divided his efforts almost equally among compositional realms and composed in most genres, including symphonies, concertos, opera, chamber music, and works for solo piano. With his early Piano Sonata in c-sharp minor (Sonata quasi Fantasia) of 1862–1867 he aroused major interest, winning Liszt's unreserved admiration of it as one of the most important piano sonatas after Beethoven. His operas Herrat (1879, originally Dietrich von Bern) and Gudrun (1884, after the medieval epic of the same name) met with some success, but their subsequent neglect has kept posterity from understanding Draeseke as one of the few true successors to Wagner and one of the very few who could conceive dramatically convincing and musically compelling examples of "Gesamtkunstwerk".
Draeseke keenly followed new developments in all facets of music. His chamber music compositions make use of newly developed instruments, among them the violotta, an instrument developed by Alfred Stelzner as an intermediary between viola and cello, which Draeseke used in his A major String Quintet, and also the viola alta, an instrument developed during the 1870s by Hermann Ritter and the prototype of viola expressly endorsed by Richard Wagner for his Bayreuth Orchestra.
A master contrapuntist, Draeseke reveled in writing choral music, achieving major success with his B minor Requiem of 1877–1880, but nowhere proving more convincingly his powers in this direction than in the staggering Mysterium Christus which is composed of a prolog and three separate oratorios and requires three days for a complete performance, a work which occupied him between the years 1894–1899 but whose conception reaches back to the 1860s. Of all the symphonies from the second half of the 19th century which are unjustly neglected, Draeseke's Symphonia Tragica (Symphony No. 3 in C major, op. 40) is one of the very few which deserves repertory status alongside the symphonies of Brahms and Bruckner, a masterful fusion of intellect and emotion, of form and content. Orchestral works like the Serenade in F major (1888) or its companion of the same year, the symphonic prelude after Kleist's Penthesilea have in them all that is declared necessary for audience success: rich melodic invention, rhythmic vivacity, and extraordinary harmonic conception. Draeseke's chamber music is equally rich.

Estimation

During his life, and the period shortly following his death, the music of Draeseke was held in high regard, even among his musical opponents. His compositions were performed frequently in Germany by the leading artists of the day, including Hans von Bülow, Arthur Nikisch, Fritz Reiner, and Karl Böhm. However, as von Bülow once remarked to him, he was a "harte Nuß" ("a hard nut to crack") and despite the quality of his works, he would "never be popular among the ordinary". Draeseke could be sharply critical and this sometimes led to strained relations, the most notorious instance being with Richard Strauss, when Draeseke attacked Strauss's Salome in his 1905 pamphlet Die Konfusion in der Musik — rather odd as Draeseke was a clear influence on the young Strauss.
Draeseke's music was promoted during the Third Reich. After the Second World War, changes in fashion and political climates allowed his name and music to slip into obscurity. But as the 20th century ended, new recordings spurred a renewed interest in his music. An ever widening audience seems to be developing for Draeseke at last and the phenomenon is based on perception of individuality, inventiveness and stylistic integrity, music which truly rewards attention.

Notable works

Orchestral Music

Symphony No. 1 in G major, Opus 12 (1872)
Symphony No. 2 in F major, Opus 25 (1876)
Symphony No. 3 in C major, Opus 40 "Symphonia Tragica" (1885–6)
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, WoO 38 "Symphonia Comica" (1912)
Julius Caesar, Symphonic Poem (1860, revised 1865)
Penthesilea, Symphonic Prelude (after Kleist), op 50 (1888)
Jubel-ouvertüre, op. 65 (1898)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E-flat, op. 36 (1885–6)
Symphonic Andante for Cello and Orchestra in e, WoO 11 (1876)
An early symphony in C major, completed in 1856 and premiered that year, was still lost as of 1966.
Violin Concerto in e (1881) WoO 15 - orchestrated by Wolfgang Müller-Steinbach (tbp)

Operas

König Sigurd - Opera in 3 Acts after Emanuel Geibel's Sigurd (1853–7)
Dietrich von Bern - Opera in 3 Acts (1877; revised by Otto zur Nedden, 1925)
Gudrun - Opera in 3 Acts (1879–84)
Bertram de Born - Opera in 3 Acts (1892–4)

Choral and Vocal Music (Religious and Secular)

Christus. Mysterium in a Prelude and Three Oratorios, opp.70-3 (1895–9):Vorspiel: Die Geburt des Herrn, (Prelude: The Birth of the Lord) op. 70;First Oratorio: Christi Weihe (Christ's Consecration), op. 71; Second Oratorio: Christus der Prophet (Christ the Prophet), op. 72;Third Oratorio: Tod und Sieg des Herrn (Death and Victory of the Lord), op. 73
Grand Mass in a, op.85 (1908–9)
Requiem in e (1909–10)
Columbus, Cantata for soprano, baritone, male chorus, and orchestra, op 52 (1890)

Chamber and Instrumental music

String quartet nr. 1 in c, op. 27, (1880)
String quartet nr. 2 in e, op. 35, (1886)
String quartet nr. 3 in c-sharp, op. 66 (1895)
Quintet in A 'Stelzner-Quintett' for violins (2),viola, violotta, and cello (1897)
Quintet in F for violins (2), viola, and cellos (2), op.77 (1901)
Quintet in B-flat for piano, string trio and horn. op.48 (1888)
Viola Sonata No. 1 in c (1892)
Viola Sonata No. 2 in F (1902)
Clarinet Sonata in B-flat op. 38 (1887)
Cello Sonata in D, op. 51 (1890)
Piano Sonata 'Sonata quasi fantasia' in c sharp (1862-7)

A full works list is available here;
http://www.draeseke.org/opus/opus.htm#op46

[Alan Howe]

Of course, a large proportion of Draeseke's works has been recorded. Nevertheless, his name remains barely known outside specialist music circles such as this forum.

[eschiss1]

the recent Draeseke Society conference led to a couple of very nice performances of movements from chamber works of his being put up on YouTube, including one I still hadn't heard (the finale of the Piano Quintet). (And another I have a recording of and which had been on my mind for awhile after recent playing of it, so it was just nice to hear a different performance- first movement of the clarinet sonata ) Potentially good practice, I like to think...

[Alan Howe]

...and, of course, the Violin Concerto (performed in the violin/piano version at the 2009 conference) can be found at the Draeseke website (http://www.draeseke.org/), together with a download.

[JimL]

Um, 3rd Symphony needs an edit.  It's in C Major, not minor.

[eschiss1]

duly corrected (I can teach you how, if you like).

[Reverie]

Die Hermannsschlacht - Prelude to Act1 (1860)

Only short, about 5 minutes long. The prelude to Act I of the play by Heinrich von Kleist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WKmTDeXWbs

[Alan Howe]

Very typical of Draeseke's early Wagnerian Sturm und Drang period. It's about the famous defeat of the Romans at the hands of Arminius (Hermann) at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arminius

Thanks for giving us the opportunity of hearing it!

[Santo Neuenwelt]

Well Alan,
Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I certainly do not agree with your assessment that after Raff, Draeseke is the second greatest unsung German composer. (not Austro-German--nothing Austrian about him...he was never part of or lived in the Habsburg lands. He was a northern German through and through)

Quite possibly, your assessment is based on your familiarity of his larger works. I am not familiar with his symphonic, orchestral and larger works, but I am intimately familiar with much of his chamber music having played all three of his string quartets and his viola quintet. His chamber music is extremely uneven. Let us skip the Stelzner which is never going to get played and move on to the quartets. In all three quartets there are some good movements or parts of a movement which are good, but there are also plenty of parts which are dross and second rate. I do not think this is the time or place for a detailed discussion of his quartets but I think the review of his viola quintet op.77 in Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music is worth reprinting here.

"The string quintet may be considered his most important chamber work. Truly, Beethoven's Late Quartets are easy to understand, compared with this. In view of its masterly thematic and contrapuntal treatment, the quintet arouses some admiration, but not much intellectual satisfaction, nor the affection that is born of understanding. The composer would have done well to supply a programme with each movement---for here it is clearly a question of programme music. Did he, one wonders, intend to describe his own artistic career, or the dissatisfaction that he was bound to feel at the little interest shown in his creative work outside Dresden? Or was this quintet designed as a musical expression of gloomy pessimism? Be that as it may, the music gives the idea of the fierce struggles of a sullen Titan. It makes great demands on the performers, particularly in regard to intonation. The gloomy introduction (Langsam und duster) is brought into the finale---and that twice over. In the same finale (rasch und feurig) there also appears a theme from the first movement (twice as quick as the introduction). Both the outer movements are stamped with undeniable dramatic power; cheerfulness and light-heartedness venture but timidly to raise their heads. The scherzo seems to represent a kind of witches sabbath. The hero is caught up in a wild orgy; then, in the slower trio, he is approached by pure love, but is past saving. The trio is a really charming inspiration. The slow movement is rhythmically interesting, but is, above all, inbued with the gloomy character of the whole work, which should be frequently played, though it is true that it calls for great mental efforts on the listeners part."

Not only has Altmann allowed his vivid imagination to run wild, but his assessment is all too kind. This is a work that most listeners are not going to want to hear more than once. It reminds me of my mother who kept telling me to eat my liver and that I would come to like it. Several decades later, I still do not like it and will not eat it. And as for players, I have played this quintetwith several groups. It is beyond all but the best amateurs and with the pros I have on more than one occasion to force them not to put the work down before finishing it or even getting to the second movement. It is in a word, unpalatable, period, full stop.

The quartets are not so hard and can be played much easier. But as I have said, they are extraordinarily uneven which, in my opinion, precludes them from being programmed for concert. The Op.48 Quintet is probably his most appealing chamber work. The sonatas are okay, not bad, not great, as the Germans say "So la la"

[Alan Howe]

Well, I disagree profoundly with Altmann, but thanks for your views, of course.

Draeseke provokes very different reactions among listeners. He was considered a 'harter Nuß' (a hard nut to crack) and he still is. Unlike Raff, whose music hits the spot straight away, Draeseke's music requires repeated listening and study.

A review in IRR (September 2006) of 2 CDs featuring Draeseke's chamber music by Calum (=Malcolm) MacDonald is much more balanced - and positive.
https://draeseke.org/akcoburg/IRR200609reviews.htm
It's time to forget Altmann and pay attention to modern-day musicologists who have actually taken the time to understand and appreciate the totality of Draeseke's music, I feel. 

'Austro-German', by the way, simply refers to the geographical area of German-speaking Austria and Germany. It was not intended to describe Draeseke's own nationality/background, but rather the continuity of the musical tradition in this wider region. I apologise for this misleading description. I am well aware of Draeseke's actual geographical sphere of activity.

[Santo Neuenwelt]

I do not think it is time to forget Altmann. He was an excellent violinist, probably the greatest scholar and critic of chamber music who actually had hands on experience, unlike so many other critics of today whose only musical expertise consists of putting a tone arm on a vinyl disk or a cd in a player or looking at a score. Altmann lived to 1951 and had plenty of good things to say about composers who lived and wrote long after Draeseke was dead and whose styles were far more modern than his.

Does that make Altmann always right? Of course not. Evaluation of art, be it music, painting etc, is always subjective and there almost always will be someone, I imagine, who will take a contrarian view against a majority opinion although this is hard to envision in the case of artists such as Mozart, Beethoven or Shakespeare to name but a few...

However, in the case of Draeseke who lived from 1835-1913, there are many, many contemporaries of his who, in my opinion, are far more deserving of the epithet of second greatest unsung German composed after Raff. You like Draeseke's music, I understand that. There are some people who are fond of the music of Schoenberg or Varese, but how often do they get played or programmed. I think you are ignoring the fact that there is another reason why Draeseke's music was not often played in his lifetime or thereafter and it is not just because he was a hard nut to crack. I think it is because most people found the contents after the nut was cracked not to be too tasty...

As I said, I think there are scads of composers who would be more deserving of the title you gave Draeseke. That said, I think it would be very interesting to see who got named if we started a thread called who is the second most deserving unsung German composer after Raff.

[Double-A]

I would like to know why the Nazis promoted him.  Were there affinities between him and Wagner that go beyond the artistic?

BTW the term "Austro-German" is unnecessary.  When it comes to culture "German" encompasses creators from all German speaking countries and territories.  Remember that Germany as a nation state is young, was in fact founded during Draeseke's life time.

[eschiss1]

Why do you call Op.77 a viola quintet, by the way? I thought it was conventional to call quintets for 2 violins, viola and 2 cellos "cello quintets", e.g. the nickname given to Schubert's for the same instrumentation.

The Stelzner is unlikely to be played more often because the parts are expensive as expletive, which is a pity, based on the Coburg recording...

Double-A: an early, unreliable biography of him made him out to be quite the anti-Semite, nationalist and other things. (He wasn't philosemitic either, judging from some letters by Draeseke Alan Krueck told me he'd seen, but the Roeder biography is not accurate.)

[Santo Neuenwelt]

Yeah, I meant op.77 cello quintet. My bad, fingers were on automatic pilot, happens with us touch typists. Best course I ever took bar none was in 7th grade summer school---touch typing. Who would have thought that in 1958 it would become such a useful skill.

[eschiss1]

Santo- "..but how often are they programmed"- Schoenberg? Very often, from early to late works, as even a quick check reveals...