Friedrich Klose

[Sibeliusfan]

Even since the conductor Bruno Walter mentioned the composer Friedrich Klose (1862-1942), comparing the style of his music with Bruckner's, I am curious about Klose's works. There is some information on Klose on Wikipedia and recently the CPO-label issued his opera Ilsebill, so that I could, at last, hear some of his music. Who knows more about Klose and is there more music to be heard?

[Alan Howe]

I have to say that I found Ilsebill one of the most dreary pieces of music I've ever heard, so I've never bothered with Klose's music. Of course, I could be wrong, but Walter's own music isn't much cop either...

[Sibeliusfan]

About Walter's music people also think different (on Musicweb his symphony was reviewed quite positive: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2010/May10/Walter_7771632.html)
But apart from Ilsebill, which I do not dislike as much as Alan Howe, I haven't heard a note of Klose's works, and so: who knows more?

[adriano]

Hi Alan: Ilsebill was, also to me, a total disappointment. Now, among my musical acquaintances over here I have two enemies more...
On the other hand, I quite like Bruno Walter's Symphony. And speaking about unknown Symphonies on cpo, I was totally enchanted by Franco Alfano's First! Long time ago I wrote cpo to ask if they would be interested in having me conducting some of my projects and it came out that Klaus Heymann menaced them with cancelling their distribution contracts if they would take me (this even after I had left him). The same thing happened 15 years ago after I had contated BIS, who, at first, was interested. The first project I had proposed cpo was Hausegger's "Natursymphonie" - quite a few years before they had produced it!

[eschiss1]

His string quartet in E-flat, score and parts of which are on IMSLP, was recorded in LP days (but I haven't heard it...)

[britishcomposer]

His Prelude and Double Fugue for organ and brass (1907) has been recorded and broadcast.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jauchzt-Alle-Lande-Wieland-Hofmann/dp/B00CV920Z6/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414017520&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=friedrich+klose+orgel

I haven't heard it yet but I have sympathies for the cpo recording of "Ilsebill". (The tenor Norbert Schmittberg would have been an excellent Siegfried at Bayreuth.)
I don't know if the booklet mentions that Othmar Schoeck had a strong dislike of Ilsebill, too. He was averse to wagnerian music drama and proposed a different solution when composing "Vom Fischer un syner Fru", based on the same fairy tale.

[matesic]

Regarding the string quartet which Altmann (writing in Cobbett) describes in considerable detail but without much respect, I scratched together part of the scherzo from the score and don't feel inclined to lacerate myself any further. Constantly switching from arco to pizzicato it's shockingly hard, even at a tempo well below the metronome mark, and musically seems to consist of little more than predictable chord sequences.

[Santo Neuenwelt]

I have had the opportunity, though not the pleasure, of playing the entire Klose quartet published by Peters. It is longer than most Bruckner symphonies. One is reminded of the Viennese quip about Zurich as compared to the Zentral Friedhof (cemetary) in Vienna. "It's twice as large, but only half as interesting."

It was recorded by the Zurich Tonhalle Quartet on a CT LP No.64-7. By the way, IMSLP does not have all the parts. Like the Sibley Library at Eastman, from whence it came, they are missing the first violin part which is nearly or over 25 pages if memory serves.

There are reasons why some composers should be unsung.

[Mark Thomas]

There are reasons why some composers should be unsung

This is a fact which we should acknowledge more here, I always think.

[eschiss1]

The first violinist can play from the full score, of which 2 copies have been uploaded- usually an acceptable solution only in a slow movement, though, so if a performance really is wanted for all of that, perhaps a separate Violin I part might be typeset/uploaded therefrom.

"There are reasons why..."

... I usually think this rather goes without saying, though I admit there are some enthusiasts, not! all of them on this forum, whose sense of proportion is lacking. (And sometimes in the other direction, as one knows!)

[matesic]

Playing the first violin part from that score wouldn't be any fun in real time, even the slow movement. On my own in the bedroom I can manage it at a pinch, with it blown up oversize on the monitor and frequent stops. I suspect someone may have destroyed the Sibley part in a fit of rage, or out of consideration for those who come after. The Partifi service for slicing score pdfs into individual parts often works pretty well, although you may lose leger-lines from the top and dynamics from the bottom.

[eschiss1]

FWIW...Not defending the work or its composer, which I have not heard, nor met, respectively.  Though the notion of destroying music to protect others makes me uncomfortable.

(And lo! Cohen the Barbarian* did come upon a book burning, which he stopped. For did not books, set aside until a snowy day and a harsh winter, provide a good, needed stock of fuel? Remember, say no! to book burning for zealotry- it's wasteful and impractical. --- Paraphrasing Terry Pratchett)

*(late edit, my mistake)

[gene schiller]

'Ilsebill' was so dull, it took me several weeks to get through it.  But, on second hearing I found myself more sympathetic.  It is, after all, a fastidiously crafted score in the Wagnerian manner; if not overly compelling, still a story well-told.  And the music occasionally borders on eloquence, particularly the poetic opening, and the interlude and final scene.  I don't think  anyone who enjoys Raff or Reger would have a problem with it.   Best regards,   Gene Schiller