Robert Gound/Gund

[FBerwald]

Zemlinsky's beautiful Symphony No. 2 seems to have won "first place along with the Symphony in G major by Robert Gound" according to wikipedia entries. Does anyone have any info on this elusive composer or this Symphony?

[John Boyer]

There are a number of works on IMSLP, and there is a monograph (Robert Gund - Ein vergessener Meister des Liedes) available on Amazon.de.   

[Alan Howe]

Dates of Life: 1865 – 1927
Place of birth: Mannheim-Seckenheim,Seckenheim
Place of death: Wien (Vienna)
Occupation: Musiker ; Komponist ; Musiklehrer ; Gesangslehrer
Religious Denomination: evangelisch (Protestant)
Alternate Names:
Gund, Robert
Gmund, Robert
Gound, Ernst Robert
Gound, Robert
https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz24674.html?language=en

At IMSLP:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Gound,_Robert
https://imslp.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Robert_Gound

There's no sign of a Symphony in the above list, but it could be among the 120 unpublished works. It would be early (fp 1899), so did it survive?

This site gives the Symphony performed on 5th March 1899 alongside Zemlinsky's in B flat as being in 'g-moll' (= G minor):
https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/de/konzerte/orchesterkonzert-wiener-tonkunstlerverein/5883/

[eschiss1]

I'm going to guess that Vienna Philharmonic is right and Wikipedia should be fixed, but score or parts can hopefully be found somewhere...  RISM lists 244 works by Gund, by the way, but mostly vocal...

[eschiss1]

I entered this into the IMSLP worklist at the bottom, though without the link for the moment (feel free to add, of course)...

[Alan Howe]

Thanks very much, Eric. I wonder whether the Gound Symphony is still in Vienna somewhere?

[Wheesht]

I'm on my way to Vienna now but I can't promise that I'll locate the symphony just by sheer luck... I'll look around, though.

[Wheesht]

A separate thread on Gund might be appropriate...
His granddaughter, Sibylle Wurzinger-Gund, has been a member of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra since 1987. She may well know more about the works of her grandfather.
And I see that bass baritone Christian Immler and pianist Helmut Deutsch are working on a project with music by Wilhelm Grosz and Robert Gund, and that an album is to be released on Alpha Classics early in 2025.

[Alan Howe]

New thread duly created. Thanks for all the interest and information posted.

Good luck, Wheesht, with any search you manage to undertake in Vienna!

On the planned recording mentioned above:

<<Our recent conversation began by my asking Immler about his fascinating exploration of the little-known music of Wilhelm Grosz (1984-1939) and Robert Gund (also spelled Gound; 1865-1927) which use texts by a range of celebrated European writers, including Eduard Mörike (1804-1875), Joseph von Eichendorff (1788-1857), and Clemens Brentano (1778-1842). The album, set for release in early 2025 on Alpha Classics, sees Immler reunite with pianist Helmut Deutsch...>>
https://www.theoperaqueen.com/2023/03/25/christian-immler-2023/

[Wheesht]

I have written to both Gund's granddaughter, who hasn't replied yet, and the archives of the Wiener Philharmoniker. They replied today: they have neither score nor parts.

[Alan Howe]

Thanks for doing this. Perhaps the granddaughter knows more.