Kurt Herold 1866-1916

[Simon]

Note: This is a preliminary biography and list of works, based on what I have found in various online periodicals. Any additional information will be very welcome.

Kurt (Curt) Herold Born ?.?.1866 Died 06.07.1916

German composer, pianist and teacher. He was described as a passionate admirer of Brahms and as an eclectic composer in the classical trend (original French version : "éclectique à tendance classique").

Teached harmony, counterpoint, fugue and composition at the Großherzoglichen Konservatorium in Karlsruhe.

Later was piano and theory teacher at the Potthof-Zimmermann Konservatorium in Elberfeld.

Orchestral

Symphony in C major
Symphony in F major
(One of these symphonies was performed at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Concerts. Both manuscripts available at the Fürstliche Hofkapelle, Sondershausen, according to RISM)
Piano Concerto in B-flat major
Piano Concerto in E minor
Piano Concerto in D minor

Chamber

Piano Trio in A minor
Piano Trio in B-flat minor
String quartet (unspecified key)
Trio for piano, oboe and horn
Violin Sonata in C-sharp minor
Cello Sonata in C major

Piano

Albumblatt
Vier Klavierstücke

Song

Lieder (unspecified)

Voval

"Per aspera ad astra", Symphonic Prologue for Orchestra, Chorus and solo Baritone

[giles.enders]

Do you know if he was killed during the WWl or was his death from natural causes.  The reason for asking is that there are a series of concerts taking place later in the year and early next featuring the works of composers from both sides whose death was caused by this war.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Are the Piano Concertos extant, does anyone know?

[Simon]

Do you know if he was killed during the WWl or was his death from natural causes.

I have no idea at this moment. The part of his obituary to which I have access online doesn't mention anything, not even where he died. Here is the obituary in the Signale für die musikalische Welt :

http://books.google.ca/books?id=lx85AAAAIAAJ&q=%22curt+herold%22+karlsruhe&dq=%22curt+herold%22+karlsruhe&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=a3GaU9CyNMKTyASgnILYCA&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAQ

Are the Piano Concertos extant, does anyone know?

I have only located the manuscripts of the Symphonies and the Albumblatt. In the end of his life, Herold worked in Elberfeld, a municipal subdivision of the city of Wuppertal. I understand that a large part of Wuppertal was destroyed during WW2, so let's hope that his manuscripts were kept in a safe place and are still waiting to be rediscovered.

For those interested, I can provide references to the list of compositions. I also have found some reviews, but my German isn't very good, so if anyone here could help with this, it would be nice (some reviews seem very positive from what I can understand).

[Simon]

Regarding Piano Concero in E minor, I can confirm that it was actually orchestrated, according to the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. I'm removing the note in list of compositions.

[eschiss1]

Even not considering the manuscript (or copy that is a manuscript, which is sometimes a copy of a published score- don't be misled by the term "abschrift" into thinking one has a copy of an autograph ) - the Albumblatt (in E) was published by Schuberth Jun. in 1896 acc. to HMB, and a copy of this publication can still be found in at least one library according to Worldcat.

(I see that RISM does list the ms of the symphony in F as an autograph, tho'. Neat. They don't list the Albumblatt at all, so I assume that was found independently - my misreading, sorry )

HMB also lists
"Herold, Curt, 2 Gavotten f. Pfte. No. 1. Kindliche Liebe. No. 2. Jubiläums-Gavotte. Leipzig, Kahnt" (pub.1881);

"Herold, C., Op. 10. Zwei Lieder ohne Worte f. V. m. Pfte. No. 1. Frühlingslied. No. 2. Herbstlied. Leipzig, Kahnt à Mk 1,50. | November 1882. | Page 343."

and a few more piano pieces besides -

Op.11 Waldesflüstern. Idylle f. Pfte. Leipzig, Kahnt (pub.1883)
Op.12 Das erste Veilchen. Klavierstück. Leipzig, Kahnt (pub.1883)
Op.15 Ein Frühlingsmorgen. Idylle f. Pfte. Leipzig, Kahnt (pub.1883)

(There are also works listed by Gustav Herold, Henri Herold (both up to Op.250-plus?) and E. (Emil, I think, but HMB lists - contemporaneously- both an Edmund and an Emil among "Herold" composers) Herold in the mix in the late 19th century.) Emil Herold's output included chamber music and could be worth a looksee also if any survives; the other two seem to have concentrated largely on brief piano works (not that scale matters, of course, only quality...)

Will check KVK to see if I can find any of the Herold works above; it has a different range than does Worldcat...

[eschiss1]

Interesting. Is the Curt Herold who wrote "Der Münchener Tristan : ein Beitrag zur Überlieferungsgeschichte und Kritik des Tristan Gottfrieds von Strassburg", published in 1911, the same fellow?

(There's another Curt or Kurt Herold (have to double-check a moment) who wrote a lot of brief dance works published in the mid-20th century who I'm guessing is not the same person, unless someone found a whole lot of mss of "our" Kurt Herold and went into a multi-decade editing-and-publishing slow boil...)

[Simon]

HMB also lists
"Herold, Curt, 2 Gavotten f. Pfte. No. 1. Kindliche Liebe. No. 2. Jubiläums-Gavotte. Leipzig, Kahnt" (pub.1881);

"Herold, C., Op. 10. Zwei Lieder ohne Worte f. V. m. Pfte. No. 1. Frühlingslied. No. 2. Herbstlied. Leipzig, Kahnt à Mk 1,50. | November 1882. | Page 343."

and a few more piano pieces besides -

Op.11 Waldesflüstern. Idylle f. Pfte. Leipzig, Kahnt (pub.1883)
Op.12 Das erste Veilchen. Klavierstück. Leipzig, Kahnt (pub.1883)
Op.15 Ein Frühlingsmorgen. Idylle f. Pfte. Leipzig, Kahnt (pub.1883)

I had seen these, but the publishing dates confuse me... Could a 18-year-old pianist have at least 15 opus numbers published? Unless the birth year given by RISM is wrong?

[eschiss1]

Could be by Karl Herold instead (it only says C. Herold, I foolishly took that to mean Curt. My bad.) A work listed/published as by "C." Herold could be by Karl (Carl?) Anton Herold (1838-1918). This makes more sense... sorry! (This problem is unfortunately not mine  only )

[Simon]

The Vier Klavierstücke are available at the Musik Akademie Basel, Switzerland.

https://www.swissbib.ch/Record/105582328

[brendangcarroll]

I would be profoundly grateful if anyone here knows the email address of the municipal archive in either Elberfeld or Wuppertal wherein Herold's estate was deposited in 1916. Many thanks!

[Simon]

Here is the email address of the municipal archive. Strangely enough, I don't recall contacting them during my research, but I guess it could be a good place to look for Herold's music... Please let us know if you have any answer.

stadtarchiv@stadt.wuppertal.de

[brendangcarroll]

And here is the very disappointing reply: the search goes on!


"Dear Mr. Carroll,

Kurt Herold died at 6:15 a.m. at July the 16th 1916 in Elberfeld. In the death certificate there is no more information about the circumstances of his death. In the newspapers I found a death notice which said that he peacefully died after long and severe suffering. Unfortunately we have no further documents concerning Kurt Herold and I couldn't find out if or where you could find his estate.

Sincerely
Imke C. Riechey
________________________________________
Stadtverwaltung Wuppertal
-Stadtarchiv / SB 213.4-
Imke C. Riechey
Friedrich-Engels-Allee 89-91
42285 Wuppertal
---------------------------------------------------------------

[Simon]

Kurt Herold died at 6:15 a.m. at July the 16th 1916 in Elberfeld.

I have just noticed that... The death date given by the Stadtarchiv (July 16) is not the same as the one found in the obituary in the Signale für do musikalisches Welt (July 6). I wonder which one is the right one!