German orchestra at the Meiningen State Theatre
- Meiningen
- Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen
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Richard Strauss Rudolf Kempe Auerbach Bülow Eugen Albert Brahms Krause Meiningen Court Orchestra 1885 1886 1890 2003
Richard Strauss Burleske in D minor for piano and orchestra Malcolm Frager, piano Staatskapelle Dresden Rudolf Kempe, conductor Painting: Frank Auerbach, Head of William Feaver, 2003 Early in 1885, Strauss began a conducting apprenticeship with Hans von Bülow, who was then the director of the renowned Meiningen Court Orchestra. Even though this lasted only six months, it was of decisive importance for his career. Strauss hoped that his mentor (who was equally celebrated as a pianist and as a conductor) would perform his Burleske (1886) for piano and orchestra, but Bülow's reaction was not encouraging. "There's a different hand position in every bar; do you think I'm going to sit down for four weeks and study such an unmanageable piece?", he demanded of the fledgling composer. Strauss had better luck with another virtuoso, Eugen d'Albert, who took all the difficulties in his stride at the first performance (which was given as part of the 1890 Eisenach Music Festival). Strauss himself conducted the work, which he dedicated to d'Albert. By this stage, however, the composer had begun to lose interest in the piece, and remarked that he objected to performing a work he had already grown out of. The four accented timpani strokes at the start set the tone of cheerful music-making and give the work its “burlesque" character. Some genuinely Straussian characteristics can already be heard in this piece, despite the strong influence of Brahms. The Burleske looks forward to the cheeky humour of Till Eulenspiegel and is certainly more than the work of a talented beginner. Adapted from notes by Ernst Krause
Max Reger Horst Stein Bach Burg Lindner Bayreuth Hugo Riemann Eugen Albert Busoni Bercken Szell Hoesslin Joseph Haas Schoeck Kvapil Weinberger Masterworks Chorale Meiningen Court Orchestra 1873 1888 1890 1891 1894 1895 1901 1902 1904 1905 1907 1908 1911 1914 1915 1916
CONDUCTOR : HORST STEIN Max Reger was an important composer whose artistic worth far surpasses his still generally meager representation on the concert stages and in recordings. In his teen years, he came under the disparate influences of Bach and Wagner, and eventually fused a style from these sources, adding his own unique and seemingly ubiquitous counterpoint, to fashion music that was both ahead of its time and inextricably bound to the past. His mature idiom melded Baroque structural ingredients with the opulent harmonic palette of the late Romantic period. His organ compositions include masterworks like the chorale fantasia Ein feste Burg is unser Gott, Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, and Fantasia and Fugue on B-A-C-H. His huge chamber music output, consisting of nine sonatas for violin and piano and many other works, is an important body of work. Reger was born in Brand, Bavaria on March 19, 1873, and grew up in Weiden. He studied organ and violin with his father, and piano with his mother. At 11, he began studies with organist Adalbert Lindner. In 1888, Reger traveled to Bayreuth and heard performances of Wagner's Parsifal and Die Meistersinger. The experience had a lasting effect on him, the harmonies and sounds of the latter opera profoundly affecting his musical psyche. In 1890, he began studies in Wiesbaden with Hugo Riemann and soon produced his Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 1 +••.••(...)). Reger developed a friendship with composers Eugen d'Albert and Feruccio Busoni in the mid-1890s. During this time, he wrote several compositions for piano, including Lose Blätter (1894) and Aus der Jugendzeit (1895). After an unpleasant experience in the military that affected his physical and mental health, he returned to his parents' Weiden home to recuperate. During this period, he produced his Op. 27 chorale fantasia Ein Feste Burg is Unser Gott, and his Op. 29 Fantasy & Fugue in C minor. Reger also earned a reputation as a brilliant pianist at this time, playing many concerts of wide-ranging repertoire, including his own works. In 1902 Reger married Elsa von Bercken. The Sinfonietta in A +••.••(...)) set off a most unwelcome stir for the composer, placing him at odds with the more conservative musical circles in Munich, where he had settled in 1901. By 1907 Reger had decided that the hostile climate in Munich was not worth enduring any longer, and accepted a professorship at Leipzig University. His many students there included Szell, von Hoesslin, Joseph Haas, Schoeck, Kvapil, and Weinberger. His Violin Concerto +••.••(...)) and the Symphonic Prologue to a Tragedy (1908) came during this period. In 1911, Reger was appointed conductor of the Meiningen Court Orchestra by Duke George II. He continued appearing as a pianist and always found time to compose. In February, 1914, he suffered a breakdown from troubles in his Meiningen post and eventually resigned. By September 1914, he had finished Eight Sacred Songs and the Patriotic Overture for orchestra. In March 1915, the composer and his family settled in Jena, where he completed his Sonata No. 9 for violin and piano, declaring it his greatest work in the genre, and the first in his so-called "Jena style." Other important works came during his "Jena" period, including the Op. 131 chamber works for various string instruments (Op. 131a, Op. 131b, Op. 131c, Op. 131d). His concert schedule took him to Holland in May, 1916, where he died of a heart attack.
Max Reger Bach Burg Lindner Bayreuth Hugo Riemann Eugen Albert Busoni Bercken Szell Hoesslin Joseph Haas Schoeck Kvapil Weinberger Frederick Moyer Woo Masterworks Chorale Meiningen Court Orchestra 1873 1888 1890 1891 1894 1895 1901 1902 1904 1905 1907 1908 1911 1914 1915 1916 1986
Max Reger was an important composer whose artistic worth far surpasses his still generally meager representation on the concert stages and in recordings. In his teen years, he came under the disparate influences of Bach and Wagner, and eventually fused a style from these sources, adding his own unique and seemingly ubiquitous counterpoint, to fashion music that was both ahead of its time and inextricably bound to the past. His mature idiom melded Baroque structural ingredients with the opulent harmonic palette of the late Romantic period. His organ compositions include masterworks like the chorale fantasia Ein feste Burg is unser Gott, Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, and Fantasia and Fugue on B-A-C-H. His huge chamber music output, consisting of nine sonatas for violin and piano and many other works, is an important body of work. Reger was born in Brand, Bavaria on March 19, 1873, and grew up in Weiden. He studied organ and violin with his father, and piano with his mother. At 11, he began studies with organist Adalbert Lindner. In 1888, Reger traveled to Bayreuth and heard performances of Wagner's Parsifal and Die Meistersinger. The experience had a lasting effect on him, the harmonies and sounds of the latter opera profoundly affecting his musical psyche. In 1890, he began studies in Wiesbaden with Hugo Riemann and soon produced his Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 1 +••.••(...)). Reger developed a friendship with composers Eugen d'Albert and Feruccio Busoni in the mid-1890s. During this time, he wrote several compositions for piano, including Lose Blätter (1894) and Aus der Jugendzeit (1895). After an unpleasant experience in the military that affected his physical and mental health, he returned to his parents' Weiden home to recuperate. During this period, he produced his Op. 27 chorale fantasia Ein Feste Burg is Unser Gott, and his Op. 29 Fantasy & Fugue in C minor. Reger also earned a reputation as a brilliant pianist at this time, playing many concerts of wide-ranging repertoire, including his own works. In 1902 Reger married Elsa von Bercken. The Sinfonietta in A +••.••(...)) set off a most unwelcome stir for the composer, placing him at odds with the more conservative musical circles in Munich, where he had settled in 1901. By 1907 Reger had decided that the hostile climate in Munich was not worth enduring any longer, and accepted a professorship at Leipzig University. His many students there included Szell, von Hoesslin, Joseph Haas, Schoeck, Kvapil, and Weinberger. His Violin Concerto +••.••(...)) and the Symphonic Prologue to a Tragedy (1908) came during this period. In 1911, Reger was appointed conductor of the Meiningen Court Orchestra by Duke George II. He continued appearing as a pianist and always found time to compose. In February, 1914, he suffered a breakdown from troubles in his Meiningen post and eventually resigned. By September 1914, he had finished Eight Sacred Songs and the Patriotic Overture for orchestra. In March 1915, the composer and his family settled in Jena, where he completed his Sonata No. 9 for violin and piano, declaring it his greatest work in the genre, and the first in his so-called "Jena style." Other important works came during his "Jena" period, including the Op. 131 chamber works for various string instruments (Op. 131a, Op. 131b, Op. 131c, Op. 131d). His concert schedule took him to Holland in May, 1916, where he died of a heart attack. (AllMusic) Please take note that the audio AND sheet music ARE NOT mine. Feel free to change the video quality to a minimum of 480p for the best watching experience. Performer: Frederick Moyer (GM Recordings, 1986) Sheet music: imslp.org/wiki/4_Spezialstudien%2C_WoO_III%2F13_(Reger%2C_Max)
Richard Georg Strauss Richard Wagner Franz Liszt Gustav Mahler Lachmann Wilde Bülow Bayreuth Pauline Ahna Arturo Toscanini Felix Mendelssohn Zweig Meiningen Court Orchestra Bavarian State Opera Vienna State Opera Deutsches Nationaltheater Staatskapelle Weimar Bayreuth Festival Berlin State Opera Salzburg Festival 1864 1870 1883 1885 1886 1889 1894 1898 1913 1919 1920 1924 1933 1948 1949
Strauss Blue Danube Richard Georg Strauss 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. Along with Gustav Mahler, he represents the late flowering of German Romanticism, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style. Strauss's compositional output began in 1870 when he was just six years old and lasted until his death nearly eighty years later. While his output of works encompasses nearly every type of classical compositional form, Strauss achieved his greatest success with tone poems and operas. His first tone poem to achieve wide acclaim was Don Juan, and this was followed by other lauded works of this kind, including Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote, Ein Heldenleben, Symphonia Domestica, and An Alpine Symphony. His first opera to achieve international fame was Salome which used a libretto by Hedwig Lachmann that was a German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. This was followed by several critically acclaimed operas with librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die ägyptische Helena, and Arabella. His last operas, Daphne, Friedenstag, Die Liebe der Danae and Capriccio used libretti written by Joseph Gregor, the Viennese theatre historian. Other well-known works by Strauss include two symphonies, lieder (especially the Four Last Songs), the Violin Concerto in D minor, the Horn Concerto No. 1, Horn Concerto No. 2, his Oboe Concerto and other instrumental works such as Metamorphosen. A prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, Strauss enjoying quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. He was chiefly admired for his interpretations of the works of Liszt, Mozart, and Wagner in addition to his own works. A conducting disciple of Hans von Bülow, Strauss began his conducting career as Bülow's assistant with the Meiningen Court Orchestra in 1883. After Bülow resigned in 1885, Strauss served as that orchestra's primary conductor for five months before being appointed to the conducting staff of the Bavarian State Opera where he worked as third conductor from 1886–1889. He then served as principal conductor of the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar from 1889–1894. In 1894 he made his conducting debut at the Bayreuth Festival, conducting Wagner's Tannhäuser with his wife, soprano Pauline de Ahna, singing Elisabeth. He then returned to the Bavarian State Opera, this time as principal conductor, from 1894–1898, after which he was principal conductor of the Berlin State Opera from 1898–1913. From 1919–1924 he was principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera, and in 1920 he co-founded the Salzburg Festival. In addition to these posts, Strauss was a frequent guest conductor in opera houses and with orchestras internationally. In 1933 Strauss was appointed to two important positions in the musical life of Nazi Germany: head of the Reichsmusikkammer and principal conductor of the Bayreuth Festival. The latter role he accepted after conductor Arturo Toscanini had resigned from the position in protest of the Nazi Party. These positions have led some to criticize Strauss for his seeming collaboration with the Nazis. However, Strauss's daughter-in-law, Alice Grab Strauss [née von Hermannswörth], was Jewish and much of his apparent acquiescence to the Nazi Party was done in order to save her life and the lives of her children (his Jewish grandchildren). He was also apolitical, and took the Reichsmusikkammer post in order to advance copyright protections for composers, attempting as well to preserve performances of works by banned composers such as Mahler, and Felix Mendelssohn. Further, Strauss insisted on using a Jewish librettist, Stefan Zweig, for his opera Die schweigsame Frau which ultimately led to his firing from the Reichsmusikkammer and Bayreuth. His opera Friedenstag, which premiered just before the outbreak of World War II, was a thinly veiled criticism of the Nazi Party that attempted to persuade Germans to abandon violence for peace. Thanks to his influence, his daughter-in-law was placed under protected house arrest during the war, but despite extensive efforts he was unable to save dozens of his in-laws from being killed in Nazi concentration camps. In 1948, a year before his death, he was cleared of any wrongdoing by a denazification tribunal in Munich. Johann Strauss,Johann,Strauss,II,Sul,bel,Danubio,blu,valzer,On,the,Beautiful,blue,Danube,Blue Danube,Waltz,An,der,schönen,schonen,blauen,Donau,Walzer,El,Azul,Vals,Le,Beau,Bleu,Valse,Vienna,Wien,classical music,Classical,Music,Neujahrskonzert,New,Year's,Concert,Concerto,di,Capodanno,