"The
fours of them played like gods. How splendid, being
thus performed. – I have become so attached
to the quartet's second movement since its conception
that I was always afraid of having to submit it
to an 'interpretation'. But the Joachims played
it so much in the manner of how I feel it, altogether
innocent, chaste, without sentimentality, like an
old Song of Mary: devout and inward."
August Klughardt on the 1st performance of
his 2nd String Quartet by the Joachim Quartet
AUGUST KLUGHARDT, A FORWARD-LOOKING TRADITIONALIST
Andreas Gerhardus and Tobias Koch, translated
by Nicholas Selo
Berlin, November 5, 1883. The Joachim Quartet
gives one of its widely-acclaimed concerts in
the Singakademie. For over 36 years these legendary
quartet concerts have been more than just a meeting
place for the society elite of the Second German
Empire. Here chamber music sounds the highest
order. At the same time the classical taste of
Joseph Joachim is revealed in the programming
- Joachim the outstanding violinist, universal
musician, founding rector of the Berlin Royal
Academic Conservatoire for Musical Performance
and altogether one of the most influential musical
personalities of his time.
That evening in autumn 1883 August Klughardt's
first String Quartet in F, op. 42 receives its
premiere flanked by Mozart's Quartet in E-flat
K 428 and Beethoven's Quartet in C-sharp minor,
op. 131. According to contemporary reports the
first performance of the work on this recording
is a tremendous success. The Deutsche Tageblatt
notes: “This Court Capellmeister from Dessau
seems to have remarkable good fortune in Berlin.
The Royal Opera performs his opera Gudrun, the
Chapel Royal Orchestra plays a new symphony and
a suite of his and now along comes the world-famous
quartet ensemble and gives a christening to his
string quartet. We do not recall this happening
to another mortal of the art of composition to
such a degree. No-one would maintain that the
services Court Capellmeister Radecke or Prof.
Joachim would have been easily secured for a new
piece; rather the opposite must have been the
case.
Foregoing careful rehearsals must then have demonstrated
that the works of a composer unknown in Berlin
prior to the Gudrun performances are worthy of
respect, and well and truly has this hope been
substantiated by both the symphony and suite in
the concert-hall of the Opera and the quartet
in the Singakademie. Quite wonderfully performed
by the four quartet colleagues the new piece achieved
a spectacular success of a kind only rarely witnessed
at first encounters, even at concerts of the Joachim
Quartet.” The Anhaltische Tageblatt reports
thereafter on the premiere in euphoric terms:
“The name of the young Court Capellmeister
will soon be missing from no distinguished concert
programme. The success of the F major quartet
given here is so sustained that our musical world
engages even now in a lively preoccupation with
it.”
Elsewhere too Klughardt's op. 42 leaves a keen
impression, as his biographer Leopold Gerlach
reports: “A no less sensational success
was accorded this delightful piece at the Tonkünstlerversammlung
(Composer's Gathering) in Weimar. As the Grenzbote
(Border Messenger) put it: ‘The best of
the Festival was the Brahms Sextet and the Quartet
by the lesser known Klughardt’. And writing
from Cologne, Holländer tells the Composer:
‘It is with particular personal pleasure
that I'm able to say that your beautiful String
Quartet scored a complete success in Cologne,
Bonn and Düsseldorf. At this soiree it was
Rubinstein in particular who accorded the work
his sympathy.’”
Gerlach proceeds with an extensive description
of the piece which we quote in the following extract
to capture the eloquent enthusiasm with which
light is cast on the half-hour-long composition:
“A virtue of the quartet must be deemed
its freshness of invention and great naturalness
which are coupled with excellent contrapuntal
and thematic working, and specially apparently
so in the interesting first movement. (A reporter
from Kassel goes so far as to declare: ‘During
last winter's performance of the D major Symphony
we already had occasion to juxtapose Brahms with
Klughardt, whose compositions contain more natural
beauty, where the scholarly context is less obscure
and more resulting out of itself’).
The lyrical Largo earns similar praise, the light-hearted
Scherzo and playfully froliksome Finale. Very
fittingly the Leipziger Generalanzeiger compares
the quartet with a garden in bloom, radiating
bright colours. It need hardly be mentioned with
Klughardt that the nature and singularity of the
four instruments is properly taken into account
and put to use in often surprising combinations
of sonorities. To sum up: ‘This shows (thus
the Deutsches Montagsblatt) the qualities of a
good work of chamber music to such a high degree
that the proximity to the classics, even to Beethoven's
Quartet in C sharp minor is easily dealt with.’”
Right from the start of the quartet – beginning
with a delicate unison, unfurling a melody of
over 40 bars' length with which a second theme
and thematic fragments are interwoven –
Klughardt's compositional credentials are clear
to see.
A high dramatic density pervades the movement
as a whole, achieved by the contrasting of metrical
and harmonic structures. The key of B major- at
the furthest remove from the home key - is arrived
at precisely midway in the movement; at the same
time as the arrival at one of the dynamic lows
of the piece. The second movement combines lied-like
melodiousness with a variation form which ranges
in expression from Mendelssohnian lightness of
touch to heavy-duty chordal writing, whilst the
Scherzo explores further tonal contrasts. The
Finale rounds off the dramaturgy of the work as
a whole in a spirit of verve and exhilaration.
Klughardt himself seems to have been so delighted
by the Joachim Quartet's performance of his first
quartet that he dedicates his following work,
the Piano Quintet in G Minor, op. 43 to Joseph
Joachim. Thus this recording of two chamber works
from the late 19th century represents at the same
time a hommage to Joseph Joachim.
The Piano quintet receives its first performance
in Köthen on November 25, 1884 approximately
a year after the string quartet. Following this
further performances in Leipzig and Dresden take
place. The reception is uniformly positive, as
this discussion in the Dresden Anzeiger shows:
“A great virtue of this piece is that there
is no trace of that undesirable so-called earnestness
of style which, as often as not, remains all-too-shallow;
of would-be reflectiveness, refinements and so-called
originality – what e'r you will –
not a whit. The composer gives of his best, freely
and without constraint, and his best has truly
something fine about it which is a source of great
delight.
A sound melodic element is at the forefront of
this quintet. The beautiful formal proportion,
the artful yet ever-clear harmonies reveal the
practised hand of the thorough-bred musician with
all artistic means at his disposal.” In
similar terms a review after a performance in
Nice, France: “The Klughardt Quintet, a
magnificent new addition to modern chamber music
formed the centre-piece of the concert. Having
heard it, we understand the immense success which
this masterful work has had in the concert-hall
and in the salon.”
And so it is that Klughardt proves himself master-in-charge
of the medium Piano Quintet. Unmistakeably and
effortlessly he combines on a broad scale quasi-symphonic
tendencies in the piece with a concentrated, filigree
motivic working. Commencing mysteriously with
unison string utterances, appearing to come from
nowhere, the first movement develops along a multitude
of divergent paths. As much dependent on the effective
layering of the discourse between the solo encroachments
of the piano part and block-like string reiterations,
as upon complex and concise developmental passages.
Three themes are presented. Despite the con fuoco
pose what strikes one is the self-restraint with
which Klughardt shapes this expansive movement.
The same applies to the other movements.
Again and again ideas bubble up. As if in a kaleidoscope
influences become apparent of both the so-called
New German School of Wagner and Liszt and of the
more traditional orientation of Schumann, Brahms
and their circle. It would seem that the composer
were seeking to reconcile these antipodes.
In the face of such admiration and the clearly-expressed
respect of his contemporaries towards the chamber-works
recorded here, the question arises: Why does this
composer play no more prominent part in modern
concert life? It seems imperative that we cast
a glance at his biography: who was August Klughardt?
Born on November 30, 1847 in Köthen his musical
talent is soon discovered and encouraged. At the
age of 16 he plays Mendelssohn's G Minor Piano
Concerto with the Dessau Hofkapelle Orchestra
and conducts performances at his school, presenting
own compositions already. In 1866 he goes to Dresden
to further his education. A comment on his setting
of Dornröschen (Sleeping Beauty) for soloists,
choir and orchestra, dating from the Dresden years
reads as follows: “A relinquishment of all
musical preciousness, all means of garnering cheap
effect, and moreover by combining a characteristic
style of instrumentation with a richness of melody
– these are for sure highly acceptable traits
in a youthful composition.”
In 1867 Klughardt becomes Capellmeister at the
Town Theatre in Posen. The theatre director introduces
him to the staff with the words: “My Capellmeister
has as yet no beard to be sure but he knows a
thing or two and can prove it.” Klughardt
proves his talent in Posen as pianist and composer
and especially as a conductor. During the six-month
winter season he conducts 75 opera performances.
In the Posen press we read about his reception
as follows: “It makes a gratifying impression
to encounter a musician of discernment who, whilst
in full technical command, knows how to subordinate
technique to the spirit.” His biographer
Gerlach adds: “There again the poetic scent
is admired, all-encircling, with no trace of artificiality.
Whoever has got to know Klughardt's playing, combining
rugged clarity with chasteness, temperament with
delicacy will confirm this judgement.”
Following a season as musical director at the
Neustrelitz Theatre 1868/69 and Opera Capellmeister
in Lübeck, Klughardt is called to the Court
Theatre at Weimar. In his four years there he
is on close terms with Franz Liszt via whom Klughardt
is won over to Wagner.
A newspaper article reports on the first performance
in Weimar in 1871 of his opera Mirjam: “Whoever
visited Weimar during the last week will know
that the names of Klughardt and Mirjam were being
uttered everywhere”. An outstanding skill
in instrumentation, a nobility of sentiment and
sharpness of characterisation singled out for
praise.
Further important works from the Weimar period
include the Lenore-Symphony, dedicated to Wagner,
the Concert-Overture Im Frühling (In Springtime),
a concert-piece for oboe and orchestra and the
Schilflieder (Songs of the Rushes) for Oboe, Viola
and Piano. In autumn 1873 Klughardt is elected
Hofkapellmeister in Neustrelitz. Within a short
time the orchestral pedagogue Klughardt has polished
up the Grand-Ducal Chapel Orchestra so much so
that it satisfies all demands now made of it and
is superior to many a larger-forced orchestra
in precision, clean intonation and elan.
This led to Wagner's engaging eight musicians
from the Neustrelitz Chapel Orchestra for his
first Bayreuth Festival in 1876. Klughardt also
visits Bayreuth that summer.
Under the strong impression of Wagners music Klughardt's
2nd Symphony in F Minor op. 34 is created. At
a later Frankfurt performance of this piece which
Klughardt himself conducted he reports to a friend:
“I had two rehearsals with the wonderful
orchestra at which I at last had an opportunity
to swoon at the sound of a large-scale string
section, 20 first violins, 18 seconds, 16 violas,
16 cellos and 12 double-basses. You can well imagine
how my counterpoints sounded. I was in the best
of spirits which was very good for this serious
piece and seem to have hit it off with the orchestra.
For when I went to the rostrum at the evening
concert the musicians received me with sustained
applause. The audience clapped after each movement,
terrifically after the first, as loud as at a
music festival after the second and after the
third movement as after the first.” In Neustrelitz
the operas Iwein and Gudrun were written and,
as well as this symphony, his 3rd, op. 37.
In 1882 Klughardt takes on the position of Court
Capellmeister in Dessau to which he remains faithful
until his death in 1902, despite receiving the
honouring invitation to apply for the Directorship
at the Berliner Singakademie. He turns this down.
Among his most important works from this last
phase in his life are his Cello Concerto, op.
59, the Violin Concerto, op. 68, two further symphonies
and two large-scale oratorios, The Destruction
of Jerusalem and Judith. During these years he
composes the bulk of his chamber music, two string
quartets, a piano trio, and three quintets, one
each for piano and strings, strings alone and
winds.
Klughardt's main work coincides with a fascinating
and fertile period of musical history. A large
number of composers – one of them quite
clearly being the undogmatic and modest August
Klughardt – write music for a steadily growing
number of concert halls and opera houses. One
assumes musically either a progressive or traditional
position. Well beyond German boundaries it comes
to inevitable entrenchments. Yet Klughardt seems
not to want to commit himself to one or the other
despite.
The love of experiment is apparent not just from
the works featured on this recording, a conjoining
of richness of sonority and concentrated motivic
working. Klughardt detaches himself from the open
battle between the parties, offering instead a
synthesis of both styles. This is certainly one
of the reasons for his soon being pushed onto
the periphery vis-à-vis the one-trackedness
of musicological assessments posthumously and
despite enormous contemporary appreciation while
he was alive.
At the same time an unwavering gaze to the past
can teach us the following: At a time before either
radio or recordings musical performances have
enormous significance, and not just in society
life. It is not solely great masters like Brahms,
Wagner, Dvorák, Liszt or Strauss who ignite
the rapt attention of the public. There is instead
a huge demand for contemporary music, quite naturally
including the field of chamber music.
In privileged circles it is part of the refined
way of life to make music oneself or hold a salon
in which performances of music take place to the
highest standards and get discussed. The musically
talented are discovered early and specially encouraged,
this is clear from Klughardt's own vita. The sheer
size of the market for sheet music at the time
becomes clear when we look at how many publishing
houses exist. For all that, it is significant
to reflect now looking back how much of what is
composed is of a high quality. This fact is obscured
by the small number of these pieces performed
today.
Just in the last few years, with the state of
satiation brought on by endless, if varied replications
of the official chamber music canon, have the
stimulating environs of the great names been more
taken into account. Isn't it a great enrichment
to experience these great names in the new light
of rediscovered neglected musical by-ways? We
invite you to do just this.
Literature:
Leopold Gerlach, AUGUST KLUGHARDT, Leipzig 1902
Günther Eisenhardt, Marco Zabel, AUGUST KLUGHARDT,
Potsdam 2002
Beatrix Borchard, STIMME UND GEIGE: Amalie und
Joseph Joachim, Wien 2005
M. R., SOME POINTS OF VIOLIN PLAYING AND MUSICAL
PERFORMANCE as learnt in the Hochschule für
Musik (Joachim School) in Berlin during the time
I was Student there, 1902-1909, Edinburgh 1939
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