Klughardt, August

[1834-1917]) und ‚Judith’ op. 85 (ca. 1900). An Kammermusik ist von Klughardt erhalten: die heute wieder sehr beliebten Lenau-Fantasiestücke ‚Schilflieder’ op. 28 für Oboe, Bratsche und Klavier op. 28 (1872), ein Klavierquintett g-moll op. 43, zwei Streichquartette F-Dur op. 42 und D-Dur op. 61, ein Streichquintett g-moll op. 62 und das berühmte, um 1898 entstandene Bläserquintett C-Dur op. 79.
Klughardts Vierte Symphonie c-moll op. 57 wurde am 22. November 1890 durch die Hofkapelle Berlin im ein halbes Jahr zuvor eröffneten Langhanssaal der Hofoper zu Berlin uraufgeführt, unter Leitung entweder von Chefdirigent Joseph Sucher (1843-1908) oder von Musikdirektor Heinrich Kahl. Drei Wochen später folgte die Dresdner Erstaufführung unter Ernst von Schuch (1846-1914). Am 2. und 3. Mai 1891 stellte Klughardt sein neues Werk erstmals mit seinem Orchester im Herzoglichen Hoftheater in Dessau vor. Bald darauf erschienen Partitur und Stimmen bei Constantin Wild’s Verlag in Leipzig im Druck. Klughardt hat bei dieser Gelegenheit die Symphonie „Seiner Hoheit dem Erbprinzen Friedrich von Anhalt in innigster Verehrung“ gewidmet. In den folgenden Jahren wurde Klughardts Vierte Symphonie vielerorts erfolg- reich aufgeführt. Sie kam am 11. September 1893 in New York in einem Konzert der Philharmonic Society zur amerikani- schen Erstaufführung, wozu es in der Presse hieß: „Klughardts c-moll-Symphonie ist ein durchaus nobles Werk, gediegen im Bau, klar und übersichtlich in der thematischen Struktur, voller schöner Gedanken, reich an melodischer Erfindung. Es ist kein ungegorener Most, kein genialischer Überdrang, kein titanenhaftes Emporrecken und Stürmen, aber auch kein staubig-pedantisches Gelehrtenprodukt, was Klughardt uns hier bietet; es ist edle, gereifte Männlichkeit, die immer schnurgerade auf ihr Ziel losgeht, einfach und würdig.“

Christoph Schlüren, 2015

Aufführungsmaterial ist von Anhaltische Philharmonie, Dessau (www.anhaltisches-theater.de) zu beziehen.

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August Klughardt
(b. Cöthen, 30 November 1847 — d. Dessau, 3 August 1902)

Symphony No. 4 in C minor, op. 57
(1890)

I Allegro non troppo (p. 3) II Andante cantabile (p. 26) III Presto (p. 35)
IV Andante maestoso (p. 42) – Moderato e molto maestoso (p. 44) – Allegro (p. 57) – Più allegro (p. 58)

Preface
Until a few years ago August Klughardt was completely forgotten, apart from his late wind quintet that has long formed part of the core repertoire of wind ensembles. Since then four of his five symphonies, his concertos, and a rich body of chamber music have appeared on CD, and his ingratiatingly melodious, readily accessible, impeccably crafted music, poised between the competing currents of his day, is heard ever more often in concert. Klughardt’s masterly counterpoint, excellent orchestration, and clear sense of form (even in unusual solutions) sound captivating even when the degree of originality is slightly lower and his melodic invention not exactly unique. Symphony No. 4, which appears here in full score for the first time in a century, is probably his most significant orchestral creation, polished in every respect and pos- sessed of a remarkable balance of formal opposites.

Klughardt produced his first compositions at the age of ten for the musical circle at Cöthen’s grammar school. In 1863 his family moved to Dresden, where he learned piano from the court conductor Eduard Thiele (1812-95) and music theory from Ferdinand Diedicke (1836-1903). A year later he gave his public début as a pianist. After completing his school leaving certificate in 1866 he undertook further studies in Dresden, where he increasingly stood out as a composer. From 1867 he was employed as a conductor, first at Posen Town Theater (1867-68), then in the municipal theaters of Neustrelitz and Lübeck. From 1869 to 1873 he conducted at the court theater in Weimar, where he befriended Franz Liszt. He then returned to Neustrelitz, where he was appointed music director in 1880. In 1882 he was offered the position of court conductor in Dessau, a position he held for two decades until his death. In 1892-93 he conducted Dessau’s first produc- tion of Der Ring des Nibelungen; in 1898 he was inducted into the Prussian Academy of Arts; and in 1900 he received an honorary doctorate from Erlangen University. He turned down an offer to head the Berlin Sing-Akademie, allowing Georg Schumann (1866-1952) to guide the fate of this hallowed choral institution for half a century.

Although Klughardt was a confirmed adherent of the New German School associated with Liszt and Wagner, his music nevertheless preserved a conservative element in emulation of Mendelssohn and Schumann, albeit in a distinctive assimi- lated fashion. As the present symphony makes abundantly clear, these almost antithetical elements led to highly original solutions which, despite the smoothness of the inflection, were thoroughly “bold” by the standards of the day. This is especially true of the finale, whose vivacious workmanship resists conventional academic explanation.
The first of Klughardt’s symphonies, in F minor, was composed in 1871 and bore the title Waldleben (Forest Life). Later he withdrew it, and its whereabouts are unknown today. It was followed by a programmatic Symphony No. 1 in D minor, op. 27, subtitled “Lenore” (1872); Symphony No. 2 in F minor, op. 34 (1876); Symphony No. 3 in D major, op. 37 (1879); Symphony No. 4 (1890); and Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 71, a reworking of a lost string sextet in C-sharp minor, op. 58 (1892). His other surviving orchestral works include the overture Sophonisbe, op. 12 (1869); a Konzertstück in F major for oboe and orchestra, op. 18; a Romance for bass clarinet and orchestra; the patriotic Siegesouvertüre (Victory Overture) ‘Die Wacht am Rhein’ (‘The Rhine Vigil’), op. 26 (1871); the concert overtures Im Frühling (In Springtime) in E major, op. 30, and G major, op. 45 (1884); a Suite in A minor, op. 40 (1883); the once highly popular and recently rediscovered Cello Concerto in A minor, op. 59 (ca. 1890); the suite Auf der Wanderschaft, op. 67 (1896), originally writ- ten for solo piano; the extensive Violin Concerto in D major, op. 68 (1895); and the Festival Overture for the Centenary of the Dessau Court Theater, op. 78 (1898). He also composed four operas: Mirjam, op. 15 (premièred in Weimar, 11 April 1871), Iwein (Neustrelitz, 28 March 1878), Gudrun (Neustrelitz, 31 January 1881), and Die Hochzeit des Mönchs ( The Monk’s Marriage; Dessau, 19 November 1886). His later years brought forth two oratorios: Die Zerstörung Jerusalems, op. 75 (The Destruction of Jerusalem; ca. 1898), on a libretto by his subsequent biographer Leopold Gerlach (1834-1917), and Judith, op. 85 (ca. 1900). His surviving chamber music includes the again highly popular Fantasy-Pieces on Lenau’s Schilflieder for oboe, viola, and piano, op. 28 (1872); a Piano Quintet in G minor, op. 43; two string quartets in F major (op. 42) and D major (op. 61); a String Quintet in G minor (op. 62); and the famous C-major Wind Quintet of 1898 (op. 79).

Klughardt’s Symphony No. 4 in C minor, op. 57, was given its première by the Berlin Court Orchestra on 22 November 1890 in the Berlin Court Opera’s Langhans Hall, which had opened half a year earlier. The conductor was either the or- chestra’s principal conductor Joseph Sucher (1843-1908) or its music director Heinrich Kahl. The Dresden première took place three weeks later under the baton of Ernst von Schuch (1846-1914), and Klughardt himself first presented the new work with his own orchestra at the Ducal Theatre in Dessau on 2 and 3 May 1891. Soon thereafter it was published in full score and parts by Constantin Wild in Leipzig. On this occasion Klughardt took the opportunity to dedicate the work “in deepest veneration to His Majesty, the Hereditary Prince Friedrich von Anhalt.” It was successfully performed many times in the years that followed; the American première, given in New York by the Philharmonic Society on 11 September 1893, prompted the following response from the press (re-translated from Leopold Gerlach’s German translation):

His Symphony in C minor is a thoroughly noble work, solid in its construction, clear and easy to grasp in its thematic structure, filled with beautiful ideas, rich in its melodic invention. It is not unfermented must, not genial overdrive, not titanic reaching for the stars and storming, but also not a dusty product of pedantic erudition that Klughardt offers us here; it is noble, mature manliness that always sets out straight for its goal, simple and dignified.

Translation: Bradford Robinson, 2015

For performance materials please contact Anhaltische Philharmonie, Dessau (www.anhaltische-philharmonie.de).