Knorr, Iwan

Preface

Iwan Knorr – Symphonic Fantasy for Large Orchestra Op. 12 (1899)

(b. Mewe (West Prussia), 3. January 1853 – d. Frankfurt, 22. January 1910)

Andante – Allegro – Andante p.1
Intermezzo p.35
Scherzo p.59
Alla Russa p.83

Preface
Little is known about Ivan Knorr today. He was born in Gniew, a town situated in Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, which was part of the German Empire between 1871 and 1918. Knorr attended the Leipzig Conservatory – which offered one of the most prestigious composition programs in Europe. He studied under the guidance of Ignaz Moscheles (1794–1870), Ernst Friedrich Richter (1808–1879) and Carl Reinecke (1824–1910). In 1878 he became director of music theory instruction at the Imperial Kharkiv Conservatory (Ukraine). With help of contemporary musicians and composers including Brahms, Bernhard Scholz (1835–1916), Franz Stockhausen (1826–1906) and Franz Wüllner (1832–1902), Knorr was able to relocate to Frankfurt in 1883 where he joined the faculty of the prestigious Hoch Conservatory. In 1908, he became director of the school. As a teacher he exerted great influence. Among his pupils were Bernhard Sekles (1872–1934), Ernest Bloch (1880–1959), Vladimir Sokalskyi (1863–1919), Ernst Toch (1887–1964), Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949), and Cyril Scott (1879–1970), among others.

Although Knorr was known as an advocate of a more traditional style of composition – Leipzig Conservatory was known as a cradle of conservatism throughout the 19th century – Knorr’s pedagogical approach as a composition teacher was not as conservative as that of his colleagues at the Könliglich Akademische Hochschule Berlin.1 …

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