Waldemar von Baußnern
Encyclopedia
Waldemar Edler von Baußnern (also Baussnern or Bausznern, November 29, 1866August 20, 1931) was a German composer
and music teacher.
, Germany
, and descended from Transylvanian Saxons
, Baußnern was the son of a financial official. He grew up in both Transylvania
(in the then Rumania) and Budapest
in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in present-day Hungary
). Between 1882-1886 he was a student of Friedrich Kiel
and Woldemar Bargiel
at the Berlin Musical Academy (Berliner Musikhochschule). He then conducted various choirs; after 1909 he became director of the Großherzoglichen Musikschule
in Weimar
. From 1916 to 1923 he served as director of the Hoch Conservatory
in Frankfurt am Main. In 1923 he became undersecretary of the Berliner Akademie der Künste. He died in Potsdam
.
emerged as an especial source of inspiration. This compositional impetus is reflected in numerous titles of his works, yet his oeuvre lacks any programmatic design. Stylistically, Baußnern stands out as a maverick to his contemporaries, remaining a composer who defies classification. Generally, however, his music is rooted in the 19th century, yet exhibits independence of form, ranging from extremes of conventional tonality
to frequently polyphonic chromaticism
, nonetheless never metamorphosizing into atonality
.
Baußnern completed Peter Cornelius
's fragmentary opera Gunlöd in 1906 and served as editor of the operatic section of a comprehensive edition of Cornelius' works.
Sustained success eluded Baußnern during his life, and many of his compositions (for example, all of his symphonies) were never published. Research into Baußnern work remains in its infancy, but a Baußnern Society (Baußnern-Gesellschaft), founded by German composer Dietrich von Bausznern
(1920–1980), Baußnern's grandson, seeks to promote awareness of his life's work. Current chair of the society is Angela Gehann-Dernbach
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and music teacher.
Life
Born in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and descended from Transylvanian Saxons
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
, Baußnern was the son of a financial official. He grew up in both Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
(in the then Rumania) and Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in present-day Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
). Between 1882-1886 he was a student of Friedrich Kiel
Friedrich Kiel
Friedrich Kiel was a German composer and music teacher.Writing of the chamber music of Friedrich Kiel, the famous scholar and critic Wilhelm Altmann notes that it was Kiel’s extreme modesty which kept him and his exceptional works from receiving the consideration they deserved...
and Woldemar Bargiel
Woldemar Bargiel
Woldemar Bargiel was a German composer of classical music.-Life:Bargiel was born in Berlin, and was the half brother of Clara Schumann. Bargiel’s father Adolph was a well-known piano and voice teacher while his mother Mariane had been unhappily married to Clara’s father, Friedrich Wieck. Clara was...
at the Berlin Musical Academy (Berliner Musikhochschule). He then conducted various choirs; after 1909 he became director of the Großherzoglichen Musikschule
Liszt School of Music Weimar
The Liszt School of Music Weimar is a college of music in Weimar, Germany.-The Hochschule:...
in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
. From 1916 to 1923 he served as director of the Hoch Conservatory
Hoch Conservatory
Dr. Hoch’s Konservatorium - Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on September 22, 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for music and the arts was established for all age groups. ...
in Frankfurt am Main. In 1923 he became undersecretary of the Berliner Akademie der Künste. He died in Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
.
Music
Baußnern's extensive catalogue of compositions includes almost all musical genres, yet it displays an emphasis on both choral symphonic and orchestral composition. As a composer, Baußnern found stimulation from poetry, for not only his vocal music, but also his instrumental music; the poetry of Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
emerged as an especial source of inspiration. This compositional impetus is reflected in numerous titles of his works, yet his oeuvre lacks any programmatic design. Stylistically, Baußnern stands out as a maverick to his contemporaries, remaining a composer who defies classification. Generally, however, his music is rooted in the 19th century, yet exhibits independence of form, ranging from extremes of conventional tonality
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
to frequently polyphonic chromaticism
Chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
, nonetheless never metamorphosizing into atonality
Atonality
Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...
.
Baußnern completed Peter Cornelius
Peter Cornelius
Carl August Peter Cornelius was a German composer, writer about music, poet and translator. He was born and died in Mainz where his grave in the Hauptfriedhof survives....
's fragmentary opera Gunlöd in 1906 and served as editor of the operatic section of a comprehensive edition of Cornelius' works.
Sustained success eluded Baußnern during his life, and many of his compositions (for example, all of his symphonies) were never published. Research into Baußnern work remains in its infancy, but a Baußnern Society (Baußnern-Gesellschaft), founded by German composer Dietrich von Bausznern
Dietrich von Bausznern
Dietrich von Bausznern was a German composer, cantor, organist and music teacher.Bausznern was born in Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn in present-day Poland...
(1920–1980), Baußnern's grandson, seeks to promote awareness of his life's work. Current chair of the society is Angela Gehann-Dernbach
Angela Gehann-Dernbach
150px|thumb|Angela Gehann-DernbachAngela Gehann-Dernbach is a German conductor, organist and singer based in Darmstadt, Germany....
.
Operas
- Poet and World (Dichter und Welt), musical drama (Libretto: Julius Petri; 1894, première: Weimar 1897)
- Dürer in Venice (Dürer in Venedig) (Libretto: Adolf BartelsAdolf BartelsAdolf Bartels was a German journalist and poet. Known for his völkisch worldview, he has been seen as a harbinger of National Socialist anti-Semitism....
based on a text from a novella by Adolf SternAdolf SternAdolf Stern was a German literary historian and poet.He was born in Leipzig. He studied at the universities of Leipzig and Jena, and in 1868 was appointed professor of the history of literature in the Königlich-Sächsischen Polytechnikum of Dresden...
; 1897, première: Weimar 1901) - Herbort and Hilde: (“Herbort und Hilde), light heroic opera (Libretto: Eduard König; 1901, première: Mannheim 1902)
- The Bundschuh (Der Bundschuh) (Libetto: Otto Erler; 1903, première Frankfurt am Main 1904, surviving only in a piano arrangement)
- Satyros (Satyros) (Libetto: Waldemar von Baußnern based on a text by Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
; 1922, première: Basel 1923)
Choral works
- The Birth of Jesus (Die Geburt Jesu), Christmas motet for soprano, alto, choir, orchestra and organ (1911)
- The Song of Songs on Life and Death (Das Hohe Lied vom Leben und Sterben), oratorio for soloists, choir and orchestra (1913, surviving only in a piano arrangement)
- Aus unserer Not, Kantate für Bariton, Chor und Orgel (based on a text by Friedrich Gottlieb KlopstockFriedrich Gottlieb KlopstockFriedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was a German poet.-Biography:Klopstock was born at Quedlinburg, the eldest son of a lawyer.Both in his birthplace and on the estate of Friedeburg on the Saale, which his father later rented, young Klopstock passed a happy childhood; and more attention having been given...
, 1923) - Ich will den Herrn loben für Chor und Orgel (nach Psalm 34 1925)
- Das Göttliche für Chor und Orchester (based on a text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1927)
- Hafis, Sinfonische Kantate für Soli, Chor, Orchester und Orgel (based on a text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1929)
- numerous smaller a cappella compositions, including:
- Deutschland! Heil’ger Name!, Hymne für gemischten Chor (based on a text by August Heinrich Hoffmann von FallerslebenAugust Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben' , who used Hoffmann von Fallersleben as his pen name, was a German poet. He is best known for writing "Das Lied der Deutschen", its third stanza now being the national anthem of Germany, and a number of popular children's songs.- Biography :Hoffmann was born in Fallersleben , Brunswick-Lüneburg,...
)
Orchestral Works
- Ouvertüre Champagner for large orchestra (1899)
- Symphony No. 1 in A major Jugend (1899)
- Symphony No. 2 in B minor Dem Andenken von Johannes BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
(1899) - Symphony No. 3 Leben (with a final chorale, "Ganymed", based on a text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1911)
- Symphony No. 4 in C minor (1914)
- Chamber Symphony Himmlische Idyllen für 10 Streicher und Orgel (1916)
- Symphony No. 5 Es ist ein Schnitter, heißt der Tod (with a final chorale based on the eponymous folk song, 1922)
- Symphony No. 6 Psalm der Liebe (with solo soprano in Elizabeth Barrett-Browning's paraphrase of Rainer Maria RilkeRainer Maria RilkeRené Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke , better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language...
, 1921) - Hymnische Stunden, three pieces for string orchestra (1925)
- Symphony No. 7 Die Ungrische (1926)
- Suite Dem Lande meiner Kindheit (1929)
- Symphony No. 8 (1930)
- Passacaglia and Fuge for large orchestra (1931)
Chamber music
- String Quartet No. 1 (1893)
- Piano Quintet in E major (1896)
- Quintet for Piano, Violin, Clarinet, Horn and Cello in F major (1898)
- Serenade for Violin, Clarinet and Piano in E major (1898)
- String Sextet (1910)
- Hungarian Theme and Variations, Passacaglia and Fugue for Violin and Piano (1916)
- Violin Sonata (1916)
- String Quartet No. 2 (1918)
- Piano Trio in A major Weimarer Trio (1921)
- String Quartet No. 3 (1923)
- Hungarian Sonate for Violin and Piano (1923)
- 4 Instrumental Suites for Violin, Flute, Clarinet, Cello and Piano (1924)
- Piano Trio in G minor O bellissima Italia (1925)
- 3 Trio Sonatas for two Violins and Piano(1928)
- Three Serious Pieces for Violin, Viola, Cello and Organ (1928)
Piano Music
- Sonata eroica in C minor (1906)
- Prelude, Fugue and Finale for two pianos (1914)
- 3 Little Sonatas (1916)
- 2 Preludes and Fugues Dem Gedächtnis der Toten - Den Lebenden (1916)
- Suite Nächtliche Visionen (1926)
Organ Music
- Choral Fantasy on "Aus tiefer NotAus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dirAus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir , BWV 38, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig in 1724 in his second annual cycle for the twenty-first Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 19 October 1724...
" (1912) - Passacaglia in C minor (1927)
- Sonata in A minor (1927)
- 3 Preludes and Fugues (1928)
- Prelude and Triple Fugues in A minor (1930)
- Choral preludes
Songs
- Zwölf Lieder zur Laute für Singstimme und Laute (1911)
- Gesänge aus der Tiefe für Bariton und Orchester (based on texts by Friedrich RückertFriedrich RückertFriedrich Rückert was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.-Biography:Rückert was born at Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local Gymnasium and at the universities of Würzburg and Heidelberg. From 1816-1817, he worked on the editorial...
, Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich NietzscheFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
, Nikolaus LenauNikolaus LenauNikolaus Lenau was the nom de plume of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau , was a German language Austrian poet.-Biography:...
, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe), 1921 - Die himmlische Orgel, Liederzyklus für Alt oder Bariton, Kammerorchester und Orgel (based on a text by Richard von VolkmannRichard von VolkmannRichard von Volkmann , was a prominent German surgeon and poet.He was born in Leipzig in 1830, the son of A.W. Volkmann. Richard entered medical school in Berlin and graduated in 1854...
, 1924) - numerous songs for voice and piano
Arrangements
- Gunlöd (a completed arrangement of an unfinished fragmentary opera by Peter Cornelius, 1906)
- numerous arrangements of folk songs, including:
- Alte Volkslieder, dreistimmig gesetzt (1913)
External links
- Short German biography of Baußnern's life
- German-language homepage of the Baußnern-Gesellschaft
- A German-language Hermann Keller article on Baußnern
- Serenade for violin, clarinet, and piano in E-flat major (full score)