Woldemar Bargiel
Encyclopedia
Woldemar Bargiel was a German
composer
of classical music
.
, 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 nine years older than Woldemar. Throughout their lives, they enjoyed a warm relationship. The initial opportunities which led to the success and recognition he enjoyed were due to Clara, who introduced him to both Robert Schumann
and Felix Mendelssohn
. Bargiel received his first lessons at home and later with the well-known Berlin teacher of music theory Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn. Upon the suggestion of Schumann and the recommendation of Mendelssohn, Bargiel at age 16 went to study at the famous Leipzig Conservatory with some of the leading men of music: Ignaz Moscheles
(piano) and Niels Gade (composition), and also with Julius Rietz
.
After leaving Leipzig in 1850, he returned to Berlin where he tried to make ends meet by giving private lessons. Eventually, Clara and Robert were able to arrange for the publication of some of his early works, including his First Piano Trio.
Subsequently, Bargiel held positions at the conservatories in Cologne and Rotterdam (where he met Hermine Tours, his future wife, sister of the composer Berthold Tours) before accepting a position at the prestigious Hochschule fur Musik in Berlin where he taught for the rest of his life. Among his many students were Paul Juon
, Waldemar von Baußnern
, Alexander Ilyinsky
and Leopold Godowsky
. Besides teaching and composing, Bargiel served with Brahms as co-editor of the complete editions of Schumann's and Chopin's works. While Bargiel did not write a lot of music, most of what he composed was well thought out and shows solid musical craftsmanship. His chamber music—he wrote four string quartets, a string octet and three piano trios—represents an important part of his output.
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...
composer
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...
of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
.
Life
Bargiel was 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...
, and was the half brother of Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
. 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
Friedrich Wieck
Johann Gottlob Friedrich Wieck was a noted German piano teacher, voice teacher, owner of a piano store, and music reviewer. He is remembered as the teacher of his daughter, Clara, a child prodigy who was doing international concert tours by age eleven and who later married Robert Schumann...
. Clara was nine years older than Woldemar. Throughout their lives, they enjoyed a warm relationship. The initial opportunities which led to the success and recognition he enjoyed were due to Clara, who introduced him to both Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
and Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
. Bargiel received his first lessons at home and later with the well-known Berlin teacher of music theory Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn. Upon the suggestion of Schumann and the recommendation of Mendelssohn, Bargiel at age 16 went to study at the famous Leipzig Conservatory with some of the leading men of music: Ignaz Moscheles
Ignaz Moscheles
Ignaz Moscheles was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso, whose career after his early years was based initially in London, and later at Leipzig, where he succeeded his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as head of the Conservatoire.-Sources:Much of what we know about Moscheles's life...
(piano) and Niels Gade (composition), and also with Julius Rietz
Julius Rietz
August Wilhelm Julius Rietz was a German composer, conductor and cellist. He was a teacher among whose students were Woldemar Bargiel, Salomon Jadassohn and Arthur Sullivan. He also edited many works by Felix Mendelssohn for publication.-Biography:He studied the cello under Schmidt, Bernhard...
.
After leaving Leipzig in 1850, he returned to Berlin where he tried to make ends meet by giving private lessons. Eventually, Clara and Robert were able to arrange for the publication of some of his early works, including his First Piano Trio.
Subsequently, Bargiel held positions at the conservatories in Cologne and Rotterdam (where he met Hermine Tours, his future wife, sister of the composer Berthold Tours) before accepting a position at the prestigious Hochschule fur Musik in Berlin where he taught for the rest of his life. Among his many students were Paul Juon
Paul Juon
Paul Juon was a Germanised Russian composerHe was born in Moscow, where his father was an insurance official. His mother was German, and he went to a German school in Moscow. He entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1889, where he studied violin with Jan Hřímalý and composition with Anton Arensky...
, Waldemar von Baußnern
Waldemar von Baußnern
Waldemar Edler von Baußnern was a German composer and music teacher.-Life:...
, Alexander Ilyinsky
Alexander Ilyinsky
Alexander Alexandrovich Ilyinsky was a Russian music teacher and composer, best known for the Lullaby , Op. 13, No. 7, from his orchestral suite "Noure and Anitra", and for the opera The Fountain of Bakhchisaray set to Pushkin's poem of the same name.Alexander Ilyinsky was born in Tsarskoye Selo...
and Leopold Godowsky
Leopold Godowsky
Leopold Godowsky was a famed Polish American pianist, composer, and teacher. One of the most highly regarded performers of his time, he became known for his theories concerning the application of relaxed weight and economy of motion in piano playing, principles later propagated by Godowsky's...
. Besides teaching and composing, Bargiel served with Brahms as co-editor of the complete editions of Schumann's and Chopin's works. While Bargiel did not write a lot of music, most of what he composed was well thought out and shows solid musical craftsmanship. His chamber music—he wrote four string quartets, a string octet and three piano trios—represents an important part of his output.
Selected list of compositions
- W/o Opus- String Quartet No.1 (1848)
- Op. 1 3 Character pieces for piano (composed 1848–1850)
- Op. 2 Character pieces for piano (composed 1850)
- Op. 3 Three nocturnes for piano
- Op. 4 Six bagatelles for piano
- Op. 6 Piano trio No. 1 in F major (composed 1851)
- Op. 7 Suite for piano, four hands
- Op. 8 Three character pieces for piano
- Op. 9 Three fantasy-pieces for piano
- Op. 10 Violin Sonata in F minor (composed 1854)
- Op. 13 Scherzo for piano
- Op.15 Fantasy Piece for Piano (1856)
- Op. 15a Octet for strings in C minor (I.Adagio - Allegro appassionato; II.Andante sostenuto - Allegro - Tempo 1 - Tempo 2; III. Allegro) (1849-50, published 1877)
- Op. 15b String Quartet No. 3 in A minor (by April 16 1851)
- Op. 16 Overture to Prometheus (1852, revised 1854 and 1859)
- Op. 17 Suite for violin and piano (1858)
- Op. 18 Overture to a Funeral Play (1856)
- Op. 19 Third Fantasy for solo piano
- Op. 20 Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat (1857, published 1860)
- Op. 21 Suite for piano (I. Praludium; II. Zwiegesang; III. Sarabande; IV. Marsch - Trio; V. Scherzo; VI.Finale)
- Op. 22 Overture to Medea
- Op. 23 Sonata for piano in G, four hands
- Op. 25 Psalm 13 (for chorus and orchestra)
- Op. 26 Psalm 23 (published 1863)
- Op. 29 Gigue for piano four-hands
- Op. 30 Symphony in C major
- Op. 31 Suite in G minor for piano (I. Prelude; II. Elegy; III. Marcia fantastica; IV. Scherzo; V.Adagio; VI.Finale)
- Op. 32 Eight fantasy pieces for piano
- Op. 33 Psalm 96 for unaccompanied double chorus
- Op. 34 Sonata for piano in C (I. Allegro moderato, con passione; II. Andante, un poco con moto; III. Adagio maestoso - Allegro molto - Prestissimo)
- Op. 35 Three Spring Songs, for three-part women's chorus
- Op. 37 Piano Trio No. 3 in B-flat
- Op. 38 Adagio in G major for violin or cello and piano or orchestra
- Op. 39 Spring Songs (for three-part chorus with piano)
- Op. 41 Eight Piano Pieces
- Op. 43 Psalm 61 (for choir, baritone solo and orchestra. Published 1878)
- Op. 44 Impromptus, for piano
- Op. 45 Etude and Toccata for piano
- Op. 47 String Quartet No. 4 in D minor
- Op. 48 Intermezzo for orchestra (arrangement of the slow movement of the Op. 34 piano sonata) (also published as Op. 46)