Othmar Schoeck
Encyclopedia
Othmar Schoeck was a Swiss
composer
and conductor.
He was known mainly for his considerable output of art songs
and song cycle
s, though he also wrote a number of operas (mostly notably his one-act Penthesilea
, premiered in Dresden, 1927, and revived at the Lucerne Festival, 1999) and instrumental compositions including two string quartet
s and concertos for violin
(for Stefi Geyer
, dedicatee also of Béla Bartók
's first concerto), cello
and horn
.
, studied briefly at the Leipzig Conservatory with Max Reger
in 1907/08, but overall spent his whole career in Zürich. His father, Alfred Schoeck was a landscape painter, and as a young man, Othmar seriously considered following in his father's footsteps and attended classes an art school in Zürich before dropping out to go to the Zürich Conservatory.
Schoeck was left destitute at the start of World War I
. His appointment as conductor of the St Gall Symphony orchestra (with special permission to remain resident in Zürich) combined with the annuity his patron Werner Reinhart
gave him from 1916 onwards, allowed Schoeck to give up his jobs as chorus director and to compose more or less undisturbed.
, who had moved to Zurich from Berlin to escape the adverse effects of the war. Busoni was not alone in coming to Zurich. The war had turned "provincial" Zurich, in neutral Switzerland, into an international metropolis. Schoeck was a great admirer of the songs of Hugo Wolf
; Busoni disliked them, and said so. Despite their differences, their relationship quickly developed into one of mutual respect, and even one with a bit of affection. In fact, it was Busoni's suggestion that Schoeck use Ludvig Holberg
's Don Ranudo de Colibrados as the subject of an opera.
On 19 June 1917 Philipp Jarnach
, a French composer also a refugee in Zurich, and an assistant of Busoni's, gave Busoni a copy of Martin Buber
's book Chinesische Geister- und Liebesgeschichten [Chinese Ghost and Love Stories] (Frankfurt, 1911). Jarnach proposed that one of these short stories might be suitable for an opera. Busoni immediately wrote a libretto, Das Wandbild [The Picture on the Wall], a short scene and pantomime, which he finished on June 27. Jarnach composed a prelude and the first scene, but lost interest and dropped the project. Undaunted, in June 1918 Busoni offered it to Schoeck. Schoeck, who appears to have taken the offer as a sort of challenge, immediately set aside the orchestration of Don Ranudo, and in three days, produced the new opera.
Das Wandbild is set in a Parisian antique shop around 1830. A student Novalis is captivated by a picture of a girl hanging on a wall of the shop. The picture comes to life, and in typical Busoni fashion, the scene immediately dissolves into a fantastical Chinese temple. The opera ends with Novalis awaking from his dream-state and escaping from the shop into the reality of the street. It is one of Schoeck's most unusual creations, "almost minimalist in conception."
and Les six
in Paris, he began to feel isolated by his stylistic conservatism. By 1922 his former mentor, Busoni, who was now back in Berlin, wrote a letter to Volkmar Andreae
, saying: "Schoeck has completely abandoned me. I have not entirely given him up. He lacks (or lacked) certain ingredients, which are not available at the chemists'. Which should however be manufactured in his own laboratory."
In the summer of 1923 Schoeck visited Arthur Honegger
in Paris, and later participated in the Salzburg ISCM
festival. Not long after, his affair with de Senger came to an end. His distress over the breakup, combined with the shock of the new music he had heard in Paris and Salzburg, seems to have led to a new maturity in his compositional style. Two weeks after his affair ended, he composed the song Die Entschwundene (1923), which was "as much a farewell to the tonal world of his previous music as to his departed lover."
Schoeck was not given to overt signs of gratitude, but he dedicated to Werner Reinhart the song cycle Gaselen (1923), the Sonata for Bass Clarinet and Piano (1927–28), and the Suite in A flat for Strings (1945).
His work with the German poet Hermann Burte on the opera Das Schloss Dürande, for production at the Berlin State Opera
, caused great controversy for Schoeck with the Swiss, because of his association with artists of Nazi Germany. The opera premiered in Berlin on 1 April 1943, with the composer in attendance. Schoeck himself did not harbor Nazi sympathies, but the angry Swiss reaction to Schoeck's actions damaged his reputation and put great strain on Schoeck. He suffered a heart attack in March 1944, but continued to compose.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
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...
and conductor.
He was known mainly for his considerable output of art songs
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
and song cycle
Song cycle
A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
s, though he also wrote a number of operas (mostly notably his one-act Penthesilea
Penthesilea (opera)
Penthesilea is a one-act opera by Othmar Schoeck, to a German-language libretto by the composer, after the work of the same name by Heinrich von Kleist. It was first performed at the Staatsoper in Dresden, Germany on 8 January 1927....
, premiered in Dresden, 1927, and revived at the Lucerne Festival, 1999) and instrumental compositions including two string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s and concertos for violin
Violin concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
(for Stefi Geyer
Stefi Geyer
Stefi Geyer was a Hungarian violinist.She was the daughter of Josef Geyer, a police doctor who played the violin himself. When she was 3 years old she started playing the violin, with remarkable results for someone who had not practiced at all...
, dedicatee also of Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
's first concerto), cello
Violoncello concerto
A cello concerto is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments....
and horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
.
Early life and career
Schoeck was born in BrunnenBrunnen
Brunnen is a resort on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, part of the municipality Ingenbohl , at .Brunnen has a cablecar that goes to the Urmiberg, a part of the Rigi offering wonderful views of Lake Lucerne and the Alps....
, studied briefly at the Leipzig Conservatory with Max Reger
Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...
in 1907/08, but overall spent his whole career in Zürich. His father, Alfred Schoeck was a landscape painter, and as a young man, Othmar seriously considered following in his father's footsteps and attended classes an art school in Zürich before dropping out to go to the Zürich Conservatory.
Schoeck was left destitute at the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. His appointment as conductor of the St Gall Symphony orchestra (with special permission to remain resident in Zürich) combined with the annuity his patron Werner Reinhart
Werner Reinhart
Werner Reinhart was a Swiss industrialist, philanthropist, amateur clarinetist, and patron of composers and writers, particularly Igor Stravinsky and Rainer Maria Rilke...
gave him from 1916 onwards, allowed Schoeck to give up his jobs as chorus director and to compose more or less undisturbed.
Influence of Busoni
It was in 1916 that Schoeck became acquanted with Ferruccio BusoniFerruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
, who had moved to Zurich from Berlin to escape the adverse effects of the war. Busoni was not alone in coming to Zurich. The war had turned "provincial" Zurich, in neutral Switzerland, into an international metropolis. Schoeck was a great admirer of the songs of Hugo Wolf
Hugo Wolf
Hugo Wolf was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but utterly unrelated in...
; Busoni disliked them, and said so. Despite their differences, their relationship quickly developed into one of mutual respect, and even one with a bit of affection. In fact, it was Busoni's suggestion that Schoeck use Ludvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian double monarchy, who spent most of his adult life in Denmark. He was influenced by Humanism, the Enlightenment and the Baroque...
's Don Ranudo de Colibrados as the subject of an opera.
On 19 June 1917 Philipp Jarnach
Philipp Jarnach
Philipp Jarnach was considered in the 1920s to be one of the most important composers of modern music....
, a French composer also a refugee in Zurich, and an assistant of Busoni's, gave Busoni a copy of Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
's book Chinesische Geister- und Liebesgeschichten [Chinese Ghost and Love Stories] (Frankfurt, 1911). Jarnach proposed that one of these short stories might be suitable for an opera. Busoni immediately wrote a libretto, Das Wandbild [The Picture on the Wall], a short scene and pantomime, which he finished on June 27. Jarnach composed a prelude and the first scene, but lost interest and dropped the project. Undaunted, in June 1918 Busoni offered it to Schoeck. Schoeck, who appears to have taken the offer as a sort of challenge, immediately set aside the orchestration of Don Ranudo, and in three days, produced the new opera.
Das Wandbild is set in a Parisian antique shop around 1830. A student Novalis is captivated by a picture of a girl hanging on a wall of the shop. The picture comes to life, and in typical Busoni fashion, the scene immediately dissolves into a fantastical Chinese temple. The opera ends with Novalis awaking from his dream-state and escaping from the shop into the reality of the street. It is one of Schoeck's most unusual creations, "almost minimalist in conception."
Stylistic shift
Around 1918 Schoeck's music began a stylistic shift. It was at this time he became involved with the pianist Mary de Senger, who appears to have had a profound influence on his compositional style. The second act of his next opera Venus (1919–1921) employs interesting polyrhythmic and bitonal effects. As he became acquainted with the work of composers like Alban BergAlban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
and Les six
Les Six
Les six is a name, inspired by The Five, given in 1920 by critic Henri Collet in an article titled "" to a group of six composers working in Montparnasse whose music is often seen as a reaction against the musical style of Richard Wagner and impressionist music.-Members:Formally, the Groupe des...
in Paris, he began to feel isolated by his stylistic conservatism. By 1922 his former mentor, Busoni, who was now back in Berlin, wrote a letter to Volkmar Andreae
Volkmar Andreae
Volkmar Andreae was a Swiss conductor and composer.Andreae was born in Bern. He received piano instruction as a child and his first lessons in composition with Karl Munzinger. From 1897 to 1900, he studied at the Cologne Conservatory and was a student of Fritz Brun, Franz Wüllner, and Friedrich...
, saying: "Schoeck has completely abandoned me. I have not entirely given him up. He lacks (or lacked) certain ingredients, which are not available at the chemists'. Which should however be manufactured in his own laboratory."
In the summer of 1923 Schoeck visited Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
in Paris, and later participated in the Salzburg ISCM
International Society for Contemporary Music
The International Society for Contemporary Music is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music.ISCM was established in 1922, in Salzburg. Its core activity is the World Music Days Festival, held every year at a different location. The festival includes cutting edge productions...
festival. Not long after, his affair with de Senger came to an end. His distress over the breakup, combined with the shock of the new music he had heard in Paris and Salzburg, seems to have led to a new maturity in his compositional style. Two weeks after his affair ended, he composed the song Die Entschwundene (1923), which was "as much a farewell to the tonal world of his previous music as to his departed lover."
Schoeck was not given to overt signs of gratitude, but he dedicated to Werner Reinhart the song cycle Gaselen (1923), the Sonata for Bass Clarinet and Piano (1927–28), and the Suite in A flat for Strings (1945).
His work with the German poet Hermann Burte on the opera Das Schloss Dürande, for production at the Berlin State Opera
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
, caused great controversy for Schoeck with the Swiss, because of his association with artists of Nazi Germany. The opera premiered in Berlin on 1 April 1943, with the composer in attendance. Schoeck himself did not harbor Nazi sympathies, but the angry Swiss reaction to Schoeck's actions damaged his reputation and put great strain on Schoeck. He suffered a heart attack in March 1944, but continued to compose.
Sources
- Beaumont, AntonyAntony BeaumontAntony Beaumont is an English and German musicologist, writer, conductor and violinist. As a conductor, he has specialized in German music from the first half of the 20th century, including works by Zemlinsky, Weill, and Gurlitt...
, ed. (1987). Busoni: Selected Letters, New York: Columbia University PressColumbia University PressColumbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology,...
. ISBN 0231064608. - Sadie, S., & Tyrrell, J., eds. (2001). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. New York: Grove's Dictionaries.
- Walton, Chris (2000). Essay in booklet accompanying the CD The Eye of the Storm: Ferruccio Busoni's Zurich friends & disciples, pp. 3-6. Ramsen, Switzerland: Guild Music Ltd. GMCD 7189.
- Jumeau-Lafond Jean-David, "Venus d'Othmar Schoeck ou le commandement de la statue", in "De l'archet au pinceau", (Dir. Philippe Junod), Payot / Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1996.
External links
- Othmar Schoeck - a 2009 biography of the composer by Chris Walton.
- Othmar Schoeck Site
- Karadar entry on Othmar Schoeck
- Othmar Schoeck String Quartet No.1 in D Major, Op.23-Sound-bites and short bio