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Hans Pfitzner
Born: May 5, 1869; Moscow, Russia
Died: May 22, 1949; Salzburg, Austria
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Hans Pfitzner was one of the composers who carried the German Romantic tradition well into the twentieth century. Unlike those of his contemporaries Mahler and Richard Strauss, his reputation never seemed to extend beyond the borders of his homeland. Yet there is much that is individualistic and much to admire from his body of work -- particularly in his best-known work, the opera Palestrina.
Born in Russia of German parents, Pfitzner
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Works
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(5) Lieder, Op. 26: Mailied (wds Goethe) (1)
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(Das) Käthchen von Heilbronn, Op. 17: Melodrama (1)
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(Das) Käthchen von Heilbronn, Op. 17: Overture (1)
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(Das) Käthchen von Heilbronn, Op. 17: Prelude, Act 3 (1)
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Abbitte, for voice & piano, Op. 29/1 (1)
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Abendlied (1)
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An den Mond, Op. 18 (3)
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Concerto for Cello in A minor, Op. posthumous (2)
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Concerto for Cello no 1 in G major, Op. 42 (2)
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Concerto for Cello no 2 in A minor, Op. 52 (2)
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Concerto for Cello no 2 in A minor, Op. 52: 3rd movement, Feierlich (1)
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Concerto for Cello no 2 in A minor, Op. 52: 4th movement, Allegretto (1)
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Concerto for Piano in E flat major, Op. 31 (4)
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Concerto for Violin in B minor, Op. 34 (5)
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Das Christ-Elflein, Op. 20 (3)
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Das Christ-Elflein, Op. 20: Overture (1)
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Das dunkle Reich, Op. 38 (2)
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Das Fest auf Solhaug: Prelude no 1 (3)
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Das Fest auf Solhaug: Prelude no 2 (3)
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Das Fest auf Solhaug: Prelude no 3 (3)
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Das Herz, Op 39 (1)
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Das Herz, Op. 39: Liebesmelodie (3)
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Das Käthchen von Heilbronn, Op. 17: Act 3 Prelude (1)
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Das Käthchen von Heilbronn, Op. 17: Hast du von den Fischerkindern (1)
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Das Käthchen von Heilbronn, Op. 17: Melodrama (1)
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Das Käthchen von Heilbronn, Op. 17: Overture (7)
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Der arme Heinrich (1)
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Der arme Heinrich: Auf grünen Wipfeln lacht nun wonnig der Lenz (1)
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Der Blumen Rache (1)
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Der Gärtner, for voice & piano, Op. 9/1 (1)
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Der Trompeter von Säckingen: Werner's Song (1)
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Der Trompeter, Op. 25 no 1 (1)
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Die Heinzelmännchen, Op. 14 (1)
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Die Rose vom Liebesgarten (The Rose From The Garden Of Love): Du Schönste, nun bist du mein (1)
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Die Rose vom Liebesgarten, opera (1)
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Die Rose vom Liebesgarten: Blütenwunder (1)
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Die Rose vom Liebesgarten: Trauermarsch (1)
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Die schlanke Wasserlilie (1)
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Duo for violin, cello & piano (or small orchestra), Op 43 (1)
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Duo for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, Op. 43 (2)
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Ein Fichtenbaum steht einsam (1)
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Elegie und reigen, Op. 45 (1)
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Elegy and Round Dance, Op. 45 (1)
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Es fasst mich wieder der alte Mut, Op. 4 no 4 (1)
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Es fällt ein Stern herunter, Op. 4 no 3 (1)
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Es glänzt so schön die sinkende Sonne, Op. 4 no 1 (1)
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Fantasie for Orchestra, Op. 56 (2)
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Fons salutifer, Op. 48 (1)
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Hast du von den Fischerkindern, song for voice & piano, Op. 7/1 (1)
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Herbstgefühl, for voice & piano, Op. 40/4 (2)
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Herr Oluf, Op. 12 (1)
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In Danzig, song for voice & piano, Op. 22/1 (1)
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Ist der Himmel darum im Lenz so blau?, for voice & piano, Op. 2/2 (1)
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Jugendlieder (6) (1)
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Jugendlieder (6): Naturfreiheit (1)
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Jugendlieder (6): Nun, da so warm der Sonnenschein (1)
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Klage, Op. 25 no 2 (1)
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Kleine symphonie in G major, Op. 44 (2)
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Kuckuckslied (1)
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Lethe, Op. 37 (1)
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Leuchtende Tage, for voice & piano, Op.40/1 (1)
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Lied(er) (3)
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Lieder (2), Op. 19: no 1, Stimme der Sehnsucht (3)
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Lieder (2), Op. 19: no 2, Michaelskirchplatz (2)
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Lieder (3), Op. 10: no 1, Sehnsucht (1)
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Lieder (3), Op. 10: no 2, Müde (2)
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Lieder (3), Op. 10: no 3, Zum Abschied meiner Tochter (7)
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Lieder (3), Op. 3 (2)
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Lieder (3), Op. 3: Mein Herz ist wie die dunkle Nacht (1)
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Lieder (3), Op. 3: no 2, Herbstlied (1)
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Lieder (3), Op. 5: no 2, Wiegenlied (1)
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Lieder (4), Op. 15: no 1, Leierkastenmann (1)
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Lieder (4), Op. 15: no 2, Zorn (1)
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Lieder (4), Op. 15: no 3, An die Mark (1)
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Lieder (4), Op. 24: no 4, Abendrot (2)
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Lieder (4), Op. 29 (1)
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Lieder (4), Op. 29: no 1, Abbitte (4)
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Lieder (4), Op. 29: no 2, Herbsthauch (3)
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Lieder (4), Op. 29: no 3, Wilkommen und Abschied (3)
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Lieder (4), Op. 29: no 4, Die stille Stadt (2)
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Lieder (4), Op. 30: no 1, Sehnsucht nach Vergessen (2)
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Lieder (4), Op. 32: no 1, Hussens Kerker (4)
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Lieder (4), Op. 32: no 2, Säerspruch (3)
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Lieder (4), Op. 32: no 3, Eingelegte Ruder (2)
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Lieder (4), Op. 32: no 4, Lass scharren deiner Rosse (2)
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Lieder (4), Op. 4 (1)
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Lieder (4), Op. 4: no 2, Sie haben heut'abend Gesellschaft (1)
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Lieder (4), Op. 4: no 3, Es fällt ein Stern herunter (1)
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Lieder (5), Op. 11: no 1 Ich und Du (2)
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Lieder (5), Op. 11: no 2, Ich aber weiss (2)
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Lieder (5), Op. 11: no 4, Venus Mater (2)
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Lieder (5), Op. 11: no 5, Gretel (1)
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Lieder (5), Op. 22: no 1, In Danzig (5)
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Lieder (5), Op. 22: no 2, Tragische Geschichte (1)
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Lieder (5), Op. 22: no 3, Schön Suschen (1)
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Lieder (5), Op. 22: no 4, Gegenliebe (1)
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Lieder (5), Op. 26: no 1, Gebet (1)
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Lieder (5), Op. 26: no 2, Nachts (10)
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Lieder (5), Op. 26: no 3, Neue Liebe (1)
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Lieder (5), Op. 26: no 5, Mailied (3)
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Lieder (5), Op. 7: no 1, Hast du von den Fischerkindern (4)
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Lieder (5), Op. 7: no 2, Nachtwanderer (3)
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Lieder (5), Op. 7: no 4, Lockung (2)
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Lieder (5), Op. 9 (1)
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Lieder (5), Op. 9: no 1, Der Gärtner (6)
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Lieder (5), Op. 9: no 2, Die Einsame (3)
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Lieder (5), Op. 9: no 3, Im Herbst (3)
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Lieder (5), Op. 9: no 4, Der Kühne (2)
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Lieder (5), Op. 9: no 5, Abschied (2)
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Lieder (6), Op. 40: no 1, Leuchtende Tage (3)
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Lieder (6), Op. 40: no 2, Wenn sich Liebes von dir lösen will (1)
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Lieder (6), Op. 40: no 3, Sehnsucht (1)
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Lieder (6), Op. 40: no 4, Herbstgefühl (2)
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Lieder (6), Op. 40: no 5, Wanderers Nachtlied (3)
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Lieder (6), Op. 40: no 6, Der Weckruf (2)
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Lieder (6), Op. 6: no 6, Wasserfahrt (1)
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Lieder (7), Op. 2 (1)
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Lieder (7), Op. 2: no 2, Ist der Himmel darum im Lenz so blau? (6)
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Lieder (7), Op. 2: no 4, Im tiefen Wald verborgen (2)
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Lieder (7), Op. 2: no 6, Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer (1)
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Mein Liebchen ist kein stolzes Schloss (1)
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O schneller, mein Ross (1)
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Palestrina (8)
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Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Prelude (1)
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Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Schönste, ungnäd'ge Dame (1)
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Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Prelude (1)
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Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Prelude (1)
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Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Allein In Dunkler Tiefe - Nah War Ich Dir On Nöten Des Lebens (1)
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Palestrina, opera in 3 acts: Und Ihr sollt diese Messe schreiben (1)
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Palestrina: Act 1 Prelude (4)
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Palestrina: Act 2 Prelude (3)
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Palestrina: Act 3 Prelude (3)
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Palestrina: Allein in dunkler Tiefe (1)
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Palestrina: Den Heil'gen Geist, der die Konzilien leitet (1)
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Palestrina: Der letzte Freund (1)
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Palestrina: Nun setzt euch zu mir her (2)
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Palestrina: Schlecht lohn't ich Euch (1)
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Palestrina: Seltsamliche Geräusche hört man hier im Haus des strengen Meisters! (1)
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Palestrina: Warum tun deine Worte mir so weh?” (1)
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Palestrina: Wie einst im himmlischen Zion Johannes (1)
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Pieces (5) for Piano, Op. 47 (1)
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Quartet for Strings in D minor (1)
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Quartet for Strings no 1 in D major, Op. 13 (1)
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Quartet for Strings no 2 in C sharp minor, Op. 36 (2)
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Quartet for Strings no 3 in C minor, Op. 50 (2)
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Quintet for Piano and Strings in C major, Op. 23 (3)
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Scherzo in C minor (2)
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Sextet for Piano, Clarinet and Strings in G minor, Op. 55 (3)
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Sie haben heut' abend Gesellschaft, Op. 4 no 2 (1)
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Sonata for cello & piano in F sharp minor, Op. 1 (1)
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Sonata for Cello and Piano in F sharp minor, Op. 1 (4)
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Sonata for Cello and Piano in F sharp minor, Op. 1: Slow movement (1)
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Sonata for Violin and Piano in E minor (4)
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Songs (2) for voice & piano, Op. 19: No. 2, Michaelskirchplatz (1)
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Songs (4) for voice & piano, Op. 32: No. 1, Hussens Kerker (1)
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Songs (4) for voice & piano, Op. 32: No. 2, Säerspruch (1)
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Songs (5) for voice & piano, Op 9, No. 2, "Die Einsame", Op. 9/2 (1)
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Sonnets (3), Op. 41: no 1, Auf die Morgenröte (2)
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Sonnets (3), Op. 41: no 2, Der verspätete Wanderer (2)
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Sonnets (3), Op. 41: no 3, Das Alter (1)
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Studies (6) for Piano, Op. 51 (1)
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Ständchen (on lyrics by Bürger) (1)
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Ständchen (on lyrics by Schack) (1)
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Symphony in C major, Op. 46 (6)
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Symphony in C sharp minor, Op. 36a (2)
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Trio for Piano and Strings in B flat major (2)
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Trio for Piano and Strings in F major, Op. 8 (3)
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Untreu und Trost (1)
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Urworte Orphisch, Op. 57 (1)
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Von deutscher Seele, Op. 28 (5)
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Zum Abschied meiner Tochter, Op.10/3 (1)
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| More Featured Hans Pfitzner CDs & DVDs: |
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Biography |
by Wayne Reisig
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Hans Pfitzner was one of the composers who carried the German Romantic tradition well into the twentieth century. Unlike those of his contemporaries Mahler and Richard Strauss, his reputation never seemed to extend beyond the borders of his homeland. Yet there is much that is individualistic and much to admire from his body of work -- particularly in his best-known work, the opera Palestrina.
Born in Russia of German parents, Pfitzner moved with his family to Frankfurt when he was three. His musical talent manifested itself early on, and he received his first training from his parents. At 14 he entered the Hoch Conservatory, studying composition with Knorr and piano with Kwast. He then began his music career as a teacher, taking a position as a theater conductor in Mainz; the latter proved to be a strategic move, for although it was an unpaid position, it enabled him to have his first opera, Der arme Heinrich, performed. Paid positions now followed, culminating in a multi-position stay in Strasbourg; he became director of the conservatory there, as well as chief symphony and opera conductor. The security of a fixed income produced a creatively favorable environment; he composed prolifically in all forms, favoring opera.
The crown of Pfitzner's work is arguably his opera Palestrina (1915), based on the life of the Renaissance composer and quoting passages of that master's music. Pfitzner may have seen himself in the opera's protagonist, as a man who, sticking to his principles, upholds musical tradition against the depredations of power. (The opera treats the legendary effort on Palestrina's part to compose a work beautiful and spiritual enough to foretall the banning of polyphony under consideration by the architects of the Counter Reformation.) Also noteworthy is Pfitzner's cantata Von deutscher Seele (Of the German Soul) of 1920. Both works are in the highly chromatic, richly sonorous tradition of post-Romanticism, and could never be mistaken for mere throwbacks to the nineteenth century. That Pfitzner could work in a less imposing idiom can be gathered from such works as the concise, melodic Symphony in C (1940).
But much of the non-German world's reluctance to hear Pfitzner's music may have been been the result of his politics. Always an ardent German patriot, he became enmeshed with the rise of the Third Reich. Yet he counted among his Jewish friends and supporters Mahler, Bruno Walter, and Otto Klemperer, and he was an admirer of Mendelssohn. In any event, as Pfitzner became more disillusioned with Nazism, he expressed disapproval and was thus relieved of his life membership at the Munich Academy of Music in 1934. This and various family tragedies took a toll on the composer's sanity. The wartime destruction of his Munich home left Pfitzner an aging, half-insane street person, but after the war a pension and residence were procured for the composer. He died in Salzburg, officially denazified and with the ban on performances of his music lifted.
Although the Romantic revival of the 1960s did not do for Pfitzner what it did for many of his contemporaries, there is much of his output worth hearing. At his best, Pfitzner spoke with the eloquence and intensity of one who consciously lives during the close of a glorious era. |
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