Wilhelm Kienzl

Wilhelm Kienzl (17 January, 1857 – 19 October, 1941) was an Austrian opera composer.

Biography

Kienzl was born in the small, picturesque Upper Austrian town of Waizenkirchen. His family moved to the Styrian capital of Graz in 1860, where he studied the violin under Ignaz Uhl, piano under Johann Buwa, and composition from 1872 under the Chopin-scholar Louis Stanislaus Mortier de Fontaine. From 1874, he studied composition under Wilhelm Mayer-Rémy, music aesthetics under Eduard Hanslick and music history under Friedrich von Hausegger. He was subsequently sent to the music conservatorium at Prague University to study under Josef Krejci, the director of the conservatorium. After that he went to Leipzig Conservatory in 1877, then to Weimar to study under Liszt, before completing doctoral studies at the University of Vienna.

Kienzl became a life-long fan of Wagner's music after his Prague teacher Krejci took him to Bayreuth to hear the first performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle. It made a lasting impression on Kienzl, so much so that in 1873 he founded the "Graz Richard Wagner Association" (now the "Austrian Richard Wagner Company, Graz Office") with Dr Friedrich von Hausegger and Friedrich Hofmann. Although he subsequently fell out with "The Wagnerites", he never lost his love for Wagner's music.

In 1879 he departed on a tour of Europe as a pianist and conductor. In 1883 he became the Director of the "Deutsche Oper" in Amsterdam, but he soon returned to Graz, where in 1886, he took over the leadership of the "Steiermärkischen Musikvereins und Aufgaben am Konservatorium". He was engaged by Pollini as "Kapellmeister" at the Hamburg"Stadttheater" for the 1890-91 season, but was already "sacked" in mid-January 1891 because of the bad critics he received (his successor was Gustav Mahler!), and in Munich shortly afterwards.

In 1894, he wrote his third and most famous opera, "Der Evangelimann", but was unable to match its success with "Don Quixote" (1897). Only "Der Kuhreigen" (1911) reached a similar level of popularity. In 1917, Kienzl moved to Vienna, where his first wife, the Wagnerian soprano Lili Hoke, died in 1919, and he married Henny Bauer, the librettist of his three most recent operas, in 1921.

In 1920, he composed the melody to a poem written by Dr. Karl Renner, "Deutschösterreich, du herrliches Land" ("German Austria, you wonderful country"), which became the unofficial national anthem of the first Austrian Republic until 1929. Aware of changes in the dynamics of modern music, he ceased to write large works after 1926, and abandoned composition altogether in 1936 due to bad health.

Kienzl's first love was opera, then vocal music, and it was in these two genres that he made his name. He was also considered, along with Hugo Wolf, one of the finest composers of Lieder (art songs) since Schubert. His most famous work, "Der Evangelimann", best known for its aria "Selig sind, die Verfolgung leiden" ("Blessed are the persecuted"), is a folk opera which has been compared to Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel", and contains elements of verismo. After Humperdinck and Siegfried Wagner, the composers of fairy-tale operas, Kienzl is the most important opera composer of the romantic post-Wagner era. However, Kienzl's strengths actually lie in the depiction of everyday scenes. In his last years, his ample corpus of songs achieved prominence.

Despite the fact that opera came first in his life, Kienzl by no means ignored chamber music. He wrote three string quartets and a piano trio.

He died in Vienna and is buried in the main cemetery there.

Major works

Operas

*"Urvasi" (1886)
*"Heilmar der Narr" ("Heilmar the Fool") (1892)
*"Der Evangelimann" (1895)
*"Don Quixote" (1898)
*"Der Kuhreigen" (1911)
* "In Knecht Ruprechts Werkstatt" ("In Knecht Ruprecht's Workshop") - a "Christmas fairy tale" op. 75 (1907)
* "Das Testament" ("The Testament") op. 90 (1916)
* "Hassan der Schwärmer" ("Hassan the Visionary") op. 100 (1921; UA 1925)
* "Sanctissimum" "Melodramatic allegory" op. 102 (1922: UA 1925)
* "Hans Kipfel" "Song game" op. 110 (1926)

Melodramas

* "Die Brautfahrt" ("The Bridal Voyage") op. 9
* 2 Melodramas op. 97
* "Die Jungfrau und die Nonne" ("The Virgin and the Nun") op. 98
* "Eine Marienballade von François Villon" ("A Maria-Ballad by François Villon") op. 119

Orchestral works

* "Abendstimmungen" ("Evening Moods") for string orchestra and harp (originally for piano four hands) op. 53
* Symphonic Variations on the Straßburg-Song from the opera "Der Kuhreigen" op. 109a (Piano Version: op. 109b)

Choral, piano and chamber music

Choral works

* 2 Songs op. 14
* 3 Pieces for Male Choir op. 17
* 3 Songs for Female Choir op. 19
* 5 "Tanzweisen" for Female Choir op. 21b
* "Landsknechtlied" ("Mercenary's Song") for Male Choir and Orchestra op. 23
* "Zur Trauung" ("To Marriage") op. 26
* 3 Songs for Male Choir op. 36
* 3 Pieces for Male Choir op. 54
* 5 Songs for Female Choir op. 58
* 6 Popular Songs op. 59
* 6 Popular Male Choruses op. 60
* 5 Songs for Female Voices and Harp or Piano op. 63
* "Wach' auf, mein Volk!" ("Wake Up, My People!") for Male Choir and Orchestra op. 64
* "Das Volkslied" ("The Folk-Song") for Male Choir op. 65
* "Fasching" ("Mardi Gras") for Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Male Choir and Orchestra op. 67
* 4 Songs for Male Choir op. 68
* 6 Songs for Male Choir op. 72
* 8 Songs for Female Choir op. 76
* 3 Pieces for Male Choir op. 78
* 2 "Geschichtsbilder" ("Story-Pictures") for Male Choir and Orchestra op. 79
* "Deutsche Ritterlieder" ("German Knights' Songs") for Male Choir and Orchestra op. 86
* "Das Lied vom Kaiser Arnulf" ("Emperor Arnulf's Song") for Male Choir and Orchestra op. 88
* 3 Pieces for Male Choir op. 89
* "Im Schlachtendonner" ("In the Din of Battle") for Male Choir op. 92
* "Ostara" for Male Choir and Orchestra op. 93
* "Deutsch-Österreich" ("German Austria"), national anthem op. 101 (1918)
* 5 Pieces for Male Choir op. 103
* "Arbeiterlied" ("Workers' Song") for Male Choir op. 104
* 4 Songs for Male Choir op. 105
* 2 Pieces for Male Choir op. 107
* 5 Songs for Male Choir op. 112
* "Spar-Hymne" ("Saving Hymn") for Mixed Choir and Orchestra op. 115
* "Chor der Toten" ("Choir of the Dead") for Mixed Choir and Orchestra op. 118

Chamber music

* 3 Fantasy-Pieces for Violin and Piano op. 7
* Piano Trio in F minor op. 13
* String Quartet No. 1 in B minor op. 22
* String Quartet No. 2 in C minor op. 99
* String Quartet No. 3 in E flat major op. 113
* "Waldstimmungen" ("Wood Moods") for four horns, op. 108

Piano works

* "Skizzen" op. 3 ("Sketches")
* "Kahnszene" op. 5 ("Boat Scenes")
* "Bunte Tänze" op. 10 ("Colourful Dances")
* "Aus alten Märchen" op. 12 ("From Old Fairy Tales")
* "Aus meinem Tagebuch" op. 15 ("From My Diary")
* 30 Tanzweisen op. 21 (1881)
* Scherzo in A minor op. 29
* "Kinderliebe und –leben" op. 30 ("Children's Love and Life")
* "Romantische Blätter" op. 34 ("Romantic Leaves/Sheets")
* "Tanzbilder" op. 41 ("Dance Pictures")
* "Daheim!" op. 43 ("Home!")
* "Dichterreise" op. 46 ("Poet's Journey")
* "Carneval" op. 51
* "Bilder aus dem Volksleben" op. 52 ("Pictures from the Folk-Life")
* Neue Klavierstücke op. 62 ("New Piano Pieces")
* "O schöne Jugendtage!" op. 80 ("O Beautiful Days of Youth")
* 20 Pieces in Barn-Dance Form op. 95

ongs

* 2 Songs op. 1
* 4 Songs op. 2
* 2 Poems (A. Grün) op. 4
* 9 Songs in "folk-tone" op. 6
* 8 Love-Songs op. 8 (1877)
* "Liebesfrühling" ("Spring of Love") - song cycle (F. Rückert) op. 11
* "Süßes Verzichten" ("Sweet Abandonment") - song cycle op. 16
* "Geliebt-Vergessen" ("Loved and Forgotten") - song cycle op. 18
* 3 Album-sheets op. 24
* 3 Songs op. 25
* "Abschied" ("Farewell") op. 27
* "Kuriose Geschichte" ("Curious Stories") op. 28
* 3 Folk-Songs op. 31
* 3 Songs op. 32
* "Frühlingslieder" ("Spring Songs") op. 33
* 2 "Lieder aus Osten" ("Songs from the East") op. 35
* 2 Songs each op. 37, op. 38, op. 39, op. 42
* 4 Songs op. 44 (1894)
* 4 "japanische Lieder" ("Japanese Songs") op. 47
* "Bonapartes Heimkehr" ("Bonaparte's Return") op. 48 (1896)
* "Waldmeister" ("Forest Master")op. 49
* 6 Songs op. 55
* "Verwelkte Rosen" ("Wilted Roses") op. 56
* 4 Popular Songs op. 57
* 4 Songs op. 61
* "Pamphilische Hirtenlieder" ("Pamphilic Herdsmen's Songs") 3 Songs, op. 66
* 3 Songs op. 69a
* "Moderne Lyrik" ("Modern Lyric") op. 71
* "Aus Onkels Liedermappe" (("From Uncle's Song-Case") op. 73 (1906)
* "Weihnacht" ("Christmas") op. 74
* 5 Songs op. 81
* 5 Songs op. 82
* "Ein Weihnachtslied" ("A Christmas Song") op. 83
* 3 Duets op. 84
* "Nachsommerblüten" ("Late Summer Blossoms") op. 87
* "Das Lied vom Weltkrieg" ("The Song from the World War") op. 91
* 7 Songs op. 94
* "Aus des Volkes Wunderhorn" ("From the Wondrous Horn of the People") op. 96 (1919)
* 7 Songs op. 106 (1926)
* 6 "Lieder vom Glück" ("Songs of Happiness") op. 111
* 6 Songs op. 114 (1930)
* 7 Songs op. 120
* 3 Songs op. 121
* 4 Songs op. 123

External links

* [http://www.editionsilvertrust.com/kienzl-string-quartet-1.htm Wilhelm Kienzl String Quartet No.1, Op.22] Soundbites & information.

Notes

Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language wikipedia article (retrieved September, 2007).