Alfons Abbas

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Alfons Abbas (born November 9, 1854 in Weimar ; † May 1924 ) was a German violinist and violist. He played in the Meiningen String Quartet and is known for his arrangements of Richard Wagner's operas for the Ducal Saxon Court Theater in Coburg-Gotha.

life and work

Alfons Abbas was the youngest son of the oboist Gottfried Bernhard Daniel Abbas (1810–1876). His older brother Max Abbas was a well-known flautist. Abbas received his first music lessons from his father. Other teachers were Th. Freyburg and the violinist August Kömpels (1831-1891), the concertmaster of the Weimar court orchestra. In 1873 he was a member of the spa orchestra in Liebenstein . In the fall of 1873 he joined the chapel of the King Grenadier Regiment. Here he soon became concert master, but in 1876 he went to Düsseldorf , where he played in a concert orchestra there. In the spring of 1876 he went to Gothenburg . There he played in the music club orchestra. In autumn 1877 he became first violinist of the Meiningen court orchestra . Later he became first violist. From 1886 to 1909 he played in the court orchestra's solo quartet. In 1887 he published the arrangement of Two Character Pieces by Jacques-Féréol Mazas for viola or flute with piano with Kreyer in Krefeld .

He played the viola in the Meiningen String Quartet founded in 1894. First violinist was Bram Eldering, second violinist August Funk and Carl Piening acted as cellist. In 1899 the quartet was named after the new Primus Karl Wendling Wendling Quartet . In 1895 he published a potpourri of Hansel and Gretel for military music with Schott . At Simrock in Berlin in 1899 he published an arrangement of the Hungarian Dances and the Tragic Overture op. 81 by Johannes Brahms for German and Austrian military music. In 1900 he published an arrangement of the overture to Phèdre by Jules Massenet , the overture to Raymond ou La Secret de la Reine by Ambroise Thomas , Legenden op.59 by Antonín Dvořák and in 1902 one of the Chanson Russian op.31 by Sydney with B. Schott's Sons Smith (1839-1889). There were arrangements for the military orchestra of the infantry regiment stationed in Meiningen . This orchestra was also used in the court theater until 1909, for example for inter-act music. In 1907 Abbas was appointed ducal music director for stage and inter-act music . He also wrote arrangements for orchestra, such as Narcissus from the Water Scenes op. 13 by Ethelbert Nevin (1862–1901).

Abbas arranged the four operas of the Ring des Nibelungen and the Parsifal for smaller orchestras than the original version. It is believed that the editing of the ring for the performances in Coburg was created in the 1906/07 season. The arrangement of Parsifal could have been created for the Coburg premiere in December 1920. He also published an arrangement of the prelude to Die Meistersänger von Nürnberg for woodwinds and brass instruments with percussion, without strings, with Schott.

Alfons Abbas died of suicide in May 1924 .

Abbas orchestral version formed the basis for the production Die Ring Trilogie at the Theater an der Wien in 2017 . In 2017, Roland Kluttig also used Alfons Abbas's arrangement for a small orchestra for a production of Parsifal .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Maren Goltz: Alphons Abbas . In: Musicians' Lexicon of the Duchy of Saxony Meiningen (1680-1918) . Meinigen 2008, p. 5 ( online [PDF]).
  2. ↑ a b c d Reduced versions by Abbas and Lessing: Parsifal and the Ring of the Nibelung . In: Rainer Schochow (Ed.): Richard Wagner - performance materials and versions . Schott Music GmbH & Co, KG, Mainz October 12, 2012, p. 18 .
  3. ^ Mazas, Jacques-Féréol, 1782-1849: Two character pieces (printed music) / composed by F. Mazas. For viola or flute with piano arranged by A. Abbass. In: www.hbz-nrw.de. Retrieved October 5, 2018 .
  4. ↑ The Meininger Quartet . In: A. Ehrlich (Hrsg.): The string quartet in words and pictures . AH Payne, Leipzig 1898, p. 38 ( Online [accessed October 5, 2018]).
  5. ^ Colin Lawson: Brahms: Clarinet Quintet . Cambridge University Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-521-58831-7 ( google.de [accessed October 5, 2018]).
  6. ↑ Bavarian Library Association. Retrieved October 5, 2018 .
  7. ↑ For harmony (military) music . In: Friedrich Hofmeister (Ed.): Musical-literary monthly report . Leipzig 1899, p. 336 ( onb.ac.at ).
  8. ^ Hungarian dances. In: Virtual Library of Musicology. Retrieved October 5, 2018 .
  9. ↑ For harmony (military) music . In: Musical-literary monthly report on new music, musical writings and images . Friedrich Hofmeister, Leipzig April 1899, p. 140 ( onb.ac.at [accessed on February 18, 2019]).
  10. ↑ Overture to Phédre. In: http://gateway-bayern.de . Retrieved October 5, 2018 .
  11. ↑ For harmony (military) music . In: Musical-literary monthly report on new music, musical writings and images . Friedrich Hofmeister, Leipzig June 1900, p. 261 ( onb.ac.at ).
  12. ↑ For harmony (military) music . In: Musical-literary monthly report on new music, musical writings and images . Friedrich Hofmeister, Leipzig May 1900, p. 197 ( onb.ac.at ).
  13. ↑ For harmony (military) music . In: Musical-literary monthly report on new music, musical writings and images . Friedrich Hofmeister, Leipzig September 1902, p. 422 ( onb.ac.at ).
  14. ↑ a b c Wagner's "Ring": The Next Generation . In: news.ORF.at . December 1, 2017 ( online [accessed October 5, 2018]).
  15. ↑ Personal . In: United musical weeklies . CFW Siegel's Musikalienhandlung, Leipzig 29 August 1907, p. 719 ( onb.ac.at ).
  16. ↑ For orchestra . In: Musical-literary monthly report on new music, musical writings and images . Friedrich Hofmeister, Leipzig March 1905, p. 104 ( onb.ac.at ).
  17. ^ Becker: Vienna: Theater an der Wien - The Ring Trilogy / Online Music Magazine. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Abbas, Alfons
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abbass, Alfons; Abbaß, Alfons
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German violinist and violist
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Weimar
DATE OF DEATH May 1924