Alfred Volkland (conductor)

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Alfred Volkland 1891

Alfred Volkland (born April 10, 1841 in Braunschweig , † July 7, 1905 in Basel ) was a German conductor and pianist .

Life

Alfred Volkland-Pfeiffer (1841–1905), pianist, conductor, Kapellmeister in Basel (1875–1902), grave in the Wolfgottesacker cemetery, Basel
Grave in the Wolfgottesacker cemetery , Basel

Alfred Volkland grew up as one of the middle of eight siblings in a family of craftsmen that had been based in Braunschweig for generations . His father was a master painter. After taking violin and piano lessons in Braunschweig and performing as an orchestral musician there, he received his musical training from 1864 at the Leipzig Conservatory, among others with Carl Reinecke and Ignaz Moscheles , at the same time as his friend Edvard Grieg . In 1866 he was appointed royal court pianist and in 1867 music director in Sondershausen . In 1869 he was appointed director of the Euterpe concerts for classical and contemporary music in Leipzig . He married Henriette Pfeifer (1840–1903) in 1871, the marriage remained childless. Joseph Joachim praised in a letter "every good hour with Spitta with you and your dear wife". In 1874 he was a co-founder of the Leipzig Bach Association together with Franz von Holstein , Philipp Spitta and his close friend Heinrich von Herzogenberg . In 1875 he received a call to Basel as Kapellmeister of the Musikgesellschaft and director of the Basler Gesangverein and the Liedertafel. There he was appointed Dr. phil h. c. of the University of Basel . Clara Schumann , who has performed several concerts in Basel and has been a guest at the Volkland couple, entrusted him with editing Robert Schumann's songs as part of their Schumann Complete Edition . In 1899 he resigned from conducting choir due to illness and in 1902 from conducting orchestra. Alfred Volkland's musical legacy was donated to the public library of the University of Basel by his family in 1905. There are dossiers on him and his wife in the Basel-Stadt State Archives.

effect

The performance of the conductor and choir director Alfred Volkland apparently faded quickly after the end of his active work. There are no sound recordings from his concerts.

Only two of Alfred Volkland's compositions have been mentioned in the contemporary specialist press. An overture in D minor, which he performed at his inaugural concert as Euterpe Kapellmeister in Leipzig in 1869, and which was performed on September 26, 1869 in Sondershausen by his colleague Max Bruch there, may never have appeared in print. And an Adagio and Allegro, a concert piece for orchestra, was premiered under his direction by the Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig on January 26, 1882, celebrated by the audience and published by a music publisher, but the press criticism was negative: brilliantly orchestrated, but not original and tiring .

More influential, if not undisputed, have been his published arrangements of songs and choral music for contemporary performance use.

His participation in the founding of the Bach Association in Leipzig is sustainable into the 21st century . In the dispute against other opinions, the association was involved in performing Bach's church music with an organ continuo . To demonstrate this Bach conception, five Bach cantatas were edited and published, two of them by Alfred Volkland.

Works

Compositions

  • Overture in D minor. 1869.
  • Adagio and Allegro, concert piece for orchestra. Rieter-Biedermann, Leipzig / Winterthur 1882.

Edits

  • BWV 25 and BWV 65. In: Church cantatas by Joh. Seb. Brook. Edited by the Bach Society in Leipzig in the keyboard excerpt with the organ part underneath. Rieter-Biedermann, Leipzig / Winterthur 1876/77.
  • Editing of the songs by Robert Schumann for Clara Schumann's complete edition. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1879–1893.
  • German wreath of songs. 50 songs f. Soprano, alto, ten. u. Bass. No. 379. In addition the individual parts. Nos. 380-83. Leipzig: Popular edition Breitkopf & Härtel. (without specifying the year of publication)
  • Song spring, collection of the most beautiful and modern songs and chants. No. 101. Volksausgabe Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig (without specifying the year of publication).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Letter and family tree: unpublished family documents.
  2. ↑ a b Editorial: Alfred Volkland . In: Musikalisches Wochenblatt , Volume 22, April 2, 1891, pp. 191 ff. Verlag von EW Fritzsch, Leipzig.
  3. ↑ Schumann, Clara and Robert. Correspondence. Edition managers Michael Heinemann and Thomas Synofzik . Schumann Letter Edition Series II: 23 volumes. ISBN 978-3-86846-002-5 . Dohr, Cologne 2010.
  4. ↑ Schumann, Robert. Works. Edited by Clara Schumann. First critical revised total edition. Score and parts. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1879–1893.
  5. ↑ Volkland, Alfred. 1841-1905. Kapellmeister. State Archives Basel-Stadt, Basel. Dossier PA 787b D 2 (1) 1.
  6. ↑ Volkland, Henriette. 1840-1903. Director, wife of Alfred Volkland, conductor. State Archives Basel-Stadt, Basel. Dossier PA 207a 52 V 14.
  7. ↑ a b Fifield, Christopher. Max break. His Life and Works. Athenaeum Press, Tyne & Wear 1988; new edition 2005, ISBN 1-84383-136-8 , p. 383.
  8. ↑ Editorial report. In: Musikalisches Wochenblatt. 13th year, February 9th, 1882. Publishing house by EW Fritzsch, Leipzig 1882
  9. ^ Adagio and Allegro, concert piece for orchestra . Rieter-Biedermann, Leipzig / Winterthur 1882
  10. ↑ Editorial report. In: Musikalisches Centralblatt , 2nd year, No. 5, February 2, 1882, p. 48, Leipzig. Responsible editor and publisher Robert Seitz. 1882
  11. ↑ Max Friedlaender: About the publication of musical works of art . In: Yearbook of the Peters Music Library , March 1908, p. 5. Verlag von CF Peters. Leipzig 1908
  12. ↑ German song wreath. 50 songs f. Soprano, alto, ten. u. Bass. No. 379. In addition the individual parts. Nos. 380-83. Leipzig: Popular edition Breitkopf & Härtel. Without specifying the year of publication
  13. ↑ Liederfrühling, a collection of the most beautiful and modern songs and chants. No. 101. Leipzig: Popular edition Breitkopf & Härtel. Without specifying the year of publication
  14. ↑ Wolfgang Sandberger: The Bach picture by Philipp Spittas (= archive for musicology . Supplement 39). Steiner, Stuttgart 1997.
  15. ↑ BWV 25 and BWV 65 in: Church Cantatas by Joh. Seb. Brook . Edited by the Bach Society in Leipzig in the keyboard excerpt with the organ part underneath. Rieter-Biedermann, Leipzig / Winterthur 1876/77
personal data
SURNAME Volkland, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conductor and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH July 7, 1905
Place of death Basel