Carl Schwencke

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Carl Schwencke, lithograph by Otto Speckter (1853)

Carl Schwencke , also Karl Schwencke , Charles Schwencke (born March 7, 1797 in Hamburg , † probably January 7, 1870 in Nussdorf (Vienna) ) was a German musician and composer.

Life

Carl Schwencke belonged to a family of musicians who shaped the musical life of Hamburg for four generations. He was a son of Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke , his older brother Johann Friedrich (1792-1852) was a composer and organist in Hamburg. Carl attended the learned school of the Johanneum and received theory and composition lessons from his father as well as lessons in cello and piano from various colleagues and students of his father. He achieved particular virtuosity on the piano in particular. His first printed composition, Six Poems by Theodor Körner , appeared in Hamburg and Copenhagen around 1825.

Schwencke left Hamburg at the age of 19. He went on concert tours as a pianist in Germany, France, Austria and Northern Europe. He also worked as a teacher in different places. In Stockholm , where he lived several times since 1816, he was accepted into the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1833 . In 1834 he accompanied Fredrik Pacius to Finland , but did not stay there long either.

Schwencke was well known during his lifetime. Probably in 1821 he contacted Ludwig van Beethoven by letter; In 1824 he got to know him personally. Beethoven dedicated the humorous canon Schwenke dich ohne Schwänke to him . For some time Schwencke was a pianist with Nikolai Borissowitsch Golitsyn on his estate; Golitsyn is said to have entrusted Schwencke with Beethoven's original correspondence with him. Schwencke's mass was performed in Paris in the presence of Luigi Cherubini , and Hector Berlioz paid tribute to his symphony in D, which was performed in Paris in 1842 and 1843 . When it was performed again in Hamburg in 1878, however, as the unnamed reviewer noted, “it aroused little interest. The content of the thought is in no way outstanding, as Carl Schwencke did not show himself to be very talented in his other works, in his numerous piano and vocal matters. "

In particular, his salon music works, in which he often arranged popular opera themes for piano or chamber music ensemble, remained extremely popular for educational purposes and for house music .

The circumstances of his death are in the dark. It disappeared in January 1870 and all inquiries were unsuccessful. His nephew, the organist Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke (1823-1896), published Schwencke's memoirs in the newspaper Hamburgischer Correspondent in 1884/85 . In 1903 they appeared as part of the Hamburger Liebhaberbibliothek series , edited by Alfred Lichtwark .

Works

  • Trois Amusemens Pour le Piano-Forte à quatre mains. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [approx. 1827]
  • Trois Pièces pour le Pianoforte composées & dédiées à Monsieur JN Hummel Maître de Chapelle de SAR le Grand Duc de Saxe-Weimar; Oeuv. 15. Leipzig: Breitkopf [approx. 1828]
  • Songs: To the acceptance of Biedermanns Struck, An Lina, Canon for 6 voices, Six Divertissements en etudes; No. 1. [Sl], [approx. 1830]
  • Six Marches Pour le Pianoforte à Six Mains. Hamburg: Cranz [approx. 1830]
  • Les Bijoux. Quatre Mélodies favorites variées pour le Piano-Forte et dédiées à Medemoiselle Emilie Dannenberg; Op. 28, Liv. 1. Leipzig: Peters [approx. 1832]
  • Divertissement pour piano et violon concertants: sur des motifs favoris de Robert le diable de Meyerbeer; op. 30. Berlin: Schlesinger [approx. 1833] ( digitized version )
  • Fantaisie pour piano et violon concertans: sur des motifs de Ludovic d'Herold et d'Halevy; op. 40. Paris [among others]: Schlesinger [approx. 1834] ( digitized version )
  • Trois Morceaux de Salon pour le Piano: Oeuv. 65. Braunschweig: Meyer; London: Ewer [approx. 1840]
  • Trois petites pièces pour le pianoforte à quatre mains. Hamburg: Cranz [approx. 1840] ( digitized version )
  • Première Fantaisie concertante pour piano et violoncelle ou violon: sur des airs russes; oeuv. 33. Paris: Farrenc [approx. 1840] ( digitized version )
  • Deuxième Fantaisie concertante pour piano et violoncelle ou violon: sur des airs russes; op: 34. Paris: Farrenc [approx. 1840] ( digitized version )
  • Troisième Fantaisie concertante pour piano et violoncelle ou violon: sur des airs russes; op. 35. Paris: Farrenc [approx. 1840] ( digitized version )
  • (posthumous) memories. Printed as a manuscript. Hamburg: Lütcke & Wulff 1901 ( digitized version )

literature

Web links

Commons : Carl Schwencke  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stations of life essentially according to MGG (Lit.)
  2. ↑ Tomi Mäkelä : "Our Country" or: How Finnish was Friedrich Pacius? , in: Jan Hecker-Stampehl: 1809 and the consequences: Finland between Sweden, Russia and Germany. (= Series of publications by the Finland Institute in Germany 12), Berlin: BWV 2011 ISBN 9783830518822 p. 256 with note 20
  3. ^ Letter to Ludwig van Beethoven: undated [1821 or 1822, determined according to edition], digitized
  4. ↑ Alexander Wheelock Thayer: Ludwig van Beethoven's life. Edited from the original manuscript in German by Hermann Deiters. Using the materials left behind by the author, newly supplemented and edited by Hugo Riemann. Volume 5, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel 1908, p. 103f
  5. ^ Wilhelm von Lenz : Beethoven. An art study. Volume 4/3: Critical Catalog, Hamburg: Hoffmann & Campe 1860, p. 356
  6. ^ Peter Bloom: Berlioz: Scenes from the Life and Work. (= Eastman studies in music ISSN  1071-9989 52) Rochester: University Rochester Press 2008 ISBN 9781580462099 , pp. 103f
  7. ↑ Musikalisches Wochenblatt 9 (1878), p. 290
  8. ↑ MGG (lit.)
personal data
SURNAME Schwencke, Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schwencke, Karl; Schwencke, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German musician and composer
DATE OF BIRTH March 7, 1797
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: January 7, 1870
Place of death Nussdorf (Vienna)