Ferdinand Pfohl

Ferdinand Pfohl, pastel by Anton Klamroth , 1892

Ferdinand Maximilian Pfohl (born October 12, 1862 in Elbogen, Bohemia ; now Loket no, Czech Republic; † December 16, 1949 in Hamburg-Bergedorf ) was a German music critic, music writer and composer.

Life

Ferdinand Pfohl was one of the most respected German music critics and music writers; his judgment had great weight ( Andreas Willscher in MGG 2005) and in Germany was comparable to Hanslick's position in Vienna. Compositions by him were performed quite often during his lifetime and received extremely positive reviews.

He was the son of Elbogen bailiff Ferdinand Pfohl senior, born in Einsiedel near Reichenberg, and Anna, nee. Marek, and was born in the house that still exists today at Schlossgasse 8 (today: Zamecká 8/70) in Elbogen (today Loket n. O.). After graduating from the Benedictine grammar school in the north-east Bohemian town of Braunau (today Broumov ), he began to study law at the Imperial and Royal German Karl Ferdinand University in Prague in 1881 at the request of his father . Pfohl recognized his destiny for music "abundantly" in 1883 when he attended the first Parsifal performance after Wagner's death in Bayreuth: You belong to the music, solely to the music, and the music is yours, it is your blood, your soul. In the fall of 1885, to the grief of his parents, he broke off his law studies and moved to Leipzig to study music there. He became a student of Oscar Paul and Hermann Kretzschmar ; at the same time he studied philosophy.

After his father had withdrawn his financial support, after a while he managed to earn his living by writing music reviews. During his Leipzig years (until October 1892) he wrote for the Königlich-Leipziger Zeitung and the Leipziger Tageblatt . On the recommendation of Hans von Bülow , he was then from November 1892 head of the music section of the Hamburger Nachrichten . He held this position until December 1931. He wrote several standard works of music literature, for example in 1911 on Richard Wagner and in 1925 on Arthur Nikisch . Both biographies and several opera guides achieved large editions. In addition, with his several thousand reviews and essays as well as numerous lectures, including on the radio, he has enriched musical life not only in Hamburg, but also far beyond.

In addition, since 1913 he was co-director of the Vogt Conservatory in Hamburg, the forerunner of today's Hamburg University of Music and Drama . There he taught a. a. Music theory and history, lecture and style. He continued his teaching until 1948 at the now municipal "School for Music and Theater". In 1913 he was awarded the title of professor hc, in 1923 he received the title of Dr. phil. hc

His compositions, which can be largely attributed to the late Romantic period, are often and with great success. a. performed by Felix Mottl , Max Reger and Arthur Nikisch . The composer conducted his sea ​​symphony in 1898 as part of the Philharmonic Concerts with the orchestra of Hans Winderstein in the Alberthalle of the Krystallpalast (Leipzig) . Other orchestral works such as the rhapsody Twardowsky , the symphonic legend Savonarola , the Asparase or individual movements of his sea ​​symphony were also performed Performance as well as his song cycle Pierrot lunaire , his piano works, as well as settings of poems by Goethe, Eichendorff etc.

Pfohl was well known or friends with numerous contemporary musical personalities, such as Grieg, Reger, Ferruccio Busoni , J. Massenet, G. Puccini, Siegfried Wagner and Cosima Wagner , Gustav Mahler , etc.

One of his most interesting literary works is his volume Höllenbreughel als Erzieher, published anonymously in Leipzig in 1890 - also by a German . In a humorous, but also politically critical way, he parodies Julius Langbehn's German-style work Rembrandt as an educator in a delicious satirical and exposes Langbehn as a tangled and anti-Semitic pseudophilosopher. During the time of National Socialism , Pfohl expressed himself so courageously in a radio lecture by expressing his sympathy for "non-Aryan music" that the Reichsender Hamburg, which belonged to the Großdeutscher Rundfunk , broke off the broadcast.

Ferdinand Pfohl found his final resting place in the Bergedorf cemetery in Hamburg.

His work lives on after his death; for example, a manuscript of his with memories of Gustav Mahler's Hamburg years was published posthumously in 1973 by the Danish musicologist Knud Martner .

The Pfohl Woyrsch Society eV Hamburg , founded in 1993, has set itself the goal of preserving Ferdinand Pfohl's musical and literary legacy and making it accessible to a wider public.

Musical works (selection)

• The apsarase for orchestra
• Twelve early pieces for piano (Nachlauf, Pfänderspiel, Waltz, Epigram, Waltz, Scherzo, Sonnet, Serenade, Notturno, The Bagpipes, Die Pandekten (very tasteless and leathery to perform), Romance, n.d. (early piano compositions))
• Capriccio (Allegro vivo), dance (Tempo giusto), early piano pieces, no year (no year)
• Four songs
• Hagbart, Nordic Rhapsody (piano), after a theme by Edvard Grieg, 1882
• Two chants, for a medium voice and pianoforte, undated
• Angel Serenade, from d. Neapolitan by Frida Schanz, for a medium voice "Get up and open the gate"
• Two chants fe middle. voice
• Op. 4 moon rondels, fantastic. Scenes from "Pierrot Lunaire" by Albert Giraud, German by Otto Erich Hartleben , for 1 voice and pianoforte, (tenor), 1891
• Op. 5 Three songs, f. 1 high voice and piano, text in German, English, French, 13 pp.
• Op. 6 Four songs for a singing voice a. piano
• Op. 7 No. 1 return (F. Pfohl), 11 p. 1892
• Op. 8 beach pictures, for piano, 35 p.
• to op. 8: The Sea, Symphonic Fantasy for large orchestra
• Op. 9 siren songs, poems from Max Haushofer Jr. "The Banished" for mezzo-soprano (alto) and piano
• Op. 10 Twardowsky, poem by Otto Kayser, rhapsody for large orchestra, male choir and mezzo-soprano; instead of MSopr. Female choir possible, score, piano reduction, 35 p., 1894
• Op. 11 Suite Élégiaque, for piano, 1894
• Op. 12 A ballet scene f. large orchestra, score, 59 pp.
• Op. 14 tower ballads, 5 poems from Max Haushofer Jr. "The Exiles", for a high-pitched voice and the like. Piano, 47 pp., 19o1
• The drunken song (Nietzsche), “O man, pay attention! What does deep midnight say? ”1915
• Midnight (Zarathustra, Friedr. Nietzsche) Ms. (song for medium voice)
• The cup of love (text by Georg Jacobi) "From you, oh love, I take the cup of bitter suffering", (song for deep voice)
• Im Waldesschatten, (J. v. Eichendorff), "I stand in the forest shadow like on the edge of life", 1942 (3 pages) (song for medium voice)
• Am Waldsee, "Du stiller See", 1942 Ms. (song for deep voice)
• Greetings from love, (Wilh. Raabe), "Greetings!" 1944, Ms. (song with piano accompaniment)
• Sweet Peace, (Goethe) "You are from heaven" Ms. (song for deep voice)
• Everything transient is just a parable (Goethe), December 14, 1944 Ms. (song for middle / high position)
• Goethe comforts, "Above all peaks there is peace" Ms. (song with piano accompaniment)
• Schilflieder, seals by Nikolaus Lenau, for a middle. Singing voice with symphon. Piano accompaniment, Ms. from August 21, 1947,
• Birch legend, text Börries v. Münchhausen, last composition from July 28, 1949, Ms. (song for medium / high voice with piano accompaniment)

Fonts (selection)

• Modern pilgrimages . In:  Annual report of the reading and speech hall of German students in Prague . Kk Hofbuchdruckerei A. Haase, Prague 1885.
• Höllenbreughel as an educator - also from a German (di Ferdinand Pfohl) . Verlag Carl Reissner, Leipzig 1890, 96 pp.
• Across Africa. Desert and jungle adventure of a pianist . Verlag Carl Reissner, Leipzig 1891, 84 pp.
• Bayreuth fanfare . Verlag Carl Reissner, Leipzig 1891, 68 pp.
• The Nibelungs in Bayreuth. New Bayreuth fanfare . Verlag Carl Reissner, Dresden and Leipzig 1897.
• West-east trips. On board the “Princess Victoria Louise” . Seemann, Leipzig 1901.
• Carl Grammann . An artist's life . Schuster & Loeffler, Berlin and Leipzig 1910, 321 pp.
• Concerto for violin by Max Reger . In: Max Reger Festival, Dortmund 7.8.9. May 1910. Festival book . Verlag W. Crüwell, Dortmund 1910, pp. 115-126.
• Richard Wagner. His life and work . Ullstein, Berlin and Vienna 1911, 398 pp.
• Beethoven . Velhagen & Klasing, Bielefeld and Leipzig 1922 (= Volksbuch , No. 7).
• Arthur Nikisch . In: Heinrich Chevalley: Arthur Nikisch. Life and work . Bote and Bock, Berlin 1922, pp. 1–126
• Arthur Nikisch . His life, his art, his work . Alster, Hamburg 1925, 196 pp.
• Ernst Roters. From his life and work . N. Simrock, Berlin 1925.
• Busoni - personal memories of the person, the artist and friend . In: Die Musikwelt , born 1925, p. 156 f.
• Friedrich Chrysander . Speech held in celebration of the 100th birthday of Friedrich Chrysander, Köster & Wobbe, Bergedorf 1926, 15 pp.
• How I became a music critic . In: Zeitschrift für Musik , vol. 99 (1932), pp. 959–961.
• Life and work. Autobiographical sketch and small memories . In: magazine for music . Vol. 109 (1942), pp. 445-450.
• Gustav Mahler . Impressions and memories from the Hamburg years . Posthumous ed. by Knud Martner. Wagner, Hamburg 1973, ISBN 3-921029-15-5 .

Lexica entries

• Andreas Willscher : The music in past and present (MGG), 2002, person part 13, p. 496 f.
• Oscar Thompson, Nicholas Slonimsky, Robert Sabin: The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians . New York, p. 1619.
• Stanley Sadie: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , Vol. 14, London 1995.
• Rudolf Flotzinger (Ed.): Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon ( online ).

literature

• Andreas Willscher : Ferdinand Pfohl - a Bohemian in Hamburg . Editio Bärenreiter, Prague 2001, ISBN 80-86385-07-8 .
• Rudolf Hayo Pfohl: Ferdinand Pfohl - a "soul and body of music" . In: Mitteilungen 1999 der Pfohl-Woyrsch-Gesellschaft Hamburg , pp. 6–36.
• Kurt Stephenson: Ferdinand Pfohl on his 75th birthday, four living pictures with prologue and reflection . In: magazine for music . Born in 1937, pp. 1103-1105.
• Wilhelm Leonhardt: Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Pfohl in memory . In: Lichtwark No. 24. Ed. Lichtwark Committee Bergedorf, Bergedorf December 1962. See now: Verlag HB-Werbung, Hamburg-Bergedorf. ISSN  1862-3549 .
• Ferdinand Pfohl, How I became a music critic . In: Zeitschrift für Musik , vol. 99 (1932), pp. 959–961.
• Ferdinand Pfohl, life and work. Autobiographical sketch and small memories . In: magazine for music . Vol. 109 (1942), pp. 445-450.
• Helmut Brenner , Reinhold Kubik : Mahler's people. Friends and companions . Residenz-Verlag, St. Pölten 2014, ISBN 978-3-7017-3322-4 , pp. 180-183
• Helmut Brenner: Music criticism at the end of the 19th century using the example of Ferdinand Pfohl and his relationship with Gustav Mahler . In: Simon Kannenberg (Ed.): Studies on the 250th anniversary of Johann Mattheson's death . Music writing and journalism in Hamburg . Weidler Buchverlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-89693-639-4 , pp. 333–346
• Udo Bermbach, review of Pfohl's Wagner biography, in: Richard Wagner in Germany, Metzler, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-476-01884-7 , pp. 22-25

Recordings

• Romantic Northern Germany (Sopr, Klav) Hamburg, 1999
• Beach pictures / Suite Élégiaque / Hagbart, Jamina Gerl (piano), Naxos Grand Piano, 2019

Web links

• Literature by and about Ferdinand Pfohl in the catalog of the German National Library
• Sheet music and audio files by Ferdinand Pfohl in the International Music Score Library Project
• Pfohl Woyrsch Society
• biography