Franz Boelsche

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Franz Boelsche

Johannes Eduard Franz Bölsche (born August 20, 1869 in Wegenstedt , † October 23, 1935 in Bad Oeynhausen ) was a German musician and composer.

Life

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After graduating from high school in Magdeburg from 1889 to 1894, Bölsche studied music at the Royal University of Berlin, composition with Woldemar Bargiel , piano with Carl Heymann , music history with Philipp Spitta and theory as well as instrumentation with Stange and listened to musicology at the university with Philipp Spitta and Heinrich Bellermann .

These five years of study were almost the most fruitful compositionally, especially since works like the Piano Trio , Op. 12, and the Overture to Judith , Op. 14, in terms of musical expression far surpass the school-like of those years. In 1890 he wrote ten bagatelles for piano, Op. 1, eight songs for a voice and piano, Op. 2 and Andante with Variations, Op. 4. The year 1891 brought a large-scale aria for baritone and orchestra, Dem rettenden Genius , Op. 3, based on a text by SA Mahlmann, and two piano sonatas in C minor, Op. 5, and E flat major, Op. 6th

The first composition for orchestra, the Overture to the Tragedy of Man, Op. 7, falls in the year 1892, its first performance took place in Bruchsal . Furthermore, five Bagatelles for small orchestra, Op. 8, the first psalm for acc. Choir a-cappella, Op. 9, and three songs from Psalter and Harp by CJ Ph. Spitta for acc. Choir a-cappella, Op. 10.

The choral compositions were inspired by an activity as a choirmaster, which Bölsche was doing alongside his studies at the time. In 1893 he reached the first climaxes in his compositional work, such as the aforementioned trio for piano, violin and violoncello in D major, Op. 12 and the first string quartet in G minor that has been lost. An overture to Hebbel's Judith , Op. 14, dedicated to Woldemar Bargiel, and a concert overture in E flat major, Op. 15, are the last creations of the Berlin student years from 1894.

After passing the final examination with distinction, Franz Bölsche stayed in Berlin for the time being and wrote Kaiser Maximilian auf der Martinswand , a dramatic cantata for solos, mixed choir and orchestra, Op. 16 that has been lost; also the hundredth psalm for mixed choir and orchestra, Op. 17, and four songs for voice and piano, Op. 18th

In 1896 Franz Bölsche was appointed by Franz Wüllner to succeed G. Jensen at the Cologne Conservatory . He took over the theory classes, taught composition and organized the music library.

He presented himself to the Cologne audience with a new overture Hero and Leander , Op. 20, which he conducted himself and which earned "the newly appointed theory teacher" great recognition. The work, in which Bölsche did not take part in the modernity of Richard Strauss at the time , represents a middle thing between symphonic poetry and overture in the classical sense of form. The depth of the musical content made the work so popular that it was even played as part of summer promenade concerts.

On December 16, 1897, Bölsche married Olga Bölsche, born in Libau (Kurland) . Knopp, a highly talented pianist who worked as a well-known piano teacher in Cologne until 1944. The marriage was unhappy; she was divorced thirteen years later. Olga Bölsche died in Leipzig in 1954 . Franz Bölsche had 2 sons, Egon Bölsche and Walter Bölsche.

In 1898 the world premiere of the overture Othello , Op. 28, which emphasizes the character of a symphonic poem to a greater extent. This work also made its way through the concert halls, most recently in Aachen under Peter Raabe in the 1920s .

Then in 1899, also under Wüllner's direction, the world premiere of the twelve-part motet I thank you for a solo quartet and eight-part choir, Op. 29

1900 saw the completion of the second string quartet in C minor, Op. 27, and which later belonged to the repertoire of the Schulze-Priska Quartet until our time. The four-part string composition and clear classical laws of form contain the full range of expression of that late Romantic era.

In 1901 the great four-movement symphony in F minor, Op. 30, premiered under the direction of the composer, after the second and third movements had already been heard the year before. Countless performances of this symphony followed over two decades.

Besides three songs for voice and piano, Op. 24, published by N. Simrock, Berlin, in 1902/03, and his last work See, we praise blessed who endured for six-part a-cappella choir Op. 35, (1913), the flow of compositional creativity dried up.

From the year his symphony was premiered, Franz Bölsche only worked as a teacher and sponsor. In addition to the publication of the 16th volume of the monuments of German music art , he worked out a theory book, which was published under the title Exercises and Tasks for the Study of Harmony in 1911 at Breitkopf & Härtel , Leipzig.

Building on Moritz Hauptmann's "The Nature of the Harmonica and Metrics", Bölsche created a standard work in music education that for decades would become the epitome of classical music theory. The importance of this book, which overcame the old Richter harmony theory, was to attain through its sensible structure and the usefulness of the teaching system, is best attested to by the fact that it has also recently been reprinted by Breitkopf, Leipzig, 1947 and Breitkopf , Wiesbaden, 1950, where in the meantime (2009) it achieved the 41st edition.

A textbook for studying counterpoint, which was not fully completed, served Bölsche in the manuscript as a base and guide for his counterpoint lessons.

His excellent theoretical ability, his extensive knowledge of all styles made it possible for him to help shape the compositional work of his students; this made him a much sought-after teacher.

Among the many musicians he trained are composers like the Swiss Volkmar Andreae , Ernst Kunsemüller , Wilhelm Rinkens , Ramrath, Heinrich Lemacher , Karl Hermann Pillney . Bölsche was appointed royal professor in 1911.

Franz Bölsche was a quiet, kind and religious person. He was very attached to his parents well into old age. He was not up to severe strokes of fate. So he was helpless against his first publisher Karl Buselmeier in Leipzig, to whom he had given all of his works up to Opus 18. Buselmeier emigrated to Baltimore soon afterwards, without worrying about the further printing or the distribution of the already published works. That is why many of Franz Bölsche's works are only available in manuscripts .

He has lived alone and withdrawn since his divorce in 1910. His relatively early retirement in 1925 was the result of his emotional disruption, which manifested itself in a serious nervous disease. In 1928 he again gave theory lessons for a short time at the Ziskoven Conservatory in Bonn . He spent the end of his life lonely and inactive.

Works

  • Op. 1 'Ten Bagatelles for Piano
  • Op. 2 'Eight songs for a voice with piano
  • Op. 3 "Dem rescuing Genius" aria for baritone and orchestra
  • Op. 4 Andante with variations for piano
  • Op. 5 First Sonata for Piano in C minor
  • Op. 6 2nd Sonata for Piano in E Flat Major
  • Op. 7 Overture to the "Tragedy of Man" for orchestra
  • Op. 8 Five bagatelles for small orchestra
  • Op. 9 Psalm for acc. Choir a-cappella
  • Op. 10 Three songs from "Psalter and Harp" for gem. Choir a-cappella
  • Op. 11 Overture to "Othello", original version
  • Op. 12 Trio for piano, violin, violoncello in D major
  • Op. 13 Quartet for 2 viol., Vla, Vc. in G minor
  • Op. 14 Overture to Hebbel's "Judith" for orchestra
  • Op. 15 Concert Overture for Orch. In E flat major
  • Op. 16 Dramatic cantata for solos, mixed Choir and orchestra
  • Op. 17 The 100th Psalm for acc. Choir and orchestra
  • Op. 18 four songs for voice and piano,
  • Op. 20 "Hero and Leander", dramatic overture for orchestra
  • Op. 24 Two songs for one singing. and piano
  • Op. 25 "Frühlingswehen" for a voice and piano
  • Op. 27 2nd quartet for 2 violins, viola., Vc. in C minor
  • Op. 28 "Othello", dramatic. Overture for large orchestra
  • Op. 29 "I thank you for that", motet for eight-part a-cappella choir and solo quartet
  • Op. 30 Symphony in F minor
  • Op. 35 "See, we praise blessed", for six-part a-cappella choir
  • Exercises and Tasks e.g. Study of Harmony ", Leipzig 1911; Ed. DdT Volume 16.

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personal data
SURNAME Bölsche, Franz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bölsche, Johannes Eduard Franz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German organist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH August 20, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Wegenstedt
DATE OF DEATH October 23, 1935
Place of death Bad Oeynhausen