Karl Höller

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Karl Höller (born July 25, 1907 in Bamberg , † April 14, 1987 in Hausham ) was a German composer , conductor , organist and university professor .

Life

Karl Höller came from a traditional family of cantors. His father Valentin Höller (1873–1932) worked as a cathedral organist, royal music director and composer in Bamberg. His father Georg Höller (1838–1901), a son of the organist Peter Höller, was also a composing church musician; and Karl Höller's maternal grandfather, Michael Drausnick (1853–1924), had worked as conductor of the Bamberg Cathedral Choir. In addition, four aunts of Karl Höller were trained organists. One of them, the Würzburg-based composer Gretchen Höller (1871–1937), was the first and only woman in the German Empire to hold the office of cathedral organist. At the age of six, Karl Höller became a choirboy at Bamberg Cathedral and received piano and organ lessons. At the age of eight he was able to replace his father on the organ; he also began composing at this time. As a student at the humanistic grammar school, he learned to play the cello on the side. After graduating from high school in 1926, he went to Würzburg, where he studied composition at the State Conservatory with its director Hermann Zilcher and the organ with Hanns Schindler. He also attended lectures on musicology and art history at the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg . During his studies he became a member of the AMV zu Würzburg .

But as early as 1927 Karl Höller moved to Munich to study composition and music theory at the Academy of Music with the Reger student and co-founder of the Donaueschinger Musiktage , Joseph Haas . At the same time, he trained as a professional organist with Emmanuel Gatscher and as a conductor with Siegmund von Hausegger at the same institute . After he had passed the final exams for composition and organ with distinction in 1929, he continued to study with Haas, Hausegger and Gatscher as a master class student until 1933. When he entered Haas' master class for composition, Höller discarded the numerous works he had created up to that point and composed a partita for organ on the chorale O how blessed are you, you pious ones , which he now called his Opus 1.

After Höller was awarded the Felix Mottl Prize in 1931, his rise to one of the most successful composers of his generation began. Prominent conductors such as Carl Schuricht and Hermann Abendroth performed his orchestral work Hymnen, composed in 1932 (4 symphonic movements on Gregorian chant melodies, op.18). Immediately after completing his studies in 1933, Höller became a lecturer in harmony , organ and accompaniment at the Academy of Music in Munich. In 1934/35 he composed his Symphonic Fantasy (on a theme by Frescobaldi, op. 20), which soon after its premiere in 1935 by the Philharmonic Orchestra Essen under Johannes Schüler became a repertoire piece for many orchestras. From 1937, Höller taught composition, conducting and organ to Dr. Hoch's Conservatory and from 1938 at the State University of Music in Frankfurt am Main . Here he also directed the university orchestra and the department for Catholic church music. In July 1940, together with Kurt Hessenberg and Max Trapp , he received the National Prize for Composition from Joseph Goebbels . In 1941, Höller was bombed out in Frankfurt. Most of his notes, manuscripts and books remained intact because he had previously evacuated them to Bamberg. Soon after joining the NSDAP in early 1942 (membership number 8,827,661), Höller became an associate professor . While Goebbels considered him to be gifted in principle - although occasionally in need of guidance - Hitler rejected his music as "atonal". Other musically conservative National Socialists also sensed the influence of what they considered to be the “degenerate music” of Schönberg in Höller . In view of this, Höller's Sonatina op. 29, composed in 1942 (published in the same year by the Leipzig publisher Leukart), seems downright daring, since he quotes the well-known fourth motif from Schönberg's Chamber Symphony op. 9 (1906) right at the beginning . Nevertheless, in the final phase of the Second World War (in August 1944) the composer was included in the list of the most important composers signed by Hitler , which saved him from being used in the war. During the last years of the war, Höller concentrated primarily on work on a major symphony in C sharp minor (op. 40, 1942–45), which was launched in 1950 by the Hamburg State Orchestra under Joseph Keilberth and by the reviewer of the daily newspaper Die Welt as one Synthesis of "Bruckner and jazz, exuberance and asceticism" was characterized.

In the first five years after the end of Hitler's tyranny, Höller was extremely productive and composed many of his best works, including a violin concerto (op.47), a cello concerto (op.50), the Sweelinck Variations for large orchestra (op.56 ), several string quartets and violin sonatas, 3 piano sonatas (op. 41) and the Ciacona for organ (op. 54). In 1949 Karl Höller was appointed professor at the Musikhochschule in Munich , where he took over his master class for composition on the recommendation of Joseph Haas. In 1950 he received the Art Prize of the City of Munich, in 1952 the Music Prize of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts , in 1957 the Louis Spohr Prize of the City of Braunschweig, in 1959 the Bavarian Order of Merit , in 1967 the Great Federal Cross of Merit and in 1974 the Great Federal Cross of Merit with a Star. In 1954, Höller was elected President of the Munich Conservatory - a position he held until his retirement in 1972. He was also a member of the GEMA Supervisory Board (since 1949) and was involved in the Presidium of the German Composers' Association and on the board of the Munich Tonkünstlerverband. In 1954 he became a board member of the German section of the UNESCO International Music Council founded in Reykjavík . In 1960, Höller accepted an invitation from the Institute of Contemporary Arts in Washington, where he participated as a pianist and organist in the performance of his own works (op. 17, 33, 44, 45) and, after the American premiere of his Sweelinck Variations (by the National Symphony Orchestra under Howard Mitchell) was celebrated by the public and the press. From March 14 to 28, 1968, Höller stayed in the Soviet Union as a member of a small delegation of West German composers, which in addition to him also included Siegfried Borris and Jürg Baur . The highlight of this trip was a concert in Moscow's Bolshoi Theater , during which the conductor Gennady Roshdestwensky gave the composer a spontaneous hug after the performance of Höller's Sweelinck Variations .

Prominent interpreters who advocated Höler's music should also be mentioned: the conductors Eugen Jochum , Wilhelm Furtwängler , Herbert von Karajan , Ferdinand Leitner and Hermann Bäumer , the violinist Alma Moodie , the cellist Ludwig Hoelscher and the organists Franz Lehrndorfer and Edgar Krapp . With some of the named - namely with Furtwängler, Hoelscher and Lehrndorfer - Höller was also private friend. His well-known friends also included the French composer Henri Dutilleux and the Belgian composer and organist Flor Peeters . His students include Reiner Bredemeyer , Walther R. Schuster , Hugo Raithel and Werner Heider . Karl Höller spent his twilight years with his wife Heide in Faistenau, a district of Fischbachau . The marriage entered into in 1939 had a daughter and a son.

music

Höller's compositional work includes all genres with the exception of opera. His distinctive personal style, which he developed at the end of the 1920s, fuses suggestions from old masters' polyphony ( Palestrina , Sweelinck, Bach), the late Romanticism of Bruckner and Reger, French impressionism and modern music of the first half of the 20th century (Schönberg, Hindemith , Weill , Jazz etc.). Höller's music is often as free-tonal or expanded tonally as that of Hindemith or Shostakovich , but never atonal. He was just as skeptical of Schönberg's twelve-tone technique as he was of the various varieties of the post-war avant-garde. Höller's harmony and instrumentation are extremely colorful and his melodies are as cantilever as they are unused. Höller's contrapuntal ability is also striking. Wilhelm Zentner praised his fugue for string orchestra (1949, arrangement of the 1st movement from the string quartet No. 5 , op. 48) as “one of the most masterful fugues since Reger”. The formal structure of Höler's works is usually easy to understand and clearly structured. If he does not stick to models from early music such as Partita , Passacaglia or Fugue , he prefers classical forms, namely the sonata form . Höller's rhythm is often spirited in fast movements and occasionally appears to be related to jazz. In slow passages, however, the composer usually shows his contemplative and introverted side. Höller believed in the idea, so he gave musical inspiration an important role in the creative process. However, he also emphasized that “the intuitive is constantly controlled by the art mind”.

Although Höller originally came from the organ, he mainly composed orchestral and chamber music - probably because this most satisfied his subtle "musical sense of color". Many of his orchestral works are subsequently orchestrated chamber music or piano works. In his instrumentation, he occasionally tends to unmistakably impressionistic coloring, for example through the use of the harp or celesta. The performing musicians and the audience were declared important to Höller, as was beauty and harmony in the music. And so his works are mostly extremely interpreter and listener friendly. The fact that they are still largely forgotten today can probably be explained primarily by the development of music in (western) post-war Germany, which on the one hand tended towards museumization and on the other hand helped the atonal directions in the field of modern serious music to dominate. At least it was not due to the quality of Höller's works that they have been neglected in the last few decades. The publication of the first Höller monograph (Tutzing 2007, see literature) and a comprehensive cross-section of works on 8 CDs in the years 2005 to 2007 (see discography) indicate a newly awakened interest in the work of this composer at the beginning of the 21st century .

Works (selection)

Publishers: Schott (S), Peters (P), Bärenreiter (B), Sikorski (Sik), Breitkopf & Härtel (B&H), Süddeutscher Musikverlag (SMV, since 1988 delivery via Bärenreiter), Leukart (L), Coppenrath (C) , Böhm & Son (Böhm)

All autograph manuscripts are in the Bavarian State Library in Munich

Orchestral works

  • Concertino op.9 for piano, violin, viola and chamber orchestra (1930), L
  • Organ Concerto op.15 (1932, revised 1966), L / Thomi-Berg
  • Toccata, improvisation and fugue , based on the piano work of the same name, op. 16 (1932, orchestrated 1942), L
  • Hymns . Four symphonic movements on Gregorian chant melodies, op. 18 (1932), L
  • Harpsichord concert (chamber concert for harpsichord and small orchestra or 6 solo instruments op. 19 (1934, revised 1958), L / Thomi-Berg
  • Symphonic Fantasy on a Theme by Frescobaldi , op.20 (1934/35, revised 1956), L
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 op.23 (1938, revised 1964), L
  • Passacaglia and Fugue after Frescobaldi, op.25 (1938/39), L
  • Divertimento for chamber orchestra, based on the quintet op.11 (1931, orchestrated 1939), SMV
  • Heroic Music op.28 (1940)
  • Cello Concerto No. 1 op.26 (1940/41), L
  • Symphony No. 1 op. 40 (1942–45), Sik
  • 2 Petites symphonies , based on the four-hand piano work op.32 (1943, orchestrated 1965/69)
  • Concerto grosso for 2 violins and orchestra, based on the Trio Sonata op.38 (1946, orchestrated 1965), SMV
  • Serenade for chamber orchestra, based on the clarinet quintet op.46 (1947, orchestrated 1957)
  • Orchestral Sonata, based on Violin Sonata No. 6 (1947, orchestrated 1966)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 (Symphonic Concert) op.47 (1947/48), SMV
  • Fugue for string orchestra , after the 1st movement of the 5th string quartet (1948, orchestral version 1949), p
  • Cello Concerto No. 2 op.50 1949), SMV
  • Sweelinck Variations op.56 (1950/51), p
  • Intrada, Allegro and Fuge op. 60 (1965), P
  • Divertimento for flute and string orchestra op.53a, based on the flute sonata op.53 (1950, orchestrated 1971), SMV
  • Bamberg Piano Concerto op.63 (1972), P
  • Symphony No. 2 (Homage to Mozart) op.64 (1973)

Chamber music

  • 6 string quartets:
    • No. 1 op. 24 (1938, revised 1966, L)
    • No. 2 op.36 (1945, P)
    • No. 3 op. 42 (1947, SMV)
    • No. 4 ( after visiting an exhibition "Modern French Painting" ) op. 43 (1947, SMV)
    • No. 5 op. 48 (1948)
    • No. 6 ( Georg Kulenkampff in memory) op.51 (1949/50, Sik)
  • 8 sonatas for violin and piano:
    • op. 4 (1929, revised 1968, P)
    • No. 1 op. 30 (1942, L)
    • No. 2 op.33 (1943, P)
    • No. 3 op.35 (1944, revised 1963)
    • No. 4 op.37 (1945, P)
    • No. 5 op. 39 (1946)
    • No. 6 op.44 (1947, SMV)
    • No. 7 op. 52 (1949, SMV)
  • Chamber trio op. 6 for 2 violins and piano (1929), SMV
  • Piano quartet op.7 (1929/39, revised 1954), P
  • Divertimento op.11 for flute and piano quartet (1931), SMV
  • Music for violin and piano op.27 (1941, revised 1957), L
  • Sonata op.31 for viola (or violoncello) and piano (1943, revised 1967), P
  • Trio op.34 for violin, violoncello and piano (or harp) (1944), P
  • Trio Sonata op.38 for 2 violins and piano (1946), SMV
  • Sonata (No. 1) for flute and piano op.45 (1947), SMV
  • Clarinet Quintet op. 46 (1947), SMV
  • Serenade for wind quintet op.42a, based on the 3rd string quartet op.42 (1947), SMV
  • Sonata No. 2 for flute and piano op.53 (1950), p
  • Sonata for viola and piano (In memoriam Paul Hindemith ) op.62 (1966/67), p
  • Scherzo for woodwind octet, from op. 24 (1970), L
  • Sonata for violoncello and piano (Cello Sonata No. 2) op.65 (1975)

Piano works

  • Suite op. 2 (1929), SMV
  • 3 small suites op.2a (1975), p
  • Toccata, improvisation and fugue for 2 pianos op.16 (1932)
  • Sonatina op.29 (1942), L
  • 2 small sonatas for piano four hands op. 32 (1943), P
  • 3 small sonatas op.41 (1946, revised 1967), Sik
  • 2 sonatas for 2 pianos (arrangements of the piano sonatas op. 41 / nos. 1 + 2, 1946 / arr. 1966/67), Sik
  • Ticino piano book op.57 (1957), p
  • 2 Sonatinas op.58 (1962), p

Organ works

  • Suite (composed in 1926, unpublished)
    • improvisation
    • Mystery
    • Ave maris stella
    • ... et resurrexit
  • Partita on the chorale "O how blessed are you, you pious" op. 1 (1929), L / Thomi-Berg
  • Choral variations on “Help me praise God's goodness” op. 22/1 (1936), L / Thomi-Berg
  • Choral variations on "Jesus, my joy" op. 22/2 (1936), L / Thomi-Berg
  • Ciacona op.54 (1949), p
  • Choral Passacaglia on “The Sun Has Turned With Her Shine” op. 61 (1962), p
  • Triptych op.64 (1975/76), P.
  • Two works for organ plus a melody instrument: Fantasy op. 49 for violin and organ (1949, P), improvisation on “ Schönster Herr Jesu op. 55 for cello and organ (1950, P)

Vocal works

  • Missa brevis for solos and mixed choir a cappella op.3 (1929), SMV
  • Media vita in morte sumus for male choir op.8 (1930), L
  • Passion music op.12a for solo soprano, unanimous female or children's choir, violin and organ (around 1930), C.
  • A Little Christmas Music op.12b for medium voice or women's or children's choir, violin and organ (around 1930), C
  • Jubilate Deo for 5-8-part choir and organ (1930)
  • Hymn song for male or mixed choir and orchestra (based on the words of Krishnamurti ) op. 13 (1932/1939), L
  • Missa pro defunctis (Requiem) for two-part choir and organ op. 14 (1931), Böhm
  • Emitte spiritum for mixed choir and organ (1932), Böhm
  • 6 sacred chants for soprano and organ op. 17 (1932), L / Thomi-Berg
  • Summer Night , 5 songs for 4-8-part mixed choir a cappella op.59 (1936), L
  • Tenebrae factae sunt (Good Friday motet) for male choir, flute, oboe and clarinet p. 21 (1937) - arranged for male choir and organ by Max Beckschäfer , Böhm
  • Songs: Sehnsucht (cycle after Caesar Flaischlen for medium voice and piano, 1927), 3 old German Minnelieder for medium voice and piano op.5 (1929), 3 songs based on poems by Thea Graziella for voice and piano (1931)

Others

  • Radio play music : Cenodoxus, the Doctor of Paris (J. Bidermann, 1933), Thomas Paine (H. Johst, 1934)
  • Film music: Room in the circling light (culture film by Tobis, 1936), Answer of the heart (documentary film by Caritas, 1949)
  • Arrangements: 10 German Dances by Franz Schubert (for string orchestra, 1940/41), Prelude and Fughetta by Max Reger (based on his organ work op. 80 arranged for orchestra, 1975)

Discography

  • Organ Music ( Fantasy op. 49, Triptychon op. 64, Improvisation op. 55); Performers: Barbara Harbach (organ), William Preucil (violin), Roy Christensen (violoncello); Label: GASPARO, Nashville (USA) 1990
  • Sonatas for flute and piano (op. 43 + 53) and sonatina for piano op. 58/2 (as well as works for flute and piano by Paul Hindemith); Performers: Xavier Relats (flute) and Jordi Maso; Label: ASV Ltd., London (England) 2001
  • Symphonic Fantasy for Orchestra op. 20 and Sweelinck Variations op. 56; Performers: Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, Eugen Jochum (conductor); Label: Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg 1958/2005 in the series Musik… Sprache der Welt , re-released on CD
  • Karl Höller. Vol. 1 / Chamber music 1 ( 4th string quartet op. 43, trio for violin, cello and harp op. 34a, sonata for viola and piano op. 62); Performers: Christian Sikorski (violin), Uta Terjung (violin), Axel Breuc (viola), Maro de Secondi (violoncello), Maria Stange (harp), Georg Schmidt (viola in op. 62), Karl Höller (piano); Label: ambitus, Utting a. A. 2005
  • Karl Höller. Vol. 2 / Organ Works ( Partita op. 1, Ciacona op. 54, 2 Choral Variations op. 22, Choral-Passacaglia op. 61); Interpreter: Edgar Krapp; Label: ambitus 2006
  • Karl Höller. Vol. 3 (+4) / orchestral works on 2 CDs ( 1st symphony op. 40, 2nd symphony op. 65); Performers: Bamberg Symphony, Bavarian State Philharmonic, Hermann Bäumer (conductor); Label: ambitus 2007
  • Karl Höller. Vol. 5 / Organ Works 2 ( Fantasy op. 49, Improvisation op. 55, Triptych op. 64); Performers: Ya'akov Rubinstein (violin), Mark Kosover (violoncello), Winfried Böning (organ); Label: ambitus 2007
  • Karl Höller. Vol. (6+) 7 / Sacred vocal works on 2 CDs ( Missa brevis op. 3, Six sacred chants op. 17, A little Christmas music op. 12b, Missa pro defunctis op. 14); Performers: Madrigal Choir of the University of Music and Theater Munich , Tanja Wawra (conductor), Axel Flierl (organ), Heidi Elisabeth Meier (soprano), Isabelle Lambelet (violin); Label: ambitus 2007

Selected literature

  • Attila Csampai, Dietmar Holland (ed.): Karl Höller. In: The concert guide - orchestral music from 1700 to the present. Rowohlt-Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1987, p. 1127.
  • Peter Hollfelder : Karl Höller. In: The Great Handbook of Piano Music. Wilhelmshaven 1996, p. 262.
  • Axel Flierl: Be modern in a good sense, but never be fashionable. Interview with Edgar Krapp about Karl Höller and his Ciacone op. 54. In: Organ - Journal for the organ. 7th vol., No. 3, 2004, pp. 24-27.
  • Michael Kater: The Twisted Muse. New York 1997. (Title of the German-language edition: Die abused Muse. Musicians in the Third. Munich / Vienna 1998; paperback edition Munich 2000, therein about Karl Höller, p. 357 ff.)
  • Edgar Krapp: Karl Höller: Choral Variations "Jesus, My Joy" op. 22/2. In: Musica Sacra. 127th vol., No. 6, 2007, pp. 380-384.
  • Karl Laux: Karl Höller. In: contemporary music and musicians. First volume: Germany. Essen 1949, pp. 137-149.
  • Hans Leitner: Karl Höller (1907–1987), with special consideration of his contributions to church music. In: Musica Sacra. 127th vol., No. 6, 2007, pp. 360-362.
  • Viktor Lukas: Karl Höller. In: Reclam's organ music guide. 6th edition. Stuttgart 1992, pp. 357-361.
  • Fred K. Prieberg: Music in the Nazi State. Frankfurt am Main 1982, pp. 116, 267, 272, 320.
  • Hans Renner: Karl Höller. In: Reclam's concert guide. Orchestral music. Stuttgart 1954, pp. 791-797.
  • Klemens Schnorr: Mysticism and virtuosity: The organ music by Karl Höller (1907–1987). In: Dux et comes - Festschrift for Franz Lehrndorfer on his 70th birthday. published by Hans D. Hoffert and Klemens Schnorr, Universitätsverlag, Regensburg 1998, ISBN 3-930480-68-9 , pp. 171-185.
  • Ursula Stürzbecher: workshop discussions with composers. 2nd, revised edition. dtv, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-423-00910-1 . (including chapter on Karl Höller pp. 214–225)
  • Alexander L. Suder (Ed.): Karl Höller. (= Composers in Bavaria. Volume 50). Tutzing 2007, ISBN 978-3-7952-1227-8 .
  • Martin Torp: Modern, but never fashionable. Portrait of the composer Karl Höller (1907–1987) on his 100th birthday. In: The Tonkunst. Magazine for classical music and musicology. 1st year, no. 3, Lübeck, July 2007, pp. 260-267. ISSN  1863-3536
  • Helmut Wirth: Article about Karl Höller in the music lexica MGG (1957/2003) and The New Grove (1995/2001).
  • Wilhelm Zentner: Karl Höller. In: Reclam's chamber music guide. Stuttgart 1955, pp. 643-647.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Lexicon article of the Sophie Drinker Institute ( Memento of the original from February 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sophie-drinker-institut.de
  2. ^ Association of Alter SVer (VASV): Address book and Vademecum. Ludwigshafen am Rhein 1959, p. 60.
  3. a b c d Ernst Klee : The culture lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 255.
  4. Michael H. Kater: The abused muse. Musician in the Third Reich . Piper Verlag, Munich 2000, p. 358.
  5. a b Axel Flierl: "I knew nothing but music". Karl Höller's biographical stations. In: Alexander L. Suder (Ed.): Karl Höller. Tutzing 2007, p. 27.
  6. ^ Wilhelm Zentner: Karl Höller. In: Reclam's chamber music guide. Stuttgart 1955, p. 646.
  7. Ursula Stürzbecher: Karl Höller. In: workshop discussions with composers. Munich 1973, p. 218 f.
  8. ^ Autograph from 1946 in the Saxon State Archives in Leipzig , holdings AJ Benjamin / Sikorski.
  9. see Klemens Schnorr: Mysticism and virtuosity: the organ music by Karl Höller (1907–1987). In: Hans D. Hoffert, Klemens Schnorr (Ed.): Dux et comes - Festschrift for Franz Lehrndorfer on his 70th birthday. Universitätsverlag, Regensburg 1998, pp. 174–176.