Leonard Hokanson

Leonard Ray Hokanson (born August 13, 1931 in Vinalhaven (Maine) , † March 21, 2003 in Bloomington (Indiana) ) was an American pianist with Swedish ancestors.

Live and act

Hokanson was an American pianist who achieved celebrity status in Europe as a soloist and chamber musician. He first attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and Bennington College in Vermont , where he received a Master of Arts degree with a focus on music. His teachers at the time were Hedwig Rosenthal ( Moriz Rosenthal's wife ) and Artur Schnabel , and he was one of Schnabel's last students. He made his concert debut at the age of 18 with the Philadelphia Orchestra . After being drafted into the US Army, he was transferred to Augsburg after the Second World War , after which he was quickly recognized as a piano soloist in Europe. As a prizewinner at the Steinway Competition in Boston and then at the international Busoni Competition in Bolzano in 1959, he began an international career that initially brought him together with the Berlin Philharmonic , the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony . His numerous appearances at international music festivals have taken him to Aldeburgh , Berlin , Echternach , Lucerne , Prague , Ravinia , Salzburg , Tanglewood and Vienna, among others .

He was a founding member of the Odeon Trio together with the violinist Kurt Guntner and the cellist Angelica May , and he formed a duo with the violinist Jenny Abel . His chamber music activities also brought him together with many other instrumental ensembles and soloists, for example with the Vermeer Quartet , the St. Lawrence Quartet , the Ensemble Villa Musica , with soloists from the Berlin Philharmonic, with the American violinist Miriam Fried , the American Clarinet player James Campbell and the German horn player Hermann Baumann . As a song accompanist, he made a name for himself with numerous singers such as Martina Arroyo , Grace Bumbry , Melanie Diener , Edith Mathis , Edda Moser and Hermann Prey . His collaboration with Hermann Prey spanned more than twenty-five years.

From 1977 to 1986 he was professor of piano playing at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt am Main until he was appointed professor of piano playing at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington. He was also a permanent visiting professor at Tokyo College of Music .

His numerous recordings include the entire piano works by Walter Piston (1894–1976), the sonatas by Joseph Haydn , two of Mozart's piano concertos, the intermezzi by Johannes Brahms , Franz Schubert's complete works for violin and piano (with Edith Peinemann ), Brahms '' Sonatas for clarinet and piano (with James Campbell), all of Beethoven's songs (with Hermann Prey and Pamela Coburn ), all piano trios by Brahms, Dvořák and Schubert (with the Odeon Trio), as well as previously unrecorded early piano works by Schubert and the concert for piano and orchestra by Norbert Burgmüller (1810–1836).

In 2001 he became professor emeritus (retired professor ) at Indiana University , but continued teaching solo piano and chamber music and taught a class for German art singing. Hokanson died in Bloomington on March 21, 2003 of pancreatic cancer .

Discography

harpsichord

JS Bach:

• Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (Philips)
• The Musical Sacrifice (Erato, Musical Heritage)
• Orchestral Suites (Classette)
• Concerts for oboe / oboe and violin (erato)

G. Ph. Telemann:

• Fantasies for harpsichord (Philips)
• Marcus Passion (Philips)
• St. Matthew Passion (Philips)

Baroque Airs and Adagios (Philips)

The Pachelbel Canon; Telemann, Vivaldi etc. (Erato)

Piano solo

Beethoven / Liszt:

• Symphony No. 8 (transmission for piano) (Deutsche Grammophon Archive)

J. Brahms:

• Intermezzi Op. 117, 118, 119; Scherzo Op. 4 (Bayer)

N. Burgmüller:

• Concerto for piano and orchestra (MDG)

J. Haydn:

• Piano Sonatas (Bayer)

WA Mozart:

• Piano Concerto in E flat major, KV 271 (Bayer)
• Piano concertos in E flat major, KV 271 and G major, KV 453 (Capriccio, Pilz)

W. Piston:

• Complete piano works (Northeastern)

F. Schubert:

• Sonata in A major, Op. posth. (RCA)
• "Grazer" Fantasy (Bärenreiter)
• The young Schubert (Northeastern)

Chamber music

JS Bach:

• Sonatas for violoncello and piano (Angelica May) (musicaphone)

David Baker:

• Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (James Campbell) (Cala)

L. v. Beethoven:

• Sonata for piano and violoncello, Op. 102 No. 1; Variations for piano and violoncello (Angelica May) (musicaphone)
• Works for flute and piano (Kurt Redel) (Pierre Verany)
• Piano Trios Op. 70 No. 1 and 2 (Odeon Trio) (Musicaphon)
• Piano trios (Salzburg Mozart Trio / Fortepiano) (Harmonia Mundi, Musical Heritage)

Beethoven, Czerny, Kruft, Strauss:

• Works for horn and piano (Hermann Baumann) (Philips)

J. Brahms:

• Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano (Jenny Abel) (Harmonia Mundi)
• Piano trios (Odeon-Trio and Rainer Moog) (RCA, Quintessence, Musical Heritage, Capriccio)

Brahms, Franck:

• Sonatas for violoncello and piano (Angelica May) (musicaphone)

Brahms, Genzmer:

• Piano Trios (Odeon Trio) (Impression)

Brahms, Jenner:

• Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano (James Campbell) (Marquis Classics)

Brahms, Shostakovich:

• Piano Trios (Odeon Trio) (Impression)

Chopin, Martinů:

• Sonatas for violoncello and piano (Angelica May) (musicaphone)

A. Dvořák:

• Piano trios and quartets (Odeon-Trio and Rainer Moog) (RCA, Pro Arte)

Bernhard Heiden:

• Sonata for piano four hands (Cordula Hacke) (Cadenza)

WA Mozart:

• 6 piano trios (Salzburg Mozart Trio / Fortepiano) (Harmonia Mundi, Musical Heritage)
• Early piano trios, KV 10 - 15 (Salzburg Mozart Trio / Fortepiano) (Musical Heritage)
• Piano quartets (Salzburg Mozart Trio and Jürgen Geise, Fortepiano) (Musicaphon, Musical Heritage)

HG Pflüger :

• Impeto for horn and piano (Hermann Baumann) (Bayer)

W. Piston:

• Piano Quintet (Portland String Quartet) (Northeastern)

C. Saint-Saëns:

• Chamber music for wind instruments (Ensemble Villa Musica) (MDG)

F. Schubert:

• Chamber music for violin and piano (Edith Peinemann) (Bayer)
• Piano trios (Odeon Trio) (RCA, Pro Arte, Capriccio)
• Trout quintet; Nottorno (Ensemble Villa Musica) (Naxos)
• Schubertiade 1977 - Vienna (Odeon-Trio, Hermann Prey) (ATW)

R. Schumann:

• Sonatas op. 105 and 121; Romances No. 1 - 3, Op. 94 (Charles Neidich) (Sony)

Spohr, Volkmann:

• Piano Trios (Odeon Trio) (Impression)

R. Strauss:

• Piano Trios (Odeon Trio) (Capriccio)

Taneyev, Tscherepnin:

• Piano trios (Odeon Trio) (RCA, Pro Arte)

CM v. Weber:

• Grande Duo Concertante, Op. 48, 7 Variations op.33 (James Campbell) (Marquis Classics)

Music in the Salzburg Mozart House (Eberhard Finke, Rudolf Klepač / Fortepiano) (Amadeo)

Songs

Schwetzingen recital 1968

• Works by Brahms, Dvorak, Schubert and Rossini. Soprano: Martina Arroyo, Hänssler Classis 93.719

L. v. Beethoven

• Complete songs (Hermann Prey, Pamela Coburn) (Capriccio)

P. Cornelius:

• Christmas carols, Our Father (Hermann Prey) (Deutsche Grammophon)

Mendelssohn, Liszt, Franz, Wagner:

• Romantic songs (Hermann Prey) (Philips)

F. Schubert:

• The beautiful miller (Hermann Prey) (Philips)
• Swan Song (Hermann Prey) (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Schubertiade Hohenems 1977 (vocal ensembles) (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Songs (Edda Moser) (EMI)

Schubert, Schumann, Brahms etc .:

• Love songs (Hermann Prey) (Denon)

Schubert, Schumann, Brahms:

• Songs (Grace Bumbry) (EMI)

Schubert, Schumann:

• Songs, cycle Dichterliebe (Hermann Prey) (Philips)

R. Schumann:

• Poetry love ; Liederkreis , op.24 (Hermann Prey) (Denon)
• Liederkreis , op. 39; Kerner-Lieder (Hermann Prey) (Denon)
• Songs (Hermann Prey) (Philips)

F. Silcher:

• Songs (Hermann Prey) (Deutsche Grammophon)

Strauss, Debussy:

• Songs (Roberta Peters) (MPS)

CM v. Weber:

• Songs (Hermann Prey) (EMI)

Hugo Wolf:

• Songs (Hermann Prey) (Philips)
• The Love of Bliss - Folksongs (Hermann Prey) (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Baroque songs and arias (Hermann Prey, Eduard Melkus) (Philips)
• Viennese songs from Schubert's time (Hermann Prey) (Deutsche Grammophon)

swell

• Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 4: Half a note - Kostelanetz. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1981, ISBN 3-451-18054-5 .