Hugo Kaun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hugo Wilhelm Ludwig Kaun (b. Berlin, March 21, 1863; d. Berlin, April 2, 1932) was a German composer, conductor, and music teacher.

Kaun completed his musical training in his hometown of Berlin. In 1886 (or 1887), he left Germany for the United States and settled in Milwaukee, which was home to a well-established German immigrant community . As the conductor of local choral societies such as the Milwaukee Liederkranz and the Milwaukee Men's Choir, Kaun quickly acquired an important influence over the city's musical life. He also taught at the conservatory, where his colleagues included Wilhelm Middelschulte. Kaun's eldest son, Bernhard Kaun, later became a composer of film scores in Hollywood.

At the turn of the century, Kaun returned to Germany and continued his teaching in Berlin. Although he received numerous lucrative offers of employment from abroad, these inducements could not persuade him to leave Berlin a second time. In 1912, he was appointed to the Prussian Academy of Arts. He chronicled his eventful life in his autobiography Aus meinem Leben (From My Life).

Kaun composed in a Romantic style for a wide range of genres, including operas, symphonies, tone poems, pieces for solo organ and piano, as well as works for other combinations of instruments.

[edit] Notable works

Märkische Suite for orchestra, op. 92
Sir John Falstaff, symphonic poem, op. 60
Piano Concerto in C minor, op. 115
Octet, op. 34
Symphony No. 3 in E minor, op. 96
Sappho, musical drama
Operas
- Der Fremde (The Stranger)
- Menandra
- Der Pietist ("The Pietist", or "Oliver Brown")
Humoresques for piano, op. 79
Choralvorspiele for organ, op. 89
Piano Trio No. 2, op. 58