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Karl Amadeus Hartmann (August 2, 1905 Munich – December 5, 1963 Munich) was a German composer. Many consider him the most significant German symphonist of the 20th century. Social and political commentary is often written into the texts, titles, and subtitles of his compositions, and tend to reflect the composer's particularly leftist and Socialist worldview. He is also famous for his passive resistance to the Nazi regime and for his promotion of new music following the end of World War II.

Contents

[edit] Life

[edit] Family life: 1905-1927

Karl Amadeus' early family life was characterized by a mingled dedication to the arts and to politics. Karl's father, Friedrich Richard Hartmann, was a noteworthy painter in Munich, best known for his still life and landscape paintings. Though his artistic style and subject matter was somewhat traditional, Hartmann's father actively encouraged younger and more experimental artists to pursue their own unique styles. His father was also active in the leftist and Socialist political movements in Munich in the early decades of the twentieth century, earning himself the nickname "Richard the Red" and "The Red Flower-Painter." While Hartmann's mother, Gertrud (née Schwamm), was not an active artist or musician herself, her great appreciation and knowledge about the subjects proved to be a significant encouragement to Karl Amadeus and his three brothers. Following the death of her husband in 1925, Gertrud continued to raise her sons as "proper socialists."

Karl Amadeus' brother, Adolf, became a significant portrait painter in Munich. Just prior to the death of their father, Adolf assumed the role of guiding and providing for Karl's musical education, paying for his tuition at the Munich Akademie der Tonkunst in 1924.

While at the academy, Hartmann studied with Joseph Haas, who had himself been the pupil of nineteenth-century symphonist, Max Reger. Hartmann's compositions from this period are characterized by a simplicity and utilitarian quality similar to that of the Neue Sachlichkeit. These include two suites for solo piano, two for solo violin, and two sonatas for solo violin. However, he found the conservatory environment rather restricting, and in 1927, just days short of final examinations, he chose to leave the academy to pursue his art alone.

[edit] Die Juryfreien: 1928-1933

In the decade prior to his death, Hartmann's father became involved with a group called Die Juryfreien ("The Jury-Free"), an informal association of experimental artists that exhibited their art each year without the constraints and prejudices of the art juries that governed traditional exhibits. Adolf, Hartmann's helpful older brother, also became involved with the organization, and around 1928 allowed his musical brother to hold small concerts in conjunction with the exhibits.

Karl Amadeus had discovered a new talent that would serve him well for many years: concert organizing. He presided over the performance of works by many of the newest and most original composers of his time: Béla Bártok, Werner Egk, Paul Hindemith, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Carl Orff, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Igor Stravinsky, among many others. His exposure to new musical sounds increased in the process, and his own music began to take on style traits borrowed from futurism, Jazz, and Dada. Characteristic examples of works from this period include Jazz Toccata and Fugue for solo piano, a set of five chamber operas called Wachsfigurenkabinett ("Wax Doll Cabinet"), and Burleske Musik for brass, percussion, and piano.

[edit] Inner immigration: 1933-1945

After Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists (a.k.a. Nazis) assumed power in 1933, many artists fled Germany, not only escape persecution if they were Jewish, but also if their art had been deemed too modern by the Nazis. Hartmann chose not to flee, but removed himself from German musical life completely rather than capitulate to the dictates of the Reichsmusikkammer, the music branch of the Nazi cultural control organization, Reichskulturkammer. This withdrawal is often called "inner immigration" to both relate it to and distinguish it from the act of fleeing.

The years under the Reich were prolific for the composer, in spite of having few public outlets for his music; Hartmann continued to submit his work in competitions outside of Germany until the war, but after 1940 was unable to travel extensively for five years. Most of his works written during this time reflect his personal opposition to the cultural ideals of the Nazi Regime, though they can't be construed as "works of resistance." He chose to oppose their ideas with his own, rather than name and denounce individuals or political parties. The kinds of ideals he pursued are therefore rendered considerably more universal in their message, able to speak to political climates of other times and places.

Among his most important works written during his years of inner immigration are his String Quartet no. 1, the opera Simplicius Simplicissimus, the symphonic poem Miserae, and his Symphony no. 1 (which was then a cantata on poetry by Walt Whitman.

[edit] Musica Viva: 1945-1963

[edit] Works

Hartmann's style is eclectic. In the earlier works, the influence of Mahler and Bruckner is evident, as well as the contrapuntal idiom of Max Reger. Later, he adopted some stylistic traits of the neoclassical composers such as Paul Hindemith, and middle-period Stravinsky. Although he studied with Webern, and understood Schoenberg, the influence of Berg is more pronounced in his work than either of the other two members of the Second Viennese School.

[edit] List of works

[edit] Opera

[edit] Orchestral

  • Miserae (1934) - symphonic poem
  • L'oeuvre (1938) - became Symphony no. 6 (1953)
  • Symphonic Concerto (1938) - became Symphony no. 4 (1948)
  • Sinfonia tragica (1940) - first movement reused as finale of Symphony no. 3 (1949)
  • Symphoniae dramaticae:
    • Symphonic Overture: China Struggles (1942)
    • Symphonic Hymns (1943)
    • Symphonic Suite: Vita Nova (1942)
  • Symphony no. 2 (1944)
  • Klagegesang (1947) - became movement I and II of Symphony no. 3 (1949)
  • Symphony no. 7 (1958)
  • Symphony no. 8 (1962)

[edit] Concerti

  • Little Concerto (1932) - string quartet and percussion
  • Concerto for Wind and Solo Trumpet (1933) - became Symphony no. 5 (1950)
  • Chamber Concerto (1935) - clarinet, string quartet, and string orchestra
  • Concerto funebre (1949) - violin and string orchestra
  • Concerto for Piano, Wind, and Percussion (1953)
  • Concerto for Viola and Piano (1956) - accompanied by wind and percussion

[edit] Chamber

  • Little Suites nos. 1 and 2 (c1926) - piano solo
  • Sonatas nos. 1 and 2 (1927) - violin solo
  • Suites nos. 1 and 2 (1927) - violin solo
  • Jazz Toccata and Fugue (1928) - piano solo
  • Dance Suite (1931) - clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, percussion, and piano
  • Burleske Musik (1931) - flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, percussion, and piano
  • Sonatina (1931) - piano solo
  • Toccata variata (1932) - ten winds, piano, and percussion
  • Sonata no. 1 (1932) - piano solo
  • String Quartet no. 1: Carillon (1933)
  • Sonata no. 2: '27 April 1945' (1945) - piano solo
  • String Quartet no. 2 (1949)
  • Scherzo for Percussion Ensemble (1956)

[edit] Choral/Vocal

  • Secular Mass (1929)
  • Cantata (1930) - on texts by J.R. Becher and Karl Marx
  • Symphonic Fragment (1936) - cantata for alto solo and large orchestra, on texts by Walt Whitman; became Symphony no. 1 (1955)
  • Friedo Anno 48 (1936) - cantata for soprano solo, choir, and piano, on texts by Andreas Gryphius; became Lamento (1937), choral parts removed
  • Ghetto (1961) - collaborative composition with Boris Blacher, Paul Dessau, Hans Werner Henze, and Rudolf Wagner-Régeny
  • Gesangsszene (1963) - for baritone and orcehstra; on texts by Jean Giraudoux

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References (English language)

  • Kater, Michael. "Karl Amadeus Hartmann: The Composer as Dissident." Composer of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. pp. 86-110. (ISBN: 0195099249)
  • Kater, Michael. The Twisted Muse: Musicians and Their Music in the Third Reich. New York: Oxford UP, 1997. (ISBN: 0195096207)
  • Steinberg, Michael. "Karl Amadeus Hartmann." The Symphony: A Listener's Guide. New York: Oxford UP, 1995. pp. 191-199. (ISBN: 0195061772)
  • McCredie, Andrew D. Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Thematic Catalogue of His Works. Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen, 1982. (ISBN: 3795902134)
  • Rickards, Guy. Hindemith, Hartmann, and Henze, 20th-Century Composers. London: Phaidon Press, 1995. (ISBN: 0714831743)