Hanns Wolf

Hanns Wolf (sometimes incorrectly called Hans Wolf;[note 1] June 7, 1894 – July 2, 1968) was a post-romantic and modern composer, pianist and music professor;[1] nearly all his works were destroyed after World War Two.[2] Due to this, Wolf was nearly forgotten until 1996 when he was rediscovered by Karl Urlberger.

Not to be confused with Hannes Wolf or Hans Wolf.
Hanns Wolf
Born(1894-06-07)7 June 1894
Bamberg, Germany
Died(1968-07-02)2 July 1968
Füssen, Germany
OccupationComposer, Pianist
Era20th-century

Biography
The Leopold Mozart Centre in Augsburg, where Wolf taught in 1924
The Wuerzburg Music Conservatory, where Wolf studied between 1908 to 1912

Hanns Wolf was born on June 7, 1894 in Bamberg, Germany. Little is known about his childhood, however from 1908 to 1912, he studied under Max Meyer-Olbersleben for composition and Henryk van Zeyl (who was a student of Liszt)[3][4] for piano in the Wuerzburg Music Conservatory.[2]

From 1912 to 1924 he was a teacher for piano and organ, first in Essen as a private piano teacher from the year 1912 to 1913, then in Aschaffenburg as a teacher of piano and organ in the Stadtische Musikschule Aschaffenburg, starting as a permanent teacher from February 1914[5] to 1924.[2] In Aschaffenburg, Wolf was considerably popular and well known as he and Hermann Kundigraber (who was the head of the music school)[6] organized many concerts that can be date backed as early as 1917.[7][note 2] Wolf taught piano to Ottmar Geißler (Geissler).[9]

After 1924, Wolf was a professor in the Augsburg Musikhochschule, now known as Leopold Mozart Centre of the University of Augsburg.[2] As Wolf had a prior job as an organ professor, he had relations to Arthur Piechler[10] (who was an organ virtuoso), Piechler was the student of Heinrich Kaspar Schmid who was the director of the music school.[11] Wolf also played piano around Europe, playing the works of Dobrowen and Wladigeroff.[12] However, the outbreak of World War Two forced him to stay in Germany. He continued to hold his position as a professor in the university until the war ended in 1945, when he resigned as a professor and lived as an independent composer and pianist.

He died at the age of 74 on July 2, 1968 in Füssen, Germany.

Compositions, works and performances

A majority of his work has been destroyed or lost, this reason most likely was political, but it is still uncertain. As a pianist, he performed with Otto Klemperer, Georg Ludwig Jochum, and Eduard van Beinum.[2]

His compositions were mostly piano related.

Compositions
  • Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor (1929)[13]
  • "Serious and Joking" Ernst und Scherz 10 piano pieces (1930)[14]
  • "Light music" Leichte Spielmusik 10 small piano pieces for youth
  • Étude in E minor “Springbrunnen”
  • Paraphrase for the piano on "Wiener Blut" by Johann Strauss II
  • 5 Franconian Dances for Four hands (~1935)[14]
  • 4 Peasant Dances for strings
  • Piano rearrangement of a Minuet by Leopold Mozart (1938)[14]: 4 [15]
  • Prof. Mannheim (Before 1935)[16]
  • Twelve variations on a minuet by Johann Christian Fischer KV 179, (A rewrite of the original variations by Mozart, this work was originally started by Alfred Hoffmiller of the Augsburg music school; most likely the 1940s)[17]

Rediscovery and recordings

In 1996, Karl Urlberger reintroduced Hanns Wolf to the world,[18] recording five of Wolf's pieces (listed below) in 1997 under the •K•U• Classics[note 3] (Aschaffenburg) label.[19][14]: 4  While the 4 peasent dances were also released on "For strings only" CD that includes Moritz Moszkowski's Prelude and Fugue Op. 85, Alec Rowley's English Dance Suite, Richard Trunk's Serenade for strings Op. 55, George Enescu's 2 intermezzis for strings Op. 12, and Constantin Silvestri 3 pieces for string orchestra Op. 4 No. 2.[14]: 45  All the recordings were made in Romania.[20]

PieceInstrumentationPerformer(s)Additional information
Piano Concerto in C-sharp minorPiano and OrchestraDana Borsan (pianist), National Radio Orchestra of Romania conducted by Ludovic BácsComposed in 1929
4 Peasent Dances for stringsStringsNational Radio Orchestra of Romania conducted by Ludovic Bács[21][22]
Étude in E minor “Springbrunnen”PianoDana Borsan
Piano rearrangement of a Minuet by Leopold MozartPianoDana BorsanKey in D major
Paraphrase for the piano on "Wiener Blut"PianoDana Borsan

Piano Concerto

The piano concerto was probably composed in 1929, and most likely premiered in the early 1930s, with Hanns Wolf himself at the piano.[23] Details of the success of the premiere are limited; after the 1930s, the piece was performed once more at a concert organized by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Roburg,[24] however after that the piece wasn't performed again until 60 years later on 17 January 1997, when it was performed and recorded with pianist Dana Borsan and the National Radio Orchestra of Romania conducted by Ludovic Bács. Karl Urlberger organized and helped the performance by bringing the sheet music.[25]

On 8 September 2011,[26] in the 2011 George Enescu Festival, Dana Borsan again performed the piano concerto, but with the "Moldova" Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sébastian Rouland.[13][27] This performance was recorded, and was published on YouTube on 25 April 2013, thus making Wolf more well-known.[28]

Literature

Hanns Wolf was recognized in Peter Hollfelder's Lexikon Klaviermusik in 2005.[29]

Wolf's piano concerto was mentioned in Paul D. Escudero's Pluto II: Voyage to the end of the Universe when Greg listened to it to achieve a "Hemi-Sync Reality" during meditation.[30]

References
  1. "Hanns Wolf". musicalics.com.
  2. "Hanns Wolf - sin80". www.sin80.com.
  3. Walker, Alan (1987). Franz Liszt the final years 1861 - 1886. p. 237.
  4. Huneker, James (July 24, 2020). Franz Liszt. p. 198.
  5. W. Peiser Verlag (1914). Musikpädagogische Blatter.
  6. "Kundigraber, Hermann".
  7. G.m.b.H, Verlag und Redaktion der Signale für die musikalische Welt (1917). Signale für die musikalische Welt. p. 540.
  8. Emil Breslaur (1917). Anna Morsch (ed.). Musikpädagogische Blatter Zentralblatt fur das gesamte musikalische Unterrichtswesen · Volumes 40-41. W. Peiser Verlag. p. 350.
  9. Aschaffenburg, Geschichts- und Kunstverein (2001). Aschaffenburger Jahrbuch für Geschichte, Landeskunde und Kunst des Untermaingebietes. p. 399.
  10. Lethmair, Thea (1976). Arthur Piechler 1896 - 1974 ; Bayer, Komponist, Organist ; Erinnerungen, Begegnungen, Briefe. p. 20.
  11. Killy, Walther; Vierhaus, Rudolf (2011). Plett - Schmidseder. p. 744.
  12. Anbruch Volumes 12-13. 1930. p. 41.
  13. "Classical Sunday: Hanns Wolf (Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor)". September 3, 2017.
  14. "Wolf, Hanns". WorldCat. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  15. Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik. 1938. p. 622.
  16. Kohansky, Mendel; Vanden-Broeck, Jean (1969). The Hebrew Theatre. p. 282.
  17. Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins für Schwaben. 1942. p. 14.
  18. "Hanns Wolf (1894-1968) - Musique classique". (in French)
  19. "Wolf, Hanns (1894 - 1968)". (in German)
  20. "Europas Straßen sicherer und Komponist Sterkel bekannter gemacht". August 27, 2018. (in German)
  21. "Klassik CDs". (in German)
  22. "Orchestra Romania Radio". (in Romanian)
  23. Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik. 1938. p. 228.
  24. Schuster, Bernhard (1935). Die Musik. p. 475.
  25. "3rd Image, Robert Schumann - Dana Borșan - Fantasie C-Dur, Op. 17 / Sinfonische Etüden, Op. 13 / Sechs Fantasiestücke Aus Op. 12".
  26. "Tickets for Festival George Enescu 2011". (in Romanian)
  27. "Dr. Dana Borsan Piano Concert Soloist". (in Romanian)
  28. "Hanns Wolf - Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor (1929)".
  29. Hollfelder, Peter. Lexikon Klaviermusik. p. 290.
  30. D. Escudero, Paul (April 7, 2021). Pluto II: Voyage to the end of the Universe. p. 300.

Notes
  1. However, this should not be confused with Hans Wolf (1912-2005) who was a German conductor who moved to America to escape the Nazis in 1938.
  2. The 1917 event involved many people such as Alois Seifert, Alfred Hoehn, the Stuttgarter Oratorio Quartet, and many more. It wasn't a single day, instead a couple weeks, in this time Wolf created several compositions and performed some point in the time of October 31 - November 22.[8]
  3. •K•U• Classics is a label owned by Karl Urlberger, KU are his initials. These recordings were on KU 29002, but the piano concerto was released again with Franz Liszt's Piano Concerto no. 2 and Totentanz as KU 29004.


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