Carl Bohm (also known as Henry Cooper seudonymand Karl Bohm) (11 September 1844 – 4 April 1920) w:de:Carl Bohm was a German

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Bohm is regarded as one of the leading German songwriters of the 19th century, and wrote such works as ''Still as the Night'', ''Twilight'', ''May Bells'', ''Enfant Cheri'' and ''The Fountain''. According to the ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Bohm was "a German composer of great fecundity and the highest salability... He occupied an important position in the musical commonwealth inasmuch as his publisher, N. Simrock, declared that the profits on his compositions provided the capital for the publication of those of

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

." Bohm's specialty was music in a lighter vein, very different from the dark, brooding and introspective works of Brahms. Bohm, like

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

, was more than just a songwriter, composing in most genres. His

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, mostly

quartets In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

and piano trios, were popular not only amongst amateurs, but also among touring professional groups who were in need of a sure-fire audience pleaser. Edition Silvertrust (see references) states that Bohm "was certainly very well known during his lifetime. Yet today, his name brings nothing but blank stares." This curious obscurity is borne out more than ever by the fact that ''

Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'' contains no article about him. Nonetheless, his Sarabande in G minor remains a standard teaching piece for intermediate violinists and violists.

Selected works

* ''Lieder'' (op. 326; including Nr. 27: "Still wie die Nacht“) * ''Salon-Kompositionen'' (op. 327) * ''Klaviertrio G-dur.'' (Forelle; op. 330 Nr.2) * ''Perpetuo Mobile'' (Kleine Suite 6) * ''Introduction and Polonaise'' * ''Moto Perpetuo'' * ''Hausmusik'' * ''Spanischer Tanz'' * ''The Fountain'' (op. 221) (G major) * ''Op.99 Petit Rondeau Brillant'' (G major) * ''Op.102 La Zingana - Hungarian Mazurka'' * ''Op.114 No.5 Sextet From Lucia (Donizetti)'' * ''Op.135 May Bells * ''Op.213 Charge of the Uhlans - Grand Galop Militaire'' * ''Op.266 If Thou Thy Heart Wilt Give Me - Melodie'' * ''Op.270 Song of the Swallow'' * ''Op.281 Fairy Dance'' * ''Op.282 Frolic of the Butterflies - Kosender Falter'' * ''Op.302 No.5 La Grace'' * ''Op.305 No.b2 The Dance Queen - Polonaise'' * ''Op.327 No.14 Seguidilla - Spanish Song'' * ''Op.357 No.3 Brise printaniere - Polka brillante'' * ''Op.357 No.4 Rosetta - Fantasie-Mazurka'' * ''Op.362 No.1 Soldaten kommen (Soldiers are Coming) March'' * ''Sarabande in G minor for solo violin''

Notes and references

* Some of the information on this page appears on the website of Edition Silvertrust but permission has been granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

External links

* * * * *Some of Bohm's violin pieces are available a
Free violin music
* 1844 births 1920 deaths 19th-century German musicians 19th-century German male musicians 20th-century German male musicians German Romantic composers German male classical composers {{Germany-composer-stub