Felix Wolfes (September 2, 1892 in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

– March 28, 1971 in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

) was an American educator, conductor 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 ...

.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary'', eighth edition, p. 2068

Biography

Felix was born to Jewish parents in Hannover, Germany. After graduating from high school, he attended the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

, where he studied music theory with

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

and piano with

Robert Teichmüller Robert Teichmüller (4 May 1863, in Braunschweig – 6 May 1939, in Leipzig) was a German concert pianist and music educator. He studied piano and music theory with Carl Reinecke at the Leipzig Conservatory where he later became a faculty member ...

. He also studied with

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

and later in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

with

Hans Pfitzner Hans Erich Pfitzner (5 May 1869 – 22 May 1949) was a German composer, conductor and polemicist who was a self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera ''Palestrina'' (1917), loosely based on the life of the s ...

. His conducting debut was in Breslau in 1923. He then worked as musical director and opera conductor in Essen (1924–31) and Dortmund (until 1933). In Dortmund he had to leave his position in the spring of 1933 due to the Nazi rise to power. He

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

first to France and later to the US. He conducted the

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

opera in 1936 and 1937. While in France, he was also the teacher of composer

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

, who studied orchestration with him. In 1938 he moved to

New York city New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he worked as an assistant conductor at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

, where he stayed until 1947. In 1948 he followed a call to the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

in Boston, where he taught for two decades. He died in Boston, aged 78.

Musical compositions and editing

Wolfes composed at least 140 songs that are published. Most were composed after he moved to Boston, but he continued to set German poetry. There are a few songs in English, however. As a disciple of Strauss and Pfitzner, Wolfes composed vocal works using similar complex rhythmic and harmonic materials. He was also highly skilled in editing and preparing the vocal scores for operas from the full orchestral score. Some of his important work in this area was for the Strauss opera ''

Arabella ''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. Performance history It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the Dr ...

'' and the Pfitzner opera ''

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pren ...

''. He also prepared vocal scores for Strauss's opera ''

Die schweigsame Frau ''Die schweigsame Frau'' (''The Silent Woman''), Op. 80, is a 1935 comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with libretto by Stefan Zweig after Ben Jonson's '' Epicoene, or the Silent Woman''. Composition history Since '' Elektra'' and ''Der ...

'' and Pfitzner's operas ''Das Herz'' and ''Die Rose vom Liebesgarten''.

Works

Ausgewählte Lieder in 5 Bänden für Singstimme und Klavier (''Selected Songs in Five Volumes''), Mercury Music Corporation, New York 1962 ''Volume I, songs for high voice'' *1. Die Nachtigall (

Theodor Storm Hans Theodor Woldsen Storm (; 14 September 18174 July 1888), commonly known as Theodor Storm, was a German writer. He is considered to be one of the most important figures of German realism. Life Storm was born in the small town of Husum, on th ...

), 1930 *2. Weihnachten (

Joseph von Eichendorff Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (10 March 178826 November 1857) was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism.Cf. J. A. Cuddon: '' ...

), 1940 *3. Weinende Frau (Friedrich Schnack), 1943 *4. Auf dem See ( Ernst Bertram), 1943 *5. Todelust (

), 1944 *6. Du schlank und rein wie eine Flamme (

Stefan George Stefan Anton George (; 12 July 18684 December 1933) was a German symbolist poet and a translator of Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Hesiod, and Charles Baudelaire. He is also known for his role as leader of the highly influential literar ...

), 1944 *7. Spruch des Engels (

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...

), 1945 *8. Vorfrühling (

), 1947 *9. Totengräber und Mädchen (Friedrich Schnack), 1949 *10. Möwenflug (Conrad Ferdinand Meyer), 1950 ''Volume II, songs for high voice'' *11. Blume, Baum, Vogel (

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

), 1951 *12. Ein Winterabend (Georg Trakl), 1952 *13. Tief in den Himmel verklingt (Ricarda Huch), 1952 *14. Dämmrung senkte sich von oben (Goethe), 1953 *15. Herbstliche Tröstung (Werner Bergengruen), 1956 *16. An eine Strophe (Ernst Bertram), 1956 *17. Gelassenheit (Wang We, tr. Manfred Hausmann), 1956 *18. Lied (Wilhelm Klemm), 1957 *19. Erdgewalt (Rudolf G. Binding), 1958 *20. Blühender Kirschbaum (Christian Wagner), 1958 ''Volume III, songs for medium voice'' *1. Die Zeder, 1962 *2. Immer Wieder, 1962 *3. Auf dem See, 1962 *4. Der Feind, 1962 *5. Auf Wanderung, 1962 *6. Herbst, 1962 *7. Stimme der Mutter, 1962 *8. Am Ziele, 1962 *9. Das letzte Haus, 1962 ''Volume IV, songs for medium voice'' *10. In einer Dämmerstunde (Wilhelm von Scholz), 1955 *11. Oase El Kjem (Albert H. Rausch), 1955 *12. Vergiss, vergiss (

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

), 1956 *13. Verschneiter Fluss (Liu Dsung-Yüan, tr. Manfred Hausmann) *14. Zigeunerlied (

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

), 1956 *15. Erdgewalt (Rudolf G. Binding), 1958 *16. Gelbe Rose(Ludwig Strauss), 1958 *17. Gefunden (

), 1958 ''Volume V, songs for low voice'' Selected Lieder, ed. John S. Bowman and Richard Aslanian, Theodore Presser Company, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania ''Volume VI, songs for high voice'', 1987 *1. Unter den Sternen (Conrad Ferdinand Meyer), 1948 *2. Todesmusick (

Franz von Schober Franz Adolf Friedrich Schober, since 1801 von Schober (born 17 May 1796, Torup Castle at Malmö, Sweden; died 13 September 1882 in Dresden), was an Austrian Lyric poetry, poet, librettist, lithographer, actor in Breslau and ''Legationsrat'' in We ...

), 1960 *3. Herbstbild (

Friedrich Hebbel Christian Friedrich Hebbel (18 March 1813 – 13 December 1863) was a German poet and dramatist. Biography Hebbel was born at Wesselburen in Dithmarschen, Holstein, the son of a bricklayer. He was educated at the ''Gelehrtenschule des Johanneu ...

), 1960 *4. Venedig (

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

) *5. Kleine Rat (

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

), 1961 *6. In den Nachmittag geflüstert (Georg Trakl), 1961 *7. Das Ende des Festes (Conrad Ferdinand Meyer), 1963 *8. Der Hecht (

Christian Morgenstern Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern (6 May 1871 – 31 March 1914) was a German author and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin ...

), 1963 *9. Rotkehlchen (Wilhelm Busch), 1964 *10. Frühlingslied (Friederike Kempner), 1965 *11. Auf eine Lampe (

Eduard Mörike Eduard Friedrich Mörike (8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used by ...

), 1968 ''Volume VII, songs for medium voice'', 1987 *1. Verklärter Herbst (Georg Trakl), 1940 *2. Nachklänge Beethovenscher Musik (

Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...

), 1952 *3. Der Einsiedler (Joseph von Eichendorff), 1953 *4. Es geht eine dunkle Wolk' herein (German Folksong from the Thirty Years' War), 1953 *5. Verfall (Georg Trakl), 1953 *6. Septembermorgen (Eduard Mörike), 1955 *7. Ein Traum ist unser Leben (Johann Gottfried von Herder), 1956 *8. Das trunkne Lied (Friedrich Nietzsche), 1961 *9. Es ist ein Schnee gefallen (15th century German Folksong), 1962 *10. Eingelegte Ruder (Conrad Ferdinand Meyer), 1963 *11. Die beiden Esel (Christian Morgenstern), 1963 *12. Inschrift auf eine Uhr mit den drei Horen (Eduard Mörike), 1965 *13. Gesang einer gefangenen Amsel (Georg Trakl), 1965 *14. In ein altes Stammbuch (Georg Trakl), 1965 *15. Früh im Wagen (Eduard Mörike), 1967 ''Volume VIII, songs for low voice'', 1991 *1. Abschied vom Leben (Stefan Zweig), 1952 *2. Lied Kaspar Hausers (

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' in international and ...

, tr. Richard Dehmel), 1926 *3. Die stille Stadt (Richard Dehmel), 1951 *4. Grabschrift eines Mannes (Rudolf Binding), 1959 *5. Die zwei Brüder (Paul Pfitzner), 1959 *6. In der letzten Stunde (Paul Pfitzner), 1959 *7. Die Hölle (Manfred Hausmann), 1962 *8. Ein Mönch spricht zu Gott (Wilhelm von Scholz), 1966 *9. Schlaf ein! (Alexander von Bernus), 1966 *10. Abendgespräch (Hermann Hesse), 1966 *11. Verlorenheit (Hermann Hesse), 1967 *12. Im Nebel (Hermann Hesse), 1941 *13. Allein (Hermann Hesse), 1945 ''Volume IX, songs for high voice'', 1991 *1. Die Birke (Hermann Hesse), 1951 *2. Über die Felder (Hermann Hesse), 1951 *3. Am einen Schmetterling (Josef Weinheber), 1952 *4. Die Schritte (Albrecht Goes), 1960 *5. Am eine Tote (Josef Weinheber), 1960 *6. Traumboot (Manfred Hausmann), 1961 *7. Im Grase hingestreckt (Hermann Hesse), 1962 *8. Verlorener Klang (Hermann Hesse), 1962 *9. Was ist die Welt? (Hugo von Hofmannsthal), 1962 *10. Weisse Wolken (Hermann Hesse), 1963 *11. Spätblau (Hermann Hesse), 1964 *12. Symphonie (Hermann Hesse), 1964 ''Volume X, songs for medium voice'', 1992 *1. Bei Mondaufgang (Sao-Han, tr. Hans Bethge), 1946 *2. Sylphide, Josef Weinheber), 1955 *3. Scheidende Seele (Albrecht Schaeffer), 1956 *4. Heim in den Anbeginn (Werner Bergengruen), 1956 *5. Am Gartenfenster (Albrecht Goes), 1958 *6. Das Glasperlenspiel (Hermann Hesse), 1958 *7. Spruch für eine Sonnenuhr (Rudolf G. Binding), 1958 *8. Jahraus-Jahrein (Josef Weinheber), 1959 *9. Zu Musik (Ricarda Huch), 1959 *10. Die Liebenden (Georg von der Vring), 1959 *11. Still zu wissen... (Josef Weinheber), 1961 *12. Die Frauen von Ravenna (Hermann Hesse), 1961 *13. Volkslied (After the French) (Manfred Hausmann), 1963 ''Volume XI, songs for medium voice'', 1992 *1. Den Toten (Josef Weinheber), 1953 *2. Eisnacht (Siegbert Stehmann), 1954 *3. Tausend Male (Christian Wagner), 1958 *4. Ecce homo! (Veikko Antero Koskenniemi, tr. Johannes Öhquist), 1960 *5. Nacht (Bo Djü, tr. Manfred Hausmann), 1960 *6. Nachtlied (Georg von der Vring), 1962 *7. Der Tod (Bernhard von der Marwitz), 1963 *8. Der Dichter (Hermann Hesse), 1964 *9. Kleiner Gesang (Hermann Hesse), 1964 *10. Märzsonne (Hermann Hesse), 1969 *11. Knarren eines geknickten Astes (Hermann Hesse),This poem was written the day before Hesse's death 1964 *12. Aufgehender Mond (Georg von der Vring), 1965 ''Volume XII, songs for high voice'', 1996 *1. Brunnen-Inschrift (Wilhelm von Scholz), 1945 *2. Nun leuchtet schon wieder (Unknown poet), 1951 *3a. Die kleine Passion (original version) (

Gottfried Keller Gottfried Keller (19 July 1819 – 15 July 1890) was a Swiss poet and writer of German literature. Best known for his novel '' Green Henry'' (German: ''Der grüne Heinrich'') and his cycle of novellas called ''The People from Seldwyla'' (''Die Leu ...

), 1954 *3b. Die kleine Passion (abridged version), 1954 *4. Orpheus (Rudolf Binding), 1960 *5. Relief (

Saladin Schmitt Saladin Schmitt (18 September 1883 – 14 March 1951), real name Joseph Anton Schmitt, also active under the pseudonym Harald Hoffmann) was a German theatre director. Life Born in Bingen am Rhein, Schmitt came from a family of wine merchants a ...

), 1961 *6. Andenken (Lili Medhat), 1962 *7. Rote Pantoffeln (

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

), 1962 *8. Melodie (Ricarda Huch), 1962 *9. An einen Dichter (Albrecht Schaeffer), 1963 *10. Manche Nacht (Richard Dehmel), 1967 ''Volume XIII, settings of poems by

'', ed. Richard Aslanian, 2008 *1. Nacht, 1966 *2. Traurigkeit, 1966 *3. Weisse Rose in der Dämmerung, 1966 *4. Weg in die Einsamkeit, 1967 *5. Bei Nacht, 1967 *6. Leise wie die Gondeln..., 1967 *7. Spruch, 1968 *8. Verwelkende Rosen, 1968 *9. Sprache des Frühlings, 1968 *10. Aufhorchen, 1968 *11. Bei der Nachtricht vom Tod eines Freundes, 1968 *12. Herbstvögel, 1969 *13. Hingabe, 1969 *14. Wie eine Welle, 1969 *15. Kindheit des Zauberers, 1969 *16. Der Blütenzweig, 1969 *17. Aus der Kindheit her, 1969

Footnotes

References

*. * Dacus, Viola R. ''An introduction to the songs of Felix Wolfes with complete chronological catalogue'' (UMI, Louisiana State Univ.), Ann Arbor, MI 1995. * Harrower, Rexford. ''In Memoriam Felix Wolfes.'' In: Castrum Peregrini 107–109 (1973), p. 166. * Rectanus, Hans (German). ''Unsterbliche Melodie. Die Lieder von Felix Wolfes.'' In: Mitteilungen der Hans Pfitzner-Gesellschaft 28 (1972).

External links