Julius Klengel (24 September 1859 – 27 October 1933) was a German

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

who is most famous for his

étude An étude (; ) or study is an instrumental musical composition, usually short, designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapid ...

s and solo pieces written for the instrument. He was the brother of

Paul Klengel Paul Klengel (13 May 1854 – 24 April 1935) was a German violinist, violist, pianist, conductor, composer, editor and arranger. He was the brother of cellist Julius Klengel. Biography Klengel was born and died in Leipzig, where he studied at ...

. A member of the

Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

of Leipzig at fifteen, he toured extensively throughout Europe as cellist and soloist of the

Gewandhaus Quartet The Gewandhaus Quartet (German: Gewandhaus-Quartett) is a string quartet based in Leipzig. It was founded in 1808 by members of the Gewandhaus Orchester, as one of the first professional quartets in the world. In its more than 200-year history, t ...

. His pupils include

Guilhermina Suggia Guilhermina Augusta Xavier de Medim Suggia Carteado Mena, known as Guilhermina Suggia, (27 June 1885 – 30 July 1950) was a Portuguese cellist. She studied in Paris, France with Pablo Casals, and built an international reputation. She spent man ...

Emanuel Feuermann Emanuel Feuermann (November 22, 1902 – May 25, 1942) was an internationally celebrated cellist in the first half of the 20th century. Life Feuermann was born in 1902 in Kolomyja, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Kolomyia, Ukraine) to ...

Gregor Piatigorsky Gregor Piatigorsky (, ''Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy''; August 6, 1976) was a Russian Empire-born American cellist. Biography Early life Gregor Piatigorsky was born in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. As a child, he ...

and

Alexandre Barjansky Serge Alexandre Barjansky (16 December 1883 – 1946) was a Russian virtuoso cellist. Life He was born in Odessa, a distant cousin of Adolf Barjansky (c. 1850 – 1900 Odessa, Russian Empire), a composer of classical music for solo piano and ...

Biography

Klengel was born in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, and studied with Emil Hegar in his youth. His father was a lawyer and an amateur musician, and was friend of

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

. After his 15th birthday, Klengel joined the

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

where Klengel played first cello, and began touring in Europe and Russia. Klengel also became a soloist at that point, frequently giving solo performances. Klengel rose to become principal cellist of the orchestra, aged 22, in 1881. There he remained for over four decades: to celebrate his fifty years of service,

Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...

conducted a jubilee concert, in which Klengel played the cello part in a double concerto he composed for the occasion. During that time period, Klengel became professor at 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 was briefly a member of Adolph Brodsky's string quartet, and began composing. He ultimately composed hundreds of pieces for the cello, including four cello concertos, two double cello concertos, cello quartets, a cello

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

, as well as numerous caprices, etudes and other technical pieces. Of his music, the two volumes of etudes ("Technical Studies") for cello remain in the repertory; three concertos were recorded in 2000 by Christoph Richter and

NDR Radiophilharmonie The NDR Radiophilharmonie is a German radio orchestra, affiliated with the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony. The orchestra principally gives concerts in the ''Großer Sendesaal'' of the ''Landesfunkhaus Niedersa ...

under

Bjarte Engeset Bjarte Engeset (born 25 August 1958 in Ørsta) is a Norwegian classical conductor. Biography and career Bjarte Engeset studied music at the University of Georgia, Grieg Akademiet in Norway, and Sibelius Academy in Finland, in 1988, with Jorm ...

. His students included

,Obituary, ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...

'', September 1950, p. 362 Hideo Saito,

Paul Grümmer Paul Grümmer (26 February 1879 – 30 October 1965) was a German-born cellist and teacher. Grümmer was born in Gera in Thuringia. He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory with Julius Klengel. He was well known as a member of the Busch Quar ...

William Pleeth William Pleeth OBE (12 January 1916 – 6 April 1999) was a well-known British cellist and an eminent teacher, who became widely known as the teacher of Jacqueline du Pré. Biography Early years William Pleeth was born in London. His ...

, and

. He died in October 1933 in his hometown of Leipzig.

Musical works

*Capriccio, Op. 3 *Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 4 *Two Pieces for four cellos, Op. 5 :*Serenade :*Humoresque *Scherzo for cello and piano, Op. 6 *Concertino No.1 in C major, Op. 7 *Concert Piece in D minor for cello and piano, Op. 10 *Mazurka No. 3 for cello and piano, Op.14 *Variations for four cellos, Op. 15 *Suite in D minor for two cellos, Op. 22 *Serenade in F major, Op. 24 *Caprice for cello and piano, Op. 27 *Theme with Variations for four cellos, Op. 28 *Impromptu for four cellos, Op. 30 *Concerto No. 3 for cello, Op. 31 *Four Pieces for four cellos, Op. 33 **''Song without Words'' **Gavotte **Lullaby **March *Piano Trio No. 2 (children's), Op. 35 **Kindertrio No. 1 in C major **Kindertrio No. 2 in G major *Concerto No. 4 for cello in B minor Op. 37 *Piano Trio No. 1 (children's), Op. 39 **Kindertrio No. 1 in F major **Kindertrio No. 2 in D major *Suite No. 2 in A minor for cello and piano, Op. 4 *Concertino No. 2 in G major for cello and piano, Op. 41 *''Caprice in the Form of a Chaconne'' after a Theme by

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

for solo cello, Op. 43 *Double Concerto in E minor for two cellos, Op. 45 *Concertino No. 3 in A minor for cello and piano, Op. 46 *Six Sonatinas for cello and piano, Op. 47 *Six Sonatinas for cello and piano, Op. 48 *''Andante Sostenuto'' for cello and orchestra, Op. 51 *Suite for cello and organ, Op. 54 *Suite for cello in D minor, Op. 56 *''Hymnus'' for 12 cellos, Op. 57 *''Small Suite'' for three cellos, Op. 59 *Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra, Op. 61 *Three Pieces for two cellos and piano (organ), Op. 62

Works without Opus number

*''Tägliche Übungen'', Vol. I *''Tägliche Übungen'', Vol. II *''Tägliche Übungen'', Vol. III

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klengel, Julius 1859 births 1933 deaths German Romantic composers German classical cellists German music educators Musicians from Leipzig People from the Kingdom of Saxony German male classical composers 20th-century German male musicians 19th-century German male musicians 20th-century cellists