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Karl Muck (October 22, 1859 – March 3, 1940) was a German-born conductor of
Classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
. He based his activities principally in Europe and mostly in opera. His American career comprised two stints at the
Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
(BSO). Muck endured a trial by media in 1917, after ''The Providence Journal'' editor
John R. Rathom John Revelstoke Rathom (1868–1923) was an Australian-American journalist, editor, and author based in Rhode Island at the height of his career. In the years before America entered World War I, Rathom assisted British Intelligence at Wellington H ...
falsely accused him of knowingly refusing a request to have the BSO play the '' Star Spangled Banner'' following American entry into
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Although Muck was a citizen of neutral
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, he was arrested based on Rathom's accusation and
interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
as an
enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...
at Fort Ogelthorpe, a camp in
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
from March 1918 until August 1919. Karl Muck and his wife were then deported from the United States. His later career included notable engagements in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
and at the
Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...
.


Early life and career

Karl Muck was born in
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
, which was then the capital of the
Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...
, in modern Germany. Muck's father, a senior court official and amateur musician, moved the family to Switzerland in 1867 and acquired Swiss citizenship. Karl Muck acquired Swiss citizenship when he was 21.''New York Times''
"Arrest Karl Muck as an Enemy Alien," March 26, 1918
accessed January 13, 2010
Muck studied piano as a child and made his first public appearance at the age of 11 when he gave a piano solo at a chamber music recital. He also played the violin in a local symphony orchestra as a boy. He graduated from the gymnasium at
Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...
''New York Times''
"Karl Muck Dies; Noted Wagnerian," March 5, 1940
accessed January 13, 2010
and entered the
University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
at 16. In May 1878 he entered the
University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...
, where he took his degree as Doctor of Philosophy in 1880. While there studied music at
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 ...
. He made his formal debut as a concert pianist on February 19, 1880 at the Leipzig
Gewandhaus Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. History The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'') The f ...
in
Xaver Scharwenka Theophil Franz Xaver Scharwenka (6 January 1850 – 8 December 1924) was a German pianist, composer and teacher of Polish descent. He was the brother of Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka (1847–1917), who was also a composer and teacher of music. Life ...
's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor with
Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of B ...
conducting. He began his conducting career in comparatively minor provincial cities, starting in 1880 as Second Conductor (''Zweiter Kapellmeister'') in Zurich (Aktientheater), moving to Salzburg (k.k. Theater) in October 1881 as Principal Conductor (''Erster Kapellmeister''), where he served until April 1882. He then held appointments in Brünn (Stadttheater: October 1882 to June 1883) and Graz (1884–1886), where he married 21-year-old Anita Portugall on February 3, 1887. His first position in a major musical center came in Prague as Principal Conductor at Angelo Neumann's Deutsches Landestheater, starting with a performance of ''Die Meistersinger'' on August 15, 1886, and ending in June 1892. He also conducted Neumann's traveling opera company, appearing at Berlin and in 1888–1889 conducting Wagner's ''Ring'' cycle in Moscow and St. Petersburg. He left Prague to become principal conductor in October 1892 of the Berlin Court Opera (Kgl. Oper — today the
Berlin State Opera The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...
, where he was appointed Chief Musical Director (''Kgl. preussischer Generalmusikdirector'') on August 26, 1908. He remained in Berlin until 1912, conducting 1,071 performances of 103 operas. He also conducted the Royal Orchestra in concerts there. He took other assignments during his tenure in Berlin. He was guest conductor at the Silesian music festivals in Goerlitz between 1894 and 1911. In May and June 1899 at London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden, he conducted Beethoven's ''Fidelio'' and several of Wagner's operas (''Tannhäuser'', ''Die Walküre'', ''Die Meistersinger'', ''Der fliegende Höllander'' and ''Tristan und Isolde''). He devoted many summers to the Wagner Festival in
Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...
where he became principal conductor in 1903, after serving as a musical assistant since 1892. He succeeded
Hermann Levi Hermann Levi (7 November 1839 – 13 May 1900) was a German Jewish orchestral conductor. Levi was born in Giessen, Germany, the son of a rabbi. He was educated at Giessen and Mannheim, and came to Vinzenz Lachner's notice. From 1855 to 1858 ...
as the conductor of ''
Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival'' ...
'' there. As war approached in the summer of 1914, Muck insisted on performing ''Parsifal'' on August 1, 1914 to close the Festival, which was not revived until 1924. Muck conducted ''Parsifal'' at all of the fourteen Bayreuth festivals held between 1901 and 1930, and also conducted ''Lohengrin'' there in 1909 and ''Die Meistersinger'' in 1925, becoming a close friend of the Wagner family. The American music critic Herbert Peyser (1886-1953) thought Muck's interpretation of ''Parsifal'' the greatest he had ever heard: "the only and ultimate ''Parsifal''; the ''Parsifal'' in which every phrase was charged with infinities; the ''Parsifal'' which was neither of this age nor that age but of all time." He led the
Vienna Philharmonic The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...
from 1903 to 1906 and the
Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
from 1906 to 1918, and took visiting assignments in other cities, including Paris, Madrid, Copenhagen, Brussels. Muck was offered the Metropolitan Opera House podium in New York at a reputed $27,000 a year, but declined. From 1903 to 1906 he alternated with Felix Mottl as conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic. At the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition held in San Francisco May 14–26, 1915, Muck conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 13 concerts of music of all nations.


Conducting

Solo performers praised his work with them.
Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th centur ...
called Muck: "a very great master, whose reliability, maturity and selfless dedication are not equaled by any living artist."
Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;  – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versail ...
called him "an ideal accompanist". In physical terms, his conducting style required minimal movement, only small gestures with the tip of his baton. In areas of interpretation he was one of the first modernists. Though old enough to be part of generation known for taking liberties with the score and indulging in flexible tempos, he was by contrast disciplined and direct, less concerned with placing his personal stamp on a score than on demonstrating fidelity to the score and ceding a certain interpretive anonymity. By contrast with his conducting style, orchestra players found him impatient, explosive, nervous, and impulsive. He showed no casual or relaxed side of himself at concerts, rather "he dominated the orchestra and the audience and the occasion."''New York Times''
Olin Downes, "Dr. Karl Muck: His Death Recalls Problems of the Artist in Time of War," March 10, 1940
accessed January 13, 2010
The Austrian conductor
Karl Böhm Karl August Leopold Böhm (28 August 1894 – 14 August 1981) was an Austrian conductor. He was best known for his performances of the music of Mozart, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Life and career Education Karl Böhm was born in Graz. T ...
said in a 1972 interview: "Karl Muck by chance heard me direct ''Lohengrin'', and he invited me to study all Wagner's scores with him. He was the first and greatest influence on me ... Muck told me where the orchestra should be more prominent, how to handle the Bayreuth acoustics, and so on."


Boston, 1906–1918

Muck served as music director of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
(BSO) from 1906 to 1908 and then again from 1912 to 1918 (with a yearly salary of 28,000 dollars as the ''New York Times'' reported on March 26, 1918). Initially he had to work to expand his repertoire from the operas and German music he concentrated on in Europe.
Olin Downes Edwin Olin Downes, better known as Olin Downes (January 27, 1886 – August 22, 1955), was an American music critic, known as "Sibelius's Apostle" for his championship of the music of Jean Sibelius. As critic of ''The New York Times'', he ex ...
later wrote that "his repertory was unequal to the demands of his audience" so he relied on members of the BSO for coaching in French works. Contemporary works were not his strong suit, though he dutifully programmed music that was not to his own taste, such as the American premiere of Schoenberg's ''
Five Pieces for Orchestra The ''Five Pieces for Orchestra'' (''Fünf Orchesterstücke''), Op. 16, were composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1909, and first performed in London in 1912. The titles of the pieces, reluctantly added by the composer after the work's completion upo ...
''. He also introduced some
Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
symphonies and many works of
Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
to Boston. Despite his restrained style, he occasionally revealed his romantic side in a work like Liszt's ''
Faust Symphony ''A Faust Symphony in three character pictures'' (german: Eine Faust-Symphonie in drei Charakterbildern), S.108, or simply the "''Faust Symphony''", is a choral symphony written by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Go ...
''. On his death the ''New York Times'' said that in Boston "he built a virtuoso orchestra."''New York Times''
"Karl Muck," March 5, 1940
January 13, 2010
Why he chose to work in America is unknown. In Berlin he was on close personal terms with Kaiser Wilhelm, but American gossip held that he preferred his freedom and for that reason refused the post of director of the royal opera in Munich in 1911. His life in Boston appeared unremarkable and he guest conducted at the
Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...
as the conductor of the BSO.
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...
music fraternity made him an honorary member in 1916 and he judged a piano competition in the spring of 1917. On October 2–5, 1917, he led the BSO in historic recordings for the
Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...
in
Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...
. The sessions included works by Tchaikovsky, Wolf-Ferrari, Berlioz, Beethoven, and Wagner.
Philip Hale Philip Hale (March 5, 1854 in Norwich, Vermont – November 30, 1934 in Boston, Massachusetts) was an American music critic. Hale attended Yale, where he served on the fourth editorial board of ''The Yale Record''. After graduating in 1876, ...
, music critic of the ''Boston Herald'' during Muck's years there, wrote: "He stands there calm, undemonstrative, graceful, elegant, aristocratic; a man of singularly commanding and magnetic personality even in repose. The orchestra is his speech, the expression of the composer's music as it appeals to the conductor's brain, heart and soul."


National Anthem controversy

When the United States entered World War I in the spring of 1917, Muck offered to resign his position as music director of the BSO. He anticipated that his natural sympathies for Germany, where he was born and spent most of his career despite his Swiss citizenship, might give offense.
Henry Lee Higginson Henry Lee Higginson (November 18, 1834 – November 14, 1919) was an American businessman best known as the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a patron of Harvard University. Biography Higginson was born in New York City on November 18 ...
, the orchestra’s founder and financer, declined it and instead signed Muck to another five-year contract. Muck had fears for his own safety, but Higginson gave him assurances that as an artist he had nothing to fear. Thereafter he became very sensitive to avoid giving offense. The orchestra's publicity manager later wrote: "A good and patriotic German, he had become greatly attached to this country, and altogether he was a thoroughly unhappy man."''New York Times''
William E. Walter, "Dr. Muck and the First War," March 10, 1940
accessed January 13, 2010
Nevertheless, he programmed all-German concerts on his first tour of American cities following U.S. entry into the war, which some found not at all sensitive to the public's mood in wartime. In the fall of 1917, some orchestras like the New York Orchestra Society started performing "
The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...
" at all their concerts.''New York Times''
"Dr. Muck Resigns, Then Plays Anthem," November 3, 1917
accessed January 19, 2010
Members of the BSO management team discussed programming the anthem for weeks, but without any sense of the issue's importance. Moreover, the orchestra's manager, Charles A. Ellis, did not want to embarrass Muck by asking him to do it, given Muck's close attachment to Germany and his personal relationship with the Kaiser. The BSO performed regularly at Infantry Hall in
Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, where the ''
Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspape ...
'' had been attacking Muck for his ties to the Kaiser. The BSO's managers anticipated there might be trouble during their October 1917 visit. One member of the management team later said that Major Higginson, the BSO's chairman, was "pugnacious" while Ellis, the manager, was "rather nervous" as they joined the orchestra on the trip. Higginson took measures to protect Muck in case of serious trouble. On October 30, 1917, the day of the concert, the ''Providence Journal'' published an editorial that said "Professor Muck is a man of notoriously pro-German affiliations and the programme as announced is almost entirely German in character." It called for the BSO to perform the National Anthem that night "to put Professor Muck to the test." About to leave Boston for Providence, Higginson and Ellis received two requests, one from a local patriotic organization and another from the heads of local music clubs, asking the BSO to play the anthem. Muck never saw the request, but Higginson and others viewed it as the work of
John R. Rathom John Revelstoke Rathom (1868–1923) was an Australian-American journalist, editor, and author based in Rhode Island at the height of his career. In the years before America entered World War I, Rathom assisted British Intelligence at Wellington H ...
, editor and publisher of the ''Providence Journal'', whose motto was "Raise hell and sell newspapers." They dismissed the request without much consideration and the concert went off without incident. Muck only learned of the petition on the orchestra's train ride back to Boston that same night. Shocked and somewhat fearful, he said he did not object to playing the anthem, that it was fitting for him as a guest to accommodate the wishes of his hosts. Now that the BSO had failed to play the anthem, Rathom created the false story that Muck had refused to perform it, accused Muck of treason and called him a spy and a hater of all things American. The story had a life of its own, however. As the orchestra publicity manager wrote years later of Muck, "his fate, so far as America was concerned, was settled that night in Providence because of the short-sighted stubbornness of Henry L. Higginson and Charles A. Ellis." The
American Defense Society The American Defense Society (ADS) was a nationalist American political group founded in 1915. The ADS was formed to advocate for American intervention in World War I against the German Empire. The group later stood in opposition to the Bolshevi ...
called for Muck's internment. The Orchestra found its November Baltimore engagement canceled, with even
Cardinal Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as ninth ...
adding his voice to denunciations of Muck. Theodore Roosevelt denounced the maestro. A rival conductor, Walter Damrosch, Music Director of the New York Symphony Society (later the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
), said that Muck's "cynical disregard of the sanctity of our national air" showed disrespect for the emotions of his audience and led to a disrespect for the great heritage of German music. Major Higginson claimed responsibility for the BSO's initial failure to play the anthem, with little effect on outraged press coverage. He visited the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the
Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
where he received assurances that the government had no issue with any member of the orchestra. He tried to present the issue as one of artistic independence, saying he would rather disband the orchestra than allow anyone to dictate its programming. Muck took a similar tack with this statement: "Art is a thing by itself, and not related to any particular nation or group. Therefore, it would be a gross mistake, a violation of artistic taste and principles for such an organization as ours to play patriotic airs. Does the public think that the Symphony Orchestra is a military band or a ballroom orchestra?" Back in Boston, the BSO found curiosity and support. On November 2, 1917, the crowd that filled a Friday afternoon concert at Symphony Hall read a program insert announcing that the national anthem would follow every BSO concert and applauded when Higginson appeared. Higginson announced that Muck had once again tendered his resignation so that "no prejudice against him may prejudice the welfare of the orchestra" and Higginson had yet to accept it. The audience then greeted the entry of Muck with a standing ovation and rose to applaud again after he led the orchestra in a performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner". The ''New York Times'' pointed out that the entire affair could have been avoided if Higginson and Muck had had a better sense of the public sentiment. They should have anticipated the request for the anthem and should have programmed it in the first place. The paper blamed the entire affair on Muck and "the then obstinate management of the Boston Symphony Orchestra." In November, the BSO performed in New York City, where Higginson and Ellis reluctantly gave in to Muck's insistence on playing the anthem. Critics were not completely satisfied and criticized the arrangement Muck used as "cheap" and "undignified" without realizing it was the work of
Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is bes ...
, who in addition to his popular Broadway operettas had also written serious symphonic works and conducted both the New York Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony. When the orchestra returned to New York in December, Muck used a new arrangement that proved a critical success. It was the work of BSO concertmaster Anton Witek, "the most pro-German of all the Germans in the orchestra."


Internment

Muck was arrested on March 25, 1918, just before midnight and therefore the BSO's performances of Bach's ''Saint Matthew Passion'' on March 26 and April 2, which Muck had been preparing for months, had to be conducted by Ernst Schmidt. Government officials were free to ignore the fact that he was a Swiss citizen and bearer of a Swiss passport, since the law sanctioned the arrest of those born anywhere in Germany before the founding of the German Empire without respect to citizenship. Boston police and federal agents also searched Muck's home at 50 Fenway and removed personal papers and scores. They suspected the conductor's markings in the score of the ''St. Matthew Passion'' were code indicative of pro-German activity. He was imprisoned at Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia until on August 21, 1919, an agent of the Department of Justice put him and his wife on a ship to Copenhagen. The
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...
music fraternity that had elected him to national honorary membership in 1916 expelled Muck in 1919 for sympathizing with the Central powers. Fellow internees had heard that Muck had vowed not to conduct in America again, but they persuaded him that the camp was more of a German village — some of them even called it "Orglesdorf." A memoir of the event written in 1940 recalled the mess hall packed with 2000 internees, with honored guests like their doctors and government censors on the front benches, facing 100 musicians. Under Muck's baton, he wrote, "the ''Eroica'' rushed at us and carried us far away and above war and worry and barbed wire." When sailing from New York on August 21, 1919, Muck told reporters: "I am not a German, although they said I was. I considered myself an American." He said he had "bitter feelings" toward the newspapers for their unfair treatment of him. He expressed doubts that the BSO, then in a sorry state of organization, could recover from the internment of 29 of its German members. After his deportation, Muck declined all subsequent offers to return to the United States. Later that year the ''Boston Post'' alleged that Muck had been having an extramarital affair with a 20-year-old in Boston's Back Bay and had written her a letter reading in part: "I am on my way to the concert hall to entertain the crowds of dogs and swine who think that because they pay the entrance fee they have the right to dictate to me my selections. I hate to play for this rabble ... na very short time our gracious Kaiser will smile on my request and recall me to Berlin ... Our Kaiser will be prevailed upon to see the benefit to the Fatherland of my obtaining a divorce and making you my own."


Later career, 1919–1933

Muck returned to a different Germany. The recent German Revolution of 1918–1919 made him "a man in marked disfavor with the republican government." The death of his beloved wife Anita on April 14, 1921 left him "infinitely lonesome". Muck eventually took the helm of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra in 1922 and made additional recordings. He returned to Bayreuth when the festival was revived there in 1924, the representative of the pre-war tradition. He expressed his devotion to the Festival and Wagner's music in a letter advising
Fritz Busch Fritz Busch (13 March 1890 – 14 September 1951) was a German conductor. Busch was born in Siegen, Westphalia, to a musical family, and studied at the Cologne Conservatory. After army service in the First World War, he was appointed to senior p ...
that all he needed to succeed there was "the unassuming humility and the holy fanaticism of the Believer." He was also engaged in Munich, Amsterdam (
Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the "R ...
) and Salzburg (''Don Giovanni'' in 1925). In September 1930, he resigned his position at Bayreuth, much to the distress of
Winifred Wagner Winifred Marjorie Wagner ( Williams; 23 June 1897 – 5 March 1980) was the English-born wife of Siegfried Wagner, the son of Richard Wagner, and ran the Bayreuth Festival after her husband's death in 1930 until the end of World War II in 1 ...
, who had just succeeded her late husband
Siegfried Wagner Siegfried Helferich Richard Wagner (6 June 18694 August 1930) was a German composer and conductor, the son of Richard Wagner. He was an opera composer and the artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival from 1908 to 1930. Life Siegfried Wagner ...
as the Festival's director. He never accommodated himself to being upstaged by
Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...
, but writing privately to Winifred Wagner, he said he had been committed to serving her husband, but the Festival now required someone other than "I, whose artistic standpoint and convictions, so far as is concerned, stem from the preceding century."''New York Times''
"Why Karl Muck Left Baireuth," March 1, 1931
accessed January 13, 2010. Siegfried Wagner had died on August 4, 1930.
He resigned his Hamburg position in 1933, uncomfortable with the Nazi authorities' direction of the city's symphony and opera. His last noteworthy appearance came in February 1933 at a concert marking the fiftieth anniversary of
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's death, given in Leipzig with Hitler in attendance. His final concert was on May 19, 1933, with the Hamburg Philharmonic. In October 1939, Muck "on his 80th birthday in Berlin received from Adolf Hitler the Plaque of the German Eagle" with the inscription DEM GROSSEN DIRIGENTEN (TO THE GREAT CONDUCTOR). A widower since 1921, whose only child, a son, had died young, Muck spent his last years at the Stuttgart home of Baroness von Scholley, the daughter of one of his oldest friends and fellow internee, who had been German Consul General in New York. Partially paralyzed from nicotine poisoning and immersing himself in Oriental philosophy, he rarely left the house during the last three years of his life. Muck died in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
on March 3, 1940. He was 80. Upon receipt of the news of his death, the BSO interrupted a rehearsal to stand in tribute to his memory.
Geraldine Farrar Alice Geraldine Farrar (February 28, 1882 – March 11, 1967) was an American lyric soprano who could also sing dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following a ...
wrote a letter to the ''New York Times'' recalling that she sang with him and the Boston Symphony on the night when Muck was "bitterly and unjustly assailed" for not playing the National Anthem and adding: "As your editorial correctly reports, he knew nothing of the request." She continued: "The fortunes of war brought Dr. Muck — as well as other aliens — no disgrace in an internment camp. I saw Dr. Muck several times in later years and I know he counted the years with the Boston Symphony Orchestra among the happiest and most fruitful of his career."


Recordings

Muck's reputation rests largely on his recorded legacy. In October 1917 he made a series of sound recordings in the US with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the Victor Talking Machine Company in their Camden, New Jersey auditorium. Unusually for the time (when the pre-electric purely mechanical “acoustic” process was in use) the orchestra seems to have been recorded at full strength as the 1919 Victor catalogue refers to "approximately a hundred men". Eight short pieces spread over ten 78 r.p.m. sides were selected, including excerpts from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and two items from Berlioz’s ''Damnation of Faust.'' Muck's most important recordings were made at the 1927 Bayreuth Festival for the English Columbia Gramophone Company and in 1927 to 1929 in Berlin for the Gramophone Company (HMV). At Bayreuth sometime between late June and mid-August 1927, he conducted about 30 minutes of excerpts from ''Parsifal'' Acts 1 and 2. His control of phrasing in the Transformation and Grail scenes is regarded as unsurpassed to this day. In December 1927 he led the Berlin State Opera Orchestra in an account of the opera's Prelude, one of the slowest on record. A year later, in December 1928, he made a nearly complete recording of the third act of ''Parsifal'', using the Parsifal and Gurnemanz singers from that year's Bayreuth performances. The music critic Alan Blyth described this as "the most uplifting, superbly executed reading of Act 3 ... in the history of recording" and Robin Holloway commented that "It realizes better than any other Wagner performance the idea of endless melody". In all about 40% of the opera's score was recorded over the 2-and-a-half-year period. HMV also recorded eight further Wagner orchestral pieces, including the ''Siegfried Idyll'', with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra in December 1927, May 1928, and November 1929. These have been reissued on various CDs. A discography of Muck's original commercial recordings, not including reissues, appeared in 1977. Several radio recordings allegedly conducted by Muck also exist, including a ''Faust Overture'' and ''Trauermarsch'' (''Götterdämmerung'') with the Berlin Radio Orchestra and an excerpt from the Adagio of Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 with the Hamburg Philharmonic.See Christopher Dyment's notes with CD Appian APR5521.


Cultural depictions

* In
Maria Peters Maria Holm Peters (born 16 September 1999) is a Danish ice hockey player and member of the Denmark women's national ice hockey team, Danish national ice hockey team, currently playing with the Odense IK Kvinder of the KvindeLigaen (ice hockey), ...
' 2018 film '' De Dirigent'' (''The Conductor'' - 2018), a biopic about
Antonia Brico Antonia Louisa Brico (Rotterdam, June 26, 1902 – Denver, August 3, 1989) was a Dutch-born conductor and pianist. Early life and education Born Antonia Louisa Brico to a Dutch Catholic unmarried mother in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Brico w ...
, Muck's student from 1927 to 1932 and the first internationally recognized female conductor of
Classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
, Karl Muck was played by German actor
Richard Sammel Richard Sammel (born 13 October 1960) is a German actor. He is best known for his role as Thomas Eichhorst on the FX television series ''The Strain'' (2014–2017). He has appeared in more than 100 films and television series since 1991. Per ...
.


References


Further reading

* Melissa D. Burrage, "Caught on the American Cultural Battleground: Dr. Karl Muck in World War I Boston." Ph.D. Dissertation. (University of East Anglia, 2015.) *Melissa D. Burrage, ''The Karl Muck Scandal: Classical Music and Xenophobia in World War I America'' (New York: University of Rochester Press, 2019)
online review
* Jessica C. E. Gienow-Hecht, ''Sound Diplomacy: Music and Emotion in Transatlantic History'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009, 2012). *
Peter Muck Peter Muck (22 August 1919 – 10 April 2011) was a German violinist and violist. Life Born in Leipzig, Muck, violinist and violist, was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, ...
, ed., ''Karl Muck: ein Dirigentenleben in Briefen und Dokumenten.'' (Tutzing, 2003: Schneider), documentary biography compiled from letters and other documents * Neil Swidey, "The Muck Affair", ''The Boston Globe'', 5 November 2017 *
Egon Voss Egon Voss (born 7 November 1938) is a German musicologist, who is particularly known for his contributions to Richard Wagner research. Life and career Born in Magdeburg, Voss studied musicology and German studies at the Universities in Detmold, ...
, ''Die Dirigenten der Bayreuther Festspiele'', (Regensburg, 1976: Gustav Bosse Verlag)


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muck, Karl 1859 births 1940 deaths Defamation Fake news Fake news in the United States German conductors (music) German emigrants to Switzerland German expatriates in the United States German male conductors (music) Internment of German Americans Journalistic scandals Male conductors (music) Musicians from Darmstadt People from the Grand Duchy of Hesse Swiss conductors (music) Swiss expatriates in the United States