Richard Ferdinand Kaden (10 February 1856 – 9 July 1923) was a German violinist, violist,

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

and composer.

Life

Born in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxo ...

, Kaden came from a

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

miner family. In 1856 he was born as one of two sons – Richard's brother became a major – of the ministerial treasurer Moritz Ferdinand Kaden (d. 1921) and his wife Emilie Geyer in the royal Saxon capital and residence city of Dresden. His father, who had initially been a miner himself, then served as a

tambour In classical architecture, a tambour ( Fr.: "drum") is the inverted bell of the Corinthian capital around which are carved acanthus leaves for decoration. The term also applies to the wall of a circular structure, whether on the ground or rais ...

in the

Royal Saxon Army The Royal Saxon Army (german: Königlich Sächsische Armee) was the military force of the Electorate (1682–1807) and later the Kingdom of Saxony (1807–1918). A regular Saxon army was first established in 1682 and it continued to exist until the ...

. As a soldier he experienced the

German revolutions of 1848–1849 The German revolutions of 1848–1849 (), the opening phase of which was also called the March Revolution (), were initially part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many European countries. They were a series of loosely coordinated pro ...

. On leaving the army, he followed a superior into the management of a private railway company. After nationalisation, he made it to the ministry in Dresden as a sub-civil servant. Kaden attended the 1st citizen school in his hometown. While still a pupil, he began training at the Königliches Konservatorium Dresden (until 1877). His teachers included among others

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

Ferdinand Hüllweck and later in violin as well as Carl Heinrich Döring in piano,

Julius Rietz August Wilhelm Julius Rietz (28 December 1812 – 12 September 1877) was a German composer, conductor, cellist, and teacher. His students included Woldemar Bargiel, Salomon Jadassohn, Arthur O'Leary, and (by far the most celebrated) Sir Arthu ...

in theory and composition, Wilhelm Rischbieter in counterpoint and Julius Rühlmann in

history of music Although definitions of music vary wildly throughout the world, every known culture partakes in it, and it is thus considered a cultural universal. The origins of music remain highly contentious; commentators often relate it to the origin of ...

. At the age of fourteen, he became a violinist in the Buffold Town Band. By the age of fifteen, he was chief second fiddle. After the disbandment of the Stadtkapelle, he was violist of the

Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden The Staatskapelle Dresden (known formally as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) is a German orchestra based in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Founded in 1548 by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, it is one of the world's oldest and most highly re ...

from 1872 to 1896. In 1888, he was appointed to 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 ...

orchestra. While working as a musician, he became a student at the Königlich Sächsisches Polytechnikum Dresden. There he studied philosophy and education with Fritz Schultze (1846–1908), as well as psychology. He received further inspiration from Paul Theodor Hohlfeld (1840–1910), editor of philosopher

Karl Christian Friedrich Krause Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (; 6 May 1781 – 27 September 1832) was a German philosopher whose doctrines became known as Krausism. Krausism, when considered in its totality as a complete, stand-alone philosophical system, had only a small f ...

's writings, and later scientific director of the Pädagogische Musikschule. From 1872 to 1883, he was engaged as violin and ensemble teacher at the Dresden Conservatory. In 1883 he became artistic director of the private

progressive education Progressive education, or protractivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term ''pro ...

"Pädagogische Musikschule zu Dresden", which was founded by his pupil and later Vera von Mertschinski and existed until 1931. Among others,

Henri Marteau Henri Marteau (31 March 1874 – 3 October 1934) was a French violinist and composer, who obtained Swedish citizenship in 1915. Life and career Marteau was born in Reims. He was of German and French ancestry. His father, a Frenchman, was a well k ...

and Karl Panzner were his pupils there. He is also considered the of the music educator

Fritz Reuter Fritz Reuter (7 November 1810 – 12 July 1874; born as ''Heinrich Ludwig Christian Friedrich Reuter'') was a novelist from Northern Germany who was a prominent contributor to Low German literature. Early life Fritz Reuter was born at Stavenha ...

. Furthermore, he was chairman of the Dresden and 2nd chairman of the Saxon Music School Directors Association. There, among others, together with Hugo Riemann,

Julius Klengel Julius Klengel (24 September 1859 – 27 October 1933) was a German cellist who is most famous for his études and solo pieces written for the instrument. He was the brother of Paul Klengel. A member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig at f ...

and

Hermann Vetter Hermann Vetter (born c. 1933) is a German academic and translator who has made many works of English-language philosophy available in German. He specialized in sociology of knowledge and social psychology. His academic career was interrupted by the ...

, he introduced a (from 1913) for music school teachers. He wrote essays (', the ''

Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 'Die'' (; en, " heNew Journal of Music") is a music magazine, co-founded in Leipzig by Robert Schumann, his teacher and future father-in law Friedrich Wieck, and his close friend Ludwig Schuncke. Its first issue appeared on 3 April 1834. His ...

'', the ' among others) on music education and aesthetic topics. With his

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

''School of Music Education'' (1892) he wanted to create "a scientifically underpinned system of music education" (Siegfried Freitag). Kaden lectured on music, philosophy and pedagogy, for example in the context of the Literarischer Verein zu Dresden, of which he was a member.Frank Almai, Rolf Parr: ''Literarischer Verein zu Dresden.'' In Wulf Wülfing, Karin Bruns, Rolf Parr (ed.): ''Handbuch literarisch-kultureller Vereine, Gruppen und Bünde 1825–1933'' (''Repertorien zur deutschen Literaturgeschichte''. Vol. 18). Metzler, Stuttgart among others 1998, , , here . He was a member of the Dresden

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

"Zum goldenen Apfel". Kaden also excelled as a composer, creating several violin works and a symphony, among others. He also edited the Pierre Baillot Violin School.

Family

In his first marriage (from 1879) he was married to the preacher's daughter Franziska Boeck from Danzig. His second wife from 1909 was Vera von Mertschinski, daughter of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

Titular Councillor and educator to Count Shuvalov in St Petersburg. Kaden was the father of one child: Elsa (b. 1882). He died in 1923 of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

in Dresden at the age of 67.

Awards

He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross II Class of the

Albert Order The Albert Order (german: link=no, Albrechts-Orden or Albrechtsorden) was created on 31 December 1850 by King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony to commemorate Albert III, Duke of Saxony (known as Albert the Bold). It was to be awarded to anyone w ...

Publications

* ''Parsifal im Lichte des Zeitgeistes''. 2nd edition, Kaufmann, Dresden 1914.

References

External links