Hans Von Bülow
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Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, especially
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
and
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...
. Alongside Carl Tausig, Bülow was perhaps the most prominent of the early students of the Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
; he gave the first public performance of Liszt's Sonata in B minor in 1857. He became acquainted with, fell in love with and eventually married Liszt's daughter Cosima, who later left him for Wagner. Noted for his interpretation of the works of
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
, he was one of the earliest European musicians to tour the United States.


Life and career

Bülow was born in
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
into the old and prominent House of Bülow. He was the son of novelist (1803–1853) and his wife, Franziska Elisabeth Stoll von Berneck (1800–1888). From the age of nine, he was a student of Professor Friedrich Wieck (the father of Clara Schumann). However, his parents insisted that he study law instead of music, and they sent him to Leipzig. There he met
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
, and on hearing some music of
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
—specifically, the premiere of '' Lohengrin'' in 1850—he decided to ignore the dictates of his parents and make himself a career in music instead. He studied the piano in Leipzig with the famous pedagogue Louis Plaidy. He obtained his first conducting job in Zürich, on Wagner's recommendation, in 1850. Bülow had a strongly acerbic personality and a sharp tongue; this alienated many musicians whom he worked with. He was dismissed from his Zurich job for this reason, but at the same time he was beginning to win renown for his ability to conduct new and complex works without a score. In 1851, he became a student of Liszt, marrying his daughter Cosima in 1857. They had two daughters: Daniela, born in 1860, and Blandina, born in 1863. During the 1850s and early 1860s he was active as a pianist, conductor, and writer, and became well known throughout Germany as well as Russia. In 1857, he premiered Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor in Berlin. In 1864 he became the Hofkapellmeister in Munich, and it was at this post he achieved his principal renown. He conducted the premieres of two Wagner operas, ''
Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...
'' and ''
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...
'', in 1865 and 1868 respectively; both were immensely successful. Meanwhile, however, Cosima had been carrying on an affair with Richard Wagner and gave birth to their daughter Isolde in 1865. Two years later, they had another daughter, Eva. Although Cosima and Wagner's affair was now open knowledge, Bülow still refused to grant his wife a divorce. It was only when she gave birth to a third child, Siegfried, that the conductor at last relented. Their divorce was finalized in 1870, after which Cosima and Wagner married. Bülow never spoke to Wagner again, and he did not see his former wife for 11 years afterwards. However, he apparently continued to respect the composer on a professional level, as he still conducted his works and mourned Wagner's death in 1883. In July 1882 he married the actress Marie Schanzer. In 1867 Bülow became director of the newly reopened Königliche Musikschule in Munich. He taught piano there in the manner of Liszt. He remained as director of the Conservatory until 1869. Bülow's students in Berlin included Asger Hamerik and Joseph Pache. In addition to championing the music of Wagner, Bülow was a supporter of the music of Brahms and Tchaikovsky. He was the soloist in the world premiere of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in 1875. He was also a devotee of
Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...
's music; he came up with epithets for all of Chopin's Opus 28 Preludes, but these have generally fallen into disuse. Only the D-flat major Prelude No. 15 is widely known by his title, the "Raindrop". He was the first to perform (from memory) the complete cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas, and with Sigmund Lebert, he co-produced an edition of the sonatas. For the winter season of 1877–1878, he was appointed as conductor of the orchestral subscription concerts presented at the newly opened St Andrew's Hall in Glasgow by Glasgow Choral Union, touring with their orchestra to repeat these programmes in other Scottish cities. Among the works he conducted there was the recently revised version of Brahms Symphony No 1. From 1878 to 1880, he was Hofkapellmeister in Hanover but was forced to leave after fighting with a tenor singing the "Knight of the Swan 'Schwan'' role in '' Lohengrin''; Bülow had called him the "Knight of the Swine 'Schwein''. In 1880 he moved to Meiningen where he took the equivalent post, and where he built the Meiningen Court Orchestra into one of the finest in Germany; among his other demands, he insisted that the musicians learn to play all their parts from memory. It was during his five years in Meiningen that he met
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
(though the meeting actually took place in Berlin). His first opinion of the young composer was not favorable, but he changed his mind when he was confronted with a sample of Strauss's "Serenade". Later on, he used his influence to give Strauss his first regular employment as a conductor. Like Strauss, Bülow was attracted to the ideas of Max Stirner, whom he reputedly had known personally. In April 1892 Bülow closed his final performance with the
Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922â ...
, where he had been serving as Principal Conductor since 1887, with a speech "exalting" the ideas of Stirner. Together with John Henry Mackay, Stirner's biographer, he placed a memorial plaque at Stirner's last residence in Berlin. Some of his orchestral innovations included the addition of the five-string
double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
and the pedal
timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...
; the pedal timpani have since become standard instruments in the symphony orchestra. His accurate, sensitive, and profoundly musical interpretations established him as the prototype of the virtuoso conductors who flourished at a later date. He was also an astute and witty musical journalist. In the late 1880s he settled in Hamburg, but continued to tour, both conducting and performing on the piano. Bülow suffered from chronic neuralgiform headaches, which were caused by a tumor of the cervical radicular nerves.Wöhrle J, Haas F, "Hans von Bülow: Creativity and Neurological Disease in a Famous Pianist and Conductor", in Bogousslavsky J, Hennerici MG (eds): ''Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists – Part 2. Front Neurol Neurosci''. Basel, Karger, 2007, vol. 22, pp. 193–205 After about 1890 his mental and physical health began to fail, and he sought a warmer, drier climate for recovery; he died in a hotel in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, at the age of 64, ten months after his final concert performance.


Quotations

* "A tenor is not a man but a disease." * To a trombonist: "Your tone sounds like roast-beef gravy running through a sewer." * Upon being awarded a
laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...
: "I am not a vegetarian." * "Always conduct with the score in your head, not your head in the score." * "Bach is the Old Testament and Beethoven the New Testament of music." * "In the beginning was rhythm."


Notable premieres


As conductor

* Wagner, ''
Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...
'', Munich, 10 June 1865 * Wagner, ''
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...
'', Hofoper, Munich, 21 June 1868


As pianist

*
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
, complete cycle of piano sonatas *
Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...
, Sonata in B minor, Berlin, 22 January 1857 * Liszt, Totentanz for Piano and Orchestra * Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1, Boston, 25 October 1875


Compositions

* 6 Lieder, Op. 1 * ''Rigoletto''-Arabesken, Op. 2 * Mazurka-Impromptu. Op. 4 * 5 Lieder, Op. 5 * Invitation à la Polka, Op. 6 * ''Rêverie fantastique'', Op. 7 * Song cycle ''Die Entsagende'', Op. 8 * Overture and March to Shakespeare's ''
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
'', Op. 10 * Ballade, Op. 11 * Chant polonais (after F. H. Truhn), Op. 12 * Mazurka-Fantasie, Op. 13 * Elfenjagd. Impromptu, Op. 14 * ''Des Sängers Fluch'', Ballad for orchestra, Op. 16 * Rimembranze dell'opera '' Un ballo in maschera'', Op. 17 * ''Trois Valses caractéristiques'', Op. 18 * ''
Tarantella Tarantella () is a group of various Southern Italy, southern Italian Italian folk dance, folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania, Sicilia, and Apulia. It is characterized by a fast Beat (music), upbeat tempo, usually in Ti ...
'', Op. 19 * ''Nirvana: symphonisches Stimmungsbild'', Op. 20 * Il Carnevale di Milano, piano, Op. 21 * ''Vier Charakterstücke'', orchestra, Op. 23 * Two Romances, Op. 26 * ''Lacerta''. Impromptu, Op. 27 * Königsmarsch, Op 28 * 5 Gesänge for mixed choir, Op. 29 * 3 Lieder von August Freiherrn von Loen, Op. 30


Piano transcriptions

*
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of th ...
– '' Iphigenie in Aulis'' *
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
: ** ''
Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...
'' ** Overture from ''
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...
'' ** Paraphrase of the quintet from Act III of ''Die Meistersinger'' ** '' Faust Overture'' *
Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...
: ** '' Konzertstück in F minor'' ** Both piano concertos


Notes and references

Notes References Sources * *


Further reading

* * *


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulow, Hans von 1830 births 1894 deaths 19th-century German classical composers 19th-century German classical pianists 19th-century German conductors (music) German barons Hans Burials at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery German male classical composers German male conductors (music) German male pianists German Romantic composers Honorary members of the Royal Philharmonic Society German male classical pianists Musicians from Dresden Musicians from the Kingdom of Saxony Pupils of Franz Liszt Pupils of Friedrich Wieck Pupils of Louis Plaidy Pupils of Moritz Hauptmann Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Richard Wagner Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Munich Principal conductors of the Berlin Philharmonic Music directors of the Bavarian State Opera Lieder composers