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A Search for Identity: Hans Schaeuble and his Musik, op. 181

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2009

Extract

In my experience, Swiss nationals who have heard of Hans Schaeuble are limited to certain musicologists and elderly contemporaries of the circa-war Swiss musical scene. Yet, in his prime, Schaeuble was perhaps the most internationally renowned of several promising young Swiss composers. He had a publication contract with Bote und Bock, and his Symphonische Musik für grosses Orchester (1937) was premièred by the Berlin Philharmonic under Carl Schuricht in 1939. Schaeuble's degree of acclaim in 1930s Germany and his subsequent relative obscurity in Switzerland share, in part, a common cause: the student Schaeuble moved away from his native Switzerland as soon as he was able, and in 1931, chose to launch his career in Berlin.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2001

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References

2 Tagebuch Nr. 1, 11. IX. 1933

3 Tagebuch Nr. II, 4.VIII. 1932.

4 Tagebuch, 1941.

5 Walton, Chris, ‘Inner Exile: The Peculiar Case of Hans Schaeuble’, paper given at the 65. Musikwoche Braunwald Symposium, Switzerland, 7 07 2000 Google Scholar .

6 ‘Ich schäme mich; Tag für Tag vergeht, ohne dass ich eigentlich arbeite; Ich bin ein Schmarotzer. Andere arbeiten, arbeiten, und ich. Ich gehe überhaupt nicht in die Stunden. Klavicr arbeite ich gar nicht. Es ist traurig. Ich habe Alles und leiste niches. Andere müssen Stunden lang arbeiten und bekommen fast nichts dafiir. –’ Schaeuble, Tagebuch Nr. I, U.XI.30.

7 Chris Walton's article ‘Inner Exile’ explores reasons for Schaeuble's isolation from society, including his homosexuality. In addition to describing likely contemporary Swiss attitudes to Schaeuble as the rich composer who had chosen to ‘renounce’ his homeland in favour of Berlin's hedonistic appeal, Walton employs the steely, indignant reaction to the murder of respected musician, Robert Oboussier, by a casual male sexual acquaintance in 1957, in order to demonstrate how prejudiced Swiss society tended to be against homosexuals.

8 choral, Schaeuble's style is exemplified by his Fünf Chöre a cappella für vierstimmigen gemischten Chor nach Worten von Rudolf Pestalozzi, op. 21 (1936)Google Scholar, which were recorded in 1999 by the choir of Gonville &: Caius, College Cambridge, under Geoffrey Webber, on the Guild record label. The CD also gives examples of motets by Schaeuble's contemporaries, Müller-Zürich and Adolf Brunner. (See p. 57 for review – Ed.)

9 The Musik für 2 Solo- Violinen und Streichorchester was recorded in 1999 by Sibylle and Mirjam Tschopp, with the Camerata Zürich, under Räto Tschupp, and is available, coupled with works by Müller-Zürich and Hugo Pfister, on the Musikszene Schwciz record label (MGB CD 6160).

10 ‘Aus einem einleitenden barocken Thema entwickelt sich der erste lebhafte Satz in gelöster tonaler Bindung zu transparentem Fluβ einer linearen Polyphonie, zu der der langsame, ganz in sich gekehrte Satz in sehr erlebtem Kontrast steht.’ ‘O. S., D. A. Z. [Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitiung], 2. Okt. 1936.’ Review stuck into the front cover of Mus NL 59: Ad 12.1, Zentralbibliothek, Zürich (henceforth ZB, Z).

11 ‘Die langsame Einleitung [cut in the 1979 edition, but retained in the closing repeat of the French Overture material] schreitet mit barockem Pathos…’ ‘Gu., Appenzeller-Zeitung.’ Review stuck into the front cover of Mus NL 59: Ad 12.1, ZB, Z.

12 ‘Es ist bezeichnend, daβ unsere jungen Komponisten sehr oft wieder bei der Formenwelt der vorklassischen Musik Anschlub suchen.’ ‘E. Tb., N. Z. Z. [Neite Zürcher Zeitung], 7.XII.36, nr. 2119.’ Review stuck into the front cover of Mus NL 59: Ad 12.1, ZB, Z.

13 Tagebuch Nr. II, 13.XI.1931, 4.VIII.1932.

14 Annalise Hummer, ‘Hans Schaeuble and Dodecaphony’ (see Footnote 1).

15 Kemp, Ian, ‘Paul Hindemith’ New Grove Dictionary of Music, 6th edition ed. Sadie, Stanley (London: Macmilhn Publishing Limited, 1980), 577 Google Scholar .

16 Mus NL 59: Ad 12.11, ZB, Z; Tagebuch Nr. VIII, Mus NL 59, ZB, Z, 165.

17 After his dismissal from his Composition Masterclass at the Prussian Academy of Arts, Schoenberg left Berlin in 1933, but several of his pupils remained active in Berlin, for example Norbert von Hannenheim and Winfried Zillig, both of whom employed 12-note methods in their compositions. (Ed.)

18 See Schubert, Giselher, ‘Paul Hindemith’, New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2th edition ed. Sadie, Stanley, exec. ed. Tyrrell, John (London: Macmillan Publishing Limited, 2001), 527 Google Scholar .

19 Tagebuch Nr. IV, 4.1.1980, Mus NL 59, ZB, Z.

20 Hand-written comment on a copy of the 1979 edition. Mus NL 59: Ad 12.11, ZB, Z.

21 Jarman, Douglas, The Music of Alban Berg (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1979), ex. 107, 83 Google Scholar .

22 Internal footnote to the quotation: ‘See Scherliess, Volker, Igor Strawinsky und seine Zeit (Groβe Komponisten und ihre Zeit), Laaber 1983, pp. 130142 and 176–204’Google Scholar .

23 Baltensperger, André and Meyer, Felix (ed. and ‘kommentiert’), foreword to Igor Strawinsky: Symphonies d'Instruments à Vent, trans. Shreffler, Anne C., Faksimileausgabe des Particells und der Partitur der Erstfassung (1920) (Winterthur: Amadeus Verlag, 1991), 2627 Google Scholar .

24 As Puffett reveals, Schoeck first employed the technique in the cycle, song, Gaselen, Op. 38, 1923 Google Scholar. Puffett, Derrick, Chapter 3, The Song Cycles of Othmar Schoeck: A Critical Study, D.Phil, thesis, Oxford University, 1982, 232 Google Scholar .

25 Puffett, Derrick, Othmar Schoeck, 237 Google Scholar .

26 ‘Der junge Schweizer Komponist Hans Schaeuble ist unter der jüngeren Generation eine Persönlichkeit von kraftvoller Eigenart.’ ‘O. S., D. A. Z., 2. Okt. 1936.’ Review stuck into the front cover of Mus NL 59: Ad 12.1, ZB, Z.