OWN A PIECE OF HISTORY: MANUSCRIPT FOR RICHARD STRAUSS’ "DIE SCHWEIGSAME FRAU," (FINAL SCENE) WRITTEN BY COMPOSER'S OWN HAND, HITS AUCTION BLOCK (BIDDING NOW OPEN)

*CLICK TO ENLARGE* The Strauss manuscript presently up for auction:
final scene from Die Schweigsame Frau. | Nate D. Sanders Auctions |

Los Angeles auction house Nate D. Sanders Auctions is presently listing for sale an autographed manuscript by Richard Strauss, containing music from the final scene of his 1935 opera 'Die Schweigsame Frau' (The Silent Woman). 

The opera was penned by the composer during his brief tenure as President of the Reichsmusikkammer (Reich Chamber of Music, or, "RMK") during WWII, in conjunction with famed writer Stefan Zweig, who provided the libretto.

The manuscript currently up for auction is autographed by Strauss and contains both marginalia and revisions to the score written in the composer's own hand, which are believed to have been added to the manuscript sometime between c. 1938-42, when Strauss handed the manuscript over to his confidante, the conductor Hans Swarowsky. By this time, Strauss had vacated his post as President of Reichsmusikkammer after a letter written by the composer, which famously rallied against the Reich's regime of promoting nationalistic, politicized music was sent to Zweig, (who was of Jewish descent), and was quickly intercepted by Gestapo Officials.

That letter, dated 17 June, 1935, read (in part):

"Do you believe I am ever, in any of my actions, guided by the thought that I am 'German'? Do you suppose Mozart was consciously 'Aryan' when he composed? I recognize only two types of people: those who have talent and those who have none."

Strauss' tenure as President of the RMK already stood on shaky ground by the time the composer's intimate confessional was discovered by Reich Officials. Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler and Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels initially championed the composers works - even going so far as to refer to Strauss as "The Most Venerable Tone Master." This adoration, however, would be short-lived: within weeks of Die Schweigsame Frau's premiere in the summer of 1935, under mounting pressure from Alfred Rosenberg, head of the Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur (Militant League for German Culture), discord over the composer's intent to include Zweig's name in the playbill, and the interception of the now infamous letter by Gestapo Officials, Strauss was forced to resign under the auspices of ill health, brought about by "advanced age."

By the time Strauss passed on the manuscript presently up for auction in 1938, 'Die Schweigsame Frau' had been banned across Germany.

This is the second time in two years this fantastic piece of WWII/music history regalia has come up for auction. It was previously listed by London auction house Sotheby's in May 2016.

The starting bid for the manuscript is $15,000 USD.


From Nate D. Sanders Auctions:

“Richard Strauss autograph manuscript signed for the final scene in his 1935 opera ''Die schweigsame Frau'' (''The Silent Woman''), a comedic opera written with librettist Stefan Zweig. Written on three 10.5'' x 14'' pages of bifolium manuscript, Strauss signs ''Richard Strauss'' at the top of the first page, where he also writes ''Schwanengesang'' (''Swan Song'').

Strauss elegantly hand writes the vocal score for bass voice (sung by the lead character ''Sir Morosus'', who here sings ''Wie schon ist doch die musik'', or ''How beautiful music is'') and piano, comprising eighty-six bars on 12-stave paper printed by B. & H. Nr. 5. C., with their watermark. With a few alterations to the words and music, such as ''wunderbar erst wenn sie die Frau'' crossed-out and rewritten, and with score slightly different than published version. Undated but circa 1938 when Strauss gave the manuscript to his friend, conductor Hans Swarowsky. At this time in 1938, the opera was banned in Nazi Germany after only three performances following its premiere in 1935, due to its association with Zweig, who Strauss insisted be credited on the production.

''Die schweigsame Frau'' was one of Strauss' crowning achievements, of which ''The New Grove'' wrote, ''...the character of Sir John Morosus being modeled on that of the Shakespeare-Verdi knight...The clever score is full of 'gems'. Sparking and genuine...'' Manuscript is beautifully presented in a dark green pebbled leather case with gilt titling to front and spine, and with silk moire interiors. Manuscript measures 10.5'' x 14'' and case measures 13'' x 17''. Uniform toning and very small hole to page two from erasure to one word. Overall in very good to near fine condition, an exquisite presentation.”

The Strauss manuscript is listed as Lot 31 at Nate D. Sanders Auctions. Bidding is now open for prospective buyers, with a deadline of 5PM PST this Thursday, July 26th, 2018.

Those interested can place their bids here: https://natedsanders.com/Richard_Strauss_Signed__Handwritten_Musical_Manusc-LOT49836.aspx

Listen below to Morosus' gorgeous Monologue "Wie schön ist doch die Musik" from Richard Strauss' "Die shweigsame Frau." The eminent German Bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff performs:


Footnotes:

For more information on Strauss’ Die Schweigsame Frau, the composer’s relationship with Stefan Zweig, and his tenure as president of the Reichsmusikkammer, visit

• IN REMEMBRANCE: STEFAN ZWEIG'S RELATIONSHIP WITH RICHARD STRAUSS & HIS ESCAPE FROM NAZI GERMANY

Here on Unraveling Musical Myths.

- Rose.

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IN REMEMBRANCE: STEFAN ZWEIG'S RELATIONSHIP WITH RICHARD STRAUSS & HIS ESCAPE FROM NAZI GERMANY

Stefan Zweig

Today's Quote of the Day comes to us from famed 20th century Austrian writer and librettist Stefan Zweig, and has been selected in honor of the 75th anniversary of his death, observed this 22nd day of February, 2017:

“Never can the innate power of a work be hidden or locked away. A work of art may be forgotten by time; it can be forbidden and rejected but the elemental will always prevail over the ephemeral.”

- Stefan Zweig

It has been some three quarters of a century since the literary and musical spheres lost one of their most influential champions – he who excelled in both arenas as a writer and as librettist – setting to parchment often sordid tales of the ever changing, frequently vitriolic world in which both song and prose routinely draw their influence.

Zweig's final farewell: his "Declaração"
(suicide note; Zweig titled the letter in
Portuguese in an effort to alert the Brazilian
authorities of the nature of his and his wife's
death upon discovery of the bodies; the rest of the
letter is in Zweig's favored tongue: German.
Read a translation of this note here.

It would be on a winter’s eve – the 22nd of February in 1942 – that author and librettist Stefan Zweig and second wife Elizabeth Charlotte “Lotte” Altmann sat together for what would be the couple’s final moments on earth. Zweig would pen his “Declaração” – his declaration – of intended suicide from his home just outside of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (a place of exile for the couple, who had fled Salzburg following Hitler’s rise to power in 1934 and which would prove to be a most providential move for Zweig: following a rise in National Socialist sentiment, Austria would find itself annexed by the German Third Reich in 1938. For Zweig, who was born of Jewish parents, and therefore was himself, Jewish, the move would be a matter of life and death).

The couple would remain always one step ahead of Nazi troops, first by fleeing Salzburg for England, followed by a transatlantic move to New York City in the United States as German forces steadily crept westward. Finally, the couple would settle on the German-colonized town of Petrópolis just outside of Rio, where both husband and wife would ultimately meet their end. Zweig, would express in his (brief) handwritten final note (written in his favored language of German) his sorrow over his 'personal loss' and the “destruction”  of pre-Nazi Europe, calling it his “Spiritual Homeland;” his gratitude for the sanctuary offered him in Brazil, and of his ultimate yielding to hopelessness in what must have seemed to Zweig to be a most unfruitful – and relentlessly cruel – chase. He writes:

“…to start everything anew after a man’s 60th year requires special powers, and my own power has been expended after years of wandering homeless. I thus prefer to end my life at the right time, upright, as a man for whom cultural work has always been his purest happiness and personal freedom — the most precious of possessions on this earth.

I send greetings to all of my friends: May they live to see the dawn after this long night. I, who am most impatient, go before them.”

Stefan Zweig and wife Lotte

Both Zweig and Lotte would self-administer a lethal dose of Barbiturates, and, with hands entwined, would breathe their last breaths, succumbing to overdose on the very eve the ‘Declaração’ was written – 75 years ago today.

Zweig’s influence in the literary world during the mid-twentieth century (and later, during the latter twentieth and present century following the digitization of the writer’s works translated from their original German into English) is undeniable. His resulting fame allowed him to hobnob with many of the era’s most prominent thinkers and practitioners of the finer arts – enjoying relationships with the likes of famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and dramatist Arthur Schnitzler to developing a close association with the composer Richard Strauss.

Zweig would also bequeath unto the musical sphere an impressive, and much coveted – collection of autographs (music manuscripts), featuring the works of many of Western Classical Music’s most beloved composers - of Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Wagner and Mahler (just to name a few), including a thematic catalogue of Mozart’s works – penned in the composer’s own hand (Mozart's
 "Verzeichnüß aller meiner Werke"). This particular collection, aptly called “Stefan Zweig Collection” can presently be found at The British Library.

Extract from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's highly prized "Verzeichnüß aller meiner Werke,"
just one of many original autographs from the Stefan Zweig Collection currently held in the
possession of The British Library.

Perhaps most applicable to the sentiment provided by Zweig in the featured “Quote of the Day” above, is the writer-cum-librettist’s association with Richard Strauss – who was then serving as the first president of the Reichsmusikkammer (the Reich Chamber of Music, otherwise known as the "RMK") under Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler and Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels.

Strauss counted himself among several accomplished German conductors/composers to make the controversial decision to serve their ‘Fatherland’ from the podium, in what they considered (or claimed) to be an apolitical effort to preserve and glorify German artists and German music. Although the position of President of the RMK was formed only months after the Nazi’s seizure of power in 1933 (and thus could be considered still in its founding stages), Strauss’ decision to remain in Germany following a period of escalating National Socialist sentiment and during the first two years of Nazi rule remains a topic of hot debate.

Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler and Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels
would briefly champion the works of Richard Strauss - going so far as to refer
to the German-born composer as "The Most Venerable Tone Master."

Zweig, who had provided the libretto for Strauss’ 1934 opera Die Schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman), and later, incognito, for the composers' 1938 opera Friedenstag (Peace Day) following the death of Strauss' go-to librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, was famously forgiving of Strauss, claiming necessity in the RMK for the composer:

“…to be co-operative with the national socialists was furthermore of vital interest to him, because in the national socialist sense he was very much in the red. His son had married a Jewess and thus he feared that his grandchildren, whom he loved above all else, would be excluded as scum from the schools; his earlier operas tainted through the half-Jew Hugo von Hofmannstahl; his publisher was a Jew. Therefore, to him it seemed more and more imperative to create support and security for himself, and he did it most perseveringly.” 

This sentiment would be repeated following a ‘Denazification Trial’ held against the composer after the war, during which time it was declared that Strauss was found to be “exonerated in his Denazification Trial as innocent of any ties to the Nazi State.”

Richard Strauss

The fact was, although Strauss once claimed of politics and of the war “I just sit here … and compose; everything else is irrelevant to me,” the composer made no qualms about his support for his newfound confidante and librettist in Zweig, following a seismic fallout with the Nazi-ran press, who lambasted the RMK President for his association with a “Jew.” (It didn’t help that several members of Strauss’ family were themselves Jewish).^{[see footnotes]} According to Zweig’s own memoirs, Strauss defied societal convention by refusing to withdraw the opera and insisting on publicly crediting Zweig as the works librettist. Surprisingly, Reich Minister Goebbels – and, initially, even Hitler himself – were willing to placate Strauss (then an international sensation - and a German one at that), albeit temporarily, in an effort to promote German music and artistry. Such placitudes would prove to be short lived: following the interception by Gestapo Officials of correspondence exchanged between composer and librettist in which Strauss decried both the Nazi regime and his position within it (which was presented to the Reich Chancellor via Goebbels), Strauss was forced to resign from his post as president of the Reichsmusikkammer under the guise of “ill health.”

Die Schweigsame Frau would be banned by the Reich after only three performances, reemerging only after the close of the Second World War, some 12 years after it’s premiere at the Dresden Semperoper in June 1935. Its post war revival would be held at the very same venue in 1946.

Listen below to hear the great German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff perform "Wie schön ist doch die Musik"
from Richard Strauss' Die schweigsame Frau:


Footnotes:

Although Strauss’ ‘involvement’ in the Third Reich – not to mention Zweig’s defense of the composer - remains a subject of much debate, it is worth noting that Richard would make use of ‘connections’ made whilst serving as RMK President in Nazi Germany, most notably appealing to Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach for protection for himself and his daughter in law, who was Jewish, and for his grandchildren (who were identified as Jewish under Nazi Racial Law) during the infamously bloody Kristallnacht. He and his family were granted temporary protection by Schirach.

Zweig would cite Strauss’ intimate ties to Germans of Jewish faith as evidence of a thoughtfully manifested plan to serve the Reich in an effort to safeguard his relations from attacks by the Nazis.

Coming soon to Unraveling Musical Myths:

-Rose.

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TODAY IN BIRTHDAYS: GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN & JOHANN STRAUSS I

Georg Philipp Telemann

TODAY IN BIRTHDAYS: March 14, 1681 - Georg Telemann

Georg Philipp Telemann, an 18th century composer of the German baroque, would become one the eras most prolific composers and gifted musicians - distinctions he earned against all odds: discouraged by his family from the world of music at a young age, Telemann would single handedly ‘self teach’ the art of composition and of the instrument (many of them, in fact, not the least of which were the oboe, recorder, clavier, lute, viol da gamba and violin - he even sung as a baritone!)

A true pioneer of the public concert, then still in it’s infancy stage (from a modern standpoint), Telemann’s influence and the richness contained within his prolific oeuvre could be felt far beyond the reaches of his native Germany, with both composer and repertoire receiving an enthusiastic reception in France (Berlioz was an ardent admirer), and with the musical dynamo 'rubbing shoulders' with composers of the ilk of Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Friedrich Händel - even earning honors from the Austrian Emperor, Ferdinand I! The multi-faceted Telemann would bequeath unto the world an incredibly vast collection of orchestral, operatic, sacred and secular works - adapting to the popular French and Italian styles when required with astonishing ease.

It seems only natural that, after a period of some obscurity – the result of a burgeoning classical era soon to make it’s presence known across Europe – that the works of this highly influential all-around musical prodigy be brought back into the public spotlight where they so rightfully belong.^[1] 

Listen below to the beautiful “Jesu, Komm in Meine Seele” as sung by soprano Teresa Stich-Randall


Footnotes:

^[1]see a partial discography at Naxos: (External link)

Johann Strauss I "The Elder"

TODAY IN BIRTHDAYS: March 14, 1804 - Johann Strauss I

The incredibly popular Radetzky March, heard annually at the closing of the New Year's Day concert in Vienna was composed by 19th century musician Johann Strauss I.

Patriarch of the brothers Strauss (Johann the II, Josef, and Eduard - no relation to Richard), Johann Strauss I “The Elder,” could be coined the “Grandfather” of the Waltz - a musical genre he helped popularize across the European continent alongside reformist Joseph Lanner (although his son Johann Strauss II would succeed his fame in this arena, becoming known to the world as the "King of the Waltz" - there probably isn't a person alive who hasn't heard "The Blue Danube"). The Patriarch Strauss’ most recognized work, both at home and abroad, however, would not be that of a waltz, but rather, of a march – the so called “Radetzky March," composed by the elder Strauss in 1848 as part of a commission celebrating Austrian Army Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz’s victory over Italy at the Battle of Custoza during the First Italian War of Independence in July of that year. The work was so beloved by the Austrian military at it’s first listening that the Officers, high off of their recent triumph in battle, erupted into chorus of rhythmic clapping and stamping of feet – becoming a a tradition that would stick.

The Radetzky March is a rather peculiar composition in terms of it’s broad use amongst militaries around the world. From it’s starting ground in Austria, the work has become incorporated by regiments around the globe, including Chile, The United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, and was even arranged for the United States Marine Corps Band.


Listen below to a sprightly performance of The Radetzky March, at Vienna’s New Year's Day concert, led by maestro Herbert von Karajan, conducting both orchestra (and audience):


-Rose.

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IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: SOTHEBY'S ANNOUNCES MASSIVE AUCTION OF AUTOGRAPH SCORES, LETTERS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC'S MAJOR HITTERS

Richard Wagner (l), Franz Schubert (c), and Frederick Delius (r) are just three of many composers dating from the
Medieval era to the Romantic / Impressionistic age of Western classical music whose manuscripts and
memorabilia will be made available on the London auction block at Sotheby's on December 4, 2018.

A massive auction of rare autograph scores and letters dating from the medieval era through to the romantic age will commence December 4, 2018, London auction house Sotheby's announced today.

With estimated bids ranging from £300 to £70,000 and well over 100 manuscripts and music related memorabilia to be made available for prospective buyers, one is sure to find something special and unique for even the most difficult-to-shop-for family member, colleague or friend.

Highlights of the impending auction include autograph manuscripts of two, hitherto considered lost lieder written in the hand of Franz Schubert: his Tischler-Lied (D274) and Todtenkranz für ein Kind (D275), composed in 1815 during his so-called 'annus mirablis,' his most highly productive year.^[1]

The manuscripts are exceedingly rare - believed to be the only known autographs of the two lieder (having been formally regarded as "lost" in the Schubert Thematic Catalogue) and contain the composers' own handwritten annotations and additional verses of text.

Also up for auction will be a hitherto unknown manuscript of the first two movements of English composer Frederick Delius' 1888 String Quartet in C minor, as well as manuscripts of Johannes Brahms, Maurice Ravel, Felix Mendelssohn, Engelbert Humperdinck and Richard Strauss, and will include an exciting detailed scenario and prose draft of Richard Wagner's (left unorchestrated) music drama Wiland der Schmied (WWV82),^[2] written in the composers' own hand in dark brown ink, signed and dated “Richard Wagner (Paris, 11 märz 1850) (Zürich, 8 October 1850.)"

   

*CLICK TO ENLARGE* LOT 330: Richard Wagner, Autograph manuscript prose draft for the 3-act opera
"Wieland der schmied" [wwv 82], signed and dated ("Richard wagner"), 1850 | Sotheby's |

The Music, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts and Continental Books auction at Sotheby's is scheduled to begin at 10:30 am GST December 4, 2018.

To explore these and the other numerous manuscripts and memorabilia, visit Sothebys.com.

Footnotes:

^[1]To quote from Schubert biographer Brian Newbould: "The year 1815 has been called Schubert’s annus mirabilis. This hardly overstates the case. His output in this year can be summarised as: four Singspiele, a symphony and a half, a string quartet, nine works for solo piano, eight or nine church works involving orchestra (from the 109-bar Offertory (D181) to the Mass in G major, (D167), some two dozen partsongs mostly with piano accompaniment, and about 140 songs."  - from "Schubert: The Music and the Man," pp. 40, University of California Press, 1992

The Schubert manuscript is listed as LOT 316 at Sotheby's.

^[2]Wagner's draft for the libretto of his unrealised opera Wieland der Schmied (Wieland the Smith), which has been likened by one biographer as being his "most frankly autobiographic[al]" libretti, was inspired by Hector Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet symphony, and was drafted in the hopes of gaining an audience at the Paris Opéra. Wagner even toyed with the notion of presenting the finished libretto to Berlioz himself for the latters' orchestration.

The draft was originally published as an appendix to Richard's essay The Art-Work of the Future (Das Kunstwerk der Zukunft), a prospective vision on the idyllic aspirations of art and of Germanic legend. Wieland der Schmied fulfills the latter category - it is based on the Germanic legend of Wayland Smith.

Ultimately, Wagner would abandon the work - a move understood by scholars to have been the result of the assumption on the part of the composer of the perceived indifference of the French audience on such subject matters. Wagner attempted to have his father-in-law, Hungarian pianist and composer Franz Liszt orchestrate the work, however the latter declined the offer. An adaptation of Wagner's libretto would be scored by the 19th century Slovak composer Jan Levoslav Bella (written by O. Schlemm) between 1880 and 1890. That opera premiered in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1926, and was subsequently reprised in Slovak under the title Kováč Wieland.

-Rose.

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(RE)INTRODUCING THE OCTOBASS

Think the double bass is big?

Check out the Octobass!

OSM double bassist Eric Chappel

This massive bowed string instrument was created at the behest of Hector Berlioz in the mid 19th century. The French composer was a vocal advocate of the instrument, and rallied for its widespread adoption as an effective means for a rumbling bass line to cut through the fray of the rapidly expanding orchestra which had become synonymous with the Romantic era. Such evidence of his enthusiasm survives in print - an example of which can be found in Berlioz' famed Treatise on Orchestration.

From pp. 405:

"This instrument has tons of strange power and beauty, full and strong, without any roughness. It could produce extraordinary effects in a large orchestra. At least three should be available for music festivals if the number of instruments is greater than 150."

- Hector Berlioz,

Treatise on Instrumentation, Hector Berlioz (rev. Richard Strauss), 1948 Edwin F Kalmus, NY

Measuring a behemoth 11+ feet, 10 inches (roughly 3.6 meters) and weighing 131 kg, this beast of an instrument, tuned two octaves below a cello and with its lowest C note boasting a frequency of 16Hz (the standard range of audible frequencies for humans is 20 to 20,000 Hz), was the design of the French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillame, who fashioned only three of the rare specimens, two of which survive to the present day (in addition to two, contemporary made, playable replicas). In total, there are only seven known Octobass - including the original instruments, playable replicas and display pieces - in existence, making it one of the most exclusive classical instruments in the world.

Known for his controversially bombastic orchestrations, Berlioz
would become a pioneer of the larger, lush orchestra we have
come to know and love today. As the spoils of the Industrial
Revolution left behind an increase in vocational opportunities
and resulted in higher wages for the emerging middle class,
an increased demand for the formerly underprivileged to enjoy
the pastimes previously reserved for the wealthy was born.
This led to the construction of larger venues to contain larger
crowds, and composers of the ilk of Wagner and Berlioz embraced
this change by adding instruments to their orchestras to fill the
increased space, ensuring an  adequate resonance throughout
the concert hall. It is thus perhaps unsurprising that Berlioz
would champion the Octobass to assist in slicing through the
din - with it's lowest frequency measuring a mere 16Hz - which
cannot be perceived by the human ear, but merely felt by the
body through the strings vibrations - there existed little in the
way of comparison of a more effective model to accomplish
the same impressive feat.

The Octobass can be found in Paris, at the Musée de la Musique (their instrument measures a whopping 11.4 ft), and in the collections of the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Unlike the smaller double bass, played either with a bow or by manually plucking the strings, the Octobass, whilst also a bowed string instrument, must be played by employing a system of levers and pedals due to the length of its fingerboard and the thickness of its stings. It's bow consists of a healthy bounty of horsehair, and is substantially larger in size than that of its smaller cousin. Due to the massive height of the Octobass, the bassist must access the instrument's strings with the aid of a small pedestal.

Below, you will bear witness to the Octobass in full action through a historic performance (excerpt only) of Spanish composer José Evangelista's Accelerando, performed by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) under Kent Nagano, which held its world premiere at the Maison symphonique de Montréal in Canada on October 21, 2016. It marked the first* time in recorded history that the Octobass was included in a full orchestra setting (it followed alongside a performance of Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben*), and, to date, the OSM remains the only orchestra in the world to have one in their possession.

The OSM Octobass is a replica of Vuillaume's original design, fashioned in 2010 by French luthier Jean-Jacques Pagès with the assistance of clock and pendulum maker Michel Jolly, who aided in recreating the 237 parts of the complex mechanism at Pagès workshop in Mirecourt, France.

Maestro Kent Nagano conducts the OSM in the world premiere performance of Evangelista's Accelerando. Eric Chappel appears on Octobass. (Excerpt only)

Discover more:

*CLICK TO ENLARGE* Data Sheet, Octobass,OSM

Learn more about this fascinating, rare instrument by visiting the Musical Instrument Museum's YouTube page.

-Rose.

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TRIVIA & HUMOR XI: STDS, FLAYING, BEHEADING, HITLER'S MOST PRIZED COMPOSERS; "FATHER OF PSYCHOLOGY" PROVES USELESS / UNTAMABLE PLAYBOYS & THEIR MURDEROUS HAREMS OF HOOKERS REVEALED

Here at Unraveling Musical Myths, we have, on more than one occasion, “visited the dead” via horrific, gruesome – and, occasionally, even amusing – tales of grisly lore and gore, passed down to us through the musical ages; describing (in often macabre detail) the lengths some people will go to preserve, profit on – or even destroy – the legacy of some of Western Classical Music’s most iconic and beloved masters.

From bodies uprooted from their tombs and callously tossed in the corner of a funeral vault, to grave robbing and skull-heisting (we’ve even “bore witness” to tales of mob-like guard posts at the grave, to composers themselves engaging in bizarre episodes non-sexual necrophilia).

In this edition of TRIVIA & HUMOR, we begin our downward spiral into the seventh circle of hell with both the savagely barbaric and the surprisingly tender: two tales of post-mortem action by the living – in one instance, the tender: in 19th century late classical/early romantic composers Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven:

I LOVE YOU TO DEATH…AND BEYOND (OR SO IT WOULD SEEM)

Franz Schubert idolized Ludwig van Beethoven. The
pair ran in different circles and rarely met - however
this didn't stop Franz from wanting to be close to his
idol in life - and, so it would appear, in death.

As 31 year old Schubert lapsed in and out of consciousness in the final throes of what would, in posterity, be considered an early and agonizing death, the young Austrian master of the Art of the Lied grew delirious – a likely result of both neurosyphilis and mercury poisoning (the only tonic then available to treat the deadly disease which had run rampant throughout Napoleonic Europe). It would be during one of these moments of semi-consciousness (heavily marked by delirium) that the composer, believing himself already six feet under and buried alive, audibly posed the question “Am I resting next to Beethoven?” (Ludwig being both Franz’ muse and devotee during both icon’s lifetimes – with the younger Schubert even dedicating his Variations on a French Song - Op. 10, D.624 - to his idol). Those who witnessed the outburst took the bizarre moment of quasi-lucidity as a declaration of intent to be laid to rest alongside the composer’s musical hero. This wish was thrice granted, first by burying Franz as close as possible (a mere two plots away) to his beloved at Vienna's Währing Cemetery.

Beethoven, who had died only one year previous, had perished in Schubert’s hometown of Vienna in Austria. His funeral was both a grandiose and somber spectacle, with tens of thousands of mourners lining the streets of Vienna to witness the procession, and bid farewell to their maestro, each clamoring over one another to gain a closer view as the casket dolefully made it’s way to the cemetery, with Schubert himself at the helm, first as pallbearer helping to hoist the coffin, and, at graveside, acting as a torchbearer. By the time the Währing was shuttered in June 1888, a decision was made to move and re-bury both composers – this time side by side, with nary a plot between them to separate their vessels into eternity - at the recently opened Zentralfriedhof on the city‘s South side.

The now permanently gated Währing Cemetery became known as Schubert Park, and atop the vacant plots (forever preserved for their former inhabitants) stands a memorial dedicated to the two musical giants. 


8 Variations on a French song in E Minor, Op. 10, D. 624 - Schubert's dedication to his idol, Ludwig van Beethoven.

FLAYING A FORMER FRIEND

As for the barbaric, regular readers of Unraveling Musical Myths with be familiar with the ‘practice’ and cult of phrenology – a pseudo-“science” funded and operated by resurrectionists, shady surgeons and so-called scientists (in fact, keeping on the subject of both Beethoven and Schubert, the exhumation of the corpses of the composers for reburial in 1888 at the Zentralfriedhof was but the second time the graves of the musical giants were disturbed. In October of 1863, whilst still interred at Wahring, both composers’ coffins were exhumed for ‘scientific’ purposes – chiefly, for the study of phrenology – in which both musician’s skulls were examined, their skeletons analyzed, coffins refurbished, and re-buried (this time adjacent one another), with the exception of Beethoven – who was re-buried sans cranium. (You can read more about Beethoven’s well traveled and heavily dissected skull here at Unraveling Musical Myths. Shockingly, ‘testing’ on the relic has continued through the ages - well into the 21st century!) In today’s entry of TRIVIA… however, we re-visit the heisted skull of Herr Joseph Haydn, infamously looted from his grave by the cover of night (and by bribing the gravedigger, who had recently been robbed of all of his earthly possessions by French soldiers – or by men hired to dress as French soldiers) by Haydn’s friend, one Joseph Carl Rosenbaum, certified accountant and music devotee, and Rosenbaum’s quack of a friend, the self-styled ‘phrenologist’ Johann Nepomuk Peter, governor of the lower Austria provincial prison.

Haydn's skull.

The sick pair were said to have performed a “test-run” on de-fleshing human skin, muscle and tissue from a fresh corpse (as the heist of Haydn’s skull was to be acted upon with impending haste due to the popularity of phrenology and prolific nature of ‘resurrectionists’ then making the rounds at local cemeteries. The more famous the subject, the greater the profit for the heartless looter). The diabolic duo "practiced" on recently deceased Viennese theatre actress Elizabeth Roose, who had succumbed to complications during the process of childbirth in 1808.

Rosenbaum, being a confidante of the composer Haydn, of course knew well ahead (ahem) of time compared to other potential looters as to when his friend became terminally ill, and feigned sympathy for his close mate whilst all the while concocting a devious plan to not only steal his compadre’s skull, but to later hold it as ransom from Haydn fan and former employer Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy (“The Magnificent”) of Eisenstadt (whose family happened to be one of the most wealthy and influential families within the Austro-Hungarian empire).

To perform the "test run," Rosenbaum had to first secure the corpse of Roose, then proceed to decapitate her, and, finally, to soak her skull in a mixture of quicklime in order to eat away at the flesh. She would prove to be his first successful relic. With Haydn, however, it was different: perhaps succumbing to a soupçon of guilt for prizing his former close mate’s head, the friend-turned-foe set the skull down atop the table and proceeded to vomit at the very sight of the still life-like skull. Oddly, instead of doing the dirty deed himself, as he had de-fleshed Roose, Rosenbaum instead turned the cranium over to his personal physician (who he likely also bribed), who in turn sent it off to a Viennese Hospital for ‘cleaning.’ The chalky white skull, now unrecognizable as his one-time running mate, would be returned to the accountant Rosenbaum, who had already constructed an ornate black case for stowing the skull, adorned with golden lyre.

SCHUMANN MAY HAVE DOCUMENTED THE MOMENT HE CAUGHT SYPHILIS

Most fans of Western classical music know Robert Schumann, and his wife Clara, as composers of the romantic era. Fewer may be aware that the married duo were habitual diarists. At the behest of Robert, the young Clara (née Wieck, born 9 years after her spouse) would take turns with her more famous husband, documenting the joys, triumphs and tragedies of their martial union, in an effort to consult the diary in times of romantic strife and to reflect on the couple’s growth through better or worse.

One salacious subject concerning the musical couple - that of a double life shared on the part of the groom - was seemingly ‘proven’ by music historians who, upon inspecting the documents, found substantial evidence that would seem to show, without refute, that Clara knew exactly what she was getting into when she vowed to love her husband for "better or worse”. 

Robert’s early entries in the diary include an unabashed, very explicit blow-by-blow (pun intended) of his very salacious carnal relationship with a woman named Christel (Schumann would later refer to her as "Charitas"), whom the composer met through none other than fiancée Clara Wieck’s father! (Christel is believed to have been a member of staff  - a maid - at the Wieck household). 

During the same period as his romantic escapade with “Charitas,” Robert makes frequent reference to his declining health, making note of symptoms which, according to scholars of both music and medicine, are notorious markers for early stage syphilis.

Robert Schumann, you naughty boy. Pictured here
alongside his wife, Clara.

In one entry in particular penned by Robert after May 1831, the composer references his “John Thomas” – a hardly inconspicuous moniker for his genitals – and the immensely painful, persistent wound upon it. It was a gift that would keep on giving, awarded the wounded composer by one ‘Christel,’ whom Schumann would later adorn with what he referred to as "a more beautiful and appropriate name" –  the aforementioned moniker “Charitas” –  which, interestingly, is Latin for “Charity” (alternatively spelled "Caritas" after the Greek "Agape," or the practice of self-sacrificing love.)

The true full name of this seductive siren of Schumann's self sacrifice, according to recent research, was actually Christiane Apitzsch, and she was more than just a former maid to the Wieck household; more than just a lover to the gifted genius that she may very well have wound up killing through the composer’s later attempts at mercury treatment for advanced stage syphilis – but quite possibly the mother of the adulterous composer’s illegitimate daughter, Ernestine, born January 5th 1837! Schumann is believed to have attempted to pay off Charitas for her silence, and is alleged to have never met his daughter.

Clara was also not the only member of the Wieck clan who knew of her future husband's improprieties - upon discovering Robert was wooing his daughter, Friedrich Wieck, head of the Wieck household, threatened to shoot Schumann on sight if he continued courting his daughter!

It seems Robert paid Clara's father no mind - in lieu of the father Wieck's "permission" for Robert to "take his daughters hand" (which seems to have been legally required at the time), the betrothed sued Friedrich, winning a judgement on behalf of the court, which granted permission for the lovebirds to wed.
  
The couple married - warts and all - on September 12, 1840.

HITLER’S ADORATION FOR “MODERN” CLASSICAL PHENOM

TRIVIA AND HUMOR: THE BIRTH OF SCHUBERT (AND THE COMPOSER’S MANY SIMILARITIES TO MOZART)

On this January day some 220 years ago, a bouncing baby boy would be welcomed into the awaiting arms of the Schuberts.

The father of the future young prodigy, a violinist and teacher, no doubt anxious to pass on his musical acuity unto his son. Should this new bundle of joy survive into adulthood, the couple could consider themselves doubly blessed: this special delivery, after all, would arrive during medicine's primitive era, wherein the only inoculation to prevent against disease was the newly introduced smallpox vaccine, developed only one year earlier by an Englishman in 1796 – the combating of disease, much like the Schubert’s newly born son, still in it’s infancy stage. The father Schubert knew the risks of early infant mortality all to well – of the couple’s 14 children – one of them illegitimate – only five would survive past infancy. Luckily enough for the couple -  and for posterity - their newborn son would live into the relative mid-stages of adulthood. The beaming parents named the child Franz, after the child’s father, of course.

The world outside of young Franz’ inner circle – that is, those outside of his own kin – would come to know the young Austrian as the prodigy: the musically gifted instrumentalist and young composer Franz Schubert. Posterity would remember him as simply “Schubert” – one of the great icons and leading influential musicians of the classical era – and yet another gifted export of that ever-so-musical Mecca known as (modern) Austria; the same country that churned out such pre-eminent and enigmatic composers as Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, and the Strauss dynasty just to name a few…and of course the unparalleled maestro of Western Classical Music himself: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – the one time wunderkind who had famously mesmerized Europe’s Royal elite almost since his birth some 41 years prior to Schubert’s own entry into the world.

It is this last mentioned composer in whom Schubert would share an uncanny likeness, in both personal and professional aspects. Unraveling Musical Myths explores the many similarities between these two highly captivating figures in the comparison below:

BIRTHDAYS:

Both composers were born at the end of January – Mozart on the 27th, and Schubert on the 31st. Coincidentally, both composers were also born in the 18th century (Mozart in 1756, and Schubert in 1797) – they were also both born in Austria.

MUSICALLY INCLINED FAMILY:

Both Mozart and Schubert would receive lessons from their fathers, both of whom were violinists, and both of whom would teach their sons the instrument. Both young prodigies would be assisted in lessons on the piano by a sibling – for Mozart, it was his sister “Nannerl,” and for Schubert, it was his brother, Ignaz.

A young Mozart plays the harpsichord, flanked by father Leopold and sister
Maria Anna (Nannerl) in this family portrait

SPEAKING OF FAMILY…

Schubert had yet another thing in common with Mozart: both composers would be "miracle children” – the surviving minority of a large family of siblings. Of the Mozart family’s seven offspring, only two would survive past infancy. As for the Schubert’s fourteen children (one illegitimate), only nine would survive past this stage (which, if you are doing the math, means a total of five sibling deaths for the Mozart kin, and five sibling deaths for the Schubert kin).

BOTH SHARED A CONNECTION TO ANTONIO SALIERI:

Mozart knew Salieri as a contemporary ‘rival’ and musical collaborator at the Habsburg court, while Schubert knew the composer as a teacher of composition and music theory.

BOTH COMPOSERS SHARED AN AFFINITY FOR THE WORKS OF HAYDN:

In fact, both Mozart and Schubert not only revered the composer Haydn – they would both also credit the works of the composer as having been a source of influence in creating their own compositions.

SWEET SIXTEEN, SWEET VIENNA:

Both musicians would create a stir at the tender age of sixteen: Mozart would arrive in Vienna as a keyboard prodigy at this age. It would be a fortuitous visit for the young musician - during which the composer is believed to have met with Haydn, and following this meeting, would further hone his skills as a composer - eventually establishing for himself a name that would exceed the rather secluded confines of a master pianist. Within 7 months of his return to the Austrian capital in 1782 (when Mozart was then 10 years older) the man formerly known as the “finest keyboard player in all of Vienna” would establish himself in the city and across Europe as a composer, after his opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") opened to rave reviews. It is probably safe to assume that the 26 year old Mozart had absorbed much influence from his pubescent visit to Vienna and his meeting with Herr Haydn in 1772.
 
Cristina Deutekom performs the stunning aria "Martern Aller Arten" from Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail:



Schubert, on the other hand, could also claim his sixteenth year as having been a pivotal moment in his career, and the city of Vienna as the backdrop in which he too, would establish himself* as a composer – it would be here that the pubescent composer would launch his first Symphony (no. I in D major, D. 82):

BOTH BELONGED TO THE CLASSICAL ERA OF WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC

Schubert, a late-classical era composer, can also lay claim to the early romantic era.

BOTH WERE EXTREMELY PROLIFIC, WIDE-RANGING COMPOSERS:

According to modern accounts (the Köchel catalogue), Mozart boasts an excess of 600 works, his oeuvre consisting of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. 


Mozart's gorgeous aria "Dove Sono i Momenti" from opera Le Nozze di Figaro, Gundula Janowitz performs:



Schubert also boasts an excess of 600 secular vocal works (lieder), in addition to several symphonic, chamber, operatic, sacred, incidental and piano music. 

One of the many gorgeous lieder of Schubert - Barbara Hendricks sings "Du Bist Die Ruh":

 

BOTH COMPOSERS WOULD MEET THEIR DEATH BEFORE THE AGE OF 40, BOTH IN VIENNA, BOTH IN "EARLY WINTER," BOTH BY STILL-DISPUTED MYSTERIOUS ILLNESSES, BOTH "PENNILESS":

Mozart would perish December 5th in Vienna in 1791, at the relatively young age (from a modern perspective) of 35 years, by what was believed at the time to have been the acute stages of miliary fever. Schubert would perish at just 31 years in November of 1828, also in Vienna, believed to have been taken from the world by yet another fever-related malady – not miliary, but rather allegedly by typhoid fever.

(and both shared the same STD)...

Both ‘causes of death’ were hotly contested by the public at the time of both musician’s departures from the musical sphere, a trend that persists to this day. One theory that still makes the rounds is a premature death for both Mozart and Schubert by the tertiary (late) stages of Syphilis and/or it’s treatment. Both composers are believed to have been afflicted by the very same sexually transmitted disease.

Like Mozart -who, while not financially poor per se, but certainly in enough debt toward the end of his life that his widow Constanze could scarcely afford to bury him (the funeral would end up being funded by one of Mozart's former patrons, the Baron Gottfried van Swieten), Schubert, too, would die "penniless."

 

LEGACY:

Both Mozart and Schubert are indisputably two of the most instantly recognizable names in Western Classical Music. While both boasted undeniable, seemingly unearthly talents, both composers owe a large portion of their persisting infamy to the high praise and championship of some pretty heavy hitters in classical music history.

While there is undoubtedly a discrepancy between both composers in terms of performance history – Mozart having toured extensively and performed before Emperors, kings and other members of nobility in addition to the greater public; whilst Schubert held many private, invitee performances in his private salon (musical meetups he called "Schubertiade")* before an intimate circle of contemporary musicians, both composers were widely esteemed, praised, and viewed as a source of invaluable influence for some of Western Classical Music (and Eastern Europe's) most famous names: Mozart counted among his admirers Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák, Joseph Haydn, Richard Wagner,  Frédéric Chopin, Camille Saint-Saëns, Gioachino Rossini, Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss  - even Schubert himself.

Some of Schubert’s famous championers throughout posterity have been Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák, Franz Liszt,  Robert Schumann,  Hector Berlioz, Anton Bruckner, Anton Webern, Benjamin Britten and Richard Strauss.

For both Mozart and Schubert, the above lists of admirers are far from exhaustive. Both composers continue to bewilder, astonish, and inspire composers and musicians living in the 21st century – and, it is due to our exalted privilege of listening to masterfully rendered recreations of the music of these maestri – their scores having been tediously and meticulously preserved thought many centuries - that we have come to share the same conclusion of unrivalled excellence in these two enigmatic and ingenious composers as have our more musically inclined ancestors.

-Rose.

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