Hanns Wolf

Hanns Wolf (sometimes incorrectly called Hans Wolf;^{[note 1]} June 7, 1894 – July 2, 1968) was a post-romantic and modern composer, pianist and music professor;^[1] nearly all his works were destroyed after World War Two.^[2] Due to this, Wolf was nearly forgotten until 1996 when he was rediscovered by Karl Urlberger.

Biography[]

The Leopold Mozart Centre in Augsburg, where Wolf taught in 1924

The Wuerzburg Music Conservatory, where Wolf studied between 1908 to 1912

Hanns Wolf was born on June 7, 1894 in Bamberg, Germany. Little is known about his childhood, however from 1908 to 1912, he studied under Max Meyer-Olbersleben for composition and (who was a student of Liszt)^[3][4] for piano in the Wuerzburg Music Conservatory.^[2]

From 1912 to 1924 he was a teacher for piano and organ, first in Essen as a private piano teacher from the year 1912 to 1913, then in Aschaffenburg as a teacher of piano and organ in the Stadtische Musikschule Aschaffenburg from 1914 to 1924.^[2] In Aschaffenburg, Wolf was considerably popular and well known as he and Hermann Kundigraber (who was the head of the music school)^[5] organized many concerts that can be date backed as early as 1917.^{[6][note 2]} Wolf taught piano to Ottmar Geißler (Geissler).^[7]

After 1924, Wolf was a professor in the Augsburg Musikhochschule, now known as Leopold Mozart Centre of the University of Augsburg.^[2] As Wolf had a prior job as an organ professor, he had relations to Arthur Piechler^[8] (who was an organ virtuoso), Piechler was the student of Heinrich Kaspar Schmid who was the director of the music school.^[9] Wolf also played piano around Europe, playing the works of Dobrowen and Wladigeroff.^[10] However, the outbreak of World War Two forced him to stay in Germany. He continued to hold his position as a professor in the university until the war ended in 1945, when he resigned as a professor and lived as an independent composer and pianist.

He died at the age of 74 on July 2, 1968 in Füssen, Germany.

Compositions, Works and Performances[]

A majority of his work has been destroyed or lost, this reason most likely was political, but it is still uncertain. As a pianist, he performed with Otto Klemperer, Georg Ludwig Jochum, and Eduard van Beinum.^[2]

His compositions were mostly piano related.

Compositions[]

• Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor (1929)^[11]
• Étude in E minor “Springbrunnen”
• Paraphrase for the piano on "Wiener Blut" by Johann Strauss II
• 5 Franconian Dances for Four hands
• 4 Peasant Dances for strings
• Piano rearrangement of a Minuet by Leopold Mozart^[12]
• Prof. Mannheim (Before 1935)^[13]

Rediscovery and Recordings[]

In 1996, Karl Urlberger reintroduced Hanns Wolf to the world,^[14] recording five of Wolf's pieces (listed below) in 1997 under the •K•U• Classics^{[note 3]} (Aschaffenburg) label.^[15] All the recordings were made in Romania.^[16]

Piano Concerto[]

The piano concerto was probably composed in 1929, and most likely premiered in the early 1930s, with Hanns Wolf himself at the piano.^[19] Details of the success of the premiere are limited; after the 1930s the piece was not performed again until 60 years later on 17 January 1997, when it was performed and recorded with pianist Dana Borsan and the National Radio Orchestra of Romania conducted by Ludovic Bács. Karl Urlberger organized and helped the performance by bringing the sheet music.^[20]

On 8 September 2011,^[21] in the 2011 George Enescu Festival, Dana Borsan again performed the piano concerto, but with the "Moldova" Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sébastian Rouland.^[11][22] This performance was recorded, and was published on YouTube on 25 April 2013, thus making Wolf more well-known.^[23]

Literature[]

Hanns Wolf was recognized in Peter Hollfelder's Lexikon Klaviermusik in 2005.^[24]

Wolf's piano concerto was mentioned in Paul D. Escudero's Pluto II: Voyage to the end of the Universe when Greg listened to it to achieve a "Hemi-Sync Reality" during meditation.^[25]

References[]

Notes[]