Bernhard Stavenhagen

Bernhard Stavenhagen (* November 24, 1862 in Greiz, † December 25, 1914 in Geneva ) was a German composer and pianist.

Life

Stavenhagen received his first piano lessons by Theodor Kullak and then studied with Ernst Rudorff piano and Friedrich Kiel music theory and composition. In 1879 he was awarded for his Piano Concerto in C Major with the Mendelssohn Prize. 1885 Stavenhagen went to Weimar to study with Franz Liszt, and to accompany this to Rome, Budapest, Paris, London and Bayreuth. He is considered Liszt's last and most important pupil and also held in 1886 whose grave speech. According to contemporaries, his game was the closest of his teacher, Liszt.

In the following ten years, he toured Europe and North America. In 1890 he was appointed Court Pianist of the Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar, 1894 a court orchestra. In July 1890 he married Agnes Denninghoff in Weimar, a soprano at the Weimar court theater. In 1898 he was Kapellmeister at the Munich Court Theatre, 1899 royal court music. From 1901 to 1904 he was director of the Academy of Music.

In 1907 he moved to Geneva, where he led master classes for piano at the Conservatory until 1914. He was succeeded by José Vianna da Motta.

As a conductor of subscription concerts he brought the world and European premieres of numerous works, among others by Richard Strauss, Hans Pfitzner, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Fauré, Sergei Taneyev, Mily Balakirev and Ernest Bloch to the performance. He was a champion of contemporary music.

His piano playing has been preserved with the help of the Welte-Mignon process for posterity.

His body was interred in Weimar.

In 1980, the School of Music (now Kreismusikschule ) named Greiz to Stavenhagen.

Works

  • Piano Concerto in C major, 1879
  • Piano Concerto in A major
  • Piano Concerto in B minor, Opus 4 1893
  • Three Orchestral Songs: Fairytale song, serenade, The heavy evening
  • Suleika, scene for soprano and orchestra

Piano Pieces: op.2: Presto, Pastorale and Caprice op.5: Capriccio, Intermezzo and Menuetto scherzando op.10: Nocturne, Mazurka and Gavotte - Caprice

Mendelssohn Scholarship Integrated Authority File
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